The Science of Reading
Just as comets arrive near Earth’s orbit with a predictable frequency, the reading wars arrive in our journals, podcasts, news casts and Twitter accounts with similar frequencies. The reading wars (phonics vs. whole word, phonics vs. whole language, phonics vs. balanced literacy) have returned. Recently, the PBS Newshour, the New York Times, Education Weekand emerging grass roots groups like the Reading League have raised the issue of weak phonics instruction. A lose collation of experts and advocates believe that we have ignored the science of reading and that phonemic awareness and phonics are not well or thoroughly taught in our schools, hence our poor reading scores and our neglect of children with dyslexia.
We concur on the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics in early reading instruction. Our own experiences in classroom echo many of the concerns of the science of reading advocates. The research is quite clear; young children must acquire the concept of phonemic awareness as they are learning to read or their ability to link letters to sound, the essence of phonics, will be impaired. Most children will need a thorough course of study in the alphabetic principle and the use of phonics beginning in kindergarten through much of second grade. We also agree that phonemic awareness and phonics are frequently not well taught in our schools, and that preservice teachers are frequently not instructed in how to teach phonemic awareness and phonics.
However, this is not the whole story about what the science of reading teaches us, The science of reading also teaches us that the development of fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are crucial to students becoming proficient readers. Moreover, the science is also clear that comprehension will not happen without knowledgeable, thoughtful, strategic and motivated readers.
Teaching Reading in the 21st Century provides a strong education for new teachers and a thorough review for those seeking to improve their knowledge of reading instruction. English is a complex language and knowledgeable teachers are more effective than less knowledgeable teachers even when following the script of commercial programs. In Chapter 7, Emergent Literacy, we discuss the importance of phonemic awareness, outline the research and present a number of activities that help develop the phonemic awareness of young children. We stress the importance of invented spelling for developing phonemic awareness and more explicit activities to build skill in segmenting and blending sounds. At the end of Chapter 7 we present a detailed classroom scenario so that teacher understand how phonemic awareness fits into the complex day of a kindergarten classroom.
Our Chapter 8, Word Recognition, presents all that a primary grade teacher needs to know about teaching phonics, sight words, and other high frequency words. In the phonics section of the chapter we outline the scope and sequence for teaching phonics (see page 237), and then present a series of lessons for teaching consonant sounds, short vowels, long vowels, and blending. Since it is often difficult to integrate many individual lessons into a smooth classroom system, we also provide a structure for planning a week’s worth of lessons. Later in the chapter we address the word recognition needs of older students who need some instruction in word recognition but who will benefit with an approach called decoding by analogy (pages 247 – 249). The chapter concludes with ideas for assessing students word identification skills.
Word recognition must become an automatic skill, something that is effortless, requiring little attention. In Chapter 9, Fluency and Independent Reading, we present two approaches for develop fluent word recognition. Many students become fluent because they read widely in and out of school. Other students require a more direct approach and benefit from specific activities, such as repeatedly reading the same passage to develop fluency. To develop children’s passion for independent reading requires a knowledgeable guide. We provide this knowledge by giving our readers extensive lists of children’s literature that will capture the interest of students from all walks of life. For the student who needs more support we provide well-researched small group and individual activities (see pages 270 – 280).
Teaching Reading in the 21st Century addresses the concerns of educators who believe we have ignored the science of reading as well as those who understand that the science of reading reveals that phonemic awareness and phonics are only some of components of an effective reading program. In our book we attend closely to the research on word recognition and believe that a careful study of our text and the guidance of skilled instructors will enable teachers to be effective. But, to repeat, the science of reading is not just about phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency. Strong readers need a rich body of word and world knowledge, comprehension strategies necessary for tackling complex text, and the motivation to read for pleasure and enlightenment. In future blogs and reports we will explore these other components.