Reading For Life

Question 1

What are the three major theories of reading?

Answer 1

Phonics: Teach children the relationship between sounds and symbols
Whole Language: Immerse children in language and they will learn to read naturally
Wholeword: Teach children whole words, since they read whole words.

Question 2

What are the 5 (or 6) key skills in reading?

Answer 2

1. Phonemic awareness / phonological awareness
2. Phonics
3. Fluency
4. Vocabulary
5. Comprehension
6. Oral language development

Question 3

what is the background of whole language instruction?

Answer 3

Back in the 1960s, there was a movement in education circles that claimed that code-based, systematic approaches to teaching reading was wrong.

It is based on two principles:

1. Children learn to read much in the same way as they learn to speak.
2. Immersing children in literacy rich environments will lead them to discover the structure of the written code by themselves.

Question 4

What is the Matthew effect?

Answer 4

A concept that describes the phenomenon where ‘‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’’

Comes from the bible. In Matthew, it says: ‘for to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.’’

In education, it is the idea that children who acquire strong reading skills early on tend to continue improving, while those who struggle early on tend to fall behind.