This is an important aspect of any reading lesson. This involves helping the student to understand the different sounds in language and learning to connect those sounds to different letters of the alphabet. Children are taught to associate different sounds with symbols they come to recognize as letters. Teachers instruct students on how to decode words from these beginnings of understanding the connections between sounds and letters.
Another key element in reading lessons is vocabulary. This is simply understanding the meaning of words, whether reading them, writing them or encountering them in oral or spoken language. If a child knows the meaning of a word as it has been spoken to him, when he decodes the word while reading he'll be able to understand the text and the word in context.
Fluency is defined as the ability to read accurately and with appropriate speed and phrasing. A fluent reader will sound as if she is speaking and will read rapidly. Silently reading with fluency will involve automatic reading, or reading where the student knows the word on sight without needing to stop and sound it out or decode it. Comprehension is when the reader understands the text that is read. Comprehension is considered the essence, or true meaning, of reading.
Writing and reading are language skills that go hand in hand. Writing helps solidify reading lessons. Oral language skills help develop a child's reading skills as well. Giving children a wider vocabulary enables them to understand more words that they encounter and decode in their reading lessons. Motivation is essential in getting a reader to become a self-directed learner and reader. Finding texts that interest the child and helping the child enjoy reading successes build more reading success.
Since comprehension is considered the key to reading, focus on this in reading lessons by asking questions while reading with the students throughout the reading lesson, not just at the end. Ask students to predict what will happen next or to evaluate why they think a character did something in the story. Try to always make connections between new material being read and information the student has already learned.