Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

                The importance of reading and clarity of instruction have only deepened since the start of this program. Reading is much more than identifying the words on a page. Through this course, I now have a firm understanding of what reading is how and how to structure instructional time accordingly. Weaver’s text, Reading Process and Practice, has shaped and helped increase my love and excitement for reading instruction.

            Many believe that if students can simply sound out the words on a page proficiently, or with minor miscues they are demonstrating the process of reading. I believe this to not be true, as reading requires comprehension of the particular text, not identification of letter sounds or individual letters or words. In greater detail, reading takes place when the reader them self is able to gain meaning and literal understanding from what they are reading. In order for comprehension to take place, the reader’s schema must be established and aligned with the particular text. Schema is described as ‘an organized pattern of thought or behavior. It can also be described as a mental structure of pre-conceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information’. As a reading teacher, this means that if the reader has not be exposed to and/or taught the background knowledge or prior information of the text (schema), then the reader’s understanding of the text is construed and distorted. It is very important to equip readers with background knowledge of the text, in return building their schema.

            In primary grade levels, I once thought that letter-sound relationships were important and crucial for beginning readers. Through Weaver’s text, I now see how phonics and sounding out words by using phonemes can be detrimental to a student’s reading process. I think that using onsets and rimes when assisting students with unfamiliar words, is one of the more useful and beneficial strategies. The onset is the initial consonant sound (b- in bag, sw- in swim), and the rime is the vowel and the rest of the syllable that follows (-ag in bag, -im in swim). By using onset and rimes to help with unfamiliar words, students are more focused on ‘chunking’ word sounds verses the individual phonemes.

I have come to have a new appreciation for miscues. In the past, I have thought of miscues as merely errors, thinking of them with a negative connotation. In fact, miscues are not necessarily errors, as many of the most proficient (effective and efficient) readers miscue more often than non-proficient readers. It is important to understand the difference between miscues, as some miscues actually indicate proficient reading qualities. When miscues occur, it is imperative that the teacher identify whether or not the miscues impacted the meaning of the text or not. It is found, that the miscues proficient readers make do not change the meaning of the text. For example, the reader may change the word home to house, in the end keeping the meaning the same. Typically, proficient readers miscue more often, as they are more engaged in the meaning of the text, verses saying/sounding out every single word on the page. I am very interested to see what type of miscues my students make next year, as I now look at miscues differently.

Through Weaver’s text and the extension assignments of this course, I believe that I have broadened my understanding of the qualities an effective reading teacher must possess. I am looking forward to implementing reading instruction and the workshop model in my classroom next year, as my perspective and level of knowledge have grown.