When young children first learn to read there is that moment of magic when it just clicks. As teachers, we are responsible for helping a child reach this process. In Catching Readers Before they Fall, Pat Johnson and Katie Keier, discuss "earlier rather than later intervention". This is the idea that we are letting students fall behind in reading because we let them practice inappropriate reading behaviors. In order for teachers to help students reach their fluency in reading, intervention must take place as soon as possible.
I think it is important that struggling readers are being taught by teachers who can realize that readers are not falling behind because they are not capable of learning, but because there is a lack of expectation. The first step towards intervention is setting a high expectation for students. Every student is capable of learning to read fluently.
Following that, it is important that teachers understand the reading process system. If the teacher is knowledgeable of when to model, prompt, and alter the level of support for the child the instruction can be a success.
One interesting idea I took from the reading, is how important read aloud and think aloud discussions are. That explicit modeling has a relationship to the ZPD (zone of proximal development) which eventually becomes part of the ZAD (zone of actual Development). When teachers are modeling how to predict, and make sense of the reading by reading fluently and showing students what they are thinking, it soon becomes natural for the student after observation and practice.
In conclusion, it is important for teachers to keep in mind that every student is capable of learning to read and it is up to us to set high expectations for our students.
I could not agree more! It breaks my heart when I hear teachers label students as less capable than others. It is those student that we need to embrace. Furthermore, it is our responsibility, as teachers to to seek out other methods of teaching if what we have tried is not working for a particular student. We should never have an, "Oh well, I tried" mentality. Effective teaching takes more time but the results are undeniable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about the importance of read-alouds. Sometimes, I think we forget that students don't know how to use reading strategies until we show them. As teachers, I think we should always strive to model what we want our students to do in the classroom. It seems so simple, but if we don't show them we can't expect them to know.
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