Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Personal Model of Reading Theory

            At the beginning of this semester I definitely viewed reading and teaching reading a little differently than I do now. I have been teaching for 6 years and have never had insight to literacy as much as I have through this reading class and our text Reading Process & Practice by Constance Weaver. I have always used a comprehensive literacy approach in my classroom, as I have always had reading and writing workshops. However, I view how children learn to read differently than I have in the past. My eyes have truly been opened to teaching literacy more efficiently and effectively from this point forward.

            At the beginning of this class I read about a skills approach and comprehensive approach to reading. The skills approach is more geared towards phonics instruction and decoding words specifically, without much incorporation with reading and writing workshops. A comprehensive approach leans more towards teaching literacy through a variety of activities in whole group, small group, and individual instruction, with an emphasis is reading for meaning and using prior knowledge to understand texts. Guided reading, shared reading, sustained reading, reading conferencing, shared writing, guided writing, and sustained writing are a few key components to a comprehensive literacy approach to literacy. Children learn to read by first and foremost seeing and hearing reading, which shows how important good “modeling” is for teachers to portray in the classroom. Reading aloud to students so they can hear proficient reading, while participating in predictions and discussions about the book is crucial for emerging readers. Making connections with text is very important for reading for meaning. Children who read texts and cannot make any connection with the text or have no prior knowledge of what they are reading are often discouraged as they do not understand what they are reading and there are several unfamiliar words and language.

            (Weaver, 2002, p. 44) states that whether or not words are pronounced correctly, the reader can still get essential meaning from the text. This idea supports the theory that we do not read texts pronouncing every sound in every word. Teaching reading should not be focused on strictly teaching phonics rules and word decoding.  Phonics instruction should be incorporated in reading and writing workshops. The children should be able to actually apply phonics skills taught while they are reading and writing, rather than learning phonics rules strictly for a spelling test.  Proficient readers are able to read passages, while not reading every single word, and they are still able to gain meaning from the text. This is due to the fact that proficient readers pay attention to beginnings and endings of words rather than pronouncing every letter sound in a word. Word patterns and building new vocabulary is done much easier through reading texts in guided reading groups and reading aloud, rather than completing a worksheet on phonics skills.

            It is also important for students to begin reading selections that interest them, rather than random passages about random things in which the students have no prior knowledge of. In Weaver’s book Reading Process & Practice, a passage was given with several unfamiliar words throughout that I was unable to pronounce. Foreign words were used that I had never seen before or had any what they were. I had to answer questions related to the passage, and this was very difficult. This was an example of how many worksheets and standardized tests provide passages and comprehension questions for students to answer, while the students have zero background knowledge of anything mentioned. Giving children passages where they are unable to make any connections with, is the wrong way to build proficient readers. Over time as children acquire necessary reading and phonics skills, children will be exposed to unfamiliar passages and their reading and phonics skills will allow them to be able to gain meaning from texts using context cues. However, it is important to begin children with books that they can relate so they can easily apply their strategies to gain meaning.

            Overall my reading theory of how children learn to read has changed a little. Throughout college and even learning from fellow teachers, fluency and accuracy have always been emphasized as a major component of reading for comprehension. I do realize now that this is not necessarily the case. No reader reads every word exact, but this doesn’t prevent gaining meaning. I am going to teach phonics instruction through reading and writing workshop now, instead of having separate blocked off time for phonics rules and spelling tests. It is proven that a phonics background is important to have, but not the key component for reading for meaning. I see the important of encouraging children to read and even write aloud as well. I have always read aloud to my students, but I want to give them more opportunities to read aloud. I am very excited about what I have learned thus far in this reading course and I can’t wait to implement these strategies and techniques in my literacy program this coming year.