"The major folklore of reading instruction relates to the "theory" that reading is considered an exact process. In other words, the reader is expected to read everything exactly as printed on the page in order to understand the message of the author. In general the consuming public, legislatures, courts, and too many educators hold to this theory. It is like the theory of the world being flat during the time of Columbus."
~Robert Harper and Gary Kilarr
I believe that reading is about making connections, interpreting, and comprehending what you have read. When I was growing up, I believed that in order to be an effective reader, one had to pronounce every word correctly. As an adult, I know that is not true. An effective reader is "one who succeeds in constructing meaning from the texts for which he or she has adequate background knowledge and meaning."(Weaver, 2002, p.62) I agree with Harper and Kilarr's statement because reading is so much more than reading everything exactly as printed on the page in order to understand the message that the author is portraying.
Throughout my reading of Weaver's Reading Process and Practice, I have learned some interesting facts. Both good and less proficient readers may make miscues on simple sight words, but good readers' miscues make sense. Some readers may miss words but that doesn't deter there understanding of the text. Reading is about comprehending what you read. Constructing meaning from the text is more important than identifying all of the words correctly or leaving them out.
Good readers sometimes reconstruct the text in an effort to construct meaning, Sometimes a good reader may switch words around while reading and still comprehend what they read. They also substitute words for another word in order to construct meaning as well. A good example of a reader constructing meaning from the text was Billy from Reading Process and Practice. Even though Billy didn't identify each word, he still understood what the author portrayed in the text. On the other hand, "when less proficient readers make miscues on such basic sight words, the miscues may sometimes reflect the fact that the reader is not succeeding at constructing meaning."(Weaver, 2002, pg. 66) This is because the reader is so focused on identifying all of the words rather than thinking about and understanding what he read.
In closing, I am not convinced that any effective teacher believes that a student must identify all of the words to be a good reader. We are supposed to teach our students to understand what they have read. It is so important to comprehend what you have read in order to broaden your depth of knowledge.What is the point of identifying all of the words while reading if you don't have a clue about what was read?
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