The Reading Process System

Reading Catching Readers Before They Fall has introduced me to the reading process system. Pat Johnson and Katie Keier first explore the reality those in almost all classrooms regardless of their methods and strategies have students who struggle with reading. Johnson and Keier first point out that we as instructors should look to successful readers and observe their strategies and behaviors while reading. It is then that we see that they have the ability to make sense of their reading, fix their own errors while self-monitoring, and use their background knowledge. While observing these successful readers we can deconstruct comprehension to clearly see their strategies. By doing this we can see all the different ways students construct a reading process and help struggling readers do the same.

To help struggling readers construct a reading process system teachers can model behaviors and strategies, think aloud, and share demonstrations. Some of the strategies listed in the text include predicting, self-monitoring, making connections, visualizing, questioning, and adjusting. Many of these strategies must be working simultaneously in order for them to work appropriately and create a successful reader.

Johnson and Keier also point out the importance to intervene earlier rather than later when you notice that a student is struggling. Otherwise it is easy for students to continue making mistakes and those habits become more difficult to change over time. Johnson and Keier tell us that every reader uses the same reading process. However, it is up to the educator to create an individual track for each student. While this can prove to be challenging for teachers once they see the success that tailoring for each student has they will become motivated to do so.

When trying to help a struggling reader create a reading system it is important to consider their zone of proximal development (zpd). This means that when moving forward you need to know where the students current level of ability lies and choose tasks within their abilities that will help them create strategies to help them become a proficient reader. Vygotsky introduced zpd as well as zone of actual development (zad), which is described as the tasks that a child can easily do alone. The zpd are tasks that are challenging for a child but can be accomplished with support from a teacher. Vygotsky also points out the importance of modeling the task, doing the task with the student, and eventually allowing the students to try the task independently.