What's SHARP about SharpReading
SharpReading always promotes SUCCESS through actively managing the challenge.
Vogotsky introduced the idea of a ‘Zone of Proximal Development’, a place where the learner experiences just the right amount of challenge to feel good about the learning and feel motivated to learn more. It can also be referred to as ‘finding the sweet spot’ or ‘hard fun’.
If the learning context is too challenging the learner becomes overwhelmed. If it is too easy, the learner becomes bored.
SharpReading acknowledges the need for much PRACTICE to achieve fluency.
There are no guarantees about the acquisition of reading skills. All we know is that different learners achieve fluency at different rates and experience plateaus and regressions on their way. The one thing we do know is that it takes time and requires over learning for the strategies to become automatic; a bit like learning to ride a bike or drive a car. We must have systems in place to allow for this.
SharpReading promotes AUTONOMY as an essential outcome for reading instruction.
Our modern curriculum runs the risk of pushing our teachers into “Question, Prompt and Hope” as a primary instructional methodology. We are so busy and have so many ‘important’ things we are supposed to teach that we interfere in the learning process with our teachable moments and don’t give the learner the space to own (and feel really good) about their learning.
We must know how to shift the Locus of Control from the teacher to the learner.
With STRUCTURED, REPETITIVE ROUTINES based on Explain, Model, Guided Practice, Independent Practice resulting in Fluency
The learner
* Is freed up to dedicate ALL of their cognitive energy to strategy practice
* Knows exactly what is coming next
* Knows what the expectation is
* Gets used to SUCCESS
* Reduced anxiety = increased participation
The teacher has the opportunity to monitor the skill level.
A one page learning progression that provides direction and specific outcomes for teachers continuity across the school? Is it possible! We say YES!
Rather than a holistic approach (advocated by many but NOT supported by research), we think it makes more sense to view the acquisition of reading skills as a developmental continuum. Our one page progression acknowledges the increasingly complex cognitive processes required as the reader gains mastery of Decoding, then Constructing Meaning and then Critical Thinking.
