Even before I know that the words "aesthetic" and "efferent" meant, I always knew that I enjoyed reading much more when there was not going to be a quiz on it. I love aesthetic reading; I love to throw myself into a story and feel the motions the characters feel and to see the things that the characters see. It is no wonder that aesthetic reading is meant to entertain. Who doesn't enjoy being somebody else for a little while? Then we have efferent reading, the dreaded "read these articles and be prepared for a quiz" reading. Efferent reading focuses on the information from the text and illustrations if they are present. While these types of reading seem like opposites they actually go together quite well. It is rare that a reading experience does not include some type of mix between aesthetic and efferent reading moving back a forth between the two.

I once thought that reading was basic. I was wrong. Not only are there different types of reading, there are five (yes five!) stages in the reading process. So much for just learning our ABC's and sounding out words. These five stages are: prereading, reading, responding, exploring, and applying.

Prereading is used to activate or build background knowledge relating to the reading as well as to establish purposes for reading and get a little preview of the text. Many things can be considered prereading such as a student reading the such a a teacher asking the students to make predictions about the book. In addition students can activate their own background knowledge of the book by simply looking at the title, author, or genere and remembering something they heard about the book or something that they like or dislike about the genre.

The actual process of reading can take place in many different ways. The students can read by themselves (it is nice to provide a comfoy "reading corner" with bean bags or soft chairs to promote a claming space for the students to read), with a buddy( reading or rereading a text with another student), shared reading( by following along in the book while the teacher reads aloud ), or with guided reading (where the teacher reads with a group of students, who are either at the same level of reading or use similar stategies to read, a text that is appropriate for all the students in the group).

The next stage of reading is responding to the text. Students can respond to the text with keeping a log throughout their reading. Another way to respond is for students to discuss the text with their classmates or teacher.

After responding to the text comes the exploring stage. During this stage students are lead by the teachers to explore their text more deeply. This can be done when the students reread sections in order to make deeper or more connections between the text and their lives or or books or even TV shows that they can recall. Students are also lead to examine the genere, structure of the text, and the specific way the author writes during this stage. This can be done by having the students create a story board or map, or compair more than one book by the author. This stage is also a time for students to pay more attention to new vocabularly for the text. This can be done by having the students add words for the text to a word wall and then use it as a word bank for activitys such as word chains or the more basic poster to focus on specific words. The final aspect of the exploring stage is invloves minilessons. Teachers use this stage to present minilessons on reading procodures, concepts, strategies and skills. These lessons make connections between the topics and examples for the featured text, this then helps the students connect the information with their own reading process.

Finally the last stage, applying. In this stage students build on their interpretations on the text by creating a project (such as a collage to represent the theme of the book), or making connections between the text and related books. These activitys are meant to help the students value the reading experience.

Now that that we understand all of the different types and stages of reading, lets learn how to develop capable readers.

The first aspect of a capable reader is word identification. Site words or high freqency words are very important for students to master when learning to reader, however many students have a difficult time with this since they are so young and there are so many words to learn! Many parents and teachers place lists of these site words in places where the child spends alot of time such as the classroom, their bed room, or even the kitchen and bathroom. The goal is for the students to be able to recognize these site words automatically. In addition to the memorization of site words, it is also very important that the students learn phonics (we all remember sounding out words right?) as a way to indentify words.

The next area that defines a capable reader is fluency. Part of fluency is reading speed. I feel that the best way to improve a students reading speed is to help widen the vocabularly that they recognise (word recognition). A vital part of this including helping the students learn to identify the roots in larger words. I believe that the best way to do this is to expose them to a wider range of texts (not just Dr. Suess books for example). Another great way to improve their word recognition is have a word of the day written on the board and have them imcorperate the word into atleast 3 things that they write that day. This goes hand in hand with the vocabulary aspect of a capable reader. Since reading is the best way to expand a students vocabulary I believe that it is vital to alot the students time to the resources to explore many different texts (I personally believe in allow students to read magazines that are appropriate as well as comics or even the back of cereal boxes during this time, as long as it is something new they have not read before).

The last area that defines a capable reader is comprehension. To help reader comprehension students can activate background knowledge about a text before they read. While they are reading the texts students can write down predictions that they have for the book. After they have finished reading students can then ask questions or seek clarification about what they just read. While comprehension does not have to invlove these three activitys persay it is important that the students are engaged with some sort of comprehension activity before, during, and after they read the text.

As I discussed above there are different ways of actually reading. Here are examples of classroom activites that invlove one or more way of reading.
-- Literature focus units invlove the teacher reading aloud (shared reading) a book that is difficult for students to read on their own. The text is age appropriate though which allows students to read indenpendntly sometimes.
--Reading and writing workshops allow the students to pick out their own books and read them independently. The teacher also reads books aloud to the class and uses them to teach minilessons about different reading strategies as well as different ways authors write.
--Litureature circles (my favorite!) invlove students reading independtly, or with a buddy if the book is more difficult.
--Thematic units invlove the teacher reading allow to the students. The students then used shared reading, buddy reading, and independent reading to read other related texts.


I just have one more thing to say...

GO STEELERS!