The Reading Wars Debate

I believe that i learned my langauge through both the phonics and whole language approaches. I remember sounding out words and having site words that i knew right away. In first grade there was a board that had the words we were learning that week. I remember singing songs such as "Down by the Bay" to learn new words. Spelling lists were used starting in second grade. For me though, i had problems saying s, c, and t words so i went to the speech teacher. I remember practicing the s sound - sissing like a snake. I got bored within the third year of speech and was pulled out because my mom knew that i was not paying attention to the teacher anymore.

I think that we do naturally create site words because we connect certain words to experiences we've had. This is different for every person so site words can vary from person to person. I also think that very common words become site words because they are taught very early. Words such as and, the, at, is, in become memorized starting in knidergarten so by the end of that year or in first grade, it is expected that children know these words as site words.

Symbols make up words if one considers the individual letters as symbols. We are taught that each of these symbols makes a certain sound and when you combine them together, you will get a word. This concept, the phonics approach, can help children understand how each letter(symbol) comes together to make a word. Without this understanding, children cannot connect the reading process. The symbols, in this case letters, are concrete and children need that visual reminder to understand the concept of reading.