From Decoding to Fluency

     When teaching reading skills to students, especially word recognition, we need to show students how cueing systems, like phonics, work together. We can do this by teaching them how to use multiple cueing systems simultaneously. This ensures that students know not only how to say words, but it also helps them learn how to use context and background knowledge to confirm their decoding. Regardless of the word recognition strategies we choose, it is important to be confident in our students' ability to succeed and make this clear to them as we work with them to improve their reading skills.

        Students can improve their word recognition skills more when the words they need to learn are seen in various contexts. ELA teachers can work to integrate vocabulary instruction into existing curricula. This might involve working with teachers across content areas to include instruction of new words as part of lessons. For example, words that are related to science might be taught in the science classroom, since they have the most relevance in that context, even though those words could be seen in literature outside of the context of science. 

    Improving cognitive aspects of reading, like decoding and word recognition, does not mean that students will automatically become more motivated and engaged readers. To ensure students become independent readers, it is important to address each of the areas where students may have reading problems: lack of cognitive abilities to read independently, negative attitudes toward reading, and not knowing what types of reading they might enjoy. Though teachers can address each of these areas separately, when teachers work with students on one of these problem areas, students' confidence in other areas also increases.