Sunday, March 8, 2009
What is Reading?
What is reading? What are the different pieces of reading that we need to teach to our students? If you had to break it down, how would you do that and how much importance would you put on each individual piece? How do those pieces add up to make a "full" reading/learning experience for our students?Take some time on this one and really think it through. Where do we want to emphasize our instruction and how do we do that?
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I feel as though reading is the most essential part to learning. You can't really learn any other subjects without being able to read first. All elements of reading are extremely important and constantly working towards improving those elements. Comprehension skills and strategies should be introduced to children as soon as they begin understanding the phonetics of words and begin decoding.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to break reading down and decide which was the most important to teach and I would emphasize simply thinking about what you're reading. Along with the thinking will automatically come the connections, predictions, and questions. I tell my students very often to just "think" about what you're reading. They tend to get so caught up with making the "right" predictions and connections that they forget about what they're actually doing, just thinking. As students' reading ability matures they are able to think more abstractly and more in depth abou their reading.
I was a little stumped when I read the first sentence of the blog,"What is Reading?".To me reading is many different things, therapeutic,informative,an escape, educational,relaxing and necessary.To some, reading is a chore and not a pleasure,which I think is truly unfortunate since I believe it opens so many doors and stimulates imagination.Phonetics is the foundatiuon,usually taught in the early grades.Then comprehension strategies are the the focus in the higher grades.I believe that these pieces are of equal importance and I now feel that they should be taught in tandem(to a certain degree)in order to produce happy and productive readers.I realize that students learn at different speeds.Some will be ready to internalize reading strategies earlier than others and these strategies need to be available.I feel tha it is important to constantly reinforce all of these reading components thereby reaching as many students as possible over a period of time.
ReplyDeleteTo me, reading is the root of everything we learn in school. It is tied to every subject, every project, and every assignment we complete in school. It is also magical to kids. As a first grade teacher, its amazing to see a student have that awe moment where they realize they can read. Reading opens up so many doors, both real and make-believe. To make reading possible though, students need the fundamentals. They need phonics and practice. In order to do this, I think its important to expose kids to all kinds of reading. This includes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, cartoons, magazines, cookbooks, and other types of books. I thinks its important for them to see how authors present information and stories.The reading strategies help do just that. These help them make connections between books and to themselves; they help them find important imformation; they help them ask questions; and much more. I think if we start with the strategies and a diverse library, we are teaching kids how to read and how to think abuot their reading.
ReplyDeleteTo me, reading is the access to the world. I must admit that reading has never been enjoyable for me, but this is to my detriment.
ReplyDeletePhonetics is the foundation,and is what my students struggle with the most. identified students need to be able to develop the other strategies instead of waiting for their phonemic awareness to catch up to their peer group.
Comprehension strategies are the focus of our school district right now. I have seen a great improvement in students' abilities to relate to their reading since schema and Text-Text, Text-Self, and Text-World have been introduced. These strategies have allowed identified students to take part in the classroom discussions, as well. I am grateful for this.
I believe that it is important to reinforce all of these reading components on a consistent basis throughout every grade level.
I believe reading is essential to success as learners in all subject areas as well as throughout our lives. It needs to begin with phonics and phonological awareness skills accompanied with comprehensive stategies. It's through these stategies we learn to "think" while we read. We learn to ask questions, infer, wonder and use our schema. We learn to make connections with our readings which gives us a better understanding, appreciation and enjoyment along with a wonderful sense of "real reading". I also believe that a wide variety of reading materials, ex; magazines, newspapers...can enhance their schema and reinforce their "real reading". I think if children can find a connection with any of their readings, it will make them want to read more for enjoyment instead of "do I have to?"
ReplyDeleteReading is creating meaning and thinking. It involves discussion and being aware of your thinking. I think it’s important for students to be able to decode text, comprehend the text they are reading, and be able to think while they read. I also think it’s important for students to be able to recognize when they are confused about what they read and be able to have strategies in place to help clear up their confusion. Beginning readers are spending time on phonetics and then move on to the comprehension piece. Even in upper grades I think it’s important for students to have time for word study. This helps them with the meaning of words and how they originate. As students have more experience reading, more emphasis needs to be placed on whether or not they understand what they are reading and what they can do to help them to better understand what they read. Teaching the comprehension strategies is a big piece of this. I also think having discussions about your reading is so important to help you understand what you’re reading. There are so many times that I read the same book as someone else and come away with a whole new way of understanding the book just because I talked to someone about it. Students also need to know how to read in different ways. For example: you would read non-fiction much different than you would fiction. Overall, I think you need to have a balance of all these parts put together. I’d like to make the reading experiences we have in the classroom as close to a “real” reading experience as possible. I want my students to talk about what they’re reading and share an excitement about reading. I want them to be able to tell me when they’re having a hard time understanding what they read and to be able to come up with strategies to help them when this happens.
ReplyDeleteI believe reading is the most important subject that can be taught. It intertwines everything we do in school. Before I became a teacher in Salem, I never thought of teaching “reading as thinking” to my students. Now, I am able to see the importance of it and I really enjoy watching my students grow as readers. I do believe that there are several important parts to teaching reading and it’s important to find a balance in teaching them. I think the phonics aspect of reading is important, but if you focus too much on that one part, it may take away the magic. My students love to read for pleasure and they love read aloud time. I think we can all relate to getting lost in a good book! Also, it’s important to expose different types of reading to students (poetry, non-fiction, etc). Overall, my goal is for my students to become active readers and thinkers. I want them to be able to self monitor their comprehension and use any necessary strategies to help them understand what it is they are reading. If they are able to do this, then they will be able to apply these skills as they continue through school.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a hard one for me. Reading is so large a topic, so important, that it seeems overwhelming to try to narrow it down into a short paragraph. Whew!
ReplyDeleteI guess the simple answer is that reading is making meaning from the printed word. The difficulty comes in trying to explain how to get to that point. For two of my first graders the emphasis is still on decoding strategies. One boy in particular has a very hard time making meaning because the decoding process is such a struggle. For him I have to teach the strategies during read-aloud lessons. (So is making meaning from the SPOKEN written word still reading?) For the rest of my first graders, and all of my second graders, reading has become a vehicle to something greater. They read for enjoyment, they read to gain information, they make connections to their own lives which they love to share. Reading is also a social activity. As I do with my friends, my students have begun to make recommendations to each other about which books to read based on what they know about each other. This has been fascinating to watch happen! I love it when I hear a student say "Amy, I found a cat book for you," or "Jackie, I don't know which Junie B. book to choose. Which one do you like best?" I would no longer define Reading as a subject that is taught in school. I would like to think that Reading will be a way for my students to explore the world for the rest of their lives.
What is reading? That's a tough question with the possibility for many different answers. I think to me, reading is an escape, a chance to be part of a different world, even if only for just a short while. Reading is something that I enjoy and something that provides me with relaxation and entertainment all at the same time. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding or relating to my students who do not like reading because I just don't understand what it is to not like reading. As a reader I tend to stick to certain genres, but I feel that my love of reading and the fact that I read a lot, helps me when approaching an unfamiliar text that I need to read for school or to get information. I think that if I didn't have this love of reading, having to access a text that is challenging for me would be that much greater of a challenge. There are times when I dread reading a text book, but I know that I have strategies to make accessing that text a little bit easier so it is more bearable. I can't imagine being a student who hates reading and on top of that does not have strategies for making a challenging text more accessible to him/her. Therefore I think it is important for us as teachers to help foster a love of reading amongst our students. Are there going to be text that students are going to read in life that may not interested them or be at their "just right" reading level--of course. But what's wrong with getting kids excited about reading too? There's obviously more to reading than loving the escape from reality that it can give us, but I think having kids fall in love with reading is a good start and from there we can start to integrate the other pieces of reading.
ReplyDeleteI also think that reading is much more than just reading words. There's the whole piece that "reading is thinking" that I worry often gets neglected, especially when using a basal. And I think that we can start working on the thinking piece even at the primary level. Yes students need to learn to recognize sight words and how to decode words, but I also think that making meaning of the text can be integrated into this process. There is much more to a text than just being able to recognize and say each word.
This weekend a friend of mine from college came to visit. She teaches first grade in Brooklyn at a school that is heavily involved with the Teacher's College. She has been doing Reading and Writing Workshop since our college days and we spent a lot of the weekend talking about Reading Workshop. It may be hard to believe but she shared with me that her first graders were able to sit and read independently for 40 minutes one day last week and they actually wanted to try to read for 50 minutes (unfortunately the schedule didn't allow for it)! What was apparent to me from that is her students are ENJOYING reading, and I think that makes teaching students how to be better readers that much easier, especially since it is something they see as enjoyable rather than a task or chore. I think it is important to mention that she has about 20 students in her classroom, 8 of which have IEPs. Her classroom is full on inclusion with both a general ed teacher and special ed teacher in the classroom at all times team teaching. Were all her students "reading" for the entire forty minutes, no (that's a reality in all our rooms though-sometimes kids get off task). She has a diverse class of students (like we all do), with varying needs. But that's where conferencing and guided reading comes into play. These pieces help students who are struggling and addresses their needs, as well as provide higher level readers with a chance to work on strategies that will assist them in becoming better readers. There needs to be a balance of many different pieces coming together when teaching reading. And there is no cookie-cutter program. Sometimes you need to supplement when you notice what you've been doing is not helping a student progress as a reader. I think that's what I like so much about teaching using the Reading Workshop model--it gives you time to get to know your students as readers, address their individual needs and it allows for the balancing of the different pieces needed when teaching readers how to become good readers.
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ReplyDeleteI was a Special Education teacher for over 20 years and reading meant "Is this a b or a d?"...."now let's read about Nat the cat." Then we'll answer some really deep comprehension questions....not. By the time we got to the 5th or 6th reader in the series, it still felt like we were getting nowhere. Then I moved to grade 4 and now reading seemed like a race. Go on to the next basal story. Keep up with your peers. Do the vocab., read the text and answer the practice pages. Oh and don't bother with those creative thinking questions at the end of the story. We don't have time to do that drawing that shows what you visualized....
ReplyDeleteBut in the last couple of years, (thankfully) reading feels more like breathing. Reading is still the elements I consider to be important: decoding, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. But now they are done at a nonthreatening pace which accepts all my readers at all their levels of ability. My readers are being given tools and structure and strategies so they can access all kinds of text and find answers and enjoyment. We look at how parts of words fit together and how chunks of words have meanings that connect them to other words. We listen to rich writing and read poetry to develop our understanding of fluency. I really want the kids to be intrigued by the words they read and by the ideas reading opens their minds to. Thinking before, during and after we read has become key. Having a purpose for reading a piece has taken the place of "time to turn to the next story in the basal". My class is asking for reading time now rather than groaning about it. They are learning how to respectfully listen to others ideas. All of this is what reading is and should be. I am trying hard to accumulate the texts I need to have in my room so my students have a powerful experience with reading. In our changing times, the meaning of what reading is has also changed. It is not just sounding out words and answering detail questions. It is reading all variety of texts and then connecting to them and applying what you read and understood to your world. This all takes time and direct instruction and the right materials. But it is worth it because I see reading having a power over my students right now....and I want it to give them power too. Then they can have control over all their learning throughout their lives.
I feel the question on March 8 ties 3 areas together. I think that comprehension, decoding and fluency are the most important skills to be a good reader. As a student enters school they should be taught how to decode words.As you are working on decoding you should try to tie in comprehension. the student needs to know and understand what they read and be able to predict. Once these 2 skills have been worked on fluency should be added. I feel if the student understands the decoding and comprehension skills then the rate that they read will be much better. Many times a student is not as strong or understands these areas that well and it interferes with their reading. As the student goes up in grades some have a difficult time with these skills. I try to work in small groups to reinforce these skills and make them better. I hope to hear and get some more ideas from the group.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loaded question! What is reading? Sure it is making meaning out of the printed word- but it is way more than that. Reading is the key that unlocks lifes doors to all possibilities. Reading is enjoyment, getting lost in your imagination, gaining information, functioning in your daily routine. I have a 50 year old uncle who can not read. He doesn't even know how to read his schedule at his place of employment where he works as a dishwasher. He is too embarrassed to ask for help. It saddens me that he views reading (such a wonderful joy and GIFT) as a source of shame.
ReplyDeleteReading, of course requires phonics, vocabulary, comprehension. It consists of many complex skills all coming together to derive meaning from the text. Is one skill set more important that the other? If one is missing, are we REALLY reading? I think that in the younger grades it is important to start with phonics. However, teaching comprehension skills through read aloud lessons is also important. These are the lessons that instill that spark in children to want to read. These lessons bring purpose to the phonics lessons- they soon can read such wonderful stories. Reading IS thinking. Skill lessons on phonics and vocab are important and necessary, but the comprehension lessons are equally important-no matter what the age or ability level. How much time to we devote to each? I don't know. It is a balancing act that depends on the students' needs. I do know that each "piece" of teaching reading is important. I don't feel that real reading can be accomplished by teaching only one aspect. There has to be a balance.
To me personally, reading is like breathing. I know that sounds dramatic, but I don’t think I would survive if I couldn’t read something every day…for information, relaxation, fun, or just to keep my mind occupied by doing the crossword puzzle. So it is important to me that my students learn to enjoy reading and become good at it, since reading gives me so much joy in my life. I want them to have that, too.
ReplyDeleteThe different pieces of reading include all that other bloggers have said: decoding words, learning the meaning of the words, learning to read fluently, and of course, comprehending what is read. Teaching students to think and connect as they read is key to their success in our world, and to me, are the most important aspects of teaching reading at all levels. As we all know, the point of reading is to think about what you’ve read; that is also the joy of reading! Thinking and connecting reach each element of reading. If students habitually think and connect as they read, when they come to a word or phrase they don’t understand, our goal is to give them the tools to discover the meaning on their own. I realize that the students need to have reading strategies modeled for them so they can see how to go about checking in with themselves as they think about their reading.
A way we can emphasize our instruction is by providing the students with a variety of reading materials. As much as novels can engage them, students need to know how to read and get information from textbooks. Sometimes, students who are having a hard time with reading, or just don’t like to read, can be engaged by comic books or magazines. Kids always love poetry, and that too, is a way to get them reading. Showing them how to apply reading strategies with any genre will produce competent readers in any situation. Learning to use the strategies of reading will give students the tools they need to become thoughtful, competent readers throughout their lives.
I have been looking at this question over and over for several days, just feeling overwhelmed by it. I know reading is the most critical thing that I teach - the thing that my students will need for the rest of their lives and that will touch everything that they do and become. Since I started in first grade, reading has been a "which comes first?" riddle for me. I know that teaching students to think about what they are reading is what real reading is all about. I am an avid reader and I get that - the richness of really reading something - for education or for pleasure. But for most of the students that enter my class every year, just mastering the mechanics of reading - the phonics, the sight words, the punctuation - is still a goal in the distance. I have always felt kind of trapped - as if I need to get past the phonics and the nuts and bolts parts of reading, before I could get to the teaching of thinking about reading - the real substance, which was where I wanted to be! It always felt a little backward - where was the motivation to learn to read if you couldn't fully enjoy and appreciate text until you learned how to read? I think I was under the misconception that my students could not have a rich reading experience until they were fluent, independent readers.
ReplyDeleteLearning about Readers' Workshop and teaching the comprehension strategies is helping me to see how I can do both - teach children to think about their reading and give them rich reading experiences WHILE addressing the nuts and bolts of the phonics that first graders need to learn to be able to eventually read independently. I think that, in first grade, I need to place an equal emphasis on both the phonics and the comprehension strategies. Based on what I'm learning, it seems that readers' workshop is an excellent vehicle to accomplish both. I think that both pieces have equal importance - I think that the responsibility shifts as the year goes on, however, and the students are able to take more responsibility for their comprehension and their "real reading" as they gain mastery over the skills that allow them to read independently. I am very eager to start from scratch next year!
Am I always the last to blog?! It takes me about 3 sittings to actually sit down and read other peoples' ideas and then one very elusive chunk of time to respond. (By the way, I just reread my blog and realized I truly have the brain of a blogger. Remember, Tomasen says just write down what comes to mind. No one is grading me on this, right?)
ReplyDeleteI love reading other peoples' ideas. I realized while I was nodding my head through most of the blogs, how evident it is that we are all a bunch of teachers...reading teachers at that. That got me thinking. What if this were a question open to the general public? Just thinking out loud...My husband's answer to the question, "What is reading?" would certainly involve the word "sports" within the first sentence; Through reading he is able to stay current with one of his biggest passions in life. He would not like me saying it, but reading is pretty limited to that for him and if that's all it is, well then, mission accomplished, it has served its purpose.
My kids are just starting to love reading (smile) but for a while it was a way to eek out a few more minutes from the day b/c they knew if they wanted to have their light on after "bed time" it better be for reading a book.
Like any block of time more than 15 minutes in my life, reading can be elusive. I felt such an emotional reaction to Tara mentioning her uncle who is unable to read. How had it eluded him over the years? How many others are struggling this way? Through our varied approaches to teaching reading, will we prevent that from happening to any of "our kids"?
Reading is always a learning experience. I had an enlightening reading experience recently. At a book sale I picked up a copy of Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice. An avid reader, I thought, oh a classic, it's been a while since I have read anything like this. This experience put me in the shoes of my students. I'm a CRAZY slow reader, so after reading about 1/4 of the book over a two week period of time (remember the really small blocks of time in my life) I realized I should have been using sticky notes to annotate while I read because I found myself thinking, "Wait a minute, which sister is that? and Is that one his friend? Who the heck are they talking about?" In short, I may have been doing a bit of "fake reading" and not even known it. What a learning curve. That will surely influence my teaching.
Karen, I seem to be the last one to blog this time!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult question to answer. What is reading? To me it is a way to escape and to relax. Even though I have always loved to read, I remember struggling with comprehension in the lower grades. Back then when you struggled, the teachers would get mad at you, tell you to try harder and then ignore you. They didn't teach you strategies to improve your comprehension- they just told you to keep re-reading it until you got it. I was determined to make myself a better reader
and I did.
Whenever I come across a struggling reader, I always think back to that teacher who would embarrass me in front of the class because I could not understand what I had read. I would never want to be responsible for making a student dislike reading.
When I taught first grade, the beginning of the year was all about teaching decoding skills and then working on fluency. Once they were able to recognize words and have the skills to sound them out, we then worked slowly on understanding the text.
In fifth grade, the emphasis is on reinforcing comprehension skills. The students are building on their previous comprehension skills with new and "improved" strategies. I have seen so many students this year "think" more about what they have read then ever before. We are giving them the tools to think on a deeper level and I believe it is working for the majority of the students.