I just finished reading two articles this week on reading, one by John Bean called "Helping Stduents Read Difficult Texts" and the other from Mike Bunn called "How to Read Like a Writer". I was interested in reading these articles because no one up until now has ever attempted to explain to me how to read as a technique. Of course as I child I learned about the alphabet, spelling, vowels, grammar, punctuation, phonics, etc., but not on the overall technique of how to read something. I suprised to learn after reading both articles that there are several things to learn by developing and using reading skills.
Bean’s main points in his article is in regards to teaching “deep reading” skills to students; these skills range from teaching students when to take the time to read something slower than others or even how to read texts of different genres using multiple techniques. The problem today relating to students with poor reading skills mainly has to do with how they are taught to read, or not taught. Teachers reward students for memorizing ideas temporarily so they read texts looking for main ideas and not the text in its entire structure; a real understanding isn’t necessary for good grades if all they have to do is memorize a few key points and answer correctly on a multiple-choice quiz. Teachers also are in the habit of lecturing students on reading assignments, thus preventing students from developing reading skills because the main points are laid out to them. To summarize, Bean discusses these problems and then shares techniques to better teach students to read.
Bunn's article, on the other hand, is about reading like a writer. In this he means trying to identify with the author as you are reading to try and understand why certain words, techniques, etc. are used to gain not only a better perspective, but to help you become a better writer by understanding how and why things are done when writing. Bunn mentioned always asking "how" when reading and also compared reading and writing to architecture in that you are reading to understand it so that you can replicate it in your own work. It is important before understanding the entire text to learn about choices that were made by the author and then try to gain a better idea as to why those certain choices were made.
Both Bean's and Bunn's articles had similarities that I caught onto. They both touched on the fact that understanding different styles and choices of how to write something are important when reading because it leads to a greater skill within your own reading and writing. They both also mentioned the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading, again to gain a better understanding for it. Their main differences were really related to the fact that Bean focused on how to be a better reader so that you gain a deeper knowledge into how and what you read, and Bunn focused on how to be a better writer by understanding the techniques used in the reading.
I think that learning how to do both of these things can be greatly beneficial. Both techniques are new to me and both seem to have some great advantages if I use them in my every day reading and writing. I have always struggled when it came to reading things that I was not interested in, especially the contents of textbooks. However, if I have these techniques in hand, I can make any reading more interesting just by trying to gain an understanding as to why a certain piece was written.
Bean’s main points in his article is in regards to teaching “deep reading” skills to students; these skills range from teaching students when to take the time to read something slower than others or even how to read texts of different genres using multiple techniques. The problem today relating to students with poor reading skills mainly has to do with how they are taught to read, or not taught. Teachers reward students for memorizing ideas temporarily so they read texts looking for main ideas and not the text in its entire structure; a real understanding isn’t necessary for good grades if all they have to do is memorize a few key points and answer correctly on a multiple-choice quiz. Teachers also are in the habit of lecturing students on reading assignments, thus preventing students from developing reading skills because the main points are laid out to them. To summarize, Bean discusses these problems and then shares techniques to better teach students to read.
Bunn's article, on the other hand, is about reading like a writer. In this he means trying to identify with the author as you are reading to try and understand why certain words, techniques, etc. are used to gain not only a better perspective, but to help you become a better writer by understanding how and why things are done when writing. Bunn mentioned always asking "how" when reading and also compared reading and writing to architecture in that you are reading to understand it so that you can replicate it in your own work. It is important before understanding the entire text to learn about choices that were made by the author and then try to gain a better idea as to why those certain choices were made.
Both Bean's and Bunn's articles had similarities that I caught onto. They both touched on the fact that understanding different styles and choices of how to write something are important when reading because it leads to a greater skill within your own reading and writing. They both also mentioned the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading, again to gain a better understanding for it. Their main differences were really related to the fact that Bean focused on how to be a better reader so that you gain a deeper knowledge into how and what you read, and Bunn focused on how to be a better writer by understanding the techniques used in the reading.
I think that learning how to do both of these things can be greatly beneficial. Both techniques are new to me and both seem to have some great advantages if I use them in my every day reading and writing. I have always struggled when it came to reading things that I was not interested in, especially the contents of textbooks. However, if I have these techniques in hand, I can make any reading more interesting just by trying to gain an understanding as to why a certain piece was written.
Thanks for this thoughtful and clear writing, Steph. I am glad you found the readings useful -- and I have to admit that it continues to surprise me how many people were never given direct instruction in different reading strategies once you get beyond simple decoding of words!
ReplyDeleteSince you are headed toward being a teacher, I wonder how you think about how you now approach reading (and the teaching of reading!) in your own classes.