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The five elements
of reading with understanding
Before looking more closely at the meat of what The Phonics Institute
proposes to do, let’s look at the elements of reading with
understanding. This is what we want our children to do: read with
understanding (and write well, too). What knowledge does the
understanding reader have? What are his (or her) skills? What are
his habits? Reading with understanding is composed, we might say, of
five elements:
The Five Elements of Reading with
Understanding
1. The
ability to “speak the written word.”
2.
Vocabulary.
3. Grammar.
4. Clear
thought including logic.
5.
Orientation.
These are the elements of reading with
understanding. How do they work together? The elements from a
hierarchy. Why? Because vocabulary, grammar, clear thinking, and
orientation all stand on the other element - the ability to speak the
written work. If you can’t talk out loud the words on the page, your
vocabulary, grammar, clear thinking, and orientation do not a reader
make. A good vocabulary, and understanding of standard English
grammar, the ability to think clearly, and a health orientation in
life will all help a reader to catch the meaning of what he reads, but
they all hang on the ability to carry the written words on the page
into speech. If you can do that and build up your vocabulary, learn
the grammar, think clearly, and have your feet on the ground; you can
read anything with confidence.
The word “vocabulary” here
means, first, word knowledge. If a child comes upon the word
“indecision” in his reading, he has to be able to say it aloud, but he
also needs to know what it means. Vocabulary-building is important.
The Phonics Institute favors direct, explicit, extensive
vocabulary-building. Yet, “having a good vocabulary” means more than
just learning the definitions of many words. It also means learning
the facts that make up our shared cultural heritage, now called
cultural literacy.
We must aim to develop good grammar too. Out in the
street, many use nonstandard word order, plurals and possessives, and
forms of verbs and pronouns. But our schools should concentrate on
making sure we learn the “proper” use of verbs, plurals, possessives,
pronouns, and word order we
must know if we are to master reading, writing, and speaking standard
English. The Phonics Institute recommends direct, explicit, extensive
instruction in standard English
grammar as well.
And clear thinking; it is worth it to teach the students how thought
works, from the formal concepts of deductive and inductive logic;
through the probing and testing of “twenty questions;” through the
self-awareness of our resonating with an author we love, who “tells it
like it is.” Sharpening thinking skills can be an important part of
this proposal.
Orientation is also critically important to reading
with understanding. Here, your orientation means your basic
attitude towards life and your place in it. If a person is the type
of atheist or agnostic who believes morals the name of the fame, his
appreciation for everything he reads will be influenced by his
orientation. If, on the other hand, a person is a dedicated Christian
who believes we should each pick up our cross everyday, resist our
sinful tendencies, and work to do God’s will, everything he reads will
be affected by this orientation. The effects of our orientation on
our understanding of what we read, are profound. Orientation is not
just a matter of clear thinking; there is more to it than that.
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