A transitional period in reading development

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to point out the critical period in reading development which occurs when children transfer from beginning reading into the more advanced stage of reading where it is used as a tool for other subjects. The article further emphasizes the necessity of careful planning in order that this transition may be made with the least possible difficulty. A detailed description of the suitability of the social studies class and the independent reading class for solving this particular reading problem has been made. Teachers for some time have recognized the fact that there are various stages of progress in the development of reading. Briefly, they have been termed the period of preparation for reading; the initial period of reading in grade one and the first part of grade two; the period of rapid progress which comes in the latter part of grade two and in grade three; the period of enriched reading in grades four, five, and six; and the period of refined or specialized reading in the high school grades.' The problem of reading in the elementary grades could be epitomized as follows: the first three school years are spent in learning to read and the remainder of the years are spent in reading to learn.2 Professor Thorndike characterizes the former as a period wherein the pupils learn to read in the sense of getting by vision what they can get by hearing. The latter period is one wherein the pupils extend this ability and add new abilities, in respect to (1) vocabulary, (2) constructions, and (3) the organization of large units of thought.' A child must of necessity make a transition from the first type of reading to that of the second type. In the first three grades the major concern of the teacher is that the child learn to read. In the remainder of the elementary grades the teachers concentrate more on the content studies. However, a child cannot be expected to make