What makes a 'good reader'?
In essence, a 'good reader' is simply a reader who is able to fully comprehend and make meaning from the text they are reading. Evidently, not all students are 'good readers', however, all students have the potential to become 'good readers' with the right teaching and learning.
According to Duke and Pearson (2002), good readers make predictions, read actively and selectively, draw on prior knowledge, and question and evaluate the text and author. Furthermore, Konza (2011) notes that good readers understand the purpose of the text they are reading, monitor their own comprehension and are able to adjust their own reading strategies. They also search for both literal and inferential meaning in the texts they read.
In terms of the skills that they use, good readers have excellent word recognition skills and are able to accurately and speedily recognise most words as they sight them without having to sound them out.
All in all, a good reader will be someone who can confidently employ the skills and strategies that are discussed on this website. Integrating the information from this website on skills and strategies into everyday literacy teaching could help struggling students to become 'good readers'.
One way that the teacher can make students aware of what a 'good reader' is and what they need to do to become a 'good reader' is by displaying these good ways of reading around the classroom.
Problems students may encounter
According to Manset-Williamson and Nelson (2005), many students are able to recognise words and their meanings but are still unable to draw literal and implicit meaning from sentences and passages, and as such they “are still not reading ”. According to Winch et al (2010), 'good readers' have efficient comprehension strategies while 'poor readers' do not. It is here that intervention through the teaching of comprehension skills and strategies is important.
It should be noted, however, that there should not be too much emphasis placed on the 'learning difficulties' of the reader. According to Woolley (2008), this should be a focus but more attention needs to be directed towards ways of teaching reading comprehension skills and strategies.
Furthermore, as a teacher you need to consider the fact that students learn at different levels and paces and as such, the comprehension strategies that your 'good readers' successfully utilise may not be as helpful to 'struggling readers'. In this case, interventions may need to take place that are specific to the individual learner.
In essence, a 'good reader' is simply a reader who is able to fully comprehend and make meaning from the text they are reading. Evidently, not all students are 'good readers', however, all students have the potential to become 'good readers' with the right teaching and learning.
According to Duke and Pearson (2002), good readers make predictions, read actively and selectively, draw on prior knowledge, and question and evaluate the text and author. Furthermore, Konza (2011) notes that good readers understand the purpose of the text they are reading, monitor their own comprehension and are able to adjust their own reading strategies. They also search for both literal and inferential meaning in the texts they read.
In terms of the skills that they use, good readers have excellent word recognition skills and are able to accurately and speedily recognise most words as they sight them without having to sound them out.
All in all, a good reader will be someone who can confidently employ the skills and strategies that are discussed on this website. Integrating the information from this website on skills and strategies into everyday literacy teaching could help struggling students to become 'good readers'.
One way that the teacher can make students aware of what a 'good reader' is and what they need to do to become a 'good reader' is by displaying these good ways of reading around the classroom.
Problems students may encounter
According to Manset-Williamson and Nelson (2005), many students are able to recognise words and their meanings but are still unable to draw literal and implicit meaning from sentences and passages, and as such they “are still not reading ”. According to Winch et al (2010), 'good readers' have efficient comprehension strategies while 'poor readers' do not. It is here that intervention through the teaching of comprehension skills and strategies is important.
It should be noted, however, that there should not be too much emphasis placed on the 'learning difficulties' of the reader. According to Woolley (2008), this should be a focus but more attention needs to be directed towards ways of teaching reading comprehension skills and strategies.
Furthermore, as a teacher you need to consider the fact that students learn at different levels and paces and as such, the comprehension strategies that your 'good readers' successfully utilise may not be as helpful to 'struggling readers'. In this case, interventions may need to take place that are specific to the individual learner.