Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Final Personal Model of the Theory of Reading Assignment

Kimberly Wood

Kennesaw State University

How do you teaching reading? This is the question that plagued me at the beginning of this reading course. After completing this class, I feel more confident in answering this question. I have learned that reading is a sociopsycholinguistic process. Constance Weaver describes this as a process of using graphic cues, schemas, context, semantics, and syntax in order to gain meaning from a text. These strategies need to be taught to the children and used by them when reading.

Reading should be a part of a comprehensive literacy program, in which reading and writing workshops are used to support the sociopsycholinguistic reading process. Students should be given time to participate in both large group and small group times during the reading block. Read-alouds and shared reading times should be used in a large group format, in which a teacher may read a book demonstrating how to read fluently and with expression. It also should involve times when students help and demonstrate what they know about reading. Specific reading strategies can also be taught during this time as a mini-lesson, such as predicting or thinking aloud. In my first grade classroom, read-alouds will involve reading a big book and shared reading will involve the students reading from their text book.

Literature circles and guided reading times are a time for the teacher to interact with students in a small group. I feel that this is the time that the students read a book on their level. The students should read the book quietly aloud, and the teacher should listen to the students and assist when needed.  The teacher should then facilitate discussion about the text being read. Also, this is a time that the teacher can learn what support the students need and address these issues. For example, if a student comes across a word her or she does not know, the teacher should provide strategy options for the student to use to figure out what the word is. This is a new concept for me that I will use in my guided reading groups this year. Previously, I would allow another student to say the unknown word. I now know that a student that does not know a word should be given strategies, such as using prior knowledge or use the picture, in order to read the unknown word.

After reading about reading workshop and the comprehensive literacy program, I learned the importance of independent reading and conferencing. Having students read books for a sustained period of time is an extremely beneficial time for students to work on their reading. These books should be on the students’ levels, but the students should be given the choice to pick the book they want to read. Conferencing can take place during this time to meet with students individually to discuss problems, issues, or questions.

One of the biggest things about learning to read that has changed for me is the idea of teaching phonics. Previously, I have taught phonics independently, and I definitely did not integrate it into other times like I should have. Each morning we sing phonics songs, go over the skill of the week, and review the spelling words.  I now know that phonics is something that should be brought into all aspects of reading workshop, and it should not be isolated. Phonics is something that can be discussed during shared reading or guided reading for example when a word pattern is utilized.

Though I have learned a lot from this course about reading, and I will change many things this upcoming year, reading will still be a learning process for me. Reading should be something that is taught as part of a comprehensive literacy program in a sociopsycholinguistic process. I cannot wait to begin this upcoming school and year and utilize the knowledge that I have learned about reading.