Many websites and programs are designed to build the reading skills of children of all ages. Interactive books online allow a child to hear the words as she follows along visually with the words. This builds phonetic awareness and helps develop vocabulary. Some online reading programs allow children to click on a word they are unsure of to hear it spoken.
Any board game with letters and words will help develop reading skills. You can also invent your own reading games. Create a scavenger hunt based on word clues, or have children play with word searches or crossword puzzles. Younger children can cut letters from magazines and newspapers and glue them to paper to construct words. Where there is a letter, there is a reading skill-building game.
Interactive whiteboards, such as SMART products, can be found in classrooms across the country. Larger whiteboards are connected to a computer, and teachers can display reading content and lesson plans from multiple sources for the entire class to see. These white boards help early readers with concept mapping and sharing class predictions while previewing a reading lesson plan. Smaller whiteboards, designed for student use, have built-in touch screens and graphic organizers on which older children can take notes on plots, characters, cause and effect and other processes.
Word walls allow teachers to introduce new words and vocabulary found in the students' readings. Students can write the words to be placed on the walls, manipulate them to form sentences and use the wall as they read and write during classroom activities. Students can read the words aloud together as new words are added each week. This helps improve phonetic awareness and word recognition.