Childhood Development: Reading & Writing Strategies

Strategies for Reading and Writing

Strategies to improve reading and writing skills take several forms. The most basic and fundamental strategy is to improve comprehension. Specific reading comprehension skills include reading material and trying to make predictions about the material before reading beyond the title or section heading (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). In this way, the child is focused on the outcome and this creates a deeper understanding of the material.

Another strategy is to have children discuss the material being read. Asking questions about the material also reinforces comprehension and this can also be used with writing skills by having children write down their thoughts concerning reading material (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). This act of discussing and writing about the material also serves the strategy of relating knowledge with the material to develop greater comprehension.

Essentially, these strategies work both with reading and writing. The same strategies are used throughout development but as children age, their thinking becomes more complex and the relation of knowledge to material becomes greater because they have more vocabulary and ideas to link (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). But by focusing interest in the material and creating activity around it will form the basis of all reading and writing strategies.

References

McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Child Development: Educating and Working with Children and Adolescents Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Pearson Education, Inc.

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