Hello everyone Has anyone else seen the latest issue of the Reading Teacher? The very first article may be of great interest to many of you on this list. Over the past few years, there have been many discussions here on Mosaic about the differences between strategies and skills. This article by Afflerbach, Pearson and Paris discusses the confusion in the field, looks at the uses of the terms historically in the reading field and then attempts to clarify the difference. What the authors propose is to say that strategies are "deliberate, goal-directed attempts to control and modify the reader's efforts to decode text, to understand words and construct meanings of text. Reading skills are automatic actions that result in decoding and comprehension with speed, efficiency and fluency and usually occur without awareness of the components or control involved. Skills are used out of habit and unconsciously and are faster than strategies because conscious decision making is not required." The authors further argue that we need to be consistent and clear when we use the terms strategy and skill with students in order to make our instruction more effective. I am interested in hearing the reactions of the fine folks on this list to these ideas and encourage you to check out the article yourself. Jennifer List moderator
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