Rationale:

For the foundational knowledge standard, we are asked to be familiar with the
major theories of reading development as well as identify the model of reading that we
would implement in our own classroom. In terms of how children learn to read, the three
most prominent models are Adams bottom-up approach, Goodmans top-down
approach, and Rumelharts interactive approach. Adams (2004) argued that students must
first have automatic word recognition before they can begin to comprehend. This is
displayed in the Word Journeys Curriculum because the first three activities focus on
lexical knowledge in word play, phonemic awareness when pronouncing words, and
decoding when working with a decodable reader. Students first work with lower-level
skills as a scaffold for later comprehension and writing tasks.
However, these materials also include aspects from Goodman (1994), who stated
that meaning making comes first because students use context clues to navigate
unfamiliar words and texts. Even though the first lesson of the unit targets word play,
students still have to incorporate syntactic and semantic knowledge sources when they
are asked to hypothesize a word to fill in the blank. Students can use the parallel structure
of the surrounding text to predict what word to use. This same lesson demonstrates
Rumelharts (2004) theory of reading development in that he argued lower and higherlevel reading skills are operating simultaneously and bi-directionally. I most agree with
Rumelharts model of reading because I believe that students make meaning of a text
through interacting with it rather than simply trying to find the authors meaning. Each
student has a unique background and brings a specific schema to the reading task, which
will in turn affect how he or she approaches the text as well as what he or she takes away
from the text.
For Materials Analysis 1, we had to identify the model of reading that the
instruction most closely resembled and I chose Rumelhart because students were asked to
use lexical and semantic knowledge sources simultaneously. I chose this artifact for this
standard because it shows what Rumelharts model of reading looks like in practice
through the teachers chosen tasks, supports, and text selections. The tasks included in the
lesson plans reveal that the teacher prioritizes phonemic awareness, high-frequency
words, fluency, decoding, and vocabulary. This curriculum also reveals that these
foundational reading processes do not work in isolation, but rather, that they influence
and improve each other. For example, before reading their anchor text, students work
together to learn key vocabulary terms. The teacher knows that vocabulary knowledge
directly influences students ability to comprehend what they are reading (Nagy, 2012).
Connection to Personal Philosophy:
I learned from this artifact that reading is a multifaceted process and each student
approaches reading in a unique way based on his or her schema and which cueing
systems he or she can more readily activate. When reading, students use all of these
reading processes to construct a parallel text, revealing that comprehension is really
interpretation (Rosenblatt, 1995). Furthermore, teachers and students conception of
reading is contingent upon the cultural model in which they inhabit (Gee, 2003). I believe
that literacy is enhanced when students have the ability to share how they interacted with
the text through collaboration and discussion. Gee (2003) supported this component of
reading development by asserting that teachers ask students to be a certain kind of

person engaged in a certain kind of activity (p. 36). As teachers, we have the power to
decide what and how to teach our students, but we also have the responsibility to use
theories of reading development and ongoing research to inform our teaching practices.
Implications for Future Practice:
When helping teachers plan reading instruction, I will want to ensure that they are
grounding their choices in research. Teachers need to be able to provide rationales for
their teaching practices to students, parents, and administrators. Students deserve to be
taught through evidence-based approaches that have proven to be effective. A teachers
theory of reading development will also determine how he or she crafts reading
curriculum. It will be important for all school stakeholders to share a vision of how
reading develops so that consensus on how to best teach reading can follow. A common
philosophy of teaching will enable teachers to more easily work together as well as be
receptive to and implement professional development recommendations. Our school can
create an environment in which teachers and coaches are both excited and knowledgeable
about reading, which will best support literacy development in students.