Reading Instruction and the Big 5

In 2000, the National Reading Panel identified five key components to reading instruction—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. It is imperative to preplan lessons in teaching reading and preparing for comprehensive reading lessons. Here are some questions to ask as you develop your lesson plans.

Assessment: What tools have I already used or can I use to formulate a picture of my students’ reading ability?

Instruction:  What background knowledge is required of my students for this lesson? Do my students need to have knowledge of a particular process in order to understand knowledge presented in the current lesson? What skills should my students develop upon lesson completion? How will each of the 5 reading components be emphasized in this lesson? Will my students benefit from grouping arrangements in addition to or instead of larger group instruction?

Materials:  What kind of materials will facilitate the learning process? Will students gain from having a choice of different materials? Do my chosen materials reflect the experiences/ opinions of people from diverse backgrounds?

Evaluation:  How will I determine that my students have mastered both the knowledge and the skills intended? What will my students do to demonstrate that they have acquired both knowledge and skill? How can I offer choices to demonstrate mastery?

This is just one type of pre-planning for lessons in reading instruction. The important piece to take away is that there is a need to plan for reading lessons to ensure that skills and knowledge taught are the skills and knowledge acquired.

If you would like the full article, which provides a sample lesson plan as well, or you have instructional strategies or lesson planning tips that you would like to share, please email Denise Kelly.

From Ming and Dukes. “Gimme Five: Creating a Comprehensive Reading Lesson with all the Essential Elements.”