Lesson 5: Teachers- Develop Reading and Language Skills in Your Students

Language development starts in Utero, as research shows that babies brains are already responding to voices and other noises.  As babies and children are continuously exposed to greater amounts of vocabulary and language interaction, their brains are building a foundation to support language development.  Reading and speaking to children from birth can help children develop strong reading and language skills.

Some children are not fortunate to have a lot of positive language interaction early on, and may lack the necessary brain structure to support advanced language development and advanced reading skills. The good news is that with some dedication and training, these children can still develop the necessary skills.  As a secondary school teacher, it will be easy to recognize those students who have only developed basic reading and language skills, and who have established compensating mechanisms to "make do" up to this point. By identifying these students, I can get them the necessary help that they need to become advanced in these skills and help them succeed through high school and even college.

There are some simple strategies that teachers of all grades can do to help students who may be struggling. One of these strategies is to give full explanations of instructions and  even taking the time to help students understand vocabulary words that they may not be familiar with.  Reviewing the instructions and vocabulary words through different methods, will help students achieve retention and help students develop understanding.

Another method is by teaching grade appropriate content, at a grade appropriate level, but reinforcing basic skills by simultaneously including these within the teaching.  An example for me, as a health teacher is if I am teaching a lesson on Anti-Bullying. Most people can read that lesson title and understand that this lesson reinforces why bullying is wrong.  What about those students that don't understand what "anti" means?  From the start, these students may be confused, hindering their ability to learn the content.  To prevent this, from the introduction of this lesson, I will review what "anti" means, and reinforce this concept with some quick activities in class.  I can continue to do this whenever there is a word or phrase within the lesson that may be confusing or misconstrued by students.

By incorporating a basic vocabulary lesson, I have helped students be able to comprehend the content material, as well as enhanced their language and reading skills!