Check out some of the research behind the 'reading wars' - and catch up on how to teach reading issues.
The debate of how to teach reading is ongoing and has been extensively researched. The result has become a lively topic of 'Reading Wars" - which reading approach is more efficient?
Basically, it bottles down to two major approaches: Top-down modes of instruction known as whole language and bottom-up approaches known as phonic instruction. The danger is teaching exclusively phonics without incorporating meaning. The mechanics of reading need to be combined with acquiring meaning. Providing frequent opportunities eventually result in word automaticity.
Identify with the mode of reading instruction you feel works naturally for you. For starters, this does not mean getting trapped in these 'wars,' but rather making sense from the research:
1. Phonic approach can dehumanize reading instruction as it tends to lean on unnecessary drilling.
2. Phonic mode of instruction should be centered on meanings.
3. When sounds are contextualized, instruction becomes much more meaningful.
For all preservice, new and practicing teachers, the ideal method is to aim for eclecticism in early literacy. This means that as reading teachers, you combine both global and phonic teaching methods into one for starters. Start by finding interesting texts or stories that speak first to you. Then analyze the texts in light of these two reading approaches:
- Is there a sound cluster or clusters?
- Is there an interesting story line?
If you answered 'yes' to these questions, then you can begin to engage and motivate the students using a variety of pre-activities depending on where they are exactly in their reading abilities.
