Works Cited

References

 Spelling society : reports.. (n.d.).  Spelling Society : The Spelling Society.. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j14/reports.php

Anderson, K. (2010, October 18). The reading wars: understanding the debate of how best to teach children to read. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.nrrf.org/article_anderson_6-28-0-.htm

Curtis, J. (n.d.). SuperKids Software Review - phonics vs. whole language: which is better?. SuperKids Educational Software Review.. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/features/reading/phonics.shtml

Dahl, K. L., & Scharer, P. L. (200). Phonics teaching and learning in whole language classrooms: new evidence from research. The Reading Teacher, 15(7), 584-594. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from the JSTOR database.

Davis, M. (n.d.). Green eggs and ham: or the case for phonics instruction and decodable text. Core Knowledge. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/435/Green%20Eggs%20and%20Ham%20%20The%20case%20for%20Phonics.pdf

Fillipo, R. F. (1999). Redefining the reading wars: the war against reading researchers. Educational Leadership, 57, 38-41. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from the Proquest database.

Holden, C. (2004). Training the brain to read. Science, 304, 677. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from the Proquest database.

Instructivist. (n.d.). Instructivist. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://instructivist.blogspot.com/

Krashen, S. (2002). Defending whole language: the limits of phonics instruction and the efficacy of whole language instruction . Reading Improvement, 39(1), 32-42. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/defending_whole_language/index.html

Krashen, S., & Shen, H. J. (2004). The status of whole language, phonemic awareness, and the value of implicit instruction: comments on shen. Foreign Language Annals, 37, 310-311. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from the Proquest database.

Manning, M., & Kamii, C. (2000). Whole language vs. isolated phonics instruction: a longitudinal study in kindergarten with reading and writing tasks. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 15, 53-65. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from the Proquest database.

News Staff. (n.d.). ‘Whole language’ with a splash of phonics. MassNews.com- Masschusett's Conservative Voice. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/other/1_Jan/fountas.htm

Reading rockets: toddling toward reading. (n.d.). Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension & Language Arts TeachingStrategies for Kids. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.readingrockets.org/shows/launching/toddling

Reyhner, J. (2008, December 13). Reading wars: phonics vs. whole language. North Arizona University. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/Reading_Wars.html

Smydo, J. (2007, August 26). End of the reading wars. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07238/812245-298.stm

Snow, C. (1998). It's time to end the reading wars. NEA Today, 16, 17. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from the Proquest database.

Sutton, A. C. (n.d.). Skull & bones society: how the order controls education - the look-say reading method. The Single Most Important Page Within The 15,000 Pages Authored By Karl Loren. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.chelationtherapyonline.com/anatomy/p108.htm

Svesen, A. (n.d.). Teaching reading: phonics or whole language?. Family Education. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from school.familyeducation.com/phonics/educational-research/38842.html

Teaching reading: whole language and phonics. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_reading:_Whole_Language_and_Phonics

The ABC's of personal growth. (2009, February 15). Aboundless World. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from www.aboundlessworld.com/the-abcs-of-personal-growth/

What whole language is not: common myths and misunderstandings. (2008, October 12). Expanding Language and Thinking. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.celtlink.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52:what-whole-language-is-not-common-myths-and-misunderstandings&catid=34:fact-sheets&Itemid=57

Wren, S. (n.d.). Reading rockets: what is reading? Decoding and the jabberwocky’s Song. Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension & Language Arts TeachingStrategies for Kids. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/404

series, N. A. (n.d.). MiddleWeb's guide to the reading wars and middle school. Welcome to MiddleWeb's Middle School Resources!. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.middleweb.com/Reading.html

Additional Readings

Here are a list of various books that have been mentioned in articles that I have read that offer further information on the subject of the Reading Wars Debate:

Books

1. Why Johnny Can’t Read- Rudolph Flesh
2. Understanding Whole Language: From Principles to Whole Practice- Constance Weaver
3. Guided Reading- Irene Fountas and Gay Sun Pinnell
4. Word Matters- Irene Fountas and Gay Sun Pinnell
5. Reading Lessons- Scott Carpenter
6. Why our Children Can’t Read- Diane McGuiness

Concluding Thoughts

Phonics, simply stated, emphasizes word and sound analysis. Children learn letter sounds (b=buh) first and then blend them (bl=bluh) to form words. They also learn strategies to figure out words they don't know.  The knock on phonics is that programs use low-interest reading material and too many boring worksheets.

Whole language, in contrast, emphasizes literature and word meanings. In the early grades, children use invented spelling to write their own stories, and students are generally encouraged to use critical thinking strategies. The drawbacks to the whole language philosophy is that too little emphasis is placed on word analysis or phonics.  Absent phonics, young readers may guess or skip over words they don't know and some children may not learn how to read.

The debate between  the two approaches took center stage in 1990s as the “reading wars” emerged as a cultural and political divide between whole language and phonics advocates.  Those who favored traditional values tended to lean towards the phonics end of the debate while those with more progressive values favored whole language. When reading scores declined, private citizens, the media, researchers and politicians took aim at the whole language approach and the reading war had begun.

Today, after more than a decade or research and debate, the clear consensus seems to be that that the ideal approach is to strike a balance between literature and phonics. Neither "phonics" nor "whole language" in isolation is a sufficient teaching tool. Teachers clearly need to use both approaches beginning at the youngest of ages. The relationship between speech sounds and the alphabet, i.e., phonics is key, but reading good literature is also important. At this point, most of the research and discourse seems to be about exactly how and when phonics gets implemented into a reading curriculum.  One of the issues I see in the language/phonics debate, is the question of what to teach first—which is the “whole” and which is the “part.” It seems to me that there is almost a “chicken and egg” issue involved. In any case, I think that my original thesis that a combined and balanced approach is best, but I think that what is paramount for educators and parents alike, is to awaken and develop the child's joy of learning by encouraging their imagination and curiosity.

Interview

The following is an interview with Jacqueline Bohan, a former educator of kindergarten and first grade students at the Marymount School in New York.

What do you see as the key differences between teaching reading using a phonics approach vs. using a whole language approach?

 

Phonics provides a systematic introduction to letters, letter/sound correspondence, blends and sounding out words.  It builds the foundation for learning to read in an organized way.  I view the whole language approach as more "fun, creative" activities.....which are great for motivating kids to learn to read, but should come either after or at least in conjunction with a phonics driven approach.  The English language is complex, with many rules and exceptions to rules....to me there is no better way to make sense of it than to use a systematic and predictable approach. I also think phonics should be taught in a way that utilizes different modalities to reach different types of learning.  For example, tracing letters in sand or forming them with play dough for the tactile learner, making up songs or rhymes for the auditory learner and writing them for the visual learner. The key is building a solid foundation, then there are plenty of opportunites for whole language activities.......acting out stories, putting on puppet shows, reading trade books, etc.

 

Which approach do you believe in more and why?

Oops, I got ahead of myself, but I guess you can tell from my last answer that I favor a phonics driven approach.  I do love whole language activities, but feel they are best used in conjunction with a systematic phonics approach.

 

Any other thoughts on the subject matter?

 

As a parent of a first grader who is learning to read, I feel even more strongly about the above than I did as a Pre-K and K teacher.  Charles is really benfitting from his school's use of a phonics program.  The program they use is by Macmillan.

Also, I think that it is widely recognized today that kids have different learning styles and it can be a challenge for teachers to identify and meet the needs of different types of learners.  All the more reason for a very systematic introduction to phonics, the building blocks of all future learning, to make sure kids have a solid foundation to fall back on.

End of the Reading Wars

End of the Reading Wars by Joe Smydo, an article published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in 2007, neatly sums up where we are today in the so-called reading wars.  He acknowledges that today the issue isn’t whether the phonics or whole language approach is better, but how to blend those philosophies to best teach reading to a child (Smydo, 2007, para 2). While he cites growing academic acceptance of the balanced approach, he also attributes federal intervention and regulation as a big reason for how reading is taught today.

The U.S. Department of Education distributes $1 Billion annually in its Reading First program to schools that use “proven methods” (i.e., phonics) to teach reading. The  No Child Left Behind Act likewise mandates the use of “scientifically proven” methods. As a result, the whole language-phonics debate is necessarily “dampened” as districts have these mandates in mind when they adopt a reading program (Smydo, 2007, para 5).

New controversies seem to be replacing the whole language-phonics debate such as excessive testing and burdensome paperwork for educators.  I believe that the history of this debate was a necessary element to understanding how and why we teach reading the way we do in today’s classrooms, but it seems that the reading wars are largely dead, “over-sized rants of academic extremists.”  As Smydo quotes on educator: It’s time “to hold a big funeral service and bury this casket" (Smydo, 2007, para 32).

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07238/812245-298.stm

What Is Reading? Decoding and the Jabberwocky’s Song

This article by Sebastian Wren was written in 2005 looks at Lewis Carroll's book, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Alice reads a poem and confesses that she is a little confused about what the poem actually means.  The article illustrates the difference between being able to decode words phonetically  as Alice was able to, and actually  being able to derive meaning from the words and the concepts they are trying to convey.

Article

Video

This is a video clip from the show :Toddling Toward Reading," which examines what skills are necessary to help preschoolers become successful readers. I think it is important in understanding the various viewpoints on the subject of teaching reading, as we hear from researchers, parents and educators.

Video