SoR Series: Helping Parents Understand How Kids Learn to Read

Part 2: Why the Science of Reading Matters for the Classroom (and How Kids Actually Learn to Read!)

Welcome back! In Part 1, I shared a bit about the “Big 5,” or the skills every reader should have and why this research matters for your child. Today, we’re going into an early elementary school classroom (PreK-2) to see what this research actually looks like in action and why it’s a game-changer for kids learning how to read.

Reading Instruction in the Classroom:

So, what does science-based reading instruction look like day to day? If you get the chance to visit your child's classroom, here is what you might see:

✏️ Explicit and Systematic Phonics Instruction

Phonics is how the letters and sounds work together to make words. Phonics instruction must be both explicit and systematic, where the teacher teaches each letter-sound relationship directly and does so in an order that makes sense (teaching the sound an A makes before the sound SH makes). Lessons in phonics include learning about sound-letter relationships and gives the students a chance to practice playing around with sounds, letters and words.

As mentioned above, teachers introduce letters and sounds in a specific order. For example, a lesson might focus on the short /a/ sound and letters like a, m, t, s. Students practice blending sounds together to make words like mat or sat. Each lesson builds on the last, helping children “crack the code” step by step.

👀 Example from in the Classroom:

“Today, my students practiced blending ‘m-a-t’ into ‘mat’ and then reading ‘sat’ and ‘pat’ in a decodable text.”

✏️ Phonemic Awareness Practice

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and play with individual sounds, without even looking at the letters. Often, this is a specific routine in your child's classroom where kids are practicing skills like rhyming words, counting syllables in words and listening for specific sounds. When I was teaching kindergarten, I loved using Heggerty for phonemic awareness time. The curriculum attached movements to each skill we practiced, which made it so engaging for my kiddos and became one of my favorite times of the day.

Before letters even appear, kids play with sounds by:

• Clapping out syllables in banana (“ba – na – na”)

• Finding words that rhyme with cat (bat, hat, mat)

• Identifying the first or last sound in a word (“What sound does dog start with?”)

  
  

👀 Example from in the Classroom:

During circle time, my students played a rhyming game and had to find all the words that rhymed with ‘man.’ It was fun and they were learning about new sounds without even realizing it!”

✏️ Decodable Texts

Decodable texts are books written using the exact letters or sounds children have learned. The books will often follow a different spelling pattern or sound pattern. The idea is that students can read these texts independently because it matches the phonics they have learned and practiced.

These books give kids the chance to practice reading words they can actually decode, or sound out. This replaces things we have done in the past like, using the picture to guess the word.

A decodable story after learning m, a, t, p, s may include sentences like this:

"Pat sat on the mat."

👀 Example from in the Classroom:

My students read a story all about a Frog on a Log. They were asked to find other rhyming words in the text and were able to decode the other words that rhyme with frog, because of our lesson. They felt so proud that they could identify rhyming words and read the text.

✏️ Vocabulary Instruction and Comprehension Practice

Vocabulary is learning the meaning of words and how to use them. Comprehension is understanding what is read, not just pronouncing words. Together, these help children make sense of stories, explain them in their own words, and connect ideas to their own experiences.

At first, students will learn to read. However, students will also learn that they can read to learn. Students read to learn about new vocabulary, other experiences (similar or different to their own) and to further their understanding of a specific subject.

In the classroom, reading lessons go beyond just decoding. Teachers also

• Introduce new words and their meanings in a story

• Ask comprehension questions: “What might happen next?”

• Encourage retelling: “Can you tell me the story in your own words?”

👀 Example from the Classroom:

“After reading, my student explained the story in her own words and made a personal connection to the text. I knew the student was understanding and comprehending the text when she related the story back to something that happened to her over a year ago!"

Why This Matters

When reading is taught based on the Science of Reading, children gain:

• Decoding Skills: sounding out and reading unfamiliar words

• Fluency: reading accurately with expression

• Comprehension Skills: understanding words, texts and stories

• Confidence and Independence, while reading and learning

• A Lifelong Love of Reading, making reading feel doable and fun

How Parents May See This at Home

Here is what you may see at home that is directly related to how your young child is learning to read at school:

• Singing songs with letter sounds, rhyming words, etc.

• Looking at writing in your home and trying to decode or sound out words

• Asking what words mean and how to use them in a sentence

• Counting how many words are in a sentence

• Identifying words that they know in a book or text

A Final Thought

The Science of Reading is not just for teachers, it's for parents and families, too. While it can feel overwhelming to learn about, understanding how your child is being taught how to read can make a huge difference.

Next week, I will share practical strategies you can use at home to reinforce your child’s reading development that are aligned with the SoR in Part 3 of this blog series!

Until next time, Lexi :)