FORMERLY DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
DIRECTOR BUREAU OF TEACHER TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION, DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
CO-AUTHOR OF THE WINSTON READERS
| CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO | PHILADELPHIA | DALLAS TORONTO, CAN. |
Copyright, 1920, by
The John C. Winston Company
Copyright in Great Britain and the
British Dominions and Possessions
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.
The purpose of this series. This series of readers is definitelydesigned to provide working material for the developmentof efficient "silent reading". It is not planned to competewith the many excellent series of readers now available.The authors believe that it will efficiently supplement the well-nighuniversal school practice of conducting all reading lessonsaloud.
Oral reading not sufficient. In the majority of classes thepupils are all supplied with the same text. One pupil readsaloud while the others are supposed to follow his readingsilently. When he has finished his portion of the text, theteacher or the pupils make corrections of his pronunciationor phrasing, and the teacher may ask questions or add commentsor explanations. This incentive to adequate expressionby the reader is lacking because his classmates all have thetext before them; it is natural for the hearers to read on aheadof the oral reader if the material is of interest; and it is perfectlyeasy for them to gaze absently at the book while employingtheir minds with matters wholly unrelated to the classexercise. Perhaps most important of all, reading aloud is anexperience of rare occurrence outside the classroom, whilesilent reading is a universal daily experience for all but theilliterate.
The mechanics of reading are fairly well mastered in thethird—some authorities say the second—grade. Some oralreading is doubtless desirable beyond these grades, but therelative amount should diminish rapidly.
Experts have recognized the importance of silent readingfor many years. Briggs and Coffman showed its value in theirbook, "Reading in Public Schools," published in 1908. Studiesin this field have been made by Gray, Starch, Judd, Courtis,Monroe, Kelly, and many others. They have made no attemptto deny that oral reading has a place in the curriculum,but have merely pointed out that from the third grade[Pg iv]on its place is less and less important in comparison with silentreading.
Reading to get the thought quickly. Once the mechanics ofreading are mastered, the problem becomes one of speed andaccuracy in thought-getting