Reading Is…

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the reading process in the past week.    I think that the ability to read it something that in general people take for granted. I know that until last week I hadn’t put a lot of thought into it, it was just something that I am able to do.  I hadn’t stopped to think about how complex a task it is.

Last week I learned that humans have only been reading for the past 5000 years, and literacy has only been widespread among all classes and cultures for approximately the past two centuries.  In evolutionary terms it’s not even the blink of an eye. 

Reading is not automatic.  Reading is not innate.  People must learn to do it for themselves. It takes time for the reading process to become automatic in each new reader.  Readers develop at different paces.

Reading is complicated.  It involves numerous brain functions that must all be working properly or in sync in order for “reading” to take place.

Reading begins with the oral / aural systems.  First we learn to talk.  As babies we hear language all around us.  We begin to imitate and copy, eventually attaching meaning to the sounds and words until we can use them independently to voice our thoughts, wants and needs.

From oral/aural we move to a visual representation of language, we learn to sound out words and match them to the oral equivalent that we already have in our vocabulary.  We work on recognizing the individual letters of the alphabet and eventually we start putting it all together into words that we recognize. We work on individual sounds, blends, vowels, consonants. 

Being able to speak and read words is only half the battle.  We have to be able to process the words and make meaning from them and we must be able to understand it in context. For example, I know that when I get to a stop sign on the road I know that I must stop my car and wait until either, the intersection is clear or it is safe to proceed.  If I didn’t understand the context in which the word stop is used I might stay there all day not knowing that eventually I could go, I would have simply followed the literal meaning of the word.

Finally I was reminded that reading is something that must be taught.  It must receive direct implicit instruction and be provided with the opportunity to practice.  Every teacher, regardless of subject area, should teach reading skills to their students. 

To learn more about reading and the brain visit : http://thereadingprocess569.blogspot.com/ to what ch some excellent videos that explain whats going on when we read.