There are 26 names of letters of the alphabet in English and more than 40 sounds associated with them and their combinations. These skills get better when children are read to at home before they come to school and when they learn that reading is a fun activity shared early with their family. Then, children need to read fluently. They need to recognize words automatically, not sounding out every letter or group of letters. Finally, children need to construct meaning from the print they decode.
Good readers connect what they read with what they already know.
They summarize, predict, clarify what they read and use questions to guide their understanding. They are exposed to and ask these questions of a variety of texts. Students must want to read. Motivation is critical for learning the difficult task of reading and this is particularly true for older students. Demonstrate how readers get meaning out of text by relating to their prior experience, asking questions, summarizing what they have read, and the like.