U.S. schools K-12 succeed in educating only about 40% of the nation's children. The only meaningful school reform would purge both schools and teachers' colleges of the "whole word" theory of reading instruction that dooms 60% of our children to semi-literacy.
School Reform Starts with Reading Reform Tell us about your child's experience with learning to read.
Maeve, I think that kids should learn to decode and sound out words. There is only so much that you can do with sight words.
I also think that we need to teach a love of reading. How do we do this? Well, it's not deconstructing reading and teaching them over and over again how to find the rising action, the resolution, and the falling action. This is just one example of the way that kids are pounded with "reading strategies" and never really get to read. It's like taking a Little League kid who you are teaching to bat and letting them swing the bat, watch movies about batting, and talking about the best ways to bat, but they never really get to hit or play the game.
One of the best programs that I have seen for reading, and this is after the kid learns to decode, is Reading for Pleasure. It was developed by a grad student (classroom teacher) at KU. The student picks a book at his level that he wants to read. The teacher checks that his assessment of his level and the book are actually the same by having him read about 100 words. If he can do that successfully, then he can read that book. If not, he is encouraged to set it aside until he is ready to read it. After the book is chosen, the student starts a reading journal. In the journal he documents the pages that he read on a daily basis. Students have 20 minutes uninterrupted reading time. They have 10 more minutes to write in their journals. Then, the student writes at least 5 sentences paraphrasing what he read. This does not mean that he chooses his 5 favorite sentences from the reading. Paraphrasing needs to be taught before this journal is started. After the journals are completed, the students share with another student or a staff member what they read about. Teachers evaluate what the student has read. Spelling is not the focus. Idea formation about the reading is the point.
This simple, but effective, strategy is amazing! I have had students gain 2-3 years growth in a semester. It is powerful. When a 6th grade boy is reading at the 3rd grade level, it is difficult to get his work completed. When he goes up 2 reading levels, things get easier. Reading at a 5th grade level is so much better!
When our kids were in elementary school they would not read for pleasure. They could read, but they wouldn't read on their own. We bought books to add to our extensive book collection. We are readers, so we modeled it. The kids were read to on a daily basis, but still they would not read. We put the TV up and games up. It was that simple. They cried for about 2 weeks, then they started reading. They've never stopped. They are in their late 20s-early 30s and they still read on a daily basis. It was the best thing that we could have done for them.
Keep up the good work. Your voice and practical ideas need to be heard.
Connie,
You are so right. The education theorists seem to be intent on taking all the joy out of reading with their "strategies" and "prediction of meaning" and the rest of the gobblydegook. Learning to read should be both enjoyable and exciting.
Thanks for your interesting and useful comment.