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the hemshaich book by ptach is a good overview of kriah that will help you identify any problematic areas a child has.  it should take about a year to complete in class.

It is vital that they recognize a shoresh, prefix and suffix. It is unbelieveable how much simple word recognition helps when a student attempts to read a word that is very much familiar but not to one who has not yet grasped the concept of basic hebrew word structure.

As a non-professional I can just give you my personal opinion which is PRACTICE. If you have a child reading tehillim every day either a few pesukim or a perek depending on their stage after time they will gain fluency. But, it must be consistant, daily practice. If they are not ready for tehillim just send review kria sheets every day. Hope this helps.

yes, its a very good idea to read the tehilim, i always do it with my students and its a real challenge for them to finish the Sefer in less than a year,they love the idea(you should explain them first the great success of tehilim in Hashem ears...)

One approach (that does not detract from valuable class time) is to occasionally have the students read birkas hamazon and their tefillos as opposed to “singing” them. Frequently, students will memorize parts of the tefillos as “songs”  (especially auditory learners) so the tefillah experience ceases to be a reading centered activity.
                When I taught younger grades I frequently would have Kriah checks, each student would occasionally  be pulled out of the regular tefillah for a few minutes to read (not sing) a familiar part of the tefillah  followed by their reading an unfamiliar part. I  was always surprised to find how many mistakes creep into even the most serious  student’s pronunciation of oft repeated tefillos.  When the tefillos are sung, the mistakes are repeated and reinforced along with everything else. Keeping Tefillah grounded in  Kriah provides a checks and balances system for keeping tefilot error free.

Hi! Does anyone have any ideas how to help the students gain fluency in their kriah in grades 1-3, once they've learned the nekudos and can read simple words accurately.

My school is looking for a tried and true method on testing the children on their Kriah skills.  I guess in some way I am an old timer teacher and judge every child by their abilities and then I work with them.  In all my years of working with young children I have had only two children leaving my class that couldn't read.  They both unfortunately had major disabilities. 
Yet I told my principal that I would look into different testing methods and see which one would work for us.  If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.

I can be reached at BIpreschool@aol.com

thanks for your help
Tova

In my master's research, I found that 30-40% of kriah speed is determined by word recognition.  The more familiar a word is, the faster and more accurately it can be read.  The key to word recognition is overlearning.  Bezras Hashem, I will be presenting a session on this at the convention this year about how to use flashcards in a fun way to build a huge vocabulary

Hello.

I'm not a Kriyah expert, and I haven't taught young kids the initial stages of reading, but I have witnessed a dramatic improvement in my past year's 3rd grade, with not the best readers - using the "D.E.A.R." program I posted here (on EChinuch).

The kids really improved their fluency, and it was fun and exciting.
You can do a search for the sheets that are available on this site, and make your own for every topic you wish - Chumash, Davening etc.

I've also used Rabbi Neumen's Hemshech wokbook which was very helpful to pinpoint the areas each child needs to practice.

A few years ago at the New Haven Hebrew Day school, we also used Rabbi Fried's Kriyah Scan, which has a real tracking system.

Hatzalacha Rabba
- Chayim B. Alevsky
rabbicba@gmail.com

Aside from Rabbi Fried's Kriyah Scan, has anyone heard of or had access to the new DIBBLES testing for kriyah, or know how to find it?

As a new Kodesh SENCO and Hebrew Reading Coordinator in a Jewish primary school in the UK, I am looking for new methods for teaching reading, and also a method to diagnose reading problems. 

Where can I get the Hemshaich book mentioned?

Also, has anyone got a good method for reading assessment for the whole school ages 5-11?

Thanks,
Mrs Cynthia Kleerekoper
cynthiakleerekoper@ukonline.co.uk

You can pick up Hemsheich at Chaim's Books in Golders Green.