[Xmca-l] Re: A Question about Reading and Motivation

[Bill Blanton <blantonwe@comcast.net>]

Question asking reading activity is much the same as an earlier method, language experience approach. A small group of children tell a story (recruiting their interest), teacher writes it on a flip chart, teacher reads the story, children discuss the story, word meaning and decoding are also discussed. In the next pass through the text, read parts of the text. The content is provided by the children and they constantly discuss the elements of the story. This idea was expanded to the idea of the whole language approach. 
Both approaches are “basic literacy circles”. The children and teacher identify skills and tasks that subservient to the goal of the children and teacher.  The members of the circle assist each other. Provide opportunities for children to integrate strands different strands of knowledge.
Eventually decontextualizing what idea of a “reading skill” to be learned with worksheets and practices, focusing on what was “in” a text became known as a simple approach to learning to read. It was challenged with the idea of a complex approach.
As Carol noted, children assume that one can get what they want to know from the computer. Yes, indeed, the tools we have made available simple lace children with new cognitive artifacts. 
It time to go beyond the ideas of simple and complex reading and think about learning to reading and reading to learn as basic literacy activity organized around multi-media platform. 
I hope these comments fit the discussion.
BB