What Reading Is!

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Originally uploaded by Pedrick.

Good job, class! I knew I couldn't trick you with a question like "What is Reading?" In any event, read on for more of my thoughts on what reading is...

We read for many reasons: escape from reality, enjoy the sound of interesting/playful language, explore important issues, get information, learn something, etc.

What is reading? Is reading knowing the letters, and what sounds they make? Is reading figuring out the words on the page? Both of these are important skills that help us learn to read, but reading is about more than “decoding” words. Reading is thinking. You have to figure out what the words mean, sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s hard.

Our four major goals for you for the rest of this year (and beyond) are:
1. to get better at understanding what you read (not just knowing what the words say)
2. to use reading to gain knowledge about the world around you and your relation to it (and to use that knowledge to get the message of a piece of writing, form an opinion, or gain a deeper understanding of an issue)
3. to think more deeply about what you read (to gain insight, which makes you a more interesting person!)

Teacher responsibilities: To help you reach these goals, we will teach you several strategies that good readers use. We will try our best to show you how to use these strategies, not just tell you what to do. We are readers, too! We use these strategies everyday.

Student responsibilities: To help yourself reach these goals, we expect you to listen to and watch us carefully, and also to make every effort to use and practice these strategies in class and at home.

If we each take care of our responsibilities, all of us will be successful!