Teaching Reading in Today’s

Elementary Schools

THE READING ACT

Chapter 1
THE IMPORTANCE OF READING
Teaching reading in today’s schools is a challenging
vocation. Teachers are expected to-
 Prepare all students to do well on mandatory, high-
stakes standardized tests
 Choose methods that are research based and represent
best practices
 Work with an ever-changing array of technology

 Choose materials that are high quality, motivating and

appropriate from a multitude of titles available
 Deal with an increasing diverse population of
students-ELL learners and a variety of special
instructional needs.
THE READING ACT- THE IMPORTANCE OF
READING

 The ability to read is vital to functioning

effectively in a literate society.
 Learning to read takes effort- easier for some
than others
 Teachers show the importance of functional
reading by demonstrating- point out that
everyday life involves reading-menus, news,
advertisements, labels, signs, road signs, etc.
 Think of an example that you could use to show
the importance of functional reading for a Pre-K
or K classroom.
 A grade 3 classroom.
THE READING ACT- THE IMPORTANCE OF
READING
 Reading for enjoyment is the ultimate goal in
teaching reading
 As a teacher you can help your students see reading
as a pleasure by doing the following:
 Read to your students daily using a variety of genres,
themes, topics
 Have many books available for students to look at
and read and set aside time for self-selection
 Give students opportunities to share their reactions
 Encourage students to relate and connect to what
they are reading
 Share the pleasure you get from reading with your
students- read during reading time
THE READING ACT- THE READING PRODUCT-
COMMUNICATION

Readers
interpretation

Communication
Communication- is result of
Writers thoughts readers
and emotions construction of
meaning

READING
Combination
of
skills
THE READING PROCESS

Fluency is the ability to read with

automaticity, appropriate rate, good
expression, and good comprehension.

Fluent reading results when the subskills are put

together as an integrated whole. Performing
subskills individually is not reading. Practice
integrating the subskills as a whole is essential
in the reading process.. You learn to read by
reading.
THE READING PROCESS- THE READING
BRAIN- FAST FOR WORD PROGRAM
THE READING PROCESS
Reading is an extremely complex process. When
students read they must be able to use the following
aspects-
 Sensory and perceptual
 Sequential
 Experiential background
 Thinking
 Learning
 Associational
 Affective
 Constructive
THE READING PROCESS- ASPECTS
 Sensory and perceptual- perceive the symbols set before
them and interpret what they see
 Sequential- follow the linear, logical, and grammatical
patterns of the written words
 Experiential background- relate words back to direct
experiences to give the words meaning
 Thinking- make inferences and evaluate the material
 Associational- recognize connections between symbols
and sounds, between words and what they represent
 Affective- personal interests and attitudes affect the
task of reading
 Constructive-put everything together to make sense of
the material
THE READING PROCESS- SENSORY AND
PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF READING

 Perception is the interpretation of sensory

impressions
 Reading begins with a sensory impression- either
visual (sight) or tactile (touch).
 Auditory sense- beginning stages in reading
association between printed symbol and spoken
word- person with poor auditory discrimination
may find phonics difficult to master
 Reading requires visual acuity (sharpness of
vision) and visual discrimination (ability to
differentiate among different shapes)
THE READING PROCESS-
 Hearing affects the reading process-
understanding phonics.
 Auditory acuity- the ability to hear clearly
and auditory discrimination-the ability to
detect differences among sounds are
essential in learning how to associate phonemes
(individual speech sounds) with graphemes
(printed symbols) for phonics instruction.
ACCOMMODATIONS- VISUAL & AUDITORY
 Visual- refer to specialist if you observe
squinting, covering or closing one eye, frequent
rubbing eyes, frequent errors when copying the
board. Accommodations include- lighting,
seating, auditory recordings, large print, oral
reading, practice tracking with highlighting tape,
pointers, index cards
 Auditory- refer to specialist if you observe
frowning when listening, frequent requests to
repeat, turning head so one ear is toward
speaker. Accommodations include-speak slowly
and clearly, use adequate volume, seat child
away from distractions, supplement reading
lessons with visual aids
THE READING PROCESS
 Sequential aspects of reading-readers must learn
to follow the sequence and order in which printed
material is arranged.
 Left to right- top to bottom

 Experiential background-readers integrate

information with prior knowledge for
understanding
 Schemata- clusters of information that
people have developed about things, places,
or ideas
 Prior knowledge gained through direct and
indirect (vicarious) experiences.
THE READING PROCESS
 Reading and Thinking- recognizing and
interpreting symbols, comprehending a reading
selection requires a combination of thinking
skills. Teachers help guide thinking by asking
appropriate questions.
 Reading to Learning- increases success in school,
helps coping with everyday situations outside of
school, bestows status, provides recreation.
 Think and discuss- students “learn to read” in the
primary grades and “read to learn” in
intermediate and upper grades. Agree or disagree.
READING PROCESS
 Reading is an associational process- the more
meaningful an association is to a student, the
more rapidly he or she will learn it.
Comprehension is easier when connections are
made.
 Affective aspects of reading- interests, attitudes,
and self-concept- determine how hard students
will work at a reading task.
 Motivation – the incentive to act
 Self-concept- opinion of one self affects the
risks one is willing to take to succeed.
 Constructive- the reader puts together input from
sensory and perceptual channels along with
experiences and the printed word to gain
meaning from the text.
READING PROCESS: SELECTED THEORIES
SUBSKILL THEORIES
 Reading is a set of subskills that children
must master and integrate
 Skills are mastered and used automatically.
Automaticity is the ability to perform a task
with little attention.
 Subskills are practiced in the context of actual
reading to ensure integration
 Students master smaller units before larger ones
and integrate them into larger units after
mastery
READING PROCESS: SELECTED THEORIES
INTERACTIVE THEORIES-

 Reading is a combination of two types of

processing- top-down processing (reader
based) and bottom-up processing (text
based) in continuous interaction.
 In top-down processing, the act of reading begins
with the reader generating a prediction
 In bottom-up processing, reading is initiated by
examining the printed symbols. Readers must
first sound out a word letter by letter, pronounce
it and so on.
 Skilled readers use both simultaneously.
 Readers who cannot use clues from sentences or
pictures cannot grasp the meaning.
READING PROCESS- SELECTED THEORIES
TRANSACTIVE THEORIES-
 Every reading act is a transaction involving a
particular reader and a text in a particular
context with meaning coming into being during
the transaction between the reader and the text.
 No two readings are likely to be identical

 The readers stances, beliefs, and attitudes affect

their responses, as does the context
 Readers can comprehend a passage without
having identified all the words in it.
 Fluent readers use semantic clues (meaning)
and syntactic clues (word order) within the
material
TRANSACTIVE THEORY
 Louis Rosenblatt- the transaction between reader
and text is dynamic.
 Readers take one of two stances-

 Efferent stance- focusing on obtaining

information
 Aesthetic stance- focusing on the experience lived
through during the reading, the feeling and
images evoked, and the memories aroused by the
text
 Reader chooses the appropriate stance
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
 Some people believe the meaning resides in the
text
 Some believe that readers bring meaning to the
text
 Some believe comprehension involves using both
the information in the text and the information
the reader brings to the text
Let’s Read
TEACHER’S DILEMMA: TAKING A BALANCED
APPROACH

 An approach in which teachers

concentrate on providing both word
recognition and comprehension strategy
and skill instruction along with ample
opportunities to read complete works of
literature, to use reading materials to
solve problems, and to explore nonfiction
and fiction material.
 Organized learning- whole-class, small-
group, and individualized instruction
 Use a variety of approaches to meet the
needs of all learners
15 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING READING
1. Reading is a complex act with many factors that
must be considered
2. Reading involves the construction of the
meaning represented by the printed symbols
3. There is no one correct way to teach reading
4. Learning to read is a continuing process
5. Students should be taught word-recognition
strategies that will allow them to unlock
pronunciations and meanings of unfamiliar
words independently
15 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING READING
6. The teacher should assess each student’s reading
ability and use the assessment as a basis for
planning instruction.
7. Reading and the other language arts are highly
interrelated.
8. Using complete literature selections in the
reading program is important
9. Reading is an integral part of all content area
instruction within the educational program
10. The student needs to see that reading can be an
enjoyable pursuit
THE 15 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING
READING

11. Sound teaching of all reading skills and

strategies is important for all students
12. Reading should be taught in a way that allows
each student to experience success
13. Encouraging self-direction and self-monitoring
of reading is important
14. A supportive classroom organization can
facilitate the teaching of reading
15. Teachers must help students develop facility in
using technology to enhance their learning.