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8 Comonly Misunderstoond Terms in Reading Instruction · The Reading Instruction Show

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  Welcome to The Reading Instruction Show. I am
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  your host, as always, Dr. Andy Johnson. Topic
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  of today's podcast is this, eight essential literacy
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  terms. Now, I want to just talk about eight commonly
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  misunderstood terms related to reading instruction.
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  The first one, reading. As I've described in
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  previous podcasts and books and stuff, reading
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  is not sounding out words. Reading is creating
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  meaning with print. Misunderstanding this basic
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  concept has led to the design of many ineffective
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  reading interventions and programs and instruction.
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  Word recognition. Word recognition and word identification
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  are not synonymous. Word recognition refers to
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  instant and automatic identification of a word.
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  You see the word and you know what it is without
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  having to use any word identification strategies.
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  This is the desired end state of word work. Automatic
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  recognition of words. Third, word identification.
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  Word identification refers to the conscious employment
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  of a strategy to figure out words in print that
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  are known, meaning in a student's lexicon, but
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  unrecognized. Strategies to identify words include
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  morphemic analysis, context clues, analogy or
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  large unit phonics, and yes, of course, phonics.
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  And of these four strategies, using phonics is
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  the least efficient in terms of efficiency and
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  the amount of space required in short -term memory.
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  Decoding. Decoding refers to using the code,
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  letter or symbol code, to identify unrecognized
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  words in print. In other words, using phonics
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  to sound out letters and identify words. Strategy.
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  A strategy is a cognitive process that one consciously
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  applies to a task. Students should be taught
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  to consciously apply all four word identification
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  strategies that I just described, as well as
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  comprehension and study skill strategies. Skill.
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  A skill is a cognitive process that has become
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  automated. That's what a skill is in the context
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  of reading instruction. Here, you don't have
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  to think about it. In reading, we teach the strategy
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  to develop the skill. This means we teach a variety
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  of word identification and comprehension strategies
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  so that students use them automatically and effortlessly
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  while reading. Systematic Phonics instruction.
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  Almost all teachers and researchers, 99 .98 %
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  of them, believe that systematic phonics instruction
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  is an important part of any reading curriculum
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  or intervention. However, systematic phonics
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  does not mean that you start at one end of a
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  scope and sequence chart and work your way through
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  it in a standardized fashion and in a prescribed
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  order without consideration of your students'
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  needs. This would be educational malpractice.
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  Systematic phonics instruction also does not
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  mean that phonics skills should not be taught
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  in isolation apart from meaningful context. There
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  are places for that. Instead, systematic phonics
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  instruction means that there is some system or
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  arrangement in place to make sure that essential
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  skills are taught and to document when they are
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  taught and to document when students have learned
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  them or mastered them. Also, teacher knowledge
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  and expertise should be utilized to make instructional
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  decisions about what is taught, in what order,
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  and in what context, not a scope and sequence
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  chart. And the last thing, a balanced approach,
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  a balanced approach to classroom literacy instruction
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  simply means that there are appropriate amounts
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  of essential skills instruction and word work,
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  reading practice using real texts, writing for
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  authentic purposes, and social interaction around
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  books and writing. And you ask, what are the
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  appropriate amounts? Since students are not standardized
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  product, this varies depending on students' needs.
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  However, as mentioned in my books and in earlier
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  chapters, no more than 20 to 30 % of literacy
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  instruction occurring in a general education
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  setting should be used for skills instruction.
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  Now, if this seems like too little skills instruction,
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  keep in mind that students learn literacy skills
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  best in the context of authentic literacy activities
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  and not in isolated drill and practice. This
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  has been the Reading Instruction Show. I am your
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  host, Dr. Andy Johnson.