Analogy for Chapter 3

Preparing students to read is similar to teaching children to swim

When learning how to swim and to read you must be taught the basics to be able to build upon them.  For example, in swimming if you are not taught how to float on your back, you will not be able to swim backstroke.  When learning to read a student must be taught how to read words and understand sentence structure before they can read a novel.  Students must be allowed to practice their skills in both reading and swimming.  You must build upon prior knowledge of students.  No matter how much you teach a student something they must be aloud to practice their skills to improve them.  You must be encouraging of the students because not everyone will get the hang of it quickly.  You want the students to have confidence in their skills.  When they do the students will be more likely to continue to practice them and have interest in it.