Module

in
Developmental
Reading 1

Compilers
Joean Palahang, Ed.D
Allen Day S. Mori , Instructor 1
Azucena H. Hortilano, Instructor 1
 DEVELOPMENTAL READING 1
Course Module

Overview
This course provides pre-service teachers the knowledge on the origin and nature of
reading and reading theories and strategies. It also provides them with reading activities that
would help them hone their analytical or critical, creative skills.
At the end of the course, pre-service teachers should be able to carefully examine and
become aware of one’s thinking process; practice one’s thinking abilities through reading
exposures ; use strategies applicable to obtain meaning from the text and value the genuine love
for reading as a source of lifelong pleasure, knowledge, and profit.

This course module is designed to answer the need of students for greater proficiency in
reading given the knowledge explosion and swift advances in information technology. This aims
at the sharpening of the student’s reading proficiency thus developing an early literacy
environment for them. The work text gives background lessons on the origin, meaning, nature
and psychology of reading as a complex yet wondrous process while identifying intrinsic and
extrinsic factors that affect reading performance. For its practical potion, application lessons
attempt to hone critical, creative and meta-cognitive reading skills while reacquainting students
with the basic elements of informational and aesthetic reading. Each chapter starts with a pretest
and ends with a posttest. Every lesson contains inputs and activities for students. The writers
envision a fulfillment of future teachers with genuine love for reading as a lifelong source of
pleasure, knowledge and profit. This module is aligned with the CHED prescribed new teacher
education curriculum that is reflective of the National Competency- Based Teacher Standards
with the end in view of contributing to the formation of the ideal professional teacher as
concretely described in the seven integrated domains of the teaching and learning process. The
activities or exercises at the end of every lesson were intended not only for drill and evaluative
purposes but also for purposes of advocacy for current trends in education such as reflective
education, multiple intelligences, multicultural education, interactive and brain-based teaching,
and authentic assessment and of bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Let us then enter the world of reading.
 Table of Contents
Overview
Pretest
Chapter I - A Preview on Reading
Lesson 1 - A Preview on Reading
Lesson 2 – The History of Reading
Lesson 3 – Reading as a Psychological Process
Lesson 4 – Reading as a Cognitive Process
Lesson 5 – Reading as a Communicative Process
Lesson 6 - Reading as A Skill/ Skills
Lesson 7 – Reading as a Psycho Social Process
Lesson 8 – Reading as a Process of Development
Lesson 9 – Obstacles in Reading
Lesson 10 – Selective Reading
Lesson 11 – Reading Comprehension
Lesson 12 – A Basic Technique in Reading Comprehension
Lesson 13 – An Overview of Speed Reading
Chapter II- Theories on Teaching Reading
Lesson 1 – The Top-Down Approach
Lesson 2 – Bottom –Up Reading Model
Lesson 3 – interactive Reading Model
Lesson 4 – Literary Appreciation Skills
Chapter III – Reading For Specific Purposes
Lesson 1 – Reading for Information
Lesson 2 – Reading for Appreciation and Enjoyment
Lesson 3 – Reading for Critical Understanding
Lesson 4 – Reading for Study
Chapter IV – Applied Reading Skills
Lesson 1 – Vocabulary Skills
Lesson 2 – Comprehension Skills
Lesson 3 – Study Skills
Posttest

Chapter I – A Preview on Reading

Overview
This chapter talks about a preview on reading. Each lesson gives a short input. An output
is expected through the learning activities. Lessons 1 and 2 present the history of reading where
students are expected to have improved their impression about reading, have increased their
ability to discuss reading in positive ways, have acquired motivation to improve reading skills,
acquired appreciation of the wondrous origin of reading, have the ability to highlight the epic
periods that gave us reading today and have experienced the broader aspect of reading body
language. Lesson 3 discusses reading as physiological process and expects the learners to have
acquaintance with teaching in terms of its physiology or internal process in the human organism,
have retention of scientific terms related to the physiology of reading and gain appreciation of
the wondrous process of reading. Lesson 4 tells how reading becomes a cognitive process and
makes the learners appreciative of the wondrous work of the mind in learning, understand the
steps in reading comprehension and become familiar with the levels of reading comprehension.
Lesson 5 explains why reading is a communication process and aims at understanding the close
relationship between reading and language and acquainting the learners with the characteristics
of clear and stimulating language. Lesson 6 describes reading as a skill and intends to make the
learners become acquainted with the reading skills ladder, have the ability to apply the skills
ladder in lesson planning, motivate the learners to see the skills ladder as a pedagogical challenge
to teacher. Lesson 7 makes the readers understand why reading is a psycho-social process and
broaden their awareness of the impact of reading to the world, gain appreciation of purposeful
social communication and motivation to further develop their reading abilities Lesson 8 talks
about reading as a process of development and makes the learners have a clear grasp of the
concept of developmental reading, apply knowledge of general developmental reading strategies
and motivate mastery of teaching abilities in developmental reading. Lesson 9 delves into the
obstacles of reading and targets at awareness of learners on factors that may affect the students’
reading abilities, sense of understanding on the part of teachers for the students’ growth in
reading. Lesson 10 is all about selective reading and targets to motivate the learners to read
what’s best and learn to respond to class assigned reading as a challenge not on imposition.
Lesson 11 defines reading comprehension and it aims at appreciation of the importance of
reading, comprehension in development reading, view the significance higher reading
comprehension and practical understanding of the types of reading comprehension. Lesson 12
gives us the basic techniques in reading comprehension , helps learners do the application of the
suggested technique in reading comprehension and acquire regard for reading as an art form and
Lesson 13 provides an overview of speed reading and makes the learners have a grasp of the
techniques for speed reading, have an inventory of the present speed reading rate and acquire
experience in exercises for speed reading At the end of the chapter, the students should be able
to get ample knowledge of reading and its processes.
Pretest
Directions: Encircle the letter which corresponds to the correct answer.
1. Which of the following do the great minds not say about reading?
a. It adds life to speech.
b. It is a hindrance to succeed.
c. It enriches our intellectual potential.
d. It is food for the thought.
2. Which of the following do the great minds not say about books?
a. They open the door to fantasy and reality.
b. They give life’s direction.
c. They are useless to those who don’t read them.
d. They are worth burning.
3. In the beginning, how did man communicate?
a. Through hand signals
b. Through body movements
c. Through grunts
d. All of the above
4. Which of the following statements is not true?
a. Conveying messages through body language expresses 50 percent of our
meanings as estimated by researchers.
b. Primitive man uses nonverbal ways of communication.
c. Nonverbal language enables the first men on earth to express more clearly his
messages.
d. The Roman system of writing became the basis for all systems of writing being
read by modern people today.
5. What makes reading a neuro-physiological process?
a. Because the mind controls all the human activities
b. Because body language is important to express ideas
c. Because man needs printed symbols for him to understand what he reads
d. Because you need to be physically fit to be able to read
6. What makes reading a communication process?
a. It involves understanding the language used and its characteristics.
b. The reader cannot understand if the writer does not use images.
c. The writer implies his thoughts to the readers.
d. The reader has to understand beyond the lines.
7. What makes reading a skill?
a. It has to be continually developed.
b. It comes at a single flash.
 c. Readers need to use the dictionary all the time to understand what he reads.
d. It stops when you have acquired it.
8. What makes reading a pyscho-social process?
a. It keeps your engaged and updated with the world.
b. It makes you passive.
c. It makes you socially distracted.
d. It keeps you outdated.
9. What makes reading a process of development?
a. It happens gradually and progressively.
b. There are stages that do not prepare students to better themselves as readers.
c. Development happens accidentally.
d. Level of difficulty becomes easier as the reader progresses.
10. Which of the following eye movements means the eyes stopping or getting obsessed
on the word or words?
a. return sweep c. saccade
b. Fixation d. regression
Lesson 1
A PREVIEW ON READING
Learning Outcomes:
A. Give brief reasons by sharing information
B. Write a resolution drawn from recent discovery about reading and books
C. Create separate web graphics / figures to show the benefits provided by reading and books

Let us prepare for learning

How does reading as personal activity impress you?
Have you stopped to reflect on the significance of reading, an activity which have been
doing since elementary grades until your college life today? Do you think of it simply as a tool
for studies? That is perhaps burdensome and it would be relief to set aside? Or it’s a work
activity, cutting time for more leisurely activities like games, watching television or listening to
music?

Let’s learn from great minds

Before answering these questions, let’s see how people of great minds think of reading.
Here are some of their thoughts on reading:
“Reading early in life gives a youngster a multitude of friends to guide intellectual and emotional
growth” ( Caroll Gray )
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” ( Richard Sleete )
After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless “ ( Chinese proverb)
“Once you learn to read you will be forever free. ( Frederick Douglas )
“The delights of reading imparts the vivacity of youth even in old age”(Isaac d” Israeli )
“Reading maketh a full man “ (Francis Bacon
The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it excites, it gives you
knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” (Elizabeth
Hardwick)
And as for books which contain reading materials:
“A book is a garden carried in a pocket.” (Chinese proverb)
“A man without books is as a body without a soul” (Cicero)
“The book is man’s best invention so far” (Carolina Maria de Jesus)
“I have sought rest everywhere, and only found it in corners, and books.” (Thomas a Kempis)
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” (Ray
Bradbury)
“Books we must have though we lack bread” (Alice Williams Brotherston)
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations.” (Henry
David Thoreau)

Learning Activities
Activity 1
Learning from famous men and women, you may answer the following, check your answers and
explain your choice.

YES NO

1. Reading is a burden in work and life

_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
2. Personally, it has not been useful in your studies
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
3. For men and women of great minds, they are
avoided and set aside.
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
4. They also do not find books as sources of rest and
enjoyment.
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
5. The library is not a wholesome place to stay and
spend time in.
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

In general, do great men and women find reading helpful, wholesome and a great helpmate in
life?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 2
Through informal sharing of opinion, give brief reasons why:
1. Reading books can be your friend.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Reading exercises the mind.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. You can have more topics/facts for conversation after reading.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. Books sparked people’s freedom movements.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
5. Reading can foster a rich and fulfilling life.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
6. Libraries contain wealth.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
7. A book is like a garden.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8. Churches burn heretical books; states censor radical books.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
9. Books are one of man’s greatest inventions.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
10. You should bring a book during long travel.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Activity 3
Create two separate web graphs/figures to show benefits provided by (a) reading and (b) books.
Activity 4
Write a resolution (something you wish to do) drawn from your recent discovery about
reading and books
Lesson 2

THE HISTORY OF READING

Learning Outcomes
A. Create a graph with figures illustrating reading as it began and developed in human
history
B. Research and submit brief description of Old Stone Age rock painting, Cuneiform
writing, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek alphabet, and Roman alphabet

Let’s prepare to learn

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books history is silent, literature dumb, science
crippled.” – Barbara Trishman
As a modern man you are surrounded by reading materials from mass media (such as
newspapers, magazines, advertising, etc.) as well as other forms of modern communication
including the mobile phone and Internet. But have you ever wondered how reading originated?
Everything in the universe including man has a beginning and so let’s cull on what history can
tell us about reading.

Let’s look at the distant past

According to paleontologists who study fossils and other evidences of life on earth, the
first man was a latecomer on earth and appeared on the planet only about 100,000 years ago.
But even during those primitive days, man walked upright, had adaptable hands and a brain
which enabled him to devise ways to show superior strength and cunning. And as he lived in
communities, he was a social being who communicated with his kind.
In the beginning, however, he employed grunts and body language using gestures and
postures to convey his ideas and needs to others. Slowly, he developed an oral language which
enabled him to express more clearly the messages he wanted to convey. In time, various
circumstances such as the need to communicate to others who are distant in place caused man to
devise symbols corresponding to his oral messages. We have evidence of this during the Old
Stone Age rock painting and in the cuneiform or the picture writing. From these we know the
earliest human act of picture writing and reading.
Picture-writing during the Sumerian civilization between 3000 to 4000 B.C was incised
on baked tablets. They served to communicate and preserve private letters, business contracts,
accounts, tax receipts, royal orders and state records. Meanwhile, the Egyptian civilization along
the Nile River carved their pictorial symbols known as hieroglyphics on the stone wall of
temples and tombs, or carefully painted them on wooden coffins. The Egyptians also invented
paper derived from the papyrus plant on which they wrote their signs on reed pen and ink made
by mixing water, gum and soot. Other civilizations such as those in Syria, Phoenicia and
Palestine used more permanent writing materials such as leather rolled into scrolls. But the
greatest adopted and spread the use of letter-symbols or the alphabet. Due to its simplicity, it
was developed by other people such as by the Greek and Romans. The Romans system of
writing in turn became the basis for all the systems of writing being read by modern people
today.

Let’s summarize learning

Activity 1
By the way of graph figures (squares, arrows, etc.) illustrate reading as it began and
developed in human history.

Let’s apply learning

Activity 2
Even during our modern days, we too can “read” nonverbal or the silent language system
as was done by primitive man. Researchers estimate that conveying messages through body
language (finger symbols, gestures, postures, etc.) express 50 percent of our meaning. Needless
to say, you can improve your communications skills by developing awareness of silent language.
1. For learning and fun, “read and record” these messages and communicate them using
grunts, sign language or gestures (but no words):
I’m hot. I’m thirsty. Look! I’m tired. I’m sleepy. Come here.
2. Read and record similar communication without words for more complex ideas:
a. We are living in a scientific world.
b. The man in the third row seems happy.
c. My friend is shy and feels inferior to her classmates.
d. I have a pet dog that is most loyal to me.
e. Happiness how you feel about yourself and other people.
3. Read and record how well you say the following body language:
Yoo-hoo!
Where are you?
Hey! My foot is caught.
Wait for me.
Help me!
How beautiful you are!
I’m sorry but I can’t go.
This is my affair.
Don’t get excited.
How happy.
4. Record to show a physical skill to the class:
Tying knots painting casting a fishing bait holding a golf club
Shooting a basketball swimming a new dance step riding a horse
Carrying a bundle caught in the rain watching a tennis match
Doing aerobic exercise conducting an orchestra ice skating
Activity 3
Research and submit brief description of (a) Old Stone Age rock painting (b) Cuneiform
writing (c) Egyptian hieroglyphics (d) Greek alphabet (e) Roman alphabet

Lesson 3
READING AS A PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS
Learning Outcomes
A. Prepare a chart illustrating the physiological process of reading
B. Draw an ideal home study room.

Let’s prepare for learning

Have you ever wondered about the process of how man does reading? How come reading
triggers different reactions to the human organism? How can we avoid straining ourselves when
reading? Such questions can be answered by understanding the physiology in the human activity
of reading.

Let’s learn facts

Here are known facts about reading:
1. Reading involves both the organic or physiological process and a mental or cognitive
process. But it is difficult to put a demarcation line between these two processes as they
overlap since the mind controls all human activities. Thus some reading experts simply
refer to this process as being neuro-physiological.
2. In the physiological process, the most essential step is for the eyes to see, identify, and
recognize the printed word or images (illustration, diagram, picture).
3. The light patterns from the printed symbols hit the foveal areas or closely packed
sensory cells of the retina.
4. In turn, this induces chemical changes that create patterns of nerve currents into the optic
nerve fiber.
5. Then these currents travel to a center in the mid-brain.
6. The stage of reading revolves around the ability to identify and recognize words which
are the smallest unit of visual identification and meaningful recognition. But the act of
reading does not take place if the letters are perceived in isolation
7. Finally, using the currents that travel to the mid-brain, the cerebral cortex interprets the
symbols (with the help of traces of the memory’s store of past experiences, also by
associations that enable the reader to perceive the meaning of the word).
8. Studies show eye movement in reading with the eye perceiving and pausing on the
printed material horizontally from left to right and top-to-bottom (for the westerner) or
right to left and bottom-to-top (for Asians such as the Chinese).
9. Scientific experiments have also shown that there several eye movement.
11. Fixation or the eyes stopping or getting fixated on the word or words. The duration of
fixation is the length that the eyes have to pause. Most readers take four eye pauses
per second, while poor readers need time to pause in order to see with accuracy.
12. Inter-fixation or the eyes moving from the stopping point to the other (horizontally
from left to right, upcoming down under).
13. Return sweeps with the eyes swinging back from the end line to the beginning of the
next line
14. Short quick hop and jump movements called saccades, done especially by literate
people, to move ahead on a line of print.
15. Regressions or backward right-to-left movement in case there is a need to double -
check what is being read.
16. Span of recognition or the eyes’ recognition of a group words. It is believed the that
readers can add to their reading ability by widening the span of recognition by means
of chunking of phrases, a focus on the total word pattern. As the span widens,
fixations decreases resulting in increased speed in reading.

To reflect, one reads ideas not words. The habit of reading decreases the work of
word deciphering, resulting in an ease in perceiving meaning, relationship and
messages of the printed material.
Let’s check your understanding.
Activity 1
To go back to the questions posed at the beginning of this lesson, formulate and
share your answers to these questions:

1. Is reading a fantastic human activity?

You may find help with your answer from this quotation:

“ A bit of light comes into the eye, an electric impulse flits through the brain, and
we “see”. Science doesn’t know what light is or what the mind is, but much is
now known about the miracle of seeing.”
-Wolfgang Langewiesche
Your Answer:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2. Is physical seeing much like a photographic/camera picture-taking
 Your Answer:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

3. What causes eye strain?

Hint: No continued reading for long hours (not more than two hours is
recommended), also adequate and proper lighting (left-to-right to the eyes for the
source of light), reading in a quiet/cool environment, no reading in a moving
vehicle, etc.
Your Answer:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Activity 2
Prepare a chart illustrating the physiological process in reading.
Activity 3
Draw an ideal home study room.