DEVELOPMENTAL READING

TERMS commonly used in reading subjects

APPLIED COMPREHENSION LEVEL. It involves taking what was said (literal) and then what was meant by what was said
(interpretive) and then extend (apply) the concepts or ideas beyond the situation.
ARGUMENTS. The viewpoints, claims or lines of reasoning forwarded by authors or writers.
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE. The reason or reasons an author has for writing the selection.
BOTTOM-UP READING MODEL. A reading model that emphasizes the written or printed text; reading is driven by a
process that results in meaning or reading is driven by the text and proceeds from part to whole.
COMPREHENSION. A complex cognitive process in which a reader intentionally and interactively engages with the texts.
CONCLUSION. The decision one arrives at.
CONTENT AREA READING. Reading that a person needs to complete and understand in a particular subject area.
CONTEXT CLUES. These are words or phrases around unfamiliar word which can help one understand the meaning of a
new word.
CRITICAL READING. The process of making judgments in reading; evaluating relevancy and adequacy of what is read.
CRITICAL THINKING. The use of cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome.
DETAILS. Small pieces of information that support the main idea.
DEVELOPMENTAL READING PROGRAM. A systematic instruction in reading skills and strategies.
ESSAY. A discussion and a piece of writing that seeks to demonstrate something to its readers.
EXPOSITORY TEXT. A nonfiction reading material. The aim of these written works is to inform, describe, persuade or
explain something to the reading audience.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. Any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or
fresh insights into an idea or a subject.
FLUENCY. The ability to read orally with speed, accuracy, and vocal expression.
IDIOM. A phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the
individual words.
INFERENCES. These are evidence- based guesses.
INTENSIVE READING. The type of reading used a shorter texts in order to extract specific information; includes very
close accurate reading for detail.
INTERACTIVE READING MODEL. A reading model that recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top down processes
simultaneously throughout the reading process.
INTERPRETIVE COMPREHENSION LEVEL. Comprehension level that involves drawing inferences or reading between the
lines.
LITERAL COMPREHENSION LEVEL. Knowing what is actually stated which includes facts and details, rote learning and
memorization.
MAIN IDEA. The key concept being expressed by the text or paragraph.
METACOGNITION. Knowing about knowing, thinking about thinking; knowing what we know and what we don’t know.
MOOD. The emotions that you feel while you are reading.
MORPHEME. The smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning.
PHONEMES. The smallest distinctive units of sound.
PHONEMIC AWARENESS. Ability to distinguish and manipulate the individual sounds of language.
PHONICS. Method that stresses the acquisition of letter- sound correspondences and their use in reading and spelling
READING READINESS. The point at which a person is ready to learn to read and the time during which a person
transitions from being a non- reader into a reader.
ROOTS. Base words to which other characters or letters like prefixes and suffixes are attached.
SCANNING. This type of reading is used to find a particular piece of information.
SCHEMATA. Stored knowledge along with its storage structure.
SKIMMING. The type of reading used to get the gist of a passage or an article; used when you want to see if the article
may be of interest in your research.
SQ3R. A useful reading technique for effective understanding and absorbing written information; stand for survey,
questions, read, recite and review.
TONE. The attitude that an author takes toward the audience, the subject, or the character.
TOPIC SENTENCE. The sentence in which the main idea is stated.
TOP DOWN READING MODEL. Reading model that suggests that processing of a text begins in the mind of the readers
with meaning- driven processes, or an assumption about the meaning of the text.

DEVELOPMENTAL READING

DEFINITIONS/VIEWS
Reading is a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the part of the reader.
The following are what experts have to say about the complexity of the reading process.
1. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. (Francis Bacon)
2.Reading is asking questions of printed text. And reading with comprehension becomes a matter of getting your
questions answered. ( Frank Smith,1997)
3. The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the
world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination. (Elizabeth Hardwick)
4. Reading is a dynamic process in which the reader interacts with the text to construct meaning. Inherent in
constructing meaning is the reader’s ability to activate prior knowledge, use reading strategies and adapt to the reading
situation. (Ma. Cecilia Crudo, 2005).
5.Reading means getting meaning from certain combinations of letters. Teach the child what each letter stands for and
he can read (Flesch, 1955).

SIGNIFICANCE of READING
1. Reading was a primary leisure activity.
2. It brings us to faraway places- in our minds.
3. Children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQ’s.
4. It stimulates the muscles of the eyes.
5. It is the best pathfinders to reach the destiny of success.
6. Reading is the best thing to make our mind relax.
QUOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF READING
1. “ Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body”(Joseph Addison)
2. “ Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life” ( Mortimer J. Adler)
3. Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future. (Jim Bishop)
FACTORS AFFECTING READING DEVELOPMENT
1. Physical and Clinical Factors
2.Predictors of School Entry
3. Acquired Knowledge of Literacy
4.Family –Based Risk Factors
5. Neighborhood, Community, and School-based factors.
Components of the Reading Process
 1. Vocabulary- the knowledge of word and word meaning. It includes both receptive and expressive vocabulary.
Receptive vocabulary includes the words that one takes in when listening and reading. Expressive vocabulary is
composed of the words one uses when speaking and writing.
 2. Comprehension- the main objective of reading. It involves analyzing and synthesizing of the text to create
meaning.
 3. Oral Reading Fluency- the ability to read aloud with expression to demonstrate an understanding of the
author’s message.
 4. Reading Attitude/ Motivation- the attitude one has toward reading.
 5. Phonological Awareness- the ability to work around sound units that comprise or make up a word.
Learning principles and the reading process
1. In deciding who should learn what, the capacities of the learner are very important.
 2. A motivated learner acquires what he learns more readily than one who is not motivated.
 3. The kind of motivation to be used will be those which will be pleasurable to the learners to prod them to
undertake whatever activities may be done later on.
 4. Learning under the control of reward is usually preferable to learning under the control of punishment.
 5. Learning under intrinsic motivation is preferable to learning under extrinsic motivation.
 6. Tolerance for failure is best taught through providing a backlog of success that compensates for experienced
failure.
 7. Individuals need practice in setting realistic goals for themselves, goals neither so low as to elicit little effort
nor so high as to foreordain failure.
 8. The personal history of the individual, for example, his reaction to authority, may hamper or enhance his
ability to learn from a given teacher.
 9. Active participation by a learner is preferable to passive reception when learning, for example, from a lecture
or motion picture..
 10. Meaningful materials and meaningful tasks are learned more readily than nonsense materials.
 11. There is no substitute for repetitive practice in the over learning of skills.
 12. Knowledge of his own mistakes, and knowledge of successful results aid learning.
 13. Conducting learning activities that cater to the different personalities of the learners will prove more fruitful
and encouraging to them.

Developmental Reading Stages

Jean Chall (1993)
Stage Descriptive Title Age Range Description
Stage 0 Reading Readiness/ Birth-Age 6 This stage is characterized by learning to recognize the
Pre-Reading alphabet, imitation reading, experimentation with letters,
and learning the sounds associated with letters.
The children are increasing their conceptual knowledge and
beginning to develop an understanding of the world around
 them.

Stage 1 Initial Reading or (Age 6-7, Grades 1-2) The children begin gluing to print and sounding out
Decoding words.
Children in this stage are beginning to utilize their
knowledge of consonants and vowels to blend together
simple words.
Overtime and with guidance, the children at this stage
will eventually move to reading whole words.
Patience is extremely important while children are
moving from stage 1 to stage 2.
Stage 2 Fluency Age 7-8, Grades 2-3 Children consider this to be the real reading stage. They
are now fairly good at reading and spelling and are
ready to read without sounding everything out.
In this stage, it helps to have children reread books
frequently because this allows them to concentrate on
meaning and also helps to build their fluency while
reading.
The learners in this stage need the opportunity to hone
the skills of reading in comfortable text and
comfortable reading situations.
Stage 3 Reading for Age 9-13, Grades 4- Readers at this stage have mastered the code and find
learning the New Second Year) it easy to sound out unfamiliar words and read with
Stage: A First Step fluency.
Learners are now ready to begin the study of subject
matter and the use of informational text.
Stage 4 Multiple High School; Ages 14- Readers are instructed in reading/ study skills and
Viewpoints Stage 18 reading strategies for success. They grow in the ability
to analyze what they encounter.
Readers are able to deal with layers of facts and
concepts and have the ability to add and delete schema
previously learned. This is essential as the learners now
interact with more complex texts that share multiple
views and concepts.
Stage 5 Construction and (College; Ages 18 and Readers Know what not to read, as well as what to
Reconstruction up) read.
Stage The readers have acquired the ability to construct
knowledge on a high level of abstraction and generality
and to create one’s own “truth” from the “truth” of
others. They make their own stand regarding the issue.

STAGES OF READING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

1. Reading Readiness- This is the point at which a person is ready to learn to read and the time during which a
person transitions from being a non- reader into a reader. Other terms for reading readiness include early
literacy and emergent reading.
2.Beginning reading- During this stage, the teacher should determine what, if any, foundational skills the student
currently possess. Foundational skills can be grouped into six major categories:
1. print awareness
2. phonemic awareness
3.phonics
4. vocabulary
5. fluency
6.comprehension
3.Independent Reading-Swerling(2005) opines that independent reading is children’s reading of text- such as
books, magazines, and newspaper- on their own, with minimal to no assistance from adults.
Salazar(2007) describes this stage as the stage of rapid growth and development.

KINDS OF READERS
1. Emergent Readers display curiosity about books and reading.
 pretend read and write
 rely on pictures to tell the story but are beginning to focus on print
2. Developing Readers
 can read predictable books
  can identify letters by name and know most letter sound
 begin to use spaces between words in writing but not consistently
3. Beginning Readers
 begin to apply reading strategies ( sentence structure, meaning, phonetic clues)
 rely on print more than illustration to create meaning
 understand basic punctuation such as periods, exclamations, and question mark
4. Expanding Readers
 used a variety of decoding strategies independently (sentence structure, meaning, phonetic clues)
 read known and predictable favourite while also stretching into a variety of new materials; may choose to read
a range of beginning chapter and picture books
5. Bridging Readers
 strengthen their skills by reading longer books with little repetition of vocabulary
 integrate sentence structure, meaning and phonetic clues to identify words
 independently read medium level chapter and picture
6. Fluent Readers
 can deal with more complex issues and topics
 may read pre- adolescent literature
 select and finish a wide variety of materials and silent read for 30 or more minutes
7. Proficient Readers
 avid readers who can silent read for at last 30 minutes
 Independently select challenging and complex pre-adolescent literature
 move between genre with ease, although they may have strong preferences
8. Independent Readers
 select, read and understand materials of a sophisticated and complex nature ,
 evaluate, interpret, and analyze literary elements in depth
 investigate related issues by generating ideas, questions, and posing problems

Developmental Reading Program

Developmental Reading Program is a systematic instruction in reading skills and strategies. It seeks to generate a
positive attitude towards the reading process through the changing of reading habits;
to change reading weakness into strengths; to let students become aware of learning techniques which can enable any
person, student, or otherwise, to become more successful in real life learning situations

Components of a Balanced Literacy Program

A reading program needs to have balance, between support and student participation. A balanced literacy program
consists of reading and writing that support each other. These are the components:
1. Reading Aloud. The teacher or another person reads a text aloud to the student. The teacher has the primary
responsibility; he students are attentive observer. The teacher models fluency and expression in reading. The activity
promotes literature enjoyment.
2.Shared Reading. The teacher begins to share the responsibility of reading with the students. The teacher still
has the primary responsibility for reading, but the students may have their own copy.
3.Guided Reading- is the heart of the instructional reading program. The students are responsible for the
reading. The teacher is the guide, observer, monitor, responder, and questioner.
4. Independent Reading. The students choose and read their own texts according to their interests. The
teacher’s role is to support, observe, and respond to student efforts.

SKILLS REQUIRED FOR PROFICIENT READING

 Phonemic awareness- The ability to distinguish and manipulate the individual sounds of language.
 Phonics- Method that stresses the acquisition of letter- sound correspondences and their use in reading and
spelling.
 Fluency-The ability to read orally with speed, accuracy, and vocal expression.
 Vocabulary- Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings.
 Reading Comprehension- Reading comprehension is heavily dependent on skilled word recognition and
decoding, oral fluency, a well- developed vocabulary and active engagement with the text.

READING MODELS
1. Bottom- up Reading Model- It is a reading model that emphasizes the written or printed text; says reading is
driven by a process that results in meaning ( or, in other words, reading is driven by text)and proceeds from part to
whole. It emphasizes the ability to decode or put into sound what is seen in a text.( Gough, Philip,1985)
2. Top –Down Reading Model-It suggest that processing of the text begins in the mind of the readers with
meaning – driven processes, or an assumption about the meaning of a text.(Goodman, Kenneth, 1985).
3. Interactive Reading Model (Rumelhart, David 1985)
It is a reading model that recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously throughout
the reading process.
The reader and text interact as the reader used prior background knowledge and knowledge from the text to derive
meaning

FACTS ABOUT VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

 Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. It is something that can never be mastered
overnight; it is something that expands and deepens over a course of a lifetime ( Diamond and Huttohn,2006).
Studies have revealed that students are required to understand 95% of the words they read for text comprehension
(Lauffer,1997)

WAYS TO IMPROVE VOCABULARY

1. Analyzing roots. Knowing the roots of these words will lead us to a better understanding of these terms.
2. Building Vocabulary through Affixes. An Affix is a morpheme that is attached to a stem or root to form a word.
3. Building vocabulary through antonyms. Antonyms come from the Greek anti (opposite) onoma ( name) which
means word pairs that are opposite in meaning.
4. Building vocabulary through synonyms. Conventional definitions state that synonyms are different words with
identical or very similar meanings.
5. Building vocabulary through context clues. Words or phrases around an unfamiliar word which can help you
understand the meaning of this new word are called context clues.
6. Using idiomatic expressions. An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different
from the dictionary definitions of the individual words.

WHAT IS READING COMPREHENSION?

The ability to understand or get meaning from text. It is the reason for reading and a critical component of all
content reading.
It is the thinking done before, during, and after reading.
It is the interaction between the text being read and the reader’s existing prior knowledge and expectations will
generate meaning and comprehension

INDICATORS OF LEARNERS’ READING COMPREHENSION

1.Construction of meaning from text
2. Activation of background knowledge before, during, and after reading text
3. Monitoring of learners own understanding of text
4. Identification of what they do not understand
5. Ability to use appropriate strategies to synthesize what they read
6. Creation of visual and other sensory imagery from text during and after reading.
7. Identification and interpretation of vocabulary critical to the meaning of the text.
8. Generating questions to integrate information from text
9. Retelling text orally and/ or in written form
10. Summarizing text orally and/or written form
11. Extending the meaning of the text
12. Responding to text in oral discussion and written form
13. Making inferences
14. Ability to compare complex concepts of text
15. Analysis of the text structure and story elements

COMPREHENSION LEVELS (as cited in Bernardo, A., 2009)

Level 1- Literal
This level is knowing what is actually stated which includes facts and details: rote learning & memorization
Involves surface understanding only. Common questions used to illicit this type of thinking are who, what,
when, and where questions.
Level 2- Interpretive
This level involves drawing inferences or reading between the lines. Readers read between the lines to
determine what is meant by what is stated. Readers make logical leaps and educated guesses.
The type of questions asked are open-ended, thought-provoking questions like why, what if, and how.
Level-3 Applied
This involves taking what was said (literal) and then what was meant by what was said (interpretive) and then
extend (apply) the concepts or ideas beyond the situation. Readers analyze or synthesize information and apply
it to other information. Common questions may include: In what ways…
If these are… If you were…
READING APPROACHES

1. Dimensional Approach. The dimensional approach in teaching reading is based on the principle that learning
is best when it proceeds from the easiest to the most difficult. This approach in teaching reading starts with reading of a
story by the children and then followed by the comprehension check-up which is usually done through the different
types of questions that the teacher asks. The teacher asks questions from the first dimension to the fourth dimensions.

1. literal understanding- reading the lines

2. interpretation and questioning- reading between the lines

3. critical evaluation- reading beyond the lines

4. application and integration

2. Gradual Psychological Unfolding Approach. A teaching strategy to develop the pupils’ reading comprehension. Pupils
should be given the opportunity to savor the joy and thrill of a story by unfolding it to them bit by bit or gradually.

Steps:

1. Asking motivation question

2. Unlocking of difficulties
3. Presentation of the story
4. Silent reading of the story
5. Asking the motive question
6. Asking question in sequential order bit by bit

  3. Directed-Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA). Is a variation of the directed reading activity. The DRTA focuses on
active involvement with the text, as students make predictions and verify them as they read. Teachers use questions to
activate prior knowledge, to introduce and expand vocabulary and word meaning and to teach word identification skills
and comprehension.

Steps:

Predicting—Tell me what you think the story/book will be about? Where might it take place? Who do you think
will be in the story?

Reading—Have child read silently to a predetermined point, at which time the child’s earlier predictions should
be checked.

Proving—Ask child to draw conclusion and explain his/her reasoning. Ask child to evaluate the evidence in
relation to their predictions. (Was your guess correct? Why or why not? What do you think now? Why? Why
do you think X happened? What do you predict will happen next?