Reading takes work and since the work goes “underground” the concept becomes daunting for students who need to work harder than others because it is not a visual process. How do we impress upon all students that reading at any age takes practice and work?
Working with students that struggle with reading, I have to be prepared to teach them that we all struggle. I always discuss the books that I am reading with my students and I share stories about my journey learning to read. I share stories of my elementary school experience when I needed a reading teacher to help me learn to read. I tell stories about reading science text in high school and college that didn’t make sense to me. I tell stories about my struggles to decode science text and about how I reread single paragraphs 3 or 4 times to get the gist of the text. I use think-alouds to demonstrate how students should think about reading and often will reread the same text multiple times to demonstrate the importance of practice with reading. I have encountered unknown words while reading aloud to students and instead of reading through the sentence without knowing the meaning, I model looking for context clues, looking the definition up, etc. for students. Students have to see and hear our thinking in order to know how to think about books.
-What stood out to you in these chapters?
Many things stood out to me in these chapters. First, I think it is important to note that the author addresses the fact that we need to stop teaching to the test. Teaching students for a test doesn’t prepare them for the real world. Next, the difference between responsible readers and responsive readers impacted my thinking. We need to create more responsive readers. Also, the lesson plan template is a great tool to utilize when planning instruction and during parent-teacher conferences.
-How does the Science of Reading impact your instruction? (regardless of content ar
My students need phonics and word recognition instruction daily. I also incorporate read-alouds to teach background knowledge and vocabulary. Vocabulary instruction is crucial to build comprehension.
-What skills are important to be able to read?
The skills listed in figure 3.1 is a great list of reading skills needed and it is good to see the difference between skilled and struggling readers. I also think it is important to have confidence in learning to be able to read well. We have to develop safe places for children to learn to read.