Phonics is the most well-known and widely used method of teaching reading and writing in the English language. Students must know the alphabet before they can learn phonics. Students learn the names and sounds that each letter makes. Two-, three- and four-letter words are then strung together so that students can sound out words phonetically while reading them. Learning to read in this method requires phonetic books.
The look and say method involves teaching students how to read by teaching them to recognize entire words or sentences rather than individual sounds and letters. This method requires the use of pictures accompanying words and sentences in order to be effective.
Write a short sentence explaining the picture. Say the sentence and have the student repeat it while you point at each word. Start with words and work up to sentences that use those simple words such as "The cat is on the mat." Be careful to include pictures to avoid the student using memorization, instead of recognition, to provide the correct answers.
The language experience approach uses the student's own words to help him learn how to read. Ask the student to make a drawing. When finished, write a short sentence beneath the picture. If the child draws a picture of his dad driving, write "Dad is in the car" beneath the picture. After about 20 pictures have been created, staple them into a book and provide tracing paper for the student to trace over the words beneath each picture. This method may work well with young children as a first exposure to reading.
Select books that the student likes to read that tell stories about subjects he is interested in. Look for books that have longer sentences on one page and shorter, three- to five-word sentences on the other page. You may read the longer sentences while the student reads the shorter ones.
You may also choose to combine the context supported method with other methods. For example, when starting, point out letters and their sounds to students. Sound out simple words and have students repeat. Soon students will be able to read the short sentences in their favorite books on their own, and they will have fun learning how to read.