Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Laura Jordan

EDRD  : Dr. Ritchie

Due: 7/17/2012

Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

            At the beginning of this semester I already felt like I knew a lot about literacy instruction because it truly is a passion of mine.  But over the last six weeks I have learned so much and am looking forward into implementing many of these strategies into my classroom come August.

            I think that when discussing how children read I think the most important strategy is print exposure.  From a young age children are surrounded by print and if they are able to develop a meaning for these words and pictures it will help them build a context so that they have background knowledge, in their schemas. When students learn something new, especially at a young age, they are able to store that memory that will eventually help them build upon something new the next time they learn something.  By teaching children about print or reading to them at an early age, they are gaining an advantage so that they will already be exposed and have context meaning to many ideas and concepts.

            From a very early age the best thing that I recommend to parents who want to know about what they should do with their child is: read, read read! I believe that the more time students spend reading, the more words, ideas, story lines, and vocabulary they are introduced t .  I think that children should not be told what books they can and cannot read, for that will cause confidence issues.  By allowing students to pick which books they want to read, they are more likely to read.  And as I previously stated, getting students in front of print is the only way they will continue to grow as readers. There is also something to be said about finding what interests your student.  If exposed to interesting concepts, this child is more likely to be intrinsically motivated to read.

            Children also learn to read based on the environment in which they are surrounded.  When children are able to read what they want, be read to, and have someone they can ask questions to, they are going to gain more insight and build their schemas as well as acquire more background knowledge to help them grow as readers.

            There are many strategies that teachers can implement to teach reading effectively.  I believe that with comprehensive literacy instruction, students are given the holistic approach, meaning that they read to gain information as a whole, not to focus on each word by itself.  As previously stated the best way for students to learn to read is to let them read. Allowing students to experience reading is a great way for them to become exposed to different types of books.  By making the options unlimited the students to gain insight into new topics as well as look to understand various types of texts. Reading workshop sets the student up to do just that.

            With there being less focus on phonics, students are able to read more and learn new words through the use of background knowledge in the books that they are reading.  When students are not worried about breaking a sentence down word by word they are able to read the sentence as whole, the paragraph as a whole, the book as a whole.  This allows the students to comprehend what they are reading.

            One of the best ways to teach reading is through a collaborative classroom.  I think it is extremely important for the class to be a whole.  This allows the teacher to gather the students on the rug and teach a mini-lesson.  When the whole class is being taught, each of them is taking in this new information, and filing it away.  Teaching in a collaborative classroom also allows the teacher to model what is expected of the students.  When all of the students are seeing the teacher model a reading strategy, they are able to see what the teacher is thinking.

            Creating a collaborative classroom does not mean just meeting as a class on the rug. Students learn best with the support of others.  By allowing students to read with a buddy, in a book club, or with a teacher, that child is gaining support and allowing his peers or teacher to provide scaffolding.  This student is experiencing reading in a different light because there is someone there to provide support and feedback as well as complete the book so that the student is not alone.

            In conclusion, I think that the best way to teach literacy is allowing students to be exposed to text and think of it as a shared experience. They should be reading to buddies, teachers, parents, siblings, whoever will listen.  When students are able to share this experience, they gain more knowledge, which will only continue to help them become more proficient.  When students find something they love, they want to share it. This enables the students to become confident as well as learn to love reading.  Life longer learners and lovers of reading are my goals.