The most crucial skill that elementary school students can learn is literacy. Without the ability to read, it will be challenging for a learner to be successful in other academic subjects. Due to this, educators must not give space to any forms of mistakes during reading instructions. The stakes are pretty high. Prison officials calculate the number of cells they will need based on the number of kids who, by grade 3, still cannot read. You might want to stop and think about that.

Why do they engage in it? Because if you cannot read while in 3rd grade, you are at a high risk of being incompetent academically. If reading the subject matter is a problem for you, the chances are that you won’t succeed academically. You will struggle and eventually drop out of school and prison because your reading abilities are below par. 

How can educators help?

Educators who come across this article need to ask themselves, “Am I teaching reading the wrong way?” You could be the prime factor for your student’s lifetime failure if you are not doing what you must do as an educator. To discover this, give an honest response to these questions and use your reaction to review your practice. 

Am I using a balanced approach? 

A balanced approach is a formal method that stresses various aspects of literacy instruction at different levels to students’ needs. It is necessary to know there is no other method to teach reading. So, if you are using a single system fix-all approach, you must stop immediately. Students differ from each other and will respond to different strategies in different manners. Additionally, students will pass through the various levels of literacy development at a pace that is appropriate for them developmentally. 

Am I utilizing best practices? 

Educators have been in the business of teaching students since man started writing pictograms on cave walls. In modern history, we have discovered by research and confirmed those methods of teaching reading work. Due to this, various methods and resources are being put in place for literacy instructions. The question is, how proven are your methods of teaching reading? If they have, keep doing the right thing. If you have not thought of researching evidence-based literacy practices, use those instead. 

Is a bottom-up approach at the center of my reading instruction?

A bottom-up approach is a teaching approach that stresses the sub-skills connected with reading and writing and the testing proficiency in those sub-skills. No matter how you use literacy instructions, they must be taught in the right sequence to be effective. This means students first learn the basics, intermediate literacy, and more advanced skills. 

What did I miss? What questions should educators ask themselves if they want to know if they are teaching reading the correct way?