Illiteracy Repercussions, Types of Readers &Tools to Overcome

Importance of ReadingWhy is Reading So Important?

Individual/Societal Chester Wichowski writes, “Reading is a fundamental

skill. It is central to all learning and contributes to success in school as well as in the workplace”. Without the ability to read, an individual’s growth in both the social and cultural realms is stunted. They are stalled at rung number one of the ladder of success! Reading lends itself to every aspect of life needed to succeed. Without access to books, articles, and newspapers that broaden and extend the minds of its reader, one cannot create, invent, or add anything new to the public discussion. The brilliant minds of the youth are left untapped because they cannot be unlocked through literacy.

Importance of Reading

Repercussions of IlliteracyWhat effects does illiteracy have on the individual and society?

Lack of Confidence

Lack of Confidence Reading difficulties lead to many problems in the lives of

our youth, and therefore our future. According to the article, “Why Reading is Important”, one learns reading has farther reaching effects than imagined. Reading aloud is a painful experience; the children are embarrassed by their stumbling, halting speech as they fumble their way through a text because they cannot readily decipher what they are reading. This leads to a poor self-esteem, because the students see they are much farther behind in their reading skills than their peers. Illiteracy leads to generations that lack confidence. Without confidence one cannot instigate change, reform, or add anything new to the public discussion.

Reading to Learn

Reading to Learn The biggest problem related to poor reading skills however, is

that the student never make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. They are not only required to read novels is class, they have to read to learn information elsewhere also. They can’t understand the text in their biology book or history book. For example, on the very first page of Holt, Rinehart, and Winston’s high school chemistry book one can find the definition of Chemistry, “Chemistry is the study of the composition, structure, and properties of matter and the changes it undergoes” (Davis). An illiterate child or a reluctant/remedial reader would not understand this definition. Words such as composition, structure, and properties would be undecipherable in this context. Therefore, this essential subject that every high school student is required to learn, would forever be closed to them, along with every other subject in school.

Types of ReadersHow do I know which students need help?

Strategic Readers “Strategic readers are able to use

strategies, such as prediction, drawing inferences, recognizing cause and effect relationships, summarizing questioning, and rereading. These strategies permit comprehension of a text on or above instructional reading level. (West-Christy)

Reluctant Readers Reluctant readers are usually able to

read anything that interesting to them. Reluctant readers are frustrated by text they find difficult and do not understand how to effectively apply reading strategies to ease their burden. (West-Christy)

Remedial Readers Remedial readers typically enter high

school reading several grades below their peers. They have a limited vocabulary and few internalized strategic skills. Often, remedial readers have stalled at or below a fourth-grade reading level and need help reading and understanding information from high school texts” (West-Christy ).

Tools To Aid the Reluctant/Remedial Reader

How can I help my students?

Ten Dimensions of Reading Jeffery D. Wilhelm “…ten different dimensions of response that my students seemed to use as they

created, experienced, and responded to literary worlds” (46). Wilhelm separated these ten dimensions into three large categories:

Evocative dimensions, “Readers operating on these dimensions indicated a willingness to read, even an excitement or interest in

reading, and began to ‘think about’ what the reading would be like by recalling appropriate examples from real life and previous reading” (50-51).

Connective dimensions “These next two dimensions, of elaborating and connecting, a kind of transition between the moves students use

to evoke and experience story worlds, and the moves used to step back and reflect on that experience” (65). Responding dimensions.

“…the case study students seemed to have separated themselves from their participation in the story and were looking at that experience in a more detached and objective manner” (74).

Reluctant and Remedial readers have “checked out.” They have skipped over one or more of these “dimensions” and therefore, find reading a class novel not only a great bore but also extremely difficult. The reader has made no connections; the reader has developed no relationship with the characters or developed any kind of mental picture of them or their world. Because the reader cannot even complete these first steps the reader has no hope of being able to reflect on the novel or draw conclusions from it because he/she doesn’t even have a basic understanding of it. So for the Reluctant Reader especially, it is important to help them make these connections. This is particularly true in the beginning of the novel because once they start seeing the connections for themselves the rest will slowly come. This is a platform that the educator can build off of.

10 Dimensions of Reading

K-W-L K-W-L helps students relate to their

novels. Students list what they know about the

topic, what they want to know, and what they are learning

K-W-L

In Conslusion...Reading skills are vastly important! Illiteracy leads to unimaginable consequences. The only way to curb this epidemic is to acknowledge the problem and its repercussions, to understand the type of students within the classroom, and to seek out tools to aid these Reluctant and Remedial Readers!

References...Davis, Raymond E.. "Matter and Change." Modern chemistry. Austin, Tex.: Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, 1999. 5. Print.Decker-Collins, Norma. " Motivating Low Performing Adolescent Readers." KidSource OnLine Welcome Page. ERIC Digest, 18 Apr. 1997. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. <http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/low.performing.readers.

html"Reading Strategy." Learn To Read. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.learn-to-read-prince-george.com/reading- strategy.html>.West-Christy, Janice . "Helping Remedial and Reluctant Readers, Education Up

Close, Teaching Today, Glencoe Online." Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. GlencoeOnline, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2012.

<http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.p html/print/29 >"Why Is Reading Important?." Learn To Read. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.learn-to-read-prince george.com/why-is-reading-

important.html>.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D.. “You gotta be the book” teaching engaged and reflective reading with adolescents. New York: Teachers College Press, 1997.

Print.