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It can be difficult to teach students how to read. Teachers need to first have the specific skills/methods necessary to successfully teach reading. However, teaching reading can be made easier and more fun by implementing music into some lessons or in the entire curriculum. Teaching reading strategies aims to improve comprehension throughout all curriculum areas. Although it can be challenging, the rewards that come along with teaching reading are priceless. There are a few strategies you can use to be successful and give students the confidence they need to improve their reading levels. Music, especially rock n roll can aid in the reading process because it can engage students and make reading fun.
Teaching reading strategies should include methods for teaching nonfiction, informational text, narrative, vocabulary development, and reflective and writing strategies as well. To develop the best strategies to teach your students, experts suggest studying current research and current teaching practices. Although teaching reading is a complex process, if teachers understand the skills and strategies needed to achieve success then students can use the skills learned and will grow during the reading process.
First, it is important to understand, and to help your students understand, why reading is so important across the curriculum. Once you know the different stages of reading development and the research associated with proficient readers, then you can begin to build an efficient reading program. The stages of reading are: initial reading and decoding, confirmation, fluency, and ungluing from print, learning the new, multiple viewpoints, and finally, construction and reconstruction.
In the reading program that you develop, you can add rock n roll history as part of the nonfiction reading material. Students will find the information interesting while learning how to read it. Its also important to understand the interactive elements of reading and the impact it has on reading as well. Interactive elements can include music because it forces students to get involved physically and mentally while also learning about culture and history.
Teaching reading strategies usually requires that the teacher motivate his or her students, as well as understand the five basic premises to teaching reading, and to get students to take control of their reading process. It is also necessary for teachers to understand the four cognitive tools for reading and incorporate the cognitive tools to develop helpful lesson plans. The four cognitive tools for teaching reading strategies include: questioning strategies, summarizing strategies, predicting strategies, clarifying strategies, and developing reading activities and less plan development. There is a strong connection between the brain and the body, and music does a great job of connecting the two while teaching with the senses and helping students interact with and understand the material in a different way.
Teaching reading can be daunting and there is a lot of work that goes into making the effort a success. Beyond organization, development, assessment, and planning, teaching reading mainly requires patience and tenacity. The process asks for a lot of reflection, questioning, and clarifying as part of the teaching strategies, but when students begin to grasp it the results are more than worthwhile.
