LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE ACTIVITIES

Language experience activities are an effective strategy to use with beginning level readers. Here students dictate an experience or story to the teacher. The teacher then records what students say. I strongly recommended that you use this activity with each intervention session for two reasons: First on an interpersonal level, language experience activities enable you to make personal connections with your students. You can find out what is going on in their lives as well as what they find interesting or significant. It also creates conversation around these events. This enhances your ability to relate to your students. Relationships are important in any kind of teaching, but especially so when dealing with struggling readers, as self-efficacy and motivation are often low with.

Second on an instructional level, language experience activities enable students to practice reading using words that are in their lexicon as well as their experiences and ideas. This make learning to read easier. Analytic phonics (modeled below) can then be used to develop letter-sound relationships with these familiar words and experiences.

Language experience activities can be used with large groups, small groups, pairs, or individual students.