Besides Sound It Out

I found this article to be very informative. I really enjoyed learning about using the technique of coaching when teaching students how to learn to read. I especially liked the suggested teacher strategy called coaching groups. I know many teachers become stressed because they want to work with their students on specific areas but with a set curriculum to follow it can be difficult to work one on one with their students. Group coaching could be used when other students are at their centers or areas. Many can't work individually withtheir students a lot because it interrupts whole group instruction. This allows the teacher to work with the student more closely while also encouraging other students to help their classmates. Lastly, I really enjoyed the examples they gave in the article about the different ways to coach students and the cues that you can give them. I believe this coaching technique is wonderful and successful as it puts the learning in the children's hands rather than the teacher simply saying "sound it out". It teaches children to learn to read words rather than to learn rules and sounding out.