Who's doing the Work? ~ Chapter 1

This chapter helped me think more about a child’s reading process. It talks about how to look at the child as a reader and not as a level. What is the child doing with the text? How are they interacting with the text? What behaviors are they exhibiting when they encounter a challenging text? When we look at the child as a reader and the processes they use as they read how are we moving them forward?

An efficient reader at any reading level has a balanced reading process. They read the words and understand what they are reading deeply. They check the print with what they know about letters and sounds. They check the meaning of the words with what they know about the topic and their background knowledge. They check the print with their understanding to construct meaning. Having a balanced reading process is where we need to start when teaching through the gradual release of responsibility with read aloud, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading.

Taken from Who's Doing the Work?

There are two types of inefficient readers. These readers have an imbalance between print and meaning. One type of ineffective reader is the Over-reliance on Print. These readers use the sound-out strategy as a major solution to a difficult word. They can read words with automatically, but do not attend to what they are reading. They have gaps with comprehension and construct little or no meaning with the text. They tend to have a superficial understanding, which makes it look like they are doing well. When their reading plateaus and sounding out becomes their only strategy, their reading will stagnate and they’ll lose motivation and interest in reading.

Taken from Who's Doing the Work?

Another type of inefficient reader is the reader who has an Over-reliance on Meaning. These readers guess at the word without attending to the printed letters. They guess based on what they know about the topic they are reading. These readers create a false sense that they understand what they are reading. However, when they begin reading text in which they have little background knowledge their reliance on meaning becomes insufficient. Neglecting to attend to the print will cause them frustration with reading and could lead to a lack of interest in reading.

Taken from Who's Doing the Work?

The authors discuss the need for us (teachers) to begin with the end in mind. We want readers who have a balanced reading process. We want them to have a balance between processing the print and processing the meaning. We want readers to cross-check and integrating print and meaning as they progress through the text. We want them to use print to support meaning and meaning to support print. Having a balanced reading process leads to a smooth and efficient operating system. The authors say the place to start is to integrate print and meaning into the instructional contexts of gradual release of responsibility: read aloud, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading.

Follow the discussion for this book on Facebook: Literacy Teacher Book Club