Reply to Why are we still teaching reading the wrong way?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]We do not (as advanced readers) decode every word.[/b] We read by sight. The earlier a child can do this the better. Kids can not comprehend well until they are reading by sight. Children (nor adults) do not need to sound out long words. [b]We scan the whole word as well as the words after the word to guess the meaning of that unknown word. We are doing this constantly. [/b]

Phonics is fine to get a start.

Spanish and Latin is great for strengthening reading skills later in middle or high school. [/quote]

It's true that, as proficient readers, we no longer need to decode every word.  Just as in math, we no longer have to think about what 5 + 7 is (most of us don't).  We have solved that problem often enough to realize it is 12.  We have seen the phonogram  "igh" together in words so often, we just "know" that they represent the "long I" sound in most words.   So we see a word like sigh, or high, or flight, and the word just pops into our brains.  We don't have to sound it out.

However, if we are reading, say, a fantasy or science fiction novel and see a nonsense word for example,  "Mr. Depsigh", we might need to fall back on our basic decoding skills.

I strongly disagree with the second bolded statement.   Poor readers who never properly learned to read phonetically?  Yes they need to be constantly scanning ahead to try to guess meaning of words.  Because they didn't learn to decode.

If you have learned to decode properly and thoroughly, you seldom need to guess a word from context.

If you have learned to decode syllables efficiently, you do not need to sound out long words.  You can quickly look at each syllable and chunk it.  The syllables are based on Latin and Green roots, prefixes and suffixes.  A key way to improve reading comprehension in grades 4+ is to be sure students can quickly decode these roots and affixes, and know their meaning.

-tion, -ture, aqua- circum - graph, photo,  chron-, hypo-

Once you are able to decode the above roots and affixes such as the ones above, you can read almost any word in the English language -- no scanning or guessing based on context necessary.  In this manner, you are able to learn by reading.  You don't need to ask anyone what a new word is, because you don't need them to read it out loud to you.  You have the magic of decoding at your fingertips, and you can read the word to yourself.

If you can decode, you can read "synchronicity", "indeterminate", "hypothyroidism", "aquaculture".  No guessing required.

[/quote]

I have studied the science of reading. Good readers decode sentences at a time—not words at a time. Readers scan ahead. It’s not guessing per se. it’s efficiency. It’s much faster. Decoding is slow. For kids with low working memory it’s doing them no favors. Comprehension is the only thing that matters. A child does not need to decode an unusual surname. They just need to recognize it as a name. [/quote]

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