The National Right to Read Foundation, December 1998

The following is an example of whole-language's erroneous approach to teaching word identification skills. Prepared from materials by well-known whole-language proponent, Reggie Routman, these instructions are being sent home from whole-language schools across the nation - from Eisenhower School in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin to public schools in Loudoun County, Virginia. Notice that the reading strategies recommended by whole-language supporters all involve guessing.

"To produce independent readers who monitor and correct themselves as they read, the following prompts are recommended before saying 'sound it out':

• What would make sense there?
  
• Use the picture to help you figure out what it could be.
  
• Go back to the beginning and try that again.
  
• Skip over it and read to the end of the sentence (or paragraph). Now what do you think it is?
  
• Put in a word that would make sense there.
  
• You read that word before on another page. See if you can find it.
  
• Look at how that word begins. Start it out and keep reading."

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