We’ve been teaching reading the wrong way. Yes, children have learned to read; but is it possible that we’ve mistakenly doomed some children to lives as partial illiterates.
We’ve stumbled upon a cognitive finding that can be coupled with teaching tools that may turn the tide of illiteracy in the communities most at risk for high rates of illiteracy.
Reasons for Content Area Literacy:
In this proposal, we put forth that the strategies in which we facilitate the broadening of reading comprehension abilities should follow along with this knowledge; comprehension enhancement strategies should be built upon this knowledge of how reading comprehension is accomplished.
Possible School-wide Reading Strategies Considered:
Strategies associated with content area literacy must be structured around building a mental “stairwell,” if you will, into the ultimate goal of purely focusing on comprehending literature rather than haggling with deciphering unfamiliar codes.
Recommended Strategy:
The actual strategy must implement student tools such as prior knowledge of reading material. Again, the objective in this case is to help the student build a history with progressive reading. Personal practice must be implemented. The student must practice independently of classmates and professor.
Reasons for Recommended Strategy:
This will solidify pieces of information difficult to comprehend. As the student climbs from the beginner level of page code deciphering to focusing most of the cognitive energy on comprehension this will enhance the reading ability and hence, enhance the reading experience for the child.
Implementation Considerations of Recommended Strategy:
Implementing this strategy would be fairly simple; but, however, it should be strategically placed at a point in a day in which a reading lesson or vocabulary test is on fresh on the students mind.
Summary:
The key to student success in reading is the ability to treat reading as stacking blocks: deciphering and comprehension. It should be stated more over that the ability to decipher is not the same comprehension. Children simply learning and regurgitating words after the very primary years of school, are on the verge of disaster.
