Basal Programs and Vocabulary

What are Basal Reading Programs? Until class, I had no idea what these programs were or what their purpose was. However, after reading the articles and having the opportunity to manipulate Basal Reading material, I now have a better understanding of what it is. Basal Reading programs are basically text books published with stories, activities and guided instruction tips for teachers to use and implement in their classrooms. As learned in class, these books basically take care of any reading lesson planning because most Basal programs use the GLCEs. Although these programs are beneficial to teachers time wise, they also have a few negative qualities. One issue is particuluar deals with the amount of information they expect a teacher to cram into a week's worth of time. When looking through the Basal reader, my group and I thought it would be extremely unrealistic to complete everything as outlined by this program. Another minor set back would be that the content maynot contain interesting stories to the students who have to read it or the teachers who have teach it. Since literacy is the most important subject for students to master, it is important that they feel engaged. Overall the Basal system has some great qualities and a few things it could use some improvement on. For me personally, I would use a Basal program, but to my discretion I would probably pick and choose what I teach my students from it, making sure to stick to the GLCEs.

With regard to vocabulary, I used to think this involved just the word and what it means in relation to the context it is in. However, now I realize vocabulary is more than knowing what a word means, it also involves being able to identify it within text automatically. When students are able to identify words automically it become a sight word, meaning they can read it automatically and comprehend what it means. Sight words are extremely important to reading because as literacy learners develop their reading skills, when they read, they do not actually read an entire word. Instead, their eyes and brain have become familiar with what certain words look like in order for them to gain comprehension. The goal for teachers then, should be to implement a wide range of vocabulary instruction, not only to expose students to a wide range of words, but also to help students develop sight words automatically, which will in the long run make them better readers as they practice seeing and interacting with words.