Significance of Instructional Materials in the Development of Reading Skills of Grade I-Lily

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Instructional materials are defined as resources that organize and support instruction, such as textbooks, tasks, and supplementary resources. According to Obanya (2001), IMs are didactic materials things which are supposed to make learning and teaching possible. In views of Abdullahi (2003), they are materials or tools locally made or imported that could make tremendous improvement of a lesson if intelligently used. Reading is considered to be "the mother of all skills" (De Guzman, Donisa, & Sabio, 2010). Reading is defined as a cognitive process that involves decoding symbols to arrive at meaning. Children pay more attention during an activity if IMs are being utilized. IMs play a big role in the reading development because it stimulates interest from the learner. In this study, the researcher wants to find out:

1. What instructional materials help effectively in the development of the reading skills of the Grade-I Lily?

2.How is the reading ability of the pupils affected by the instructional materials as to:

a.Visual instructional materials

b.Audio-visual instructional materials

c.Manipulatives

3. To what extent is the availability and adequacy of IMs improve pupils' reading skills?

METHODS

The study used descriptive research in the assessment of the reading instructional materials that was participated by 37 pupils of Grade I-Lily. The researchers used the pre-reading assessment and the post-reading assessment result of the Grade I-Lily as a main tool in gathering the data needed. Statistical tools used in this study were mean (weighted and composite mean) and range.

RESULTS

The Reading IMs which helped effectively in the reading development of the pupils were visual materials such as flash cards and printed materials, Audio-Visual materials such as audio-video of phonic sounds and audio-video of stories with captions/subtitle and manipulative IMs such as domino word games and show me board. The extent of flash cards as visual IMs is in small extent while printed materials are in the very small extent in developing the reading skills of the pupils of Grade I Lily.

DISCUSSIONS

Different Reading IMs must be utilized in developing pupils reading skills. Utilize Audio-Visual IMs more frequently, especially show me board, in developing the reading skills of the pupils. Pupils should be engaged visually and the phonics or syllables must be audible for easier sound recognition. Teachers should use reading IMs in teaching and developing the reading skills of the pupils.