An investigation into how teachers support learners reading in grade one: a study of a selected primary school in Kenya, Kisumu County, Nyando sub-County

Reading is very important as it helps the learners to interpret information. Its foundation in young learners enhances their understanding of other subjects as well. It is for this reason that teachers should ensure that learners in grade one are taught how to articulate words well and be in a position to read. In order for reading to be meaningful to these learners, teachers should make it real and meaningful by using relevant resources when teaching so that learners can easily master them. The objective of this study was to find out which materials teachers use in teaching reading in grade one, the challenges teachers face while teaching reading and how they overcome these challenges. The participants in this study were three teachers from one school purposively sampled. Multiple methods of data collection were used which included document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observation. Findings from this study reveal that teachers use a number of materials in teaching reading, which includes course books, storybooks, magazines, ABC charts, Manilla papers, writing and display boards, realia and models, and writing words on the ground. On the challenges that teachers face while teaching reading, the study found out that there is a disconnect between Tusome and CBC, abrupt curriculum changes, unstructured books, inability of learners to recognize letters of the alphabet, inadequate and lack of in-service training, pronunciation difficulties, lack of enough reading materials both at home and in school. Among the ways in which teachers address these challenges include; going for in-service training to equip themselves with necessary skills, applying different teaching strategies and preparing teaching and learning materials. The study recommends that more teachers should be employed to reduce the teacher-learner ratio; the government should also increase the budgetary allocation to the ministry of education to cater for the addition of more reading books. Finally, it recommends that further research on how teachers support learners with reading should be carried out but with a larger sample