Proficient Readers

The online article that I chose to connect to chapter one is “Early Warning!”  This article can be found by clicking here. 

“Early Warning!” is relevant to chapter one because it reflects the importance of teaching early literacy. Children that are not reading at grade level by third grade are at risk of educational, social, and emotional issues later on in life. This article informs teachers and pre-service teachers of the effects that children can have if they are not proficient readers by third grade and what we as pre-service teachers can do to help reduce or illuminate those factors.

“Reading proficiently by the end of third grade can be a make-or-break benchmark in a child’s educational development.”

“Early Warning!” also includes additional information about No Child Left Behind, the need for children to be developmentally ready to learn, and the five essential components for teaching literacy. These topics are introduced in the chapter, but further elaborated in the article.

The article ends with recommendations that teachers, parents, anyone can do to help increase the amount of children reading on grade level by third grade. What can you do to make sure your students are proficient readers?  

I find this article interesting because it includes how living in poverty can also affect children's literacy skills. Last semester teaching and practically living in a high poverty area increased my passion about teaching in an area many people may not necessarily want to teach in. I highly recommend you to read this article with an unbiased mind of high poverty schools. This article gives incredible information about teaching children to read proficiently by third grade and includes a variety of charts about children’s reading abilities throughout the United States.