The Roots of Reading

The ROOTS OF
READING

Writing is the ability to leave information through symbols while reading is the ability to retrieve information previously written.

Writing is transcribing words we speak into understandable symbols that we see.

We are not born speaking but we are wired to acquire the speech that we hear in a relatively short time flawlessly.

We have the inherent capacity to form concepts and label concepts with words.

Reading is an outgrowth of speaking. It follows that to be a good reader one must be a fluent speaker and commands a wide range of vocabulary.

Unlike speaking, we need to be taught to read and write. We build a vocabulary of using symbols to represent the sounds that make up words. Similarly we represent auditory signs with visual signs. These signs are represented by the letters of the alphabet.

We communicate verbally through speaking and listening.

For written communication, we use writing (sending a message) and reading (retrieving message). The method of representing sounds that make up words with signs is called phonics.

Writing is simply representing the sounds (letters) we use in saying a word. Reading is retrieving the message we wrote.

Analyzing the sounds that make up a word is called decoding. Choosing letters to represent the sounds of the word we want to say is encoding. Decoding and encoding are the cornerstones of reading and writing.

At first the process of decoding is slow but with practice, automaticity sets in and decoding is faster. Decoding then is reading.

To be an effective reader one needs to develop a subset of skills as follows: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension.