Chapters 5, 6, 7 What do we actually know about reading?

Chapter 5 concentrated on the various theories that help explain literacy development in children. Piaget believed that children learn through "direct experiences and social interaction with peers." He is known for his Theory of Cognitive Development, and his writings explain ways in which children develop cognitively. Teachers can use this theory to understand children's thinking at the different stages in order to create lessons and activities that are developmentally appropriate to their level. Maturation Theorists believed that literacy instructin should commence at 6.5 years of age when children would be ready to learn how to read. The Theory of Literacy Development held that literacy development begins in the children's homes, and Holdaway used big books and shared reading to help teachers recreate early literacy instruction that took place in the home. Stage Models of Reading Theorists described the stages that children go through in their literacy development. The Emergent Literacy Theory explained how literacy develops from birth, and Family Literacy Theory focused on the parent's role in children's literacy development.

After reading about the literacy theories, I have a better understanding of the historical perspective on these theories. Even though my brothers grew up in the 40s and 50s, my mother did not believe in waiting until children were 6 in order to read. She had her own literacy theory, and she was an avid reader. Every day she read the newspaper, and she always had her nose in a book. We had quite a library of our own at home, and books were considered treasures. She devoted Sunday afternoon to the New York Times. She would take me to the library every week as a child and worked in the children's library in my elementary school. She read to me every night when I was growing up, and she also was a great storyteller. Because she had me when she was forty, I benefited from her vast knowledge on all different subjects. Both of my brothers got married when I was little, and she was able to give me a lot of individualized attention. I realize that my mother was ahead of her time because I grew up in a home where her family literacy theory was practiced well before it became a popular theory. I could relate to the teacher's anecdote on page 87 in the textbook who wrote about her mother.

Chapter 6 was on social learning perspectives, and after reading this chapter, I felt that the whole philosophy of education in Union City where I taught 8th grade several years ago stemmed from this perspective. Their educational philosophy was based on their belief that students learned better when they worked in cooperative groups and individuals in the groups had roles. Every classroom was organized in this fashion. Everyone in this district was an ESL student, and they believed in whole language instruction. They used thematic units of study that crossed the curriculum. The students' culture was also an important component of the learning process, and it was viewed as an important aspect of their literacy development. We celebrated their culture throughout the year in various reading and writing lessons, and one of our marking period themes was multiculturalism.

In my 4th grade class in Bergen County, I model our various writing assignments with a think-aloud on chart paper. The piece is written collaboratively where the students can visualize the writing process. I also do something similar to the morning message with my students where we revise and edit a writing piece that has something to do about the history of the day. This has been my second year using literature circles in the spring after state testing, and this is my favorite part of the school year because the students can apply what they have learned in previous literacy mini lessons. They also benefit from talking to each other about their book club books. They rotate various roles each week similar to the ones mentioned in chapter 6, and they respond to their readings and share their ideas during circle time. The only problem that I have had with this experience is that some children come unprepared, and then they are not allowed to participate in the literature circle activity.

This year our school held its first literacy fair where my students presented their literature circle board games, posters about the books, and commercials that they wrote to advertise their board games. The five groups each had read a different book club book, and the parents were able to see the various projects during the fair. The entire school participated in the fair and on that day we also had buddy reading. Each class paired up with another grade level where the students read their favorite books to another student. The children enjoyed this experience, but I'm not exactly sure how to proceed with book buddies.

Chapter 7 was about the "underlying cognitive processes involved in reading." I could relate to the teacher's anecdote about the Information Processing Model. What bothers me also is how students do not retain information after the test is completed or after a long weekend because the information is only placed in their short-term memory banks. It's a good thing that reading is a part of their long-term memories because that skill is remembered. In the Interactive Model, the four processes are simultaneous instead of linear. I agree with this perspective because there are so many ways or strategies that you can use to identify a word in the reading process. Both approaches to reading can help students identify words. All of the processes in chapter 7 helped me to understand the history of the reading process. I found out that there are many different ideas about the process of reading.