Final Reading Theory

Mallory Johnson

EDRD 7715

Dr. Ritchie

July 17, 2013

Final Personal Reading Theory

            Prior to this course I had a different opinion about reading instruction than I do now. I have learned a lot that has helped me to really think about the reading instruction in my classroom. Before this course I really did not have an understanding of reading instruction. I now have a much clearer understanding of reading instruction.

            Different teachers teach reading in different ways and it all depends on the type of children that you have in your classrooms and their needs when it comes to reading. This is the major indicator that you need to focus on when you are deciding on what strategy that you need to use to teach your students. The classroom should be student centered and that should be what you base your teaching on.

            When teaching reading some people believe that students should memorize words and that should be the way that they read. They do not think that reading should be taught in a direct manner. On the other hand some people think that the students should be taught by using phonics and they do not really focus on anything else but sounding out the words. They think that if a student is able to sound out the words that they have mastered reading. Some teachers think that there is a happy medium. That students need to have certain phonics skills but they also need to have fluency and comprehension skills as well.

            The last group is the group that I fall into as a teacher I believe that students need to have phonics skills that will allow them to sound out words if they are reading and they encounter an unknown word. This will allow them to be more independent in their reading. I also think that if I student is focusing so much on sounding out words that it causes and interference in their comprehension then I think that they are trying to sound out too many words. That is what happens a lot of times when students are reading. This comes from teachers focusing too much on sounding out words. In my classroom if I am reading with a group of students and I see that one is having trouble with a particular word then I will just give them the word so that they are not sitting there focusing on the word and they are forgetting what they have read before. If a student reads something and they are not able to comprehend what they have read their reading is a waste. We should teach our students the true reasons that we read. They should also know that they read to do more than just sound out words. I have been guilty of telling a student to sound out a word if I think that they are able to sound it out but if I see that they are having a problem then I will be there as the teacher to step in and tell them the word so that they can move on and hopefully not lose all the comprehension that they have gained while reading.  

When a student is trying to read and their purpose is to sound out words then they are not reading for the right reasons. I think that students should be able to read well and they should be able to read for enjoyment. We as teachers need to foster that love for reading and we need to teach the students to want to read for the right reasons. I love teaching reading to students and I like to show them my love for reading. I have developed more of a understanding for reading throughout this course. I cannot wait to go into my classroom and begin to put the things that I have learned into practice.