Module 3: Reading Reflection

No, I do not agree with Marilyn Adams (1990, p. 108) who argued that rather than relying on context, skillful readers of English thoroughly process the individual letters of words in their text.  Constance Weaver states that miscue research has shown that good readers do not read word for word and do not strictly read from left to right (2002, p. 109), which they would almost certainly have to do to process each individual letter of every word.  Instead, the brains of good readers are simultaneously looking at the present, back, and ahead to make the reading “flow”.  Take for example, the analysis of Erica’s miscues in Chapter 9 while she was reading a passage from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor (1976).  Her miscues indicate to me that her brain was “filling in the blanks” for her, whereas if she had been looking at the words letter by letter she would not have made such miscues as “don’t” for “you”.