05/23/2022
For decades, legislators have tried to find the "correct" way to tell teachers how to teach reading. Ignoring research and evidence, they continue to search for the best reading curriculum. (HINT: Reading success is a results of effective teachers.)
The article in the New York Times about a passionate reading professor, examines the flaws and the benefits of Lucy Calkins' 40-year career. If you have paid attention to reading programs, you might have noticed how these curriculums jump between whole language, guided reading, balanced reading, the joy of reading, and with or without phonics.
This professor of teachers and publishing giant draws criticism on not paying enough attention to phonics, not following the science on reading, and not addressing learning delays and dyslexia. Dr Calkins gives a proper nod to phonics, but it is not her passion.
Reading the article, I detected the 'East Coast angst' and (dare I says it) snobbery about the best practices and their own opinions.
The most EFFECTIVE Reading Program is taught by a highly qualified teacher who understands what all her students' needs are. Know your students. Formative assessments. Have multiple resources. Know more about reading than legislators who fund curriculum purchases.
Also, in defense of all teachers 40 and 50 years ago, dyslexia, minimal brain disfunction, and special education as a whole was a young idea. We have learned to so much about autism and attention deficit syndromes. Lucy Calkins stayed in her lane. She followed her passions, and did not the meet the needs and challenges of her peers.
Meanwhile, I teach phonics, and guided reading. Critical thinking and the enjoyment of reading come along in good time. Lots of parents don't have the training to teach phonics as an integral part of a balanced language arts program. Knowing how the sounds work together in English is a tough task because of the way the rules of "sounding out" are so different in different words!
Letter recognition comes first, then discernment of sounds to match the letter, but once that letter is put into a word it becomes a MORPHEME: a vowel or consonant that will CHANGE the meaning of a word with a change in letters.
Morphemes carrying meaning and this leads to word recognition and eventually sight-reading. I encourage my students to find the vowel, then the syllable, to determine the word. Sounding out from the beginning of a word is a short-lived success. Please have children read for meaning and not the awkward, unrecognizable segments that come out as they struggle.
Jane Houck
Teacher
