Abstract:
Abstract: Teaching strategies are techniques that teachers use in teaching to ensure that intended concepts are
acquired by the learners. One of the teaching strategies used to develop reading skills among pre-primary children
is group work. The use of ability grouping, heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping and cooperative group work
have been found to improve teaching competencies among pre-primary children. The purpose of this study was to
establish the effects of group work as a teaching strategy on development of reading skills among pre-primary
children in Manga Sub-County, Nyamira County, Kenya. The target population for the study was 120 pre-primary
teachers and 840 pre-primary children. The study used cluster and simple random sampling in obtaining a sample
size of 19 schools, 36 pre-primary teachers and 252 pre-primary children. Data was collected by means of
questionnaires, reading test and observation checklists. The findings indicated that there was a weak positive
correlation (r=.354, n=34, p<.05) between teachers’ use of group work as a teaching strategy and pre-primary
children’s development of reading skills. Findings of this study could help pre-primary teachers to evaluate their
instructional practices in the teaching of reading and also help curriculum developers in carrying out in-service
training courses.
Keywords: Group work, Pre-primary children, Reading skills, Teaching strategies.
