Personal Model of a Reading Theory

 

            When I was a child, I loved to read!! I would read at the kitchen table, in the hallway, in the bed, in the restroom, etc. I loved using my imagination and visualizing myself at those exotic, and faraway places in the books I read. Reading was very interesting, entertaining, and amusing for me. I often wondered why I loved to read so much. Did my parents force me to read, did I have a great reading teacher, or did I just enjoy reading? As I grew older, I realized that all of the above was true. In order to be a successful reader, a person has to have interest in what they are reading, be taught well, and reading has to be enjoyable.

            I believe that children learn to read in many ways. First, a child must recognize the alphabet. They should learn lower case letters first. They must learn the letters in order to recognize words. Second, a child must have phonemic awareness. The child must know the sounds that go along with the letters. Third, a child must be able to blend the sounds of words in order to read.  These steps will ensure success in teaching a child to read. Once all of these steps are mastered, then a child should continue practicing these steps to learn more words. A child should start learning the Dolch Sight word list in order to be a successful reader by third grade.

            There are many different strategies to teach and engage students to read. I try to make reading fun and engaging for my students. I often try partner reading in my classroom. Partner reading is when two students are reading two different books, but they are taking turns reading it together. I try to place a medium and high reader as partners for that type of reading.  Another strategy that I often use in my classroom is the voice recorders. My students use voice recorders while they are reading independently so that they may go back and listen to how fluently they read.  My students are allowed to have free choice Friday during reading workshop. If the students have read and comprehended during the week, then they are allowed to check out and read any book of their choice on Friday. I believe this strategy is successful because the students know that they must work hard during the week in order to receive that special privilege on Friday.

            I would love to learn new strategies to engage my readers in the upcoming school year. Hopefully, this course along with others that I will be taking during my graduate studies will give me fresh ideas to use in the near future. Even though the strategies that I have used over the years have proved to be successful, it is still helpful when you can have more tricks to pull out of your hat.