More About "Avoiding the Biggest Mistakes We Make When Teaching Reading"

This week on the way to school I listened to Larry Ferlazzo's BAM! Radio Show discussion with educators about "Avoiding the Biggest Mistakes We Make When Teaching Reading."  It's a short podcast worth listening to as you have time.  The five educators have an interesting discussion around avoiding the common mistakes we make in teaching reading.

Here are a few highlights:

Pernille Ripp:  "Teachers don't give time to read.  We fill our reading time and lessons with lots of tasks and lots of things to do."

Jeffrey Wilhelm:  "We actually don't teach reading.  Most teachers and schools equate teaching reading with teaching decoding or these lower level constrained skills instead of the unconstrained skills of inferring and making meaning and constructing understanding."

Valentina Gonzalez:  "Kids are not given a lot of time to actually do the reading so they're doing a lot of worksheets, a lot of fill in the blanks, a lot of activities, but they're not given the time to practice reading independently and in small groups."

Diane Laufenberg:  "The reluctance to give up the control of choice reading to the kids."

The podcast had me nodding along as I too know the challenge of giving students choice in reading.  I too have wrestled with finding the time for readers to have opportunities to practice the skills and strategies they are learning --- especially in situations where readers might be receiving additional reading support.

These literacy experts talk a lot about the importance of learner agency and authentic opportunities to read.  While I tend to find myself thinking in a "do this instead of this" frame, listening to the podcast did make me think of a few other reading instruction mistakes I try to avoid in my teaching.

Mistakes in Reading Instruction 

1. Not using assessment to be intentional in reading instruction:  It is easy to get caught in the trap of doing something we always do because it is the time of year to do it or because it is a book we always read instead of looking at what readers need as we design lessons for students.  It is often easy to find ourselves teaching a book instead of teaching our readers.  Knowing the strengths and needs of our readers can help us to plan language, learning opportunities, and design lessons that help readers to grow forward.
2. Forgetting how important writing is to reading development:  It is easy to forget that reading and writing are reciprocal processes.  Often what students are learning in writing can help them to grow as readers.  The opportunity to read and write for extended periods each day can help students begin to see these connections.  
3. Getting out of balance in reading instruction:  Readers need to develop their ability to sustain reading using strategies to solve on the run, and also to extend their thinking as they determine the author's message.  There is a balance required of instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.  At times, in an effort to help a student make quick progress, we can find ourselves out of balance.  Instead of maintaining a balance of meaning, structure, and visual cues, we can focus too much on one cueing system creating readers who over-rely on one kind of information.  Maintaining balance in instruction can help readers learn to flexibly read for understanding.  

As you have time, stop over and listen to the podcast.  What are some of the mistakes you work to avoid in reading instruction?