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Abigail Sard
Dr. Brown
EDUC 313B
7 May 2014
My Philosophy On Teaching Reading In The Classroom
As a future teacher it is highly important to understand the way I want
to teach my class, how I plan on doing it, and why. Teaching reading to an
entire class can be difficult, because not every child learns the same way or
at the same pace. When teaching reading in my classroom I will teach from
multiple perspectives, which will include writing and the use of oral
language, so that each student masters such skills through engagement and
comprehension of main ideas and concepts.
Using writing in the classroom is just as important as reading. As
stated in Reading and Writing In Elementary Classrooms, reading and writing
is the essence of learning. For each reading assignment that the class
receives, they will also be given a writing assignment to expand their
knowledge on the reading. After focusing on the reading for two lessons,
students will be asked to complete a prompt that will help me better
understand how well they comprehended the reading. Not only will writing
assignments be completed during my language arts portion of my lessons,
but throughout other subjects, a long with reading as well. When students
write out their thoughts, it allows the teacher to see what the student
comprehends from that specific assignment. The students will be able to

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express this knowledge through our language and the wide range of
vocabulary he or she has mastered. A few examples of writing assignments
that I would do in class would be done as individual work, or in grouped work,
based on the students performance in class. One example of independent
writing work would be to have my students self-select the writing in the area
of content. Self-selecting their assignment allows the students to be
engaged. If the students pick what they want to write or learn about, they
are more likely going to be more interested and willing to learn. As a teacher,
my approach based on this perspective, is to let the students know that even
though they are doing an assigned exercise, they are still able to write about
what interests them the most. This gives the students the opportunity to
express what they know or like best from the content at the time. The
teacher is still in control of the assignment by picking the content the
students has to focus on, making this approach successful. Therefore, after
the students have completed this mini assignment they could then take the
opportunity to share what they choose to write about with the person sitting
next to him or her. If some students seem weak in this area, without making
it stressful or embarrassing for those groups of students, the teacher could
just make this strictly independent work, but do it on a regular basis so the
students become more comfortable and confident in their writing. This will
give the teacher a look at what each student actually understands
throughout the reading material, as well as where the students need to grow.

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Using oral language is just as important as writing it down on paper.
From personal experience and observation of students in classrooms, it has
come to my attention that although students can read and write, some lack
the sense of discussion, and forming their writing into powerful statements of
comprehension. Having the ability to pronounce words and sounds correctly
will increase each students speech and language, and will allow them to
speak fluently. Phonological Awareness is important for each student to
understand, wish out this awareness it is hard for the students to get to the
reading level they need to be on. In order to become a fluent speaker,
teachers should allow each child to express his or her opinion, which will give
each student the opportunity to be engaged in the discussion. This will give
the teacher, yet again, an idea of where each student understands the
material, or need to further explore such concept at a different approach.
Discussions that are held in class can be useful when the teacher wants to
hear what everyone has learned, but sometimes a student may not
participate. That being said, the teacher could then stick the students in
groups so that for one the students can bounce ideas off of one another, and
that way if one student is not understanding, he or she can get assistance
from a classmate. Making sure that all of the students understand phonics is
also crucial to understanding our language and how to use certain words.
Phonological awareness is something that all students should have when it
comes to reading and it is my job as a teacher to make sure that students
understand this through repetition. If some students are not at the same

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level of reading as other students, the teacher is going to have to adjust to
this. By doing so, the teacher could work with a small group of children, while
others work in partners based on their reading level. This is a one way to
work with the students that need more help than others, but keep the rest of
the class on topic. When students are struggling with phonics, it is important
as a teacher to guide them, and not just give them the answer. Most of the
time when students do not know a word they try to sound it out which is
what every one is taught, but this does not work for everyone. When a
student comes to a word that they do not know the teacher should ask the
student to write the sounds you hear and then from there talk about what
word that could possibly be, and then work toward actually figuring it out.
Having students take turns, reading a loud would be helpful when students
need to practice their fluency. Some students may find this embarrassing, if
so, the teacher could also do this with smaller groups of children along the
same reading levels. While all of these different approaches are taking place,
the teacher will be guiding the students, and asking them questions to get
them thinking and on the right track.
It is significant that teachers keep an open mind, along with the ability
to adjust to certain situations in the classroom. As a student myself, it is hard
to understand different teachers and the way they teach and grade their
material, it is my job as a teacher to be the one that regulates each students
understanding, and teach them to my best ability in a way they understand
best. Keeping my students engaged and interested is something that will

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help build my lessons each day. Teaching reading in my classroom is
something that will never stay the same; I will always be adjusting to my
students and their learning styles, giving them the best chance at
understanding the key ideas and concepts of what they are learning through
guided learning and instruction.

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Work Cited:
Patricia M. Cunningham, Sharon Arthur Moore, James W. Cunningham,
David W. Moore. (2004) Reading and Writing In Elementary Classrooms
Research Based K-4 Instruction. Print.