GROUP 6

NATURE AND PURPOSES OF READING

Nature of Reading
1. Reading is a tool.
• reading tools are required to build knowledge
• learning how to apply the reading tools will help you grasp the meaning of the
printed pages, the visuals on screen and all the other signs around you
2. Reading is a process.
• Reading is a thinking (cognitive) process for it includes reconstruction and
interpretation of meanings behind printed symbols.
• Major steps: Pre-reading, During reading and Post reading
What is reading?
Reading is not just a basic skill.
• Reading is not just a simple process in which readers decode each word in a text and
then automatically comprehend the meaning of the words, as they do with their
everyday spoken language.
• Many people think of reading as a skill that is taught once and for all in the first few
years of school.
• The credit (or blame) for students’ reading ability goes to primary grade teachers, and
upper elementary and secondary school teachers.
Reading is a complex process.
• If you could recapture your mental processing, you would notice that you read
reference to a particular world of knowledge and experience related to the text.
• Your reading most likely is characterized by many false starts and much
backtracking.
Reading is a problem solving.
• It is a complex process of problem solving in which the reader works to make sense
of a text not just from the words and sentences on the page but also from the ideas,
memories, and knowledge evoked by those words and sentences.
Reading is situationally bound.
• A person who understands one type of text is not necessarily proficient at reading all
types.
Purposes of Reading
• To search for simple information.
- Typically scan the text for a specific information or a specific word
• To skim quickly.
- To skim sample segments of the text for general understanding
• To learn from texts.
- Typically occurs in academic/professional contexts to learn a considerable amount
of information from a text.
- To remember main ideas and details of the main and supporting ideas in the text.
- Makes stronger inferencing demands to connect the text information with
background knowledge.
• To integrate, write(or search for information needed for writing), and critique
information.
- Requires critical evaluation of the information to decide what information to
integrate and how to integrate it for the reader’s goal.
- Requires abilities to compose, select and critique information from a text.
• For general comprehension.
- Requires very rapid and automatic processing of words, strong skills in forming a
general meaning representation of main ideas, efficient coordination of many
processes.
READING COMPREHENSION AND SUB-SKILLS IN READING
Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its
meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. It relies on two,
interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decode the symbols on the page)
and language comprehension (being able to understand the meaning of the words
and sentences).
Good comprehension is vital if reading is to have a purpose, if a reader is to engage
with and learn from a text and, ultimately, if a reader is to enjoy what they’re reading.

Reading sub-skill refers to the well-planned reading approach which helps the
learners to comprehend and perceive the meaning of the text effectively. There are
different kinds of reading sub-skill such as skimming, scanning, intensive reading,
extensive reading.
Scanning:
Searching quickly for a specific piece of information or a particular word. For example,
when looking up a word in a dictionary, an address in a directory or the flight arrival
schedule of a particular flight, we do not read entire pages or passages. We search for
the keywords or ideas because we know what we are looking for. Scanning involves
moving our eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases.
Skimming:
Reading through a text quickly to get an overall idea of the contents; that is, the gist of
the passage. For example, before buying a book we glance quickly at the cover page,
the reviewer’s comments on the back cover (also called book jacket), the contents
page, etc., to get a general idea of its contents.

Intensive reading is a type of reading that is done with the purpose of understanding a
text in depth. This type of reading requires attention and focus in order to be able to
comprehend the meaning of the text.
Importance of intensive reading
•Intensive reading is there to help us understand the meaning of a text properly
whereas extensive text helps us understand the meaning.
•Intensive reading is a powerful tool that can help a child to improve their reading skills.
It involves reading a text multiple times, with the goal of increasing fluency and
comprehension.
•It can help a child to develop a better understanding of a text, as well as increasing
their fluency and comprehension.
•It is also a great way to build confidence in reading.
Intensive reading is an important tool for any child who is struggling with reading.
•It is a great way to help them improve their skills and to build their confidence.

Extensive reading is defined as reading for pleasure or pleasure with the intention of
acquiring general comprehension of the text. This type of reading is different from
intensive reading, which is reading with the sole purpose of understanding a specific
concept or piece of information.
‍Importance of extensive reading:
•There are many benefits to extensive reading, including increased fluency, improved
comprehension, and a larger vocabulary. Studies have shown that extensive reading
can also lead to better performance on standardized tests.
•If you’re looking to improve your reading skills, extensive reading is a great way to do
it. Start by finding some material that you’re interested in and start reading. Remember,
the key is to enjoy the process.
•Extensive reading is extremely important for second language learners. It helps them
to improve their language skills, learn new vocabulary and grammar, and develop their
reading comprehension.
•Extensive reading also has many benefits for first language learners. It can help them
to become better readers, and to develop a love of reading. It can also help them to
improve their writing skills.

READING TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES

Reading Techniques
1. The SQ3R reading technique
This reading technique involves five different steps, each one with the goal to get
you closer to full comprehension of the text.
• Survey: First survey the piece to get a quick idea of the content and structure of
the reading. By doing this, you are preparing your mind.
•Question: Prepare questions for yourself to go over as you read the material.
One trick on how to create questions is to turn paragraph titles into questions.
For example, a title such as “Women in the Civil War,” could turn into the
question: “Who were the women in the civil war, what did they do, and when?”
•Read: Read with your questions in mind. In this step, you can combine other
reading techniques that may work for you such as scanning or active reading.
•Recite: Now it is time to go back and answer those questions you created. Make
sure what you read makes sense, and that you understand how it answers your
questions.
•Review: Make mental notes or say aloud what you have learned. Try doing so
without looking at your notes or the text to check what you have or have not
retained.
2. Reading Technique: Skimming
Also called getting the ‘gist’ of the text, skimming is a reading technique where
you can glance over the material to find what you are looking for. This is best
used when you already know the general idea of the text. You can also skim
material before going for further reading. Getting a first glance of how a chapter
or article is laid out, for example, will help you to know where to look for key
information on the second read.
 Use skimming for:
• reading service or product reviews
• going over a speech last minute
• quick research
• quick review before an exam

Skimming can save you a lot of time by making you aware of the key points
without fully comprehending the entire text. It will also save you time if you need
to re-read the material more in-depth at a later time.

3. READING TECHNIQUE:SCANNING
Scanning is a reading method used when simply running your eyes over a text,
usually to find what you are looking for, or to find anything that ‘pops’ out at you.
This is a commonly used reading technique for daily, non-academic reading
tasks.
Scan when reading:
• list of email subjects
• news articles
• a food or drink menu

4. READING METHOD:ACTIVE READING

Active reading gives you a much more in-depth understanding of the text in front
of you. This reading method should be used when you are reading something
complex or something that you need to think critically about. In order to read
actively, you must ask yourself questions throughout the text, and reflect on
those questions. Try to relate what you are reading to previous experience and
knowledge, and take notes if it helps as well.
Read actively with:
• New, difficult and unfamiliar material
• Reading material you will need to know well

5. READING METHOD:DETAILED READING

Detailed reading is the most labor-intensive and time-consuming reading
technique. Readers carefully read, consume, and analyze each word for
meaning. Piecing together the meanings of words in a sentence to provide a
deeper understanding can take time and patience, but in some cases, this is the
best technique to use.
Use this method with:
• Scholarly research articles
• Medical reports
• Poetic literature
 6. READING TECHNIQUE: STRUCTURE-PROPOSITION-EVALUATION
This reading method, sometimes called the SPE method, was proposed by
Mortimer Adler in his 1940 book titled, How to Read a Book. Mortimer suggests
that the best way to read a book is to find the structure, author-made
propositions, and to create your own evaluations.

To use this reading method, you must first identify the structure of a text and
create an organized layout either in your mind or on paper. After you have the
layout, you go on to find all of the logical propositions that go into each section of
the layout. Then you evaluate the arguments and propositions and make your
own conclusion about the reading.

Reading Strategies
- Methods use in reading to determine the meaning of a text and help them become
increasingly skillful in comprehension and interpreting.
• As an educator…
- You know that reading is a cornerstone of all learning.
- Being exposed to these good habits will help children become stronger readers
and students.
- Make the reading process meaningful and attractive.
• As a students…
- Good readers find out what to happen next.
- They can figure out things that aren’t there.
- Good reader self-correct their misunderstanding by using content.
- Good reader will find the correct place and time to read.
6 Strategies Used In Reading
1. Predict/Infer Strategy
• Think about the title, the illustration and what you have read so far.
• Tell what you think will happen next or what you think you will learn. Thinking
about what you already know about the subject may help.
• Try to figure out things the author does not say directly.
2. Phonics/Decoding
Good readers sound out words. They cover part of the word to help them see the
base word. They look for words that belong to families they already know. They
have memorize a lot of easy words—they don’t have to sound those one out any
longer.
• Look carefully at the words.
• Look for word part that you know and think about the sound of the letters.
• Blend the sound to read the word.
• Ask yourself: Is this a word you know?
• If not ask yourself. What else can I try?
 3. Monitor Clarify
Good readers reread a sentence when don’t understand it. This strategy during
reading can help students when they are confused about what they read.
• Ask yourself if what you are reading makes sense—or if you are learning what
you need to learn.
• If you don’t understand something, reread, look at the illustrations, or read
ahead.
4. Questions
Good readers read and think on every page. They are always asking questions.
Use this strategy during and after reading to ask questions about important ideas
in the story.
• Ask yourself important ideas in the story.
• Ask yourself if you can answer these questions.
• If you can’t answer these questions, reread and look for answers in the text.
• Thinking about what you already know and what you’ve read in the story may
help you.
5. Evaluate
Good readers think about they like and don’t like about what they read. Use this
strategy during and after reading to help you form an opinion about what you
read.
• Think about how the author makes the story come alive and makes you want to
read it.
• Think about what was entertaining, informative, or useful about the selection.
• Think about how well you understand the selection and whether you enjoyed
reading it.
6. Summarize
Good readers think about what they have read in their own words.
• Think about the character.
• Think about where the story takes place.
• Think about the problem in the story and how the character solve it.
• Think about what happens in the beginning, middle and end of the story.
• Tell in your own words the important things you have read.

APPROACHES IN TEACHING READING (BOTTOM-UP, TOP DOWN,

INTERACTIVE)

Bottom-up strategies (or bottom-up processing): Bottom-up strategies incorporate

the lower-level reading processes that teach students to construct meaning from the
most basic units of language, including letters, letter clusters, and words. Students
make meaning of a text by building on a foundation of analyzing the smallest units of
meaning.
• Bottom-up reading strategies begin with letter-sound correspondences (the bottom) to
achieve comprehension (the top).
• Bottom-up processing begins with letters and sounds, building to morpheme and
word recognition, and then gradually moving to grammatical structure identification,
sentences, and longer texts.
• A phonics approach to teaching reading supports bottom-up processes.
• Phonics is a method to facilitate students’ access to text to ultimately lead to
comprehension.
• Bottom-up processing happens when someone tries to understand language by
looking at individual meanings or grammatical characteristics of the most basic units of
the text, (e.g. sounds for a listening or words for a reading), and moves from these to
trying to understand the whole text.
•Bottom-up processing is not thought to be a very efficient way to approach a text
initially, and is often contrasted with top-down processing, which is thought to be more
efficient.
Example
Asking learners to read aloud may encourage bottom-up processing because they
focus on word forms, not meaning.

Top-down strategies (or processing): Top-down strategies instruction focuses on

activities that construct meaning rather than on mastering bottom-up skills. Students
generate meaning by employing background knowledge, making predictions, and
searching the text to confirm or reject the predictions that are made.
• According to supporters of this approach, comprehension resides in the reader. The
reader uses background knowledge, expectations, assumptions, and questions and
engages in pre-reading strategies, such as previewing the text, predicting, and
activating background knowledge.
• Top down reading means taking prior knowledge into account when encountering a
new text, so that a student’s active schema related to a particular topic or theme helps
them incorporate what they learn from their reading. Further, in top down reading,
students focus more on the overall meaning of a text rather than on individual words or
phrases.
• Alternatively, the strategy of top down teaching involve starting with the big, abstract
concept and working down to the specific details.
• For instance, you might demonstrate a chemical reaction to your students, and then
have them learn about the different molecules in each substance that resulted in the
reaction.

Interactive approach: The interactive approach is considered the most

comprehensive description of the reading process. The best readers use an interactive
reading approach.
•An interactive approach to reading combines elements of both bottom-up and top-
down reading processes simultaneously.
• An interactive reading approach enables children to be consistently challenged, but
also encourages them to use what they already know. One way of offering interactive
reading instruction is through guided reading.
What are the benefits of the interactive model of reading?
• Gives experiences with language that requires students to make sense of ideas.
• Enhances imagination, creativity, memory, and curiosity.
• Grows background knowledge and understanding of universal concepts.

GODDEL’S READING SKILLS LADDER AND STAGES OF READING

Reading Skills Ladder
The Reading Ladder is the steps of reading progress starting from easy moving to
progressively difficult.
Reading ladders can be applied to children starting to read or teenagers, with much
more complex literature. The reading ladder can assist children to reflect on their
reading habits, and make plans for future growth. It is an invaluable strategy to be used
by parents, teachers and children of all ages to practice critical thinking and work on
their literacy skills.

1.Basic sight words.

Usually learned in 1st and 2nd grade. These are commonly used words that don’t need
to be sounded out because they don’t follow any specific rules. They must be learnt as
sight words. They are the base of reading and once they are memorized they can be
instantly recognized when reading. (e.g. A, an, at, are, as, at, and, all)
2.Using phonetic analysis
This is sounding out larger words by breaking them down into their
vowel/consonant/combination groups.
3.Using structural analysis.
This is breaking down parts of the word to understand what an unknown word
means.
4.Using contextual clues
When children start reading they encounter many unfamiliar words. They can make
use of the words they do know to give them clues of what the word near it might mean.
5.Vocabulary building
Our vocabulary is the words we understand and can communicate effectively. It will
continue to build as we read. Getting your child a dictionary, for whatever stage they’re
in would be very useful.
6.Finding the main idea
Identifying keywords in a sentence will allow them to build an idea. After a few
sentences, your child can then assume the direction of the story based on all the
keywords or words they do understand. Images in a book can also identify the main
ideas.
7.Finding the supporting details
After finding the main ideas it will be easier to fill in the gaps. Word webs can help
your child connect ideas.
8.Interfering meanings, drawing conclusions
 The meaning of a word can be implied by the general context. By giving your child
enough information they can then come up with their ideas and conclusions.
9.Classifying and organizing facts
This is separating information, re-grouping them and then deciding how to organise
and use them.
10.Using parts of the book
Books can be divided into the title page, table of contents, glossary of a book and
index of a book. You can use these to get the most value out of a book.
11.Using the dictionary
You can start with a kids dictionary and move onto the more comprehensive
versions as your kids grow.
12.Using the encyclopedias and other reference books
Encyclopedias are sets of books, with a vast range of subjects typically arranged
alphabetically.
13.Borrowing library books for research and enjoyment
If your child reaches this step, you can sit back and be a proud parent, especially if
a visit to the library is initiated by them.
14.Starting your private library collection
For most of us, this has already started. We should grow the collection with more
difficult books as they improve on their reading.
15.Exposure to reading from mass media
This opens your child’s mind to real-time matters and allows them a much deeper
understanding of today’s world.
16.Reading from the Internet
Although other mass media tend to have more reliable information, the internet has
an abundant source of news, entertainment and any other kind of reading material.

STAGES OF READING
The development of reading skills is no different; children progress through distinct
stages on their way to becoming fluent, independent readers.

Stage 0. Prereading: Birth to Age 6.

The Pre-reading Stage covers a greater period of time and probably covers a greater
series of changes than any of the other stages (Bissex, 1980). From birth until the
beginning of formal education, children living in a literate culture with an alphabetic
writing system accumulate a fund of knowledge about letters, words, and books. The
children grow in their control over various aspects of language—syntax and words. And
they gain some insights into the nature of words: that some sound the same at their
ends or beginnings (rhyme and alliteration), that they can be broken into parts, and that
the parts can be put together (synthesized, blended) to form whole words.

Stage 1. Initial Reading, or Decoding, Stage: Grades 1-2, Ages 6-7.

The essential aspect of Stage 1 is learning the arbitrary set of letters and associating
these with the corresponding parts of spoken words. In this stage, children and adults
interiorize cognitive knowledge about reading, such as what the letters are for, how to
know that bun is not bug, and how to know when a mistake is made. This stage has
been referred to pejoratively as a “guessing and memory game,” or as “grunting and
groaning,” “mumbling and bumbling,” or “barking at print,” depending on whether the
prevailing methodology for beginning reading instruction is a sight or a phonic
approach. The qualitative change that occurs at the end of this stage is the insight
gained about the nature of the spelling system of the particular alphabetic language
used.

Stage 2. Confirmation, Fluency, Ungluing from Print: Grades 2-3, Ages 7-8.6.
Essentially, reading in Stage 2 consolidates what was learned in Stage 1. Reading
stories previously heard increases fluency. Stage 2 reading is not for gaining new
information, but for confirming what is already known to the reader. Because the
content of what is read is basically familiar, the reader can concentrate attention on the
printed words, usually the most common, high-frequency words. And with the basic
decoding skills and insights interiorized in Stage 1, the reader can take advantage of
what is said in the story and book, matching it to his or her knowledge and language.
Although some additional, more complex phonic elements and generalizations are
learned during Stage 2 and even later, it appears that what most children learn in
Stage 2 is to use their decoding language, and the redundancies of the stories read.
They gain courage and skill in using context and thus gain fluency and speed.

Stage 3. Reading for Learning the New: A First Step.

When readers enter Stage 3, they start on the long course of reading to “learn the
new”—new knowledge, information, thoughts and experiences. Because their
background (world) knowledge, vocabulary, and cognitive abilities are still limited at
this stage, the first steps of Stage 3 reading are usually best developed with materials
and purposes that are clear, within one viewpoint, and limited in technical complexities.
This is in contrast to Stage 4 where multiplicity of views, complexity of language and
ideas, as well as subtleties of interpretation are the expected.

Stage 4. Multiple Viewpoints: High School, Ages 14—18.

The essential characteristic of reading in Stage 4 is that it involves dealing with more
than one point of view. For example, in contrast to an elementary school textbook on
American history, which presupposes Stage 3 reading, the textbook at the high-school
level requires dealing with a variety of viewpoints. Compared to the textbooks in the
lower grades, the increased weight and length of high-school texts no doubt can be
accounted for by greater depth of treatment and greater variety in points of view. Stage
4 reading may essentially involve an ability to deal with layers of facts and concepts
added on to those acquired earlier. These other viewpoints can be acquired, however,
because the necessary knowledge was learned earlier. Without the basic knowledge
acquired in Stage 3, reading materials with multiple viewpoints would be difficult.
Stage 5. Construction and Reconstruction—A World View: College, Age 18 and
Above.
When Stage 5 is reached, one has learned to read certain books and articles in the
degree of detail and completeness that one needs for one’s purpose, starting at the
end, the middle, or the beginning. A reader at Stage 5 knows what not to read, as well
as what to read. To reach this stage is to be able to use selectively the printed material
in those areas of knowledge central to one’s concern. Whether all people can reach
Stage 5 reading, even at the end of four years of college, is open to study.