Wilhelm: Chapter Two

Parts of A Theory of Teaching Reading really struck me personally. I find myself looking back at being a student and I remember the frustration I felt being assigned Romeo and Juliet in Freshman English. The teacher used a teacher-centered approach in her reading instruction. She assigned us specific pages to read for homework. She then evaluated our understanding by asking us questions about what we had read. Then she quizzed us. I was completely lost from day one. I never understood how to read Shakespeare. I wished that I had some magic translator so I could understand what all the other students were talking about.

"I truly was interested in the story, 

but I was lost."

So now as an Secondary Education student, I can honestly say I disagree with my Freshman English teacher's approach, that of Bottom-up Theorists and New Critics which states, the teacher's job... is to transmit textual knowledge to the student [and] the student's job is to know what the text means. (35)

I agree more with Wilhelm's Learning-Centered Approach, in particular Guided Reading. As the author broke down the steps he used to teach his middle and high school students to read ironic texts, I was amazed at how this reading approach allowed students to use and master task-specific strategies that assisted them in reading other texts of the same genre.

"The students' reading was guided and then reguided until they were able to successfully guide themselves."
-Wilhelm, 46

I like how this approach allows the teacher to use their expertise as a reader to equip their students with the strategies they need to become successful readers themselves.

Decisions, decisions: Responding to primary students during guided reading.