Module 2: Reading Reflection

“The major folklore (belief/study) 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 Gart Kilarr

**Do you agree or disagree? Explain why or why not using evidence from text to support assertions.

I disagree on the authors’ Harper and Kilarr’s viewpoint on the process of reading.  Similar to providing students with a hangman activity or a reading passage with letters missing…students are still capable of using their context clues to read the passage and gain meaning.  Reading is so much more than reading letters and sounds; it is only part of the reading process.  The reading process includes gaining meaning from the words. The purpose of reading is to make meaning; the visual process of looking at the letters and words is only a small part of the reading process. 

As readers, we use context clues such as reading ahead or looking at a previous word to determine the meaning of an unknown word in a passage.  Weaver explains, “…Context is far more inclusive than most people realize. We can and do use our entire personal context of knowledge and experience, our schemas to help us identify words” (43).  Weaver continues to explain the importance of using context to gain meaning from the printed words, “As proficient adult readers, we are often conscious of using context to determine the meaning of words we do not know” (44). 

In the classroom, students often re-read a portion of a text when they have miscues in their reading.  It is truly wonderful when students use their prior knowledge to self-correct their miscues when reading a passage.  I believe when students solely focus on the letters in the text and not gaining meaning when reading, they are a less proficient reader.  Weaver explains, “Syntactic context consists of the signals provided by word endings, function words, and word order…and semantic context consists of the meaningful relations among the words” (42).  As an educator is it important to know the differences between these two contexts when teaching students reading.  It is also important to know students language barriers and how they may have different dialect when reading.  I believe that as long as a student can gain meaning from a text, they are proficient in reading. 

All in all, I disagree with the above quote from Harper and Kilarr’s opinion on the process of reading.  After reading chapters three and four in addition to watching the module PowerPoint, I am determined the reading process is so much more than word identification, or reading the words exactly as printed on the page.  As an educator it is important to take a step back from the benchmarks and when conducting running records or developmental reading assessments due to the fact that these tests promote word correction and document miscues students make.  I believe that if a student can make meaning and analyze a text, they are a proficient reader.