Personal Model of Reading Theory

Catherine Fink

EDRD 7715: Theory & Practice in the Study of Literature

Personal Model of the Theory of Reading

12 June 2013

            Growing up in both private and public school settings, I have been exposed to positive reading experiences.  I have had experience with both the skills approach to reading in addition to the constructive approach.  After recent completion of student teaching in a year-long kindergarten class, my personal theory of reading is very closely aligned with that of the constructive approach. 

            I believe that in order to engage students and motivate them to want to read and write, they should be engaged and excited about a reading lesson.  A successful teacher will motivate students with whole group lessons by planning engaging, fun activities to follow up a whole group reading.  For example, during student teaching, I assisted my teacher in implementing a 30 day Eric Carle unit in which students actively participated in whole group reading and responded to a piece of literature in their writing.  I would also follow up with students in small groups where we focused on gaining meaning from the text and discussing why the author created the books.   During this time I would bring in some skill related knowledge to help students gain meaning from the text.  I agree with Weaver’s statement on an effective constructive approach, “The teacher and students attend to skill-related knowledge like phonics by drawing examples from the text…using phonics knowledge…not only to identify words but to construct meaning” (Weaver 3). 

From the first day of student teaching in kindergarten, the teacher always encouraged students to do their best and write as much as they could.  I could connect with the author’s quote in Reading Process and Practice when Constance Weaver explains, “Children in the primary grades may be encouraged to write as best they can from the very first day of school, even if their writing consists of no more than marks accompanying a picture they have drawn” (3).  I believe if students can take responsibility of their own learning and have confidence to get their ideas down on paper, they will be more successful reading and decoding words independently. 

During student teaching, I was influenced by the constructive approach and was truly amazed at the work students were able to produce at the end of the year.  Kindergarten students came in at the beginning of the year with little or no letter-sound correspondence and produced as little as a picture in their writing.  By the end of the year, I was truly impressed with students three to four sentences accompanied with a creative, realistic picture to respond to a piece of literature.  I believe that if students are encouraged to read and write independently, they can take responsibility of their learning and become confident in their reading abilities.  Throughout the year, my collaborating teacher and I were constantly encouraging students to phonetically spell or “kid spell” a word out.  One of my first days in the classroom during student teaching, my collaborating teacher was modeling how she teaches writers workshop.  I was surprised that she modeled the words how the students told her how to spell them.  For example, she would provide students with the prompt: “My favorite food is” and students would help her fill in the blank.  When she incorrectly spelled pizza by spelling it out how a student told her, I later realized she was truly encouraging students to write independently.  Through this model, students were encouraged to write sounds they hear in words and get their ideas on paper.  As a result, students were excited and proud of their final product. 

As an educator, I believe our main role is to encourage students and help them gain confidence in their abilities.  After having experience with the constructive approach, I am confident this will be my personal theory of reading.  All in all, I am excited to implement the constructive approach in my own kindergarten classroom and see the many capabilities students have.