Topic: Reading

10-second review: The NCTE’s view of reading.

Title: NCTE Guidelines: “On Reading, Learning to Read, and Effective Reading Instruction….” By the Commission on Reading of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Quote. Definition of Reading: “Reading is a complex and purposeful sociocultural [society and culture, RayS.], cognitive [thinking, RayS.] and linguistic [language, RayS.] process in which readers simultaneously use their knowledge of spoken and written language, their knowledge of the topic of the text, and their knowledge of their culture to construct meaning with text.”

Quote: “…few are aware that they use their life experiences to interpret text, and that as life experiences differ from reader to reader and from community to community, so, too, do interpretations of a given text.”

Quote: “…redundancy permits readers to sample print, using only what they need to construct meaning effectively and efficiency” [i.e. the reader does not have to read every letter of every word in order to construct meaning. RayS.]

Quote: “…make predictions concerning what the print says, to confirm and disconfirm [not confirm, RayS.] their predictions….”

Quote: “Readers read for different purposes. Sometimes they read for pleasure. Sometimes they read for information. Their reason for reading impacts [affects, RayS.] the way they read. They may skim or read carefully depending on why they are reading.”

Quote: “The more children interact with spoken and written language, the better readers they become.”

Quote: “The more children read, the better readers they become.”

Quote: “Read to [young, RayS.] students daily using a variety of text types, including…fiction and nonfiction and multicultural literature, on a variety of topics to build their students’ familiarity with written language and their background knowledge on a variety of topics.”

Quote: “Focus on the ideas represented by written language rather than the words on the page.”

Quote: “Teach before— during —and after— reading strategies for constructing meaning….”

Comment: Students learn to read by connecting the printed word with the words they already know in listening and speaking.

The basic instructional technique in teaching reading is the Directed Reading Approach (DRA). Build up students’ knowledge of the topic. Pre-teach unfamiliar words. Set purpose for reading. After students have read, ask them to apply what they have learned from their reading about the topic. Try to go beyond the questions that inevitably show up at the end of the chapter. Questions at the end of the chapter tend to be a boring routine. RayS.