Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

             Erica may be reading at an accelerated fluency rate, but she is unable to comprehend the information she should be absorbing. This most nearly means that her reading career has been strictly focused on the pronunciation of words and not necessarily discovering the meaning behind the words and sentences. “But the students also need help themselves in understanding the nature of proficient reading, effective reading strategies and good miscues, and the fact that they need not the word-perfect readers in order to be good readers. They need to understand that the purpose of reading is to construct meaning and gain understanding from what they read” (Weaver, 2002, p. 216). She has been able recognize the visual cues, but is lacking in the semantic knowledge needed to understand the meaning in passages. If Erica is reading at a rate of 177 words correct per minute, then it is evident that she can “process unfamiliar words by analogy with familiar letter patterns, and to do so in syllables and/or smaller units like onsets and rimes” (Weaver, 2002, p.99).

            Therefore, with Erica, we do not need to be focusing on word identification, but word meaning. Something that would be helpful for her would be to implement a “Think-Aloud Strategy” which is a “procedure [that] can be used with students who have difficulty comprehending texts and typically do not realize that the purpose of reading is to understand” (Weaver, 2002, p.226). With this strategy, she will be able to see more meaning in the text through read-alouds because she will become actively involved with the context of the story or passage. As Weaver (2002, p.215-216) suggests, we need to “revalue” Erica’s reading strategies by helping her focus on the meaning within the context rather than putting the emphasis on reading the words perfectly as they are written.

            Even though the other students may not be reading at the approximate rate as Erica does not mean that they are “struggling readers”, it simply means that they read a little slower in order to gain the knowledge they need from the text. It is vital that we put more emphasis on comprehension rather than on the speed at which our students read. “Fluency must not replace a focus on meaning as the goal of reading” (Weaver, 2002, p.215).

References

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.