#sol23 January31 That Moment of Lift

 

"Al was not sad, he was not mad," read softly but with a confidence that was in juxtaposition with the hesitance to even begin this reading task.

"The big dog ate a little grass," read slowly but confidently taking on a book with longer sentences and more pages with only a few tears.

As a literacy specialist for many years, I have watched many of those moments when struggling readers start to become more confident and each and every time I become a bit emotional and think about Orville and Wilbur Wright!  I know this may not sense to everyone, but the Wright brothers did not just decide to fly and take off. It took a lot of attempts, many disappointments, lots of tears, and ultimately an understanding of both the science of flight and the means to keep that plane aloft!  It was not an easy journey and at times, each of the brothers were ready to quit. 

Admittedly, there are some beginning readers who somehow infer the code from immersion in our language and print. However, for most readers, particularly those who are hesitant or have language delays, there is a need to understand the imperfect phonetic code as well as the power of context and syntax.  For hesitant and struggling beginners, the phonetic blueprint of our language, while admittedly less than perfect, provides the basis for "figuring" out what a group of letters might say.  For beginning readers who find reading challenging and frustrating, particularly those with dyslexic-ish reading difficulties, teaching the phonetic code is the essential foundation that promotes risk taking - which is what reading is all about. 

From my perspective, that imperfect code empowers all readers strategies to take reading risks and ultimately,to take that first "flight" with a text.  Each and every time, I know there is still a long journey ahead; yet I feel as if I am watching "the boys"  fly off the cliff in Kitty Hawk.