Personal Model of Reading Theory

Starting at an early age I loved to learn new things.  I have a sister who is two years older than me, and when I was a toddler, like any other little sister, I wanted to do everything she did when she did it.  When she would come home from kindergarten, she would sit me down in her room and teach me everything she had learned that day at school.  I started to learn, slowly, as she did.  She would read short stories to me, and I think this resulted in my early love for reading.  In addition to the influence my sister had on my early years, my parents have always greatly valued education.  They also began to teach me to read at an early age, and they encouraged me in my pursuit of reading. 

            I have a lot of early memories about reading.  The most frequent are of always having a book with me.  From about the ages of five to seven, I carried a book on all car rides, to all events, and anywhere else I went.  I remember sitting at the hair salon as a child waiting on my mom to get her hair cut.  As I sat on the bench waiting, I was completely content on reading a book. 

            Now, as an adult, and particularly as an educator, I value reading even more.  Unfortunately, reading seems to be a polarizing subject; either students love it and never want to lay their books down, or students will do anything to keep from reading.  It’s my job to convince students that not only is reading fun, but it is also incredibly important to everyday of their lives.  This is a difficult task to begin, especially as students get older.  I believe, however, that when students are introduced to great literature and stories that are of actual interest to them, they will begin to find that reading is a wonderful thing. 

            It’s interesting to me to think about the different approaches to reading.  I think the way I learned to read reflected more of a whole language approach.  I distinctly remember using class sets of novels throughout elementary school.  It seemed that every activity completed in the classroom related to the novel being read or it related to a story from a textbook.  When I came across a word I did not know, I used picture clues and context clues.  I remember being encouraged to “sound it out” when I came to an unfamiliar word while reading, but I do not recall ever learning a phonics rule. 

            As I think about my personal model of reading theory, I think that the best approach to teaching reading is a balanced approach.  I think that in order for students to be well-rounded readers that can quickly refer to multiple strategies when reading, they should be introduced to various ways of reading.  I think that students can really benefit from learning phonics, especially the youngest readers.  When students can begin to develop ideas about specific pairings of letters, I would think they would get frustrated less frequently.  This, however, becomes an issue when students approach words that are the “exceptions” to the rules.  I also think that whole language is a great approach to teaching students how we use reading daily.  Reading doesn’t become an event in which everyone puts away their belongings and receives a worksheet to work on.  Instead, students see how words work together to make meaning instead of learning words in isolation of one another.  I also love that whole language makes literature relevant to students’ lives. 

            I am a fifth grade teacher and will be on a departmentalized team.  I will be teaching math, science, and writing.  During my time teaching these subjects, I will be utilizing reading as much as possible.  It’s nearly impossible to teach science without a large focus on reading.  I hope to integrate reading into my science lessons frequently, and not always through the science textbook.  I want to find authentic texts for my students to read in science that is interesting and informative.  Also, in order to be good writers, students need to spend time thinking about what they read.  I hope to integrate reading into my writing block so that students understand the relationship and how reading makes stronger writers. 

As a fifth grade teacher, most of my students should already have a great foundation for reading.  They will likely be aware of great reading strategies, and I hope that they genuinely enjoy reading on their own.  However, just because the students in my class can read the words written on their page for a certain length of time doesn’t mean my job is done.  My goal with my students is to ensure that they are gaining true meaning from what they read.  I hope to be a model for my students as we discuss reading in the classroom.  I want the students to see the value I place on reading.  I want them to see me read, both to gain knowledge and because I find it enjoyable, and I want my students to leave my classroom in May as stronger readers than when they first entered.