Yes, I agree. Emotional support and sensitivity to a learner's  
specific needs are important. But an overemphasis on this perspective  
can be detrimental to a student learning to become an independent  
reader. Many years ago I was a volunteer literacy tutor. Almost all  
of my training was in the area of making the student feel comfortable  
and safe, finding out what his interests were, and selecting reading  
materials that matched his interests, etc. I felt overwhelmed because  
in essence the volunteer tutor organization put all of the onus of  
finding suitable material for instruction on me. They expected me to  
find materials  that were meaningful to the student. But instruction  
on how to teach the nuts and bolts of basic reading skills was  
lacking. My student and I over time became friends, but I never felt  
I made much impact on his ability to improve as a reader. Really  
after two years I felt like I had wasted both his time and mine. Now  
thirty years later and after working as a remedial reading teacher at  
an inner-city high school and operating my own reading clinic and  
developing my own research-based program, I realize that if students  
are ever to become independent readers, they must be taught the  
specific skill strands identified by the National Reading Panel in  
their report Teaching Children to Read: phonemic awareness, phonics,  
fluency, and comprehension. There are some good, research-based  
programs for adults that focus on these skill strands. It is too much  
to ask tutors to go out and reinvent the wheel. But at least we now  
have empirical data which informs us as to how best focus our  
precious time when we are teaching.

Jim Williams
E-mail Address: jw at weallcanread.com
Web Address: www.weallcanread.com

On Jun 14, 2006, at 10:31 AM, Lucille Cuttler wrote:


> Very nice. Now can you share teaching strategies? Stroking, space,

> solicitude for  learning must be supported by a structured  

> systematic method

> to teach the language.  Are the tutors totally prepared?  Lucille  

> Cuttler

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov

> [mailto:focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of e s

> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:59 AM

> To: The Focus on Basics Discussion List

> Subject: [FocusOnBasics 340] Re: reading outside of class

>

>

> Everyone,

> I concur with Ujwala that learners are eager and motivated to read  

> if what

> they are reading is connected to their lives in a meaningful way.  

> (And we as

> instructors learn quickly that learners get to define what is  

> meaningful).

>

> On another note, I have been working with John for the past two  

> years.  He

> graduated from a high school in New Jersey in 1972 through the special

> education department. When we met, John could not read.  Not at any  

> level.

> He lacked the concept of phoneme awareness, so we needed to start  

> from the

> beginning. What was striking to me about John was the way he perceived

> himself as a learner.  He felt he couldn't do anything related to  

> reading on

> his own.  As a way to uncover some "hidden" patterns at work for  

> him we

> decided to write his "learner biography".  The story was  

> incredible, very

> emotional.  Year after year in school his experience would be the  

> same.

> Because of his quiet nature, he would very often be ignored by  

> teachers who

> were clearly overwhelmed by the needier students in the class.

> Unfortunately the same pattern persisted at home.  He was one of nine

> children in his family.  He rarely came home with his books and  

> almost never

> was given homework.  He said he never g

>  ot the help he needed at home,, so he never did his homework. The  

> teachers

> relented and stopped giving him take home work.   Two important themes

> emerged from this writing.  THe first was the need for John to  

> create the

> space and time to ask questions and express concerns regarding his  

> learning.

> The second was for John to have more independence in his work at  

> home.  Sort

> of an equilibrium if you will, between asking for help and learning

> strategies to work on your own. These two discoveries have enabled  

> John to

> be more active in his own learning.  We are still a long way from  

> the goals

> he has set for himself, but reflecting on his past experiences as a  

> learner

> has allowed him to see more clearly alternative ways to approach  

> learning as

> an adult.

> Esther

>

> --

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