Kira Castle

Dr. Brown
EDUC 313
21 April 2016
Reading Philosophy
As I have started my journey on the road to becoming a teacher,
I have begun to develop the crucial ideas that have lead to the
foundation of my reading philosophy. I have had the opportunities to
observe full classrooms, volunteer at after school centers, and work
one-on-one with young learners; each experience bringing a new set of
ideas on how I plan for my future classrooms. Although teaching
reading can seem like a daunting task because of how crucial of an
element it is in a childs educational journey, I truly believe that with
proper care it can be the most rewarding for the students and the
teacher. My philosophy for teaching reading and writing is centered on
the environment of the classroom, the style in which the classroom is
managed, the overall mindset of creating life-long learners, and the
fundamentals of literacy instruction.
The environment of a classroom should be deliberate in both
physical and mental proportions. Just as teaching reading and writing
can seem intimidating, it is also scary for the children to learn it if it is
not handled properly. Because of this, it is important to make the
environment of the room as welcoming and reading centered as
possible. I believe that it is best to have different parts of the room
designated for different subjects. If a room is cluttered with math,

literature, science, and art materials it is hard for a child to focus on

the task at hand. Giving various stations in the room different areas of
focus is essentially creating meaning for the children; they are able to
understand what needs to take place when they are at a certain
station. Not only does this strategy offer good organization, it gives the
students a sense of stability and routine. In continuation, I think it is
absolutely essential to have a variety of reading and writing resources
available for the children to use. A well-stocked classroom library is the
most significant example of this. If there are a variety of options to
choose to read, the chances that each student will enjoy something are
high. In this situation, the environment helps to connect the learners to
the class as well as stemming a love for reading and learning in
general. Some other examples of ways to incorporate reading into the
physical environment of the room are: word walls, easels for group
sharing, name charts, and alphabet charts. Essentially these options all
have the aim of aiding and advancing the students reading and writing
abilities.
The other piece of the environment that I will focus on in my
future classrooms is the mental component. A classroom that gives the
students a sense of security and good relationships will show more
success than one where the child is afraid to make mistakes. If a child
is fearful of learning their educational journey will be long and hard.
Reading and writing are challenging, which is why I want to foster an

environment where my students are free to make mistakes and

actually find enjoyment in their progress. I will follow through with this
idea by finding the best aspects of each of my students and using that
to help them advance. If I have a student who struggles with traditional
grammar but has a great imagination, I will let their strength outplay
their challenge. If you let children feel success they are much more
likely to want to find it in other areas as well. Crushing a child early on
is everything I want to avoid. I want to promote an environment where
children feel safe, respected, and ready to learn.
My philosophy of teaching reading and writing continues with
how I think the classroom should be managed. The first item to be
addressed is the idea of grouping. Although I think that grouping can
have wonderful benefits, I do not think it should always be the answer
and that it needs to be done correctly. If choosing to create groups, the
groups should always be flexible. No child should ever feel as if they
are less simply because of a group they have been placed in. Groups
should be in place so that children can not only learn from the teacher
but also each other. An analogy I like to use to describe this is thinking
about sports teams. You cannot expect a new player to get better if
they are always being alienated from the experienced players. Just as
you need the player to learn from others, a student needs this as well.
As a teacher I will plan for all students to have equal opportunities to
learn and improve, instead of being destined to a life in a low group.

In continuation, there are indeed benefits to using grouping, but it

should not always be the answer. In my experience, it is often an
instinct of teachers to implement groups because it is what has been
taught. However, I think it is important to understand that reading and
writing are better understood amidst a larger community. Limiting
students to only working with a few peers every day will start to
diminish their sense of being part of something larger.
The third piece of my philosophy of teaching reading and writing
is the mindset of creating life-long learners who enjoy reading as a part
of everything they do. I want to generate a classroom of students who
develop ideas that can be used for the entirety of their life. Some ways
that I can carry this out is by first creating personal interest in the
subject. If I can provide a variety of books to fit all children it would be
a great stepping-stone. But I think a lot more work needs to go into this
on the side of the teacher. The teacher needs to share a passion for
reading and writing and make that known to her students. One
example of how to do this is by having reading be a reward rather than
a punishment for students. A student should never have to go sit
down and read because they have misbehaved. When the seed of
negativity is planted with reading and writing it is hard to eradicate.
Another way that I can create life long learners and lovers of reading
and writing is by letting them show their creativity and critical thinking
skills. If a child likes to think about interpretations of text a little

differently, I say let them. If they make predictions about the text that
are far off, that is still wonderful. So long as the child is thinking deeply
about what they are reading, it will be more beneficial to them.
Finally, the fourth piece to my reading philosophy is the
understanding the importance of the fundamentals of literacy
instruction. This includes, but is not limited to, phonemic awareness,
phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, and a balanced literacy
program. Creating the concept of phonemic and phonological
awareness is not a small undertaking. Phonological awareness, The
understanding that spoken language consists of words, syllables,
rhymes, and phonemes, and the ability to act on that understanding,
and phonemic awareness, the understanding that individual
phonemes form meaningful words, should be taught in a way that
prepares the student for every piece of learning they will receive in the
future. These two skills are what set the foundation for all reading and
writing that children will learn; they are the critical attributes for
furthering the learning process of reading. Working with these two
areas can be done in a variety of ways, some more successful than
others. To teach phonemic awareness there are fun ways to go about it,
such as clapping or stomping out vowels or sounds. This not only
engages the children in a fun way, but it also connecting the idea of
sound to letters. Another way to improve this skill is by using phoneme
substitution, deletion, and addition. This is helping children have the

understanding that words are simply made up of sounds. For teaching

phonological awareness, there are also ways to make it fun for the
students. One great way to incorporate this skill is by using rhymes
within poems. When children can catch onto a rhyme scheme in
something they are reading it is often much simpler for them. For the
fostering of the alphabetic principle, one of the best ways to make it
second nature to the children is having alphabet charts all throughout
the room. Just this one piece of decoration can help children see the
letters that they need to make words. Lastly, a balanced literacy
program is one of the biggest fundamentals of literacy instruction that I
will use in my class. A balanced literacy program consists of read
aloud, guided reading, shared reading, interactive reading, shared
writing, writing workshop, and word study. Essentially a balanced
literacy program aims to provide children with as many opportunities
to succeed as possible.
Overall, with all the ideas presented here, my main goal is to
give my students every possible opportunity to become better readers
and writers. I dont ever want to become frustrated with my students;
instead I want to take initiative to help them grow. My philosophy for
teaching reading and writing is centered on the environment of the
classroom, the style in which the classroom is managed, the overall
mindset of creating life-long learners, and the fundamentals of literacy
instruction. These four key aspects will help me focus on the large task

I have at hand and ensure that I am taking the time to invest in all the
students I have set for me in my future.