Reading: An essential subject in teaching

By Minene A. Relagio

Teacher II

“The more you read,the more things you know.The more that you learn,the more places you’ll go.This is a famous quote by Dr. Suess. The ability to read is as essential as the ability to talk, without this ability,you will find this world a confusing place to live in. It will be difficult if not impossible for you to find your way about in a strange city without help. The importance of reading skills cannot be stressed enough. When a teacher shows concern in this area,it is with due cause.Reading is fundamental in helping us find and convey information.It’s an essential skill that’s developed at a very young age.Certainly you must be able to read if you are to talk or write. For through reading,you will learn not only with other people have thought,felt,and believe.Infact,whether you believe it or not,reading is an indispensable as eating,your mind will or your body has to have sustenance,otherwise it will wither or rot.Reading has many benefits,but it’s a skill that even a lot of adults don’t use enough. It is a gateway to learning. One of the key tools of literacy is reading which is the ability to infer meaning from a set of written letters or symbols.Adults who can read have greater access to employment,education,social interaction and entertainment than their non-reading peers. The ability to read is a foundational skill for learners in upper grades as they are expected to read as part of the process of learning advanced content.Therefore,teaching reading effectively and explicitly is crucial for younger students. The critical importance of teaching reading has made it the subject of decades worth of research and practice,involving numerous teaching methods and even a measure of controversy. Educators and researchers refer to the reading wars as a long standing controversy regarding the best method of teaching reading.Many educators today conclude that students need an instructional approach that embraces the best of both sides. Teacher resources for reading are abundant and the input can be overwhelming. Reading aloud presents books as sources of pleasant entertaining and exciting formative experiences for children to remember.Children who value books are more motivated to read on their own and will likely continue to hold that value for the rest of their lives.In reading,you must be able to strengthen every word on a page,whether printed or handwritten.You must organize the words on the page,that is to say,you must see how they are related,for these alone,you will be able to get their over- all meaning. In other words,you must not read by the word only,you must instead read by the sentence,by the paragraph, by the chapter,by the book,you must read each unit of the book,in relation to what has gone before and in what is to follow.You must elaborate as the thought by building additional meaning around the original idea. To put it more simply,you must read between the lines. You must elaborate what you are reading,what is the author trying to express to you.The more you read therefore,the broader will be your mental horizon,the more acute will be your awareness of the world, the deeper will be your sympathies,the stronger will be your sense of values and the more refined will be your taste. Instilling a love of reading early gives a child a headstart on expanding their vocabulary and building independence and self confidence. It helps children learn to make sense not only of the world around them but also people building social-emotional skills and of course imagination. Because of the learning potential,the effects of reading on child development are vast and multiple studies have highlighted its benefits. As such,teachers and parents are in a great position to ensure reading is a key part of childre’s daily routine.

There are several reasons why reading is important. First it helps us understand instructions.When we read,we can function safely and effectively in society. We need to read to fill out applications for everything from cellphone,service to employment.Adults need to understand instructions on medications before taking doses for themselves or administering doses to children. Second,it supports us on the job.Every job requires some level of literacy.Even jobs that do not require much academic or intensive reading still require employees to read memos,schedules and emails. Third,it develop new skills. Just by reading and following the words on a page or screen,you can learn to do new things.Fourth,it brings a sense of discovery. Reading is more than making a sense of symbols on a page..It is constructing the meaning from the symbols.Reading increases knowledge of the world. Excellent reading skills translate into the ability to learn from what we read. The more we read, the more curious we become.Fifth,it grows imaginations. Reading can bring us into new world,developing our creativity and imagination. When you read fiction,you imagine what it is like to be the characters you are reading about.You can read about anytime in history or place in the world and even places that exist only as possibilities.The words paint a vivid image of the setting,and your imagination fills in the rest. The more you learn through reading,the more you can use Imagination to expand what you know about the world and its potential.Sixth,it helps our writing.The best writers are avid readers. Having read so many compelling stories, they know what it takes to craft one. To become a story teller,reading is an essential practice that develops your writing skills and ability to communicate effectively. Writers know that reading exposes them to a variety of writing styles and techniques that they can apply in their own work.Seventh,it develops a sense of accomplishment.Many people like to read on vacation to retreat from the stress of everyday life. While reading can provide a respite from the mundane,it can also boost self-confidence.Having access to new information through reading can convey a sense of capability and accomplishment.Lastly,it builds a strong vocabulary. Reading introduces new vocabulary. As you read about a topic,you learn words from the context.Later,when you want to talk or write about the topic use it as an analogy, you have new vocabulary available.