I agree with Harper and Kilarr's quote. Reading is not an exact process, but a combination of a variety of strategies and techniques throughout reading. One of the main strategies used throughout reading is by using the context of a sentence. On page 52, the author states that beginning and non proficient readers can often read workers better in context than in isolation. When readers use the context to identify meaning, they are comprehending the words and expanding their vocabularies while becoming stronger readers. By strictly reading a passage word for word a student is more concerned about properly identifying the word and pronunciation, rather than focusing on the meaning of the passage.
Figure 4.1 on page 63 provided me with an excellent visual representation of how contexts can be used in reading. Readers can use the context to confirm, correct, or clarify miscues they have already read (Just like the author gave an example of with the word scofflaw on pages 44-45) and use it to predict in their future reading. It is such an excellent way to ensure readers are understanding the meaning of passages!
Overall, I think that reading is not a step by step process but a cycle. Many different factors play into understanding an author's message, and by a reader utilizing the context it will help develop his or her comprehension.
Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI love that you described the reading process as a cycle rather than a step-by-step process. That is a great way to describe it because it may take a few times of going through the process in order to determine the meaning of unknown words. The student may need to go back to reading the surrounding words a few times before the settle on an appropriate definition of the unfamiliar word within the sentence.
Also, as you clarified in your response, it is important that we teach our students to read for meaning rather than focusing on pronouncing the words perfect because in the end that is not what matters most. We get all types of students from various walks of life with different dialect, so of course not all the children are going to sound the exact same when they read. Therefore, we should not expect them to!
I agree with you when you stated, “reading is not a step by step process but a cycle.” While I think phonics initially is a process of learning should and letters. But a fluent and comprehensive reader learns through repetition using strategies and things they know or learned from the past. The more and more they read the more they are able to correct mistakes and comprehend what was being read.
ReplyDeleteThe theory of every word in a sentence correctly in order to understand messages are not correct. I think expecting students to read exactly what they see has to do with recognize phonics and expecting students to understand or comprehend what they read are different from one another.