My Reading Philosophy

I believe that there are many different components that go into successful teaching
of reading. I believe that reading should be taught from both instruction and experience.
Therefore, I would provide a balanced literacy program in my classroom. This would
involve components necessary for students to master oral and written language. These
components include; phonics, grammar skills, reading and comprehension strategies and
writing skills. Because thinking is how your brain allows you to comprehend what you
are reading and compose what you are writing, it is important for people who teach
reading and writing to have some understanding of what some of those components
might be, (Cunningham, et al, 2004, pp. 6).
This will be a constant interactive process between the reader and text. Many
emergent readers learn from continuous exposure in their lives. But, it is very important
to recognize that not all students are exposed to an equal amount of reading and writing.
For example, some parents may read stories to their children everyday but, on the other
hand, some students in poverty might not be read to at all. As a teacher, one must
recognize this and adapt to all the different types of students you may encounter. Because
of these differences, I believe there are two main areas that need to be addressed when
teaching reading; phonics and comprehension.
Students must master letter names and sounds, and then learn patterns to decode
and spell words. As teachers, we can address phonics many different ways. We can do
this through guided reading and word walls. In guided reading, I believe that as teachers
we must help the student learn to use all the aspects of thinking before, during and after
reading. This will set the purpose of what the students are reading, therefore increasing

their comprehension of the text as well. They can make connections through prior
knowledge and experiences, make predictions and evaluate what they are reading. When
they do this, they comprehend what they are reading and make meaning of the text. This
is a critical aspect of reading.
There are many different ways I would help the students make meaning in my
classroom. For example, I would create a word wall. These words would come from
books I have chosen for the class to read and also from their student-selected reading. I
believe it is important to use both teacher-selected and student-selected books because
teacher-selected reading should be used to teach curriculum and student-selected reading
is beneficial because it pertains to the students interests. Therefore, the students enjoy
reading. When new words are added to the board, the students take them to fluency
through decoding patterns and by making meaning through aspects of thinking.
The number of words read and written would be a strong predictor of each
childs word fluency. Children who read and wrote a lot would instantly recognize huge
numbers of words and would decode and spell much faster and more accurately than
children who read little, (Cunningham, et al, 2004, pp. 73-74). Cunningham,
Cunningham and Moore suggest scheduling time each day for self-selected reading,
providing lots of time and opportunities for writing, teach strategies during oral reading
and promote word fluency in all subjects throughout the school day. This would
demonstrate the importance of reading throughout the students daily lives. I would have
students write based on prompts given by me or have the students do a free write where
they can choose their own topic to write about. I would also teach the students different
strategies to help organize their thoughts. One of the main strategies I would use is story

mapping. This is a very beneficial technique for deciphering important information from
frivolous information. Therefore, the students must make meaning and comprehend what
they are reading.
Students can also make meaning through the different types of reading groups I
would incorporate in my classroom. These would include echo reading and tapedreading. During echo reading, as the teacher, I will be able to know which words the class
as a whole are struggling with, then add those words to the word walls. For tapedreading, students can listen to the text and repeat certain words as many times as they
want in order to take it to fluency. This can be effective for differentiation in my
classroom for special education students as well. For determining the groups, I would use
flexible grouping. I believe this is the most effective because a constant change of
atmosphere is very beneficial for students. When they are constantly changed, students
can learn from new experiences with their peers and it allows the teacher to keep track of
each student. Flexible grouping is also very beneficial because it allows for different
types of instruction from the teacher to the each of the students individual needs. Once
students learn the key components and strategies for phonics and comprehension, all the
other skills will fall into place.

References
Cunningham, P.M., Moore, S.S., Cunningham, J.W., & Moore, D.W. (2004) Reading and
writing in elementary classrooms: Strategies and observations. (pp. 3-74). NY:
Addison Wesley/Longman
Fountas, I.C. Pinnell, G.S., (1996) Guided Reading. NH: Heinemann.