The Nature of Reading

Online Training Session

Guide On Literacy Instruction

Prepared by:

Rosalina J. Villaneza, PhD

Chief Education Program
Specialist Bureau of Learning
Delivery
Department of Education Central Office
Objectives:

At the end of the session, teachers should be able to:

1. Examine the teaching practices that will help uncover their belief in the reading process.
2. Explain the nature of reading.
3. Realize that the reader has a significant role in the reading process and that his/her attitude and
motivation affect his/her reading performance; and
4. Apply research – based practices in teaching children learn to read and read to learn.

Key Understandings

Reading is one of the fundamental skills a child needs to learn to succeed in life. It is also the foundation of
one’s ability to learn and ultimately, the ability to function properly in an ever-changing society. Developing good
reading habits is vital to a child’s future not just academically, but in everyday life as well. In addition, reading is
essential to just about everything in life – from cooking to driving to just getting through school. It is important to
start at a young age and teach a child the value of reading so they will grow to practice it often and value their
ability to do so. Yet, reading is a very complex matter and new discoveries are made in the field all the time,
requiring adjustments in the teaching process.
As teachers, we make a lot of decisions that affect learning. This entails a thorough understanding of what
learners need to learn, how to analyze their strengths, and how to correct any misunderstandings they have.
Ten (10) Reasons Why Reading is Important for Kids:
1. It expands their vocabulary. While reading, they might come across words they have never heard –
prompting them to find out what they mean. As a result, they add it to their vocabulary.
2. It makes them better at it.
Practice makes perfect. The best way to get better at reading is just to do it!
3. It helps build independence and self-confidence.
As they learn that they no longer must rely on their parents to read things to them, they develop a
sense of independence. Through reading, they can begin to understand the world on their own.
4. It keeps them safe.
Traffic signs have words and so do warning labels. Reading allows kids to understand when something
is said it could harm them.
5. It helps them make sense of the world around them.
As they learn to read, they can determine what things around them say – from signs to stickers to
labels. Being able to read helps them understand what it and the purpose it serves.
6. It leads to their future academic success.
A child must be able to read to even progress through school. Reading is essential to following the
instructions on the test and being able to even understand or answer the questions.
7. It enhances their imagination.
As a child reads, they can begin to imagine where the characters are. They might even create their own
little world, as well. Reading enhances their imagination by forcing them to picture what the character
looks like and who they are.
8. It entertains them.
It gives them something good to do – especially once they can start reading chapter books with no
pictures, forcing them to really get into their imagination and therefore, really get into the book as well.
9. It improves their grammar.
Through reading, they can see how the author composed their sentence structure and grammar. This
can also help improve their communication skills as they determine how it should be read using clues
such as punctuation.

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 10. It improves their writing skills.
Because reading helps improve their vocabulary, communication, and grammar skills, it ultimately
improves their writing skills as well.

Current Perspectives on Reading

1. Reading as Skill vs. Skills
 Reading is viewed as a unitary skill that we use to process text.
 This unitary skill can be analyzed in terms of component subskills or global skills.
2. Reading as Process
a. It is a complex process of making meaning from a variety of symbols and conventions.
b. The readers use three primary sources of information or cues to read a text:
 Meaning – to tell if what they read makes sense with our prior knowledge and fits with
the sense of the story.
 Structure – to verify that what is read sounds like language patterns of speech
(grammatically correct) and / or book language.
 Visual Graphophonic – to check that words look right or have correct letter/ sound
association.
c. Three types of processing are done:
 Bottom-up processing – from parts to whole
 Top-down processing – from whole to parts
 Interactive processing - whole to parts to whole
3. Reading as Comprehension
 Comprehension occurs in the transaction between the reader and the text.
 The more background knowledge a reader has that connects with the text, the more likely
he/she will be able to make sense of what is being read.
 According to the schema theory, individuals have organized world knowledge which are stored
through a series of networkable solutions known as schema. These can be activated or
retrieved when needed.
 Reading comprehension involves thinking.
4. Reading as Development
 Reading is an interplay of one’s experience, oral language, and ability to interpret written
symbols.
 Reading and writing have their roots in a child’s earliest attempts to communicate and make
meaning.
 Reading development is correlated with other aspects of child development physical,
cognitive, linguistic, and socio – emotional.
 Oral language development is an integral part of beginning reading instruction.
5. Reading as Strategy
 Readers use cognitive and metacognitive strategies to achieve comprehension. If
comprehension breaks down, the use of fix-up strategies can be helpful. For example, when
children stuck, they can:
 reread the text;
 read on;
 read aloud;
 look at illustrations;
 check surrounding sentences;
 ask for help.

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Materials
● PPT
● Lecture video
● Laptop
● Internet Connection

Alignment to the PPST 3.1, 4.1, 5.3, 1.1,1.2, and 1.5

References
 Ambruster, Bonnie B., et. al. (2000). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching
Children to Read. USA: Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) through
the office of Educational Research and Improvement.
 Gunning, Thomas G. (2000). Creating Literacy Instruction for All Children Third Edition. Needham
Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, A Pearson Education Co.
 Hermosa, Nemah N. (2002). The Psychology of Reading Diliman, Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Open University.
 Tankersley, Karen. (2003). The Threads of Reading Strategies for Literacy Development, Virginia,
USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
 Tankersley, Karen. (2005). Literacy Strategies for Grades 4-12; Reinforcing the Threads of Reading.
Virginia, USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
 Visser, Evangeline & Hanggi, Gary M. (1999). Guided Reading in a Balanced Program. USA:
Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

Procedure:

Introduce the session by saying: “Good everyone. I am____________________________________

from______________________________________. I will be delivering the session of Dr. Rosalina J.
Villaneza, Chief Teaching and Learning Division, Bureau of Learning Delivery, Central Office on “The
Nature of Reading”. Before we start, let us take note of the following session objectives.”
 Examine teaching practices that will help uncover belief in the reading process.
 Explain the nature of reading.
 Realize that the reader has a significant role in the reading process and that his/her attitude
and motivation affect his/her reading performance; and
 Apply research – based practices in teaching children learn to read and read to learn.

Session Proper:

Activity (5 minutes)
 Anticipation Guide: (there is an activity sheet for this – annex A)
Directions:
1. Divide the big group into five small groups.
2. Check if they have annex A for this activity.
3. Each group should choose a Facilitator (to facilitate the discussion) a Recorder (to record the
discussion) and a Reporter (to report to the big group the output/s)
4. In their own breakout rooms, they must discuss their responses to the statements whether they “agree”
or “disagree”.
5. The group should come up with a consensus.
6. The reporter will be given 2mins to report in the big group.

Agree Disagree
1. Before children learn to read they should know the sounds of most letters.
2. The more symbols (letters or words) there are in a text, the longer it will take to read it.
3. We gather meaning from what we read.
4. When one reads one tries to find some cues in an effort to make sense of the written text.

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 5. Visual information provided by maps, charts, or pictures help young readers store and retrieve
information they have read.
6. A reader who is familiar with the subject matter of a text already has a basis for making sense
of it.
Analysis 1 (5 minutes)
Discuss their answers, have the participants keep their work until after the
Abstraction.

Possible answers
1. Agree – Awareness of the sounds of the language is a fundamental skill in learning to read. This leads
to associating the sounds (phonemes) with the corresponding letter symbols (graphemes).
2. Disagree – This is actually true. But if smaller sense units (words, phrases) are combined into bigger,
coherent ones (sentences, paragraphs), the whole is much faster to read than if they are separate or incoherent.
Therefore, learners will read more

successfully, if given whole meaningful units of text to read rather than disconnected bits.
3. Disagree – The word “gather” implies that somehow the meaning of a
text is there in the words and all we need to do is pick it up. The construction of meaning that occurs in
reading is usually a combination of decoding and understanding words, phrases, and sentences – the text
(bottom –up processes) and one’s previous knowledge or schema of the text content and genre (top – down
processes). The more background knowledge a reader has that connects with the text being read, the more
likely the reader will be able to make sense of what is being read.
4. Agree – When one reads, he tries to
find some cues in an effort to make sense of the written text. The available language information consists of
sounds and symbols (graphophonic cues), language structure or grammar (syntactic cues), and knowledge
which is part of the reader’s background

(semantic cues). These cues answer the following questions: Does it look right? Does it fit the sense of the
story?
5. Agree – Sometimes, a reader does not have sufficient background information about a text. A
diagram, a chart, or any picture cues can help young readers to better understand what they read.
6. Agree – The more background knowledge a reader has to connect with the text being read, the more
likely the reader will be able to make sense of what is being read.

Deepening of the Concept: (45 mins. video presentation) (slide deck numbers 5 – 25 are in the video)

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This will be done using the Zoom Share Screen which is found at the bottom of
your screen. Click the arrow up then choose share computer sound, then click share,
you are now sharing the video.

Say: We will deepen our understanding

on the Nature of Reading thru this video
lecture/demo from Dr. Rose J. Villaneza. Before
watching the video let us read and understand the
following questions and will try to answer them
after watching

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the video: (slide deck no. 4)

1. What is Reading? What does

dynamic process mean?
2.What are the important and/or crucial
elements needed by the reader to be able
to interact with the text.
3.What are the five alternative views
about reading?
4.Using the Chart provided fill in the
column as indicated:

Natur Key Its implication What

e of points/ to you as do you
Readi Your reading think
ng take teacher/super are the
(View away visor/school challen
s head ge/s
about based
Readi on
ng) what
is/are
the
reality/i
es in
the
field?

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 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Discussion: (10 mins)

This will be done using zoom breakout rooms. You may use the same
groupings or a different one. Again, have each group choose a Facilitator, a
Recorder, and a Reporter. The participants will be discussing their answers
to the given question before the viewing activity. (The questions are in annex
B, check whether the participants have it.)
Have the participants go back to the plenary after 10 mins. and ask each of
the reporters to report to the big group.

Go back to the anticipation Guide and discuss, ask

if they would like to change their answers from
the given statements.

Reflection Questions (slide deck no. 26)

(This can be done and submitted in an
agreed upon time and process)

1.Learning all these, how should

learners be taught to read?
2. Why do you think we still have
frustrated readers even in the higher grades?

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Application/Assignment (slide deck 27)
(This can be done and submitted in an
agreed upon time and process)

Have the teachers do a Professional Development

Plan.
Show the slide of the PDP.
Say: Let’s make a Professional Development
Plan. In this PDP, you will write what you will
STOP, SUSTAIN and START. STOP is what
you will stop doing as regards your practices
in your reading class. SUSTAIN is what you
will continue doing in your reading class.
START is what you will start/begin doing in
your reading lessons.

STOP SUSTAIN START

Closing (slide deck 28 – 30)

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 Let’s read this.

Children Learn to Read and Write

Good readers aren’t born.

They’re created.
Created as the evening clock stands still and
the minutes of a bedtime story reign
supreme.
Lovingly read each night.

Good writers aren’t born. They’re

taught.
Taught to revere writing, as an important tool,
the nuts
and bolts linking them to the world beyond. Guaranteed to
strengthen the mind of an impressionable child.

Good readers and writers aren’t born. They’re

inspired.
Inspired by teachers who value reading and
writing, as the keys to knowledge and success.
Who read and write like they breathe…
Continuously, steadily, automatically.

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Adapted from “A daughter learns to read”
By Mardi C. Dilks, The Reading Teacher,
Vol. 56, No. 3 November 2002

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