Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Over the course of the semester, my personal model of reading theory has evolved based on Constance Weaver’s perspective in Reading Process & Practice. I have used many of the approaches Weaver discusses, however I learned a great deal more about incorporating them all together. I have some experience with teaching with a balanced approach, but now have a greater understanding of how children learn to read. I believe this will be very beneficial to my teaching and my students.

            My biggest take away is the importance of a whole-to-part literacy instruction. This essentially emphasizes the importance of not isolating instruction of rules or strategies. Phonics rules and reading strategies should be taught through reading and writing rather than individually. Much of my teaching experience and observations isolated teaching of rules and strategies. However, I now see the reasons why this is an ineffective teaching strategy. Rules and strategies should be taught as a part of a comprehensive literacy program.

            A comprehensive literacy program is a teaching technique that I want to further incorporate into my lessons. This program is a balanced approach to reading and writing instruction that allows students to get more reinforcement on the skills being taught. A comprehensive literacy program has many pieces that make up the whole. I love Weaver’s quote when she says, “teachers and students attend to skill-related knowledge like phonics by drawing examples from texts being read and relating the skills back to their reading (Weaver, 2002, p.3).  It is important that skills are constantly being tied back to reading and writing. Text is the foundation of building fluent readers in he early years.

 Pieces of a comprehension literacy program include read/write alouds, share reading/writing, guide reading/writing, sustained reading/writing, reading/writing conferences, literature discussion, journals, opportunities for response, and reading/writing to learn. Each of these components eliminates the skill being taught in isolation. I see my students benefiting immensely through a comprehensive literacy approach. I believe it is important to take the focus off phonics and decoding instruction and put more focus on a balanced approach.

            I also believe in the importance of providing multiple opportunities for children to read and write. Reading and writing should be incorporated across the curriculum and students should have multiple chances each day to practice. The more students engage in reading experiences, the stronger their writing will become and they faster they will develop into fluent readers. I believe this starts by modeling. As I teach, I think it is necessary that I model reading and writing strategies to my students. Students need to be shown how to decode words as well as comprehension strategies like “think-aloud” or predicting the text. Read alouds are a great opportunity for such modeling. Read alouds show the students how to read with expression, teach about concepts of print, and teach comprehension strategies. This should also be done in writing. Students need instruction in writing from the beginning stages of planning to the final publication of their product.

            Overall I feel this class has transitioned my thinking from taking a skills approach to an approach focused on comprehension. The purpose of reading is to comprehend. Teaching skills are important, however phonics instruction should not be the main focus. Weaver discusses readers’ abilities to derive meaning from a text even when the text is not read with 100% accuracy. Instruction should be aimed at teaching comprehension strategies with phonics instruction integrated through reading. By putting the focus on comprehension, a comprehensive literacy program can be easily implemented. I believe my new knowledge in this course is going to provide my students with new learning opportunities that emphasize reading and writing instruction in a variety of methods. I am looking forward to using these new strategies and my knowledge in my lessons with my upcoming classes.

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.

Module 6: Instructional Challenge

Next year, you will be teaching in a school where the vast majority of students did not meet standard on your state's criterion-referenced test and where more than 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. What are some specific universal literacy strategies you may implement to ensure students success? Include both in-class examples and things you could do outside the classroom.  

First, I believe the most important aspect of literacy instruction is to read to and with my students. Modeling how to read and reading alongside students teaches them about print and language which are necessary for becoming fluent readers. Students who are read to at a young age have shown to be more successful in school. Children need multiple opportunities to interact with print as they learn to decode words and practice comprehending text. Reading to and with students should also be done outside of school. Parents can have a profound effect on their students' education simply by reading with them at home. 

I would also ensure that students have access to age appropriate books. This starts by allowing students to visit the school library and having ample amounts of books in my own classroom library. Students need constant access to books that will encourage and support them as they read. I want to develop life long readers in my classroom by giving them the resources and opportunities needed. 

Another strategy I would use is building background knowledge. Before guided reading, shared reading, or read alouds, it is important that students have the appropriate knowledge to comprehend the text. This can be done by a short lesson to introduce a book, enhance a picture walk, or open up a discussion on the main topic of the text. Students comprehend a text better when they have the background knowledge to relate to what they are reading. 

Module 6: Reading Reflection

Chapter 15 does a nice job of bringing together many of Weavers main ideas from the text. After reading the text and chapter 15, my personal philosophy has definitely evolved for the better. In chapter 15, Weaver shows data to support a comprehensive literacy approach in a kindergarten classroom. This data further shows the benefits of implementing a comprehensive literacy program into the curriculum.  I found the graph on page 370 to be really interesting in that is shows the 21% difference between traditional instruction and contemporary instruction like the comprehensive literacy program.

I also found Weaver's perspective on background knowledge to be incredibly useful. It makes perfect sense that students will have better comprehension when they have the appropriate background knowledge. This makes me think about the way I introduce a story and the importance on ensuring the each student has to background knowledge needed to comprehend the text. The purpose of reading is to comprehend, thus as teachers we must set our students up with the skills to read text and derive meaning form it.

Chapter 15 also discusses the importance of access to age appropriate books. This is not only important in the classroom, but students also need access to appropriate books at home. This is a more difficult task to monitor students' reading at home, but I try to have good relationships with parents in order to encourage them to spend time reading with their child.

When I first took the DeFord TORP I felt I leaned more towards the importance of decoding and phonics instruction. Looking back at it, I see my ideas have developed greatly from this course. My second set of scores reflected a more balanced approach to literacy instruction. I think this comes from learning about the comprehensive literacy approach we discussed so frequently this semester.

Module 5: Instructional Challenge

There are many components of a comprehensive literacy program that would be beneficial to an ELL student. Many aspects of this program can provide instruction to help ELL students become proficient readers. I see reading and writing workshops as an excellent way to provide for ELL students' needs. The best part about the conferences is the opportunity to spend one on one time with each student. ELL students can benefit immensely from having individualized instruction. It allows for the teacher to work on specific sounds or letters that a student is struggling with. 

I also think read alouds would be excellent for assisting these students. Read alouds allow for students to learn about print in a fun and engaging way. The students would be able to see the words of the story while hearing the teacher read those words and make connections between the letters and the sounds. Modeling is extremely important for the students to develop into fluent readers. 

Lastly, I would place these students with partners in which to work with. Students benefit greatly when they read aloud with another student. This could benefit the ELL students by allowing them to learn from a skilled reader and have someone to assist them when they struggle with a particular word or sound. 

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading Process & Practice (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Module 5: Reading Reflection

I think phonics instruction fits well within a comprehensive literacy program. I think components of phonics education should be seen in many areas of a comprehensive literacy program and across a variety of activities. Beginning readers need instruction in decoding and understanding letter/sound relationships. Weaver discusses the ineffectiveness of isolating phonics instruction. Phonics instruction is most effective when it is used alongside other teaching strategies like guided reading and writing conferences. Phonics instruction is extremely beneficial in guided reading. Guided reading is an opportunity to work with small groups of students and reinforce the skill being taught that week. The teacher can guide students in reading a passage that allows for discussion of that phonics skill. This allows the student to have multiple interactions with that skill both visually and verbally. Writing conferences are also a key opportunity to integrate phonics instruction. Spelling is all about the understanding of letter/sound correspondences. When looking over a students writing, it becomes very clear which correspondences the student is missing. What phonics skills need to be reinforced or re-taught? Is there a particular sound that the student struggles with? The teacher can use this time to go over why a student misspelled a word and talk about the phonics component of that word. 

The majority of my teaching experiences have been in a first grade classroom. Because those students are still in the early stages of learning to read, phonics instruction is more heavily intertwined into the curriculum. I believe that phonics instruction does not need to play a large role in the upper grades, but I do believe it is very important in the younger grades. Phonics instruction builds the foundation for students' reading abilities as they develop into fluent readers. 





Weaver, C. (2002). Reading Process & Practice (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann