Does any of the information presented in Chapter 15 influence your personal philosophy of reading? In what ways? How has your perspective this changed since you took the DeFord TORP a few weeks ago?
Well throughout this summer semester the findings presented by Weaver have influenced my personal philosophy of reading and is summed up in Chapter 15. I always knew the purpose of reading was to read for meaning but throughout my coursework preparing me to be a teacher, my previous professors put emphasis on phonics instruction in the part-to-whole format rather than whole-to-part. I completely stand behind "when looking at how we can achieve universal literacy, this body of research shows that low-achieving children achieve more with comprehensive, whole-to-parts reading instruction than children with traditional, parts-to-whole reading instruction" (Weaver, 372). I also resonated with Weaver that "reading is more than decoding (pronouncing) print. It is making sense of print. Schema researchers have shown that readers of all ages must first understand a topic to understand text on that topic"(Weaver, 373). Reading is something that should be enjoyed and readers shouldn't feel the pressure of decoding words perfectly in isolation. When you are exposed to more and more text you are able to "decode" much easier and especially when you are reading on a familiar topic. Chapter 15 does a solid job of summing up what we have learned throughout Weaver's whole text about what the comprehensive literacy program should look like and why it is important to teach reading predominately in this format.
My perspective from the DeFord TORP a few weeks ago has changed from skills to whole language. This goes to show that I agree with what was presented as part of the Comprehensive Literacy Program and that I will incorporate this type of thinking in my own instruction in the coming year.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteMy philosophy of reading instruction has also been re-shaped to focus on whole-part reading instruction than skills based instruction. Weaver illustrated for me how students learn new words by analogy more than decoding based on phonics skills and phonemic awareness. This will impact how I deliver instruction in the upcoming year. My De Ford TORP has shifted slightly towards whole language, I do feel that some phonics instruction is still necessary in the very early years, however it should be within the context of a comprehensive literacy approach and as needed.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI also thought Chapter 15 really summarized everything nicely in terms of what reading should be and look like. Before this class, I had not considered how much meaning should be emmphasized in literacy. Like you, I also had most of my literacy exposure in undergrad classes in phonics and other skills approaches. Until I stepped foot in the classroom though, I had no idea how involved reading could be.
I agree with your sentiments on schema. Building or having prior knowledge is very important to grasping meaning, but I also like introducing new concepts through literature to foster interest and curiosity.
My TORP scores went from 69 to 106! Guess I was more into a skills approach than I imagined. Now I understand and appreciate a whole-language approach based off Weaver's (2002) text.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI also thought that chapter five did a great job of bringing together all of the different things we have learned this semester. Throughout reading Weaver all semester long, I think it is evident of the impact and improvement in students reading that the whole-language approach can offer. I think making reading a positive and enjoyable environment for all students will help them overcome their small miscues or decoding errors, because if they continue reading a lot, those corrections will come naturally. I enjoyed reading Weaver's text this summer. I feel like I have gained many new ideas and methods to implement in my classroom.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that when students are exposed more and more to a text, they are then able to decode words easier. I have found that when my students are familiar with a particular topic that they are about to read, not only do that have more interest in the topic, but the reading is easier because the students are more familiar with it. This is why I have always found it important to provide by students with several choices when choosing books as well as writing topics. I really enjoyed reading about the different strategies used in a comprehensive literacy program and I too look forward to applying them into my classroom.