The Simple View of Reading The ‘Simple View of Reading’ is a phrase use by professionals to explain the process involved in reading.

Aims To: familiarise staff with ‘The Simple View of Reading’; begin to consider the implications of ‘The Simple View’ for learning and teaching in our classes. ‘The Simple View’ may change the way some teachers think about teaching readers. In some cases, they may need to adapt the provision that they offer to reflect their new understanding of the needs of the pupils.

Final Report, Jim Rose, March 2006 The Rose Review Jim Rose lead extensive research into the teaching of Early Reading. The report published in March of last year contains his findings, and what was find to be the most effective ways to teach phonics and early reading. Final Report, Jim Rose, March 2006

‘The simple view of reading’ Or, why are we changing from this… to this…? knowledge of context Text phonic (sounds and spelling) word recognition and graphic knowledge grammatical knowledge Explain that the model on the left should be familiar to most and the one on the right familiar to some. In this session we are going to look at both models and examine why the Primary National Strategy is changing from one to another.

The searchlights model knowledge of context Text phonic (sounds and spelling) word recognition and graphic knowledge grammatical knowledge This was the model used in the original literacy framework. It is considered to encapsulate both reading accuracy and reading comprehension Reading accuracy involves… phonics (sound and spelling): fast and automatic phonic decoding word recognition and graphic knowledge: recognition of whole words and morphemes Reading comprehension involves… grammatical knowledge: predictions from knowledge of syntax to make sense of strings of words, identify sense-making syntactic boundaries in sentences, and read with fluency and expression appropriate to the text knowledge of context: predictions from context to aid comprehension

The ‘searchlights’ model STRENGTHS It acknowledges that the reading process is complex. It makes clear that a range of different types of knowledge are used in reading These different types of knowledge need to be acquired if children are to develop adequate reading skill PROBLEMS It reinforces a misguided opinion that phonic decoding and knowledge of printed words are optional searchlights By trying to account for all the complexity of reading as it develops over time in one simple diagram, it inevitably confounds reading accuracy and reading comprehension Current research shows that although the searchlights model has strengths, and has been fundamental to the improvements made in reading, it also has some problems. There is now considerable evidence to support the need for a clear distinction between: the processes concerned with recognising the printed words that comprise the written text, and the processes that enable the reader to understand the messages contained in the text The clear distinction between the processes of recognising printed words and understanding the messages contained in them will have significant implications for teachers, practitioners and teaching assistants. Teachers will need to have this distinction clearly in their minds when planning, teaching and assessing children’s reading.

Reading has two components Word Recognition The ability to recognise words presented in and out of context. The ability to apply phonic rules - blending phonemes to decode. High quality phonics work – prime approach for beginners in learning to decode and encode. Comprehension The process by which word information, sentences and discourse are interpreted. The same processes underlie comprehension of both oral and written language. Continues to develop throughout life! Reading is complex, but has two essential components that can be represented in a simple way - decoding (word recognition) and comprehension Word recognition is necessary, but not sufficient for reading. The ability to pronounce printed words does not guarantee understanding of the text – try reading your computer manual out loud! Likewise, language comprehension is also necessary, but not sufficient. If you cannot recognise the words you cannot recover the lexical information you need to apply the linguistic processes that lead to comprehension. Both components are necessary, both are insufficient on their own. That is why Rose stresses decoding and speaking and listening. Reading comprehension is a combination of both word recognition and language comprehension

- - + + Good language comprehension, poor word recognition Good word recognition, good language comprehension Word recognition - + Poor word recognition, poor language comprehension Good word recognition, poor language comprehension Two dimensions of reading: word recognition and language comprehension Four possible outcomes: Good word recognition and good language comprehension Good word recognition but poor language comprehension Poor word recognition but good language comprehension Poor word recognition and poor language comprehension Allow time for staff to consider the four quadrants alongside their class list. They may be able to start thinking about whereabouts the children would be plotted on the graph. - Language comprehension

Developing word recognition skills phoneme awareness and phonics teaching repetition and teaching of ‘tricky’ words c-a-t

Developing language comprehension talking with children reading to children learning about words teaching comprehension strategies Language comprehension can be developed very effectively through speaking and listening activities. You could download the ‘Reading Comprehension’ flyers from the dfes standards site. This is a set of three flyers containing lots of suggestions for practical ways of developing language comprehension. Remember you could use a painting, a photograph or a short film/ extract as well as a text.

A guided reading continuum decoding comprehension Pre-reading skills Explain that teachers will be catering for the needs of children in their classes that are at different places along this continuum. The children’s guided reading sessions will therefore have different areas of focus. Sessions for some children will focus on decoding, whereas for others it may be a comprehension focus. However, it is important to remember that when decoding is the main focus for the guided sessions, there should be opportunities within shared reading and indeed through other literacy or cross-curricular activities, to develop comprehension strategies.

Discussion What might be the implications of ‘The Simple View of Reading’ for your planning, teaching and assessment of reading in class ?

Questions and Close