How to Teach English in Primary School

In elementary school, students develop many basic reading strategies that they will depend upon throughout their lives. Teachers must work to build a foundation of literacy for their pupils by presenting an assortment of reading opportunities and instruction on language and sentence development. With engaging and educational English lessons, teachers can set their students up for reading success.

Read picture books in early grades so budding readers can draw information from the images to enhance their understanding of the text. In early reading development, readers can benefit from the presence of pictures. By looking at the pictures while they read, students can infer meanings of unknown words. Additionally, pictures often make the text more engaging for younger pupils.

Engage students in read-alouds. Students benefit from practicing oral reading as well as from hearing others engage in oral reading. When you read aloud with your students, do not use round-robin reading, or reading in which the reading responsibilities pass up and down rows. This method of reading has proved to be highly ineffective, according to the Scholastic website. Instead, rotate reading responsibilities randomly or select students in an unpredictable order.

Study the art of rhyme through the exploration of poems. By presenting engaging poems, you can allow students to enjoy the lyrical nature of language. Read poems aloud with your students and make classroom displays featuring poetic selections or engaging tongue twisters.

Study the basics of spelling. Spelling instruction is vital in elementary school. During these formative years, students learn the basic rules of spelling. Use leveled spelling lists with your students, providing continually more difficult words as they advance.

Explore parts of speech. By learning the functions of the different parts of speech, students can begin to understand how sentences are formed. Start with simple identification and move toward sentence diagramming activities in which students explore not just the parts of speech but also how words work together to form sentences and paragraphs.

Offer opportunities for creative writing. Elementary school students are naturally creative. Use this creativity to your advantage by engaging students in creative writing activities. Allow students to write stories regularly, encouraging them to hone their writing skills in an imaginative and enjoyable way.