The look and say reading method dominated the classroom for more than 100 years. In this method, students learn to read words by sight. The "Dick and Jane" books, popular in the mid-1900s, used word repetition to aid in word memorization. Reading by sight has gained renewed popularity with multi-sensory learning techniques, which use sight reading in combination with other sensory stimulation.
Flashcards and word repetition are the key components of the look and say reading method. Flashcards for beginning readers have pictures of famliar objects with the name of the object. Reading books use progressive texts, repeating familiar words and introducing new words systematically.
Phonics teaches reading through the sounds of the alphabet, both individual letters and combinations of letters. Learning to read by phonics also involves learning certain rules of phonics, such as the rule of silent "e": Silent "e" makes the preceding vowel say its name, as in the word "nice."
Charts and phonetically written books are the backbone of the phonics method for teaching reading. Charts include the use of pronunciation symbols to aid the student in sounding out words. Phonetically written books use rhyming words and repetition of sounds for practice in learning how words change with the change of a letter or letters.
Language experience is a multi-sensory reading method that uses a child's drawings to teach reading. In this method, the teacher reviews a child's drawing and asks the child to tell about the drawing. The teacher then uses the child's own language and writes a sentence explaining the drawing.
Using the language experience reading method, children create their own books through collections of their drawings. Children are encouraged to read their books. Through the child's familiarity with their own drawings and the meanings ascribed to the drawings, the child remembers and learns the words.
Context support uses association to teach reading, similar to the language experience method. However, emphasis is placed on allowing children to select reading materials based upon their own particular interests. The theory behind the context support method is that students will learn to read if they are motivated to read.
Context support reading requires a great deal of individual attention to students. A variety of reading materials and books is essential to the success of this method.