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AdultLiteracyTeachReadingtoAdults
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you teach someone to read and write with this eBook, you will be left in no doubt what to teach, how to
teach it and the best way to teach it. Read through the teaching notes for each Module before teaching it.
This will ensure that you use as few words as possible when explaining how to segment words.
1. First, check that your student can pronounce the individual sounds heard in the English language.
(See the Pronunciation Assessment in the eBook. Pages 154-155)
2. After reading the instructions for testing (page 156 in PRS) set the General Phoneme Assessment
(Pages 158 159) to discover at what level the student is able to read at using the sounds in words.
3. Next, narrow down a starting point in the course for your student by setting the specic
assessment for the Module where your student made their rst mistake when reading.
4. Check recognition of the alphabet and the sounds that they make. (See Modules three to seven in
PRS.)
5. Check that they know how to blend two sounds together to make a word. Use a list of nonsense
words for this task. (See Practice Reading and Speaking Module nine.)
6. As you begin to teach reading to adults, teach phonics systematically in order of diculty. Give
attention to High Frequency words as these make up 50% of our everyday reading. (A list of these
can be found on pages 75-76. Theyre listed by the Module that theyre found in. Concentrate on
the reading and spelling of these words whilst you teach them how to blend and segment the
words found in each Module.) Being able to speed read the sample words in each phonemegrapheme group is also important as it enhances memory.
7. Test the adult literacy student before you teach a Module to discover what they are able to read
from what you are about to teach. Test after teaching to check for improvement and assimilation.
(Module Assessments for before and after teaching are found on pages 160-171.)
8. Students should read material regularly that is age appropriate. This will give them practice in using
what they have learned, by reading sentences, paragraphs then pages of text.
9. Work at the adult literacy students own pace. Encourage them to teach you, family or friends what
they have learned. This will aid memory and help them discover what they need to spend more
time on. (We tend to remember 90% of what we teach others and put into practice.)
10. When you teach reading to adults, teach basic English literacy skills too. (See the English Simplied
chapter on pages 114-134 in Practice Reading and Speaking.)
11. Continue to teach reading to adults until they have a uent adult reading age. There are 70
Modules or pages in the course in Practice Reading and Speaking. They cover every spelling of
every sound (over a thousand) that the student is ever likely to come across in English texts in
order to read uently. A useful index demonstrating the dierent ways a single letter or group of
letters can be pronounced is found in the back of the book (pages 176-178). This is a useful
reference guide as you teach reading to adults.
Teach Reading to Adults who have Failed to Learn to Read and Write
Adult Literacy students, who need help with reading, phonics, writing and basic literacy have a variety of
reasons why they havent learned to read and write uently. When you teach reading to adults, before
you can banish their fears of text and motivate successful learning, try to isolate the reason why they
failed to learn to read well. It could be that the English skills needed for life, werent taught because the
http://www.teachreading.info/teachreadingtoadults/
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student missed school regularly. Maybe, dyslexia unrecognized in childhood, prevented them from
making reading progress. Perhaps, a heavy workload looking after a sick parent meant that as a child
they missed school regularly so teachers were unable to help them catch up. Lastly, when you teach
reading to adults be aware that sometimes a brain injury can interfere with the usual learning process.
When you help someone learn to read, remember that adult literacy students need an understanding
teacher who will teach reading to adults with sensitivity.
Before you begin to teach reading to adults, assess pronunciation then their knowledge of phonics and
the ability to read simple words. This will ensure that when you teach adults to read you help rather than
hinder their progress. Teach one fact at a time. If you try to teach too much at a time, the adult literacy
students ability to process what they are learning will be impeded. All you are doing is building a brick
wall in their mind and reinforcing the negative thought that they cant do this. Remind them at the
beginning of the lesson what they have learned so far. Track progress consistently. Aim to understand
your adult literacy students learning strengths. Keep lessons positive and give lots of praise when you
teach reading to adults. (A mind with a smile can learn for a while.)
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When you teach reading to adults and teach adult literacy skills, students often make remarkable
progress in the workplace. It may be that the adult has been oered a job and knows that they will have
to go through some sort of test in the interview. This could raise motivation enough for the adult literacy
learner to speed up the process of learning to read and write more eciently. Yet others have come to a
point in their life, when what others think of them is no longer an issue.
way that a child now learns phonics and learns to read.) The adult literacy student will need to learn how
to process the information in a dierent way.
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for an adult literacy student to learn to read as an adult, its easy to tire quickly. Your students brain will
virtually shut down at times, making the student feel sleepy. Short sessions with lots of breaks, is vital.
Teach only what can be readily absorbed in each session. Although its tempting to try to cram as much
as you can into when you teach reading to adults, what will keep them coming back is the simple method
you use to teach reading and teach phonics along with the students ability to grasp and memorize basic
principles. When you teach reading to adults, at the end of the lesson wet their appetite for what they will
learn in the next lesson in order to motivate them to return. The book Practice Reading and Speaking
can be used with any age group to teach reading and teach phonics to adult literacy standards. It also
includes a brief but thorough overview of the skills needed to write well as an adult.
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you have all that you need to hand in one book. You can test adult literacy students reading, teach
them phonics help them learn to write and spell to adult literacy standards. Teach pronunciation to adult
literacy students whose rst language is not English. English learners can learn to recognise how to
pronounce words by learning phonics.
For a free preview of the eBook, to look inside it and to buy it click here.
contact@teachreading.info
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