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?
I think that the easiest way to get our students to understand that reading takes work is to demonstrate that it is a skill that can be practiced, improved upon, but never perfected. I also stress the difference between comprehending and understanding. I make real understanding, beyond just the words on the page, our true goal, incorporating background knowledge, historical, social, and emotional context, and various lenses to get to the heart of what is truly being conveyed by the text. There was a line in the prologue that really struck me, “reading offers us that chance to revise our lives.” Setting the purpose for reading, how we can apply what we’ve read to our greater understanding of the universe and our place in it, has really paid dividends with my kiddos- especially with those who have struggled in the past.
-What stood out to you in these chapters?
I spent the first eight years of my career in Florida, so of course I was struck by chapter 1 and the way it explains that the censorship of books and the devaluation of reading censors thinking. Like myself, so many of my Floridian colleagues are leaving the state, and some are leaving the profession all together, for this very reason .I loved the Kafka quote about how we should read books that stab and wound us, as well as Wolf’s explanation that the relatively recent invention of reading has altered the intellectual evolution of our species. This change is not only a tangible and observable evolution in our left temporal cortex; our hearts and souls are altered as well when we accept that books can be “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors.” Reading may be the antidote to the poison of truth-decay and willful ignorance that is dividing our species.
I was encouraged by chapter 2’s focus on responsible and responsive reading. Though I may not have used that exact terminology, that has been my focus for the last 13 years. I also found the charts in chapter 3 to be helpful in terms of decoding behavior and what reading deficits the behavior may be communicating.
-How does the Science of Reading impact your instruction? (regardless of content area)
I teach English, so the Science of Reading obviously impacts every aspect of my instruction, but focusing on that real science is my goal this year. In many English Education programs, we are taught to be literature teachers, opening new doorways for kids who already have the skills to grasp the text, but the reality is that many of our kiddos don’t. Focusing on the concrete skills involved in reading, like phonological awareness, fluency, decoding, etc. and the neurological processes behind those skills fascinates me.
-What skills are important to be able to read?
I mentioned some of these above (phonological awareness, fluency, decoding, etc) but I would also include activating background knowledge, stamina, and intellectual curiosity. The drive to question everything and never stop asking, “Why?”