ABSTRACT
This chapter examines key issues in reading and reading instruction across the PK-12 span. Skerrett, Mesmer, and Rasinski organize their discussion to focus on reading expectations and related instruction for readers in schools as they progress from learning to read to reading to learn. Although reading to learn broadly captures the authors’ perspective on the changing nature of reading as students progress through the school grades, they acknowledge that at multiple points across readers’ lives, they may need to learn to read—in new genres, in new contexts, and from new perspectives; for example, reading in particular disciplines or reading multimodal texts online. The first section of the chapter discusses reading in the emergent and beginning years (PK-2) and explores topics pertinent to foundational reading instruction, knowledge, and skills, such as young children’s development of phonemic awareness, print concepts, and decoding. The second section addresses grades 3–6 and focuses on the areas of reading fluency and vocabulary. The third section addresses reading in the adolescent years and focuses on three central areas: reading and identity, disciplinary reading, and critical literacy. Throughout the chapter, the authors take a historical perspective on research and practice pertaining to the key elements of reading and reading instruction and make connections to contemporary research. The chapter concludes by pointing to areas of reading and reading instruction across PK-12 in need of additional research.
