Shanahan And Sadosk

When I registered for this class, one of my main concerns was my lack of knowledge and experience as an active participant in a reading program. My background as an EFL teacher, and later, as faculty, provided me opportunities to teach how to read in a second language, and be aware of the importance of reading as a study strategy in higher education contexts. However, I have never been a reading teacher in elementary or middle school, nor been part of curriculum design, or a language arts specialist. This lack of experience put me in a position where I questioned my abilities to discuss what reading leaders do and what good practices for a reading specialist are.

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

he most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Indeed, the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers. Recent scientific studies have allowed us to understand more than ever before how literacy develops, why some children have difficulty, and what constitutes best instructional practice. Scientists now estimate that fully 95 percent of all children can be taught to read. Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, statistics reveal an alarming prevalence of struggling and poor readers that is not limited to any one segment of society:

While all fields of academia possess some level of practical application, there remains an ever-important and all-encompassing skill which is needed to truly understand each subject: reading. Though literacy rates in the US near 100%, literacy unaccompanied by tools such as context, critical analysis, and sufficient skepticism can leave one lost in arduous texts and vulnerable to flawed arguments. This notion is rarely rejected by anyone at face value, rather, questions regarding the implementation and perceived importance of certain reading strategies alienates differing camps. Many attempts at mitigating the dilemma of subpar reading comprehension have been made, most notably, Daniel Willingham's proposed reform of early education, Michael

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive

Classroom learning should be taught based on reflecting on the culture and not a curriculum that doesn’t connect with students in particular those in urban settings. Looking into the mindset of both Delpit and Jenson student struggle with reading do to the lack of connection between social and cultural impact within the school curriculum. Without that connection students lose interest and it becomes a domino effect from generation to generation. As a result educators can close the achievement the gap.

In “Writing to Read”, Graham and Hebert present the results of studies, which where thoroughly analyzed, in order to support the importance of writing instruction towards the development of reading skills. The report, however, was not created with the simple purpose of making an argument. Through the use of meta analysis, it recognizes the most effective approaches in order to aid teachers in developing and applying effective strategies.

Introduction: Ways of Reading can be difficult to understand at times, but if you break it down it becomes easier to understand. Some of the quotes written by David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky can be used to look at the greater picture and do not just apply to reading and writing. Three quotes really stuck out to me while I was reading the introduction of this book. It was not just because they were great advice on reading and writing, but because they can also be applied to everyday life or certain situations in life. There are lessons to be learned in this introduction such as challenging others and students, understanding that there are different interpretations of things, and finding the meaning as you go along.

Once the basic skills of reading are learned, like vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency, there is rarely any more practice being done and most of the time is dedicated to the writing process. At the college level, professors have limited time to talk about everything, therefore reading instruction unintentionally yet easily gets ignored when professors want to move on and talk about other material. The article “Not Just for Writing Anymore: What WAC Can Teach Us About Reading to Learn” by Mary Lou Odom discusses the importance of reading to learn and how many students and faculty struggle with this concept. Odom emphasizes that students receive little to no additional instruction in reading once they have mastered the skills taught at

As I arrange this reflective analysis paper on topics that relate to a foundational course and specifically searching for the modules that have given me the most information, taught me something new or expanded my knowledge on a specific topic of reading, I have come to realize how far I have come since I began this adventure. I began these courses after graduating from Marshall with my bachelors. I chose this path because of my love for reading and teaching reading. I have come to realize that these courses have enabled me to become a more effective reading teacher and I now have been given the skills, strategies and techniques that I needed to teach a child to read. I know that I will always need to keep up with classes and new techniques, but feel that I am much more capable of teaching reading than before I started these courses. The course 653 Literacy Acquisition helped me to improve and further develop my educational philosophies and beliefs. So, I chose to speak about the first lesson that was expected of me in this class, Module 1 Literacy Theories, Beliefs and Practices.

Many of us go through our everyday lives not realizing the many things that have built us to become who we are today. We were blessed enough to grow up in a well-educated society, where we are constantly growing and bettering ourselves. We have taken this education or more so our “foundation” and utilized it to help build ourselves. Reading is one of the most substantial learning blocks, it’s something that we use in our everyday lives that help us reach our maximum potential in life.

Research was conducted in a third grade general education classroom. The entire class participated in the method of research, but only a select group of students were assessed for the purposes of this research. Students were selected for assessment based on their performance on the Basic Reading Inventory (BRI), given in the fall. Eleven students were rated as Needs

However, there were several other clues: her constant promotion of the idea of close reading, her long-winded explanations of the purported benefits that close reading offers, and her expanded discussion on the repercussions of choosing to educate students in close reading. This, combined with the nigh excessive use of the term 'close reading' made her thesis appear in flamboyant prominence, which was likely an effective tool in disseminating information about the process of close reading to her audience. However, the importance of this article lies not in how effective it is in propagating the idea of close reading, but in how many of the claims regarding close reading are

When I decided to use reading as my research topic, I thought I could take on the whole concept of reading, but I soon learned that reading is a complex subject that has many methods. According to the International Reading Association, “A reading method is a set of teaching and learning materials and / or activities often given a label, such as phonics method, literature based method, or language experience method” (“Using Multiple Methods”).

It is hard to imagine our world today without literacy skills. The absence of literacy will rob us of many things that we now deem as important. We will not be able to enjoy great masterpiece by legendary authors like William Shakespeare and know important scientific findings such as the discovery of gravity. In hindsight, literacy skills are essential in order to preserve and pass on knowledge from a generation to another. Because of this, it is not a surprise that literacy is a very popular topic of discussion in the field of education. Although majority of the world population nowadays are literate, the process of becoming literate actually is a complex process. New Zealand’s Ministry of Education (2003) comes out with a framework for literacy acquisition which includes three different aspects that are needed in order to be literate; learning the code, making meaning and thinking critically.