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Diane Henry Leipzig, Ph.D.
Reading Teacher
Cunningham Park Elementary School
We use a balanced literacy approach to teach the 4 language arts (reading,
writing, listening and speaking), striking a balance between skills
and strategies, direct instruction and application, phonics and comprehension.
We use a variety of classroom structures, from whole class read-alouds
and shared reading, to small guided reading groups, to individual conferences
during independent reading, in order to provide students with instruction
designed to meet their reading needs. We use assessments like the DRA
and DIBELS to determine these needs. Finally, we employ Power Up! and
Casey’s Clubhouse interventions in order to provide more time
and support to struggling readers.
My role as Reading Teacher is to work closely with teams
of teachers to help them reach the literacy needs of every student in
their classrooms, as well as to provide direct support to the students
themselves through instruction and programs such as Take Home Reading
and the Summer Reading Program. I also provide information to parents
through workshops and programs such as Partners in Print. Please visit
my Blackboard site, “The Reading Room” for assessment information,
tips for helping your child, and recommended booklists.
Please contact me if you ever have any questions at deleipzig@fcps.edu.
Below is an article I wrote for the Reading Rockets Website
(www.readingrockets.org)
to define reading and explain reading development. I hope you find it
helpful.
What Is Reading?
By Diane Henry Leipzig (2001)
Reading is a multifaceted process involving word recognition,
comprehension, fluency, and motivation. Learn how readers integrate
these facets to make meaning from print.
Reading is making meaning from print. It requires that we:
• Identify the words in print – a process
called word recognition
• Construct an understanding from them – a process called
comprehension
• Coordinate identifying words and making meaning
so that reading is automatic and accurate – an achievement called
fluency
Sometimes you can make meaning from print without being
able to identify all the words. Remember the last time you got a note
in messy handwriting? You may have understood it, even though you couldn't
decipher all the scribbles.
Sometimes you can identify words without being able to
construct much meaning from them. Read the opening lines of Lewis Carroll's
poem, "Jabberwocky," and you'll see what I mean.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Finally, sometimes you can identify words and comprehend
them, but if the processes don't come together smoothly, reading will
still be a labored process. For example, try reading the following sentence:
Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving together word recognition
and comprehension in a fluent manner. These three processes are complex,
and each is important. How complex? Here goes:
To develop word recognition, children need to learn:
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How to break apart and manipulate the sounds in words –
this is phonemic awareness
example: feet has three sounds: /f/, /e/, and /t/
-
Certain letters are used to represent certain sounds –
this is phonics
example: s and h make the /sh/ sound
-
How to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships
to sound out words which are new to them – this is decoding
example: ssssspppoooon – spoon!
-
How to analyze words and spelling patterns in order to become
more efficient at reading words – this is word study
example: Bookworm has two words I know: book and
worm.
- To expand the number of words they can identify automatically,
called their sight vocabulary
example: Oh, I know that word – the!
To develop comprehension, children need to develop:
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Extensive oral and print vocabularies
example: Look at my trucks – I have a tractor, and a fire
engine, and a bulldozer.
-
Understandings about how the English language works
example: We say she went home, not she goed home.
-
Understandings about how print works
example: reading goes from left to right
-
Knowledge of various kinds of texts
example: I bet they live happily ever after.
-
Various purposes for reading
example: I want to know what ladybugs eat.
-
Strategies for constructing meaning from text, and for
problem solving when meaning breaks down
example: This isn't making sense. Let me go back and reread it.
To develop fluency, children need to:
But if reading isn't pleasurable or fulfilling, children won't choose
to read, and they won't get the practice they need to become fluent
readers.
Therefore, reading also means developing and maintaining the motivation
to read. Reading is an active process of constructing meaning--the
key word here is active.
To develop and maintain the motivation to read, children need to:
So…what is reading?
Reading is the motivated and fluent coordination of word recognition
and comprehension.
Quite an achievement for a six year old!
Reprinted from Leipzig, D. H. (January, 2001). What is reading?
www.readingrockets.org WETA.
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