- Thursday 18 May 2023
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We all learn better when something excites us! And when it comes to learning English, research shows that if children are engaged and enjoy their lessons, then it has a positive impact on their results.
Literacy and comprehension are about more than just results though. When children develop their literacy skills and really understand what they are reading, a whole world of opportunities opens up for them—this is what inspired us to create The Literacy box and The Comprehension box series!
As teachers, you will be fully aware of the positive cross-curricular impact of successful reading and comprehension, but how can we strengthen these skills while also supporting our students in accessing a real reading experience?
Here are seven ways to invigorate the teaching of literacy and comprehension to our students:
1. Include illustrations with texts
As teachers, we know that people learn in different ways. Some of us need pictures to support our learning, as this can be really helpful in understanding the ideas and meanings behind new texts. In addition to supporting children to read certain sounds better, illustrations can also enhance emotional intelligence and support a child in developing connection and empathy.
A picture tells a thousand words, and so the comprehension and inquiry possibilities for a child looking at an image—be it a photograph, drawing or graphic—are massive. If you come across a text that doesn’t have any supporting images, then you can source some yourself and show them to your students.
2. Vary the genres of texts
We all gravitate towards our preferred types of reading material, but children should be exposed to all genres—not only to demonstrate to them what ‘genres’ are, but also to allow them to discover what they love to read.
This also provides an opportunity for an insightful assessment as teachers observe which areas of literacy a student enjoys versus excels at—or those areas they may require support with. Students may find that they enjoy reading fiction most, but excel at comprehension of non-fiction. If a student has a particular interest in and only enjoys reading about dragons, for example, then offer them fantasy stories about fire-breathing, flying mythical creatures—but also show them factual texts on lizards and dinosaurs. And always ask them questions about the words, the plot, characters and even the grammar.
3. Encourage bitesize learning
Every big goal is reached with smaller, incremental goals … that is life, and that is learning; whether we are talking about children in the classroom or adults in the workplace.
The Literacy box series contain texts that are sectioned into numbered paragraphs which correspond with relevant grammar questions, comprehension questions, and word questions. This means the student has a clear path to reach each goal—which is exciting and quantifiable. These smaller goals are more achievable and less overwhelming for students—an ideal solution for key stages of comprehension and literacy learning.
4. Reinforce the reality of reading
The reality of reading is that while there are key stages for acquiring language and learning sounds, we know full well that not every child learns in the same way. There are a host of reasons for this; socio-economic situation, neurodivergence, age, stage, and learning style, just to name a few.
Communicating with your students, providing examples, and letting them know how everyday life requires these literacy skills, can be a great opportunity for an open conversation about differentiation. You can open their minds to all the real-life situations that require comprehension skills, word knowledge, and reading—including road signs, food labels, party invites, school letters, clothing tags, instructions for board games, stories on computer games, and so on. The comprehension strategies taught to your students should be practised, consolidated and expanded on throughout schooling.
5. Encourage imagination
Children get excited to share stories. Storytelling is a thread that runs through many cultures and traditions, and throughout generations. Whether it is through song, poetry, letters, journal entries, personal account, an adaptation of a true event, or a work of wild imagination—storytelling will always, from the once upon time to the happily ever after, be the most powerful form of communication. Knowing this can empower teachers, too, because if you enthuse your students with story-driven content, then they won’t even realise they are learning.
6. Introduce more variation in texts
By being exposed to a range of resources that offer variation in tone, style, genre, and language, students can connect their literacy skills in a broader way. This promotes wider and deeper learning, further reinforces real-life application, and eliminates boredom.
If a child is reading simply because they are asked to read, they can often become despondent, lose interest, feel pressured or lack confidence. However, if they can see a real-world connection and purpose behind different texts, then a child naturally becomes more inquisitive. If they have tangible goals, then they can self-assess their progression—and progression is a sure-fire way to feel a sense of excitement!
7. Utilise reinforcement resources
While repetition is a powerful language feature and learning tool, it can be boring. And it can also promote a false sense of security, as teachers may not have a fair gauge on a child’s understanding—they could simply be repeating something that they have seen or heard.
Reinforcement, however, is different, it is something that we at R.I.C. Publications champion as a brilliantly effective learning strategy. Reinforcement repeats the structure, features, and concepts—for example, with literacy this may include repeated sounds in the form of alliteration, the use of typography and layout, or the use of punctuation such as quotation marks. Exposing children to all of these features helps them realise the context of texts and apply their learning to real life scenarios.
If we teach children using the proper terms for grammatical features and word classes straight away and reinforce these with deeper learning and context, then it becomes second nature to say ‘noun’, for example, instead of a ‘naming word’.
These are reminders to us all as parents, teachers, and carers to ignite that spark within our students so they can not only learn, but learn to love what they are being taught!
If you want to learn more about our English resources, download a free sample of The Comprehension box and a free sample of The Literacy box now—we can’t wait to hear what you think!