Shared reading is a technique used for beginners to reading. The kindergarten teacher reads to the group from an enlarged copy of the book. The teacher points to the words as he reads them, allowing children to follow the words and join in with reading whenever possible. This introduces the students to the idea of the text holding the meaning. It also teaches the progression of the words from left to right across the page.
Guided reading involves either one-to-one teacher-student practice or reading in small groups of children. This allows the teacher to pay closer attention to the individual child. The teacher assists the students in developing strategies to determine words through accompanying pictures, context, letter and sound relationships, and word structure. Through Guided reading helps students learn the skills necessary to read alone.
Teachers can use flash cards in several ways, depending on the skill level of the children. Cards can have both a picture and a word, to help the child relate the text and meaning, or just the word, used to test a student's knowledge. The teacher can create games with the flash cards. For beginners, this could involve matching a picture with a text flash card. More advanced students could use the flash cards to form simple sentences.
Learning to read words that they frequently encounter helps students acquire the skill of automatic recognition. This enables students to read more quickly, therefore assisting in comprehension. Kindergarten teachers can teach these words using activities such as highlighting words and setting goals for students to learn one or two each week. Students could form the high frequency words themselves, using some form of letter tiles.