**When teaching reading in science you are teaching many new big unpronounceable words**

Science is a subject with many new and big words and some do not follow the phonics rules so some can be difficult to pronounce. But not worry once the student has read the new science words many times and has looked up the meaning in the dictionary they should remember them,

hopefully. So make sure all the students have a dictionary and know how to use it.

This is where repetition comes, the more times the student is exposed to the new words the more chance they have of remembering them.

I like an active classroom so I write the new words on the blackboard and get the students to write a word with a similar meaning or the meaning of the word on the blackboard. This way you, as the teacher, can find out how much or now little the students know. For new science words I have used flash cards with a picture and the word written on it. ‘A pictures tells a 1000 words’ as has been said many times.

Some students think this is very childish and I must admit it is, but it works.

Pictures are better for the students who are struggling. The better students don’t need them. Nowadays with the wide range of reading abilities in the class you need to use as many different ways as possible to reach as many students. So when teaching reading in science just remember you are teaching reading comprehension and building up words lists of new words. But to be proficient the students must read in their spare time. The more reading they do the better they are at reading.

For more information about phonics courses I recommend including a Montessori course see our Teach Reading page.