Chapter 3: The First Level of Reading: Elementary Reading
Chapter 3 is a deeper dive into the first level of reading, Elementary Reading.
The phonic method is a variant of an earlier-used synthetic method of learning to read. Describe this method. What is meant by the term synthetic? (p. 22)
The ABC method dominated throughout most of the nineteenth century, and taught children to sound out the letters individually and combine them into two- three- and four-letter syllables, regardless of whether those syllables were meaningful or not. The phonic method is a variant of this ABC method that arose in the middle of the last century, and students were taught to recognize words by the sounds the individual letter sounds rather than letter-names. Synthetic systems like the ABC and phonics methods, stress learning the sounds of individual letters and building syllables and words from them.
A different approach to teaching reading is an analytical approach aptly described as “sight method.” Describe this method and discuss how it differs from synthetic methods. (p. 22)
The sight method differs from the synthetic systems in that it involves the visual recognition of whole words before learning letter sounds or letter names. Whole words would be learned, and later this method was extended to teach whole sentences, representing units of thoughts. Students would first learn to visually recognize whole sentences and words, and then later learn to recognize the individual words and letters. While synthetic methods start from letter sounds that are then built into syllables and ultimately words, analytic methods learn sentences and words, and from there letters are then learned.
What are the four stages of learning to read? (p. 24-25)
- Stage 1 – Reading Readiness involves physic preparation for learning to read, such as good vision and hearing, intellectual readiness such as a child’s ability to take in and remember a word and the letters that make up that word. Language readiness involves the ability to speak clearly and use sentences correctly and in order. Personal readiness involves things like the ability to work with other children, maintain attention and follow instructions.
- Stage 2 – learning to read simple materials. In the United States, this may involve learning simple sight words, as well as some basic reading skills such as context or meaning clues in reading, and the beginning of words.
- Stage 3 – rapid progress in vocabulary building and increasing ability to unlock the meaning of words from context clues in reading. This stage also involves learning to read for different purposes and in different content areas – reading for science, social studies, language arts, etc. as well as reading just for fun.
- Stage 4 – refinement and enhancement of skills already acquired. Students typically reach this stage as early teens and should be able to assimilate their reading reading experiences, carrying over concepts from one piece of writing to another, and comparing views of different writers on the same subject.
What is the risk of attempting to teach a child to read before they are ready to learn to read? (p. 24)
A child may become frustrated if attempts are made to teach him to read before he is ready, and this experience may carry over into a dislike of reading as he grows into adulthood.
Discuss the difference between aided and unaided discovery and how these concepts factor into the Elementary Reading level (and subsequent reading levels). (p. 27)
Typically the four stages of learning to read are done with the help of instructors. Teachers usually are present to help answer questions and assist with any difficulties as students progress (aided discovery). It is when a student has progressed through these four stages of elementary reading that a student is able to move onto the higher levels of reading, and can read independently and can learn on their own (unaided discovery).
Discuss what remedial reading instruction is and isn’t. (p. 28)
Remedial reading instruction is not instruction in the higher levels of reading, but rather is designed to bring students to a point where they should have been in elementary school – mastery of the four stages of reading in the first level of reading.
** Note – assume much of the content following each discussion question is a paraphrase and comes from the book How to Read a Book.
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Michelle Home Scholar 