Memphis Phonics Movement (1) Right off the bat, it’s apparent to me that this student received an education absent of phonics early on, struggled with reading, and after the application of the science of reading—even later in his teenage years—he ability to read improved dramatically. Of course, we can’t generalize an entire educational approach based on a singular student, but it is evident that the science of reading is a crucial part of reading and comprehension. Beyond Rodrick’s personal story, there is apparently years’ worth of research and evidence supporting the science of reading over a balanced literacy approach. Though there is a shift towards more science of reading implementation, this is primarily below fourth grade. The key to this article is that Memphis district schools are supporting this line of…show more content… I thought, as a science and math teacher, it was a waste of time for me to take an English class. This article reinforces the idea that literacy skills affect every aspect of your life. I agree that reading and literacy skills can take precedence over other topics, in any class, at any grade level. It sounds to me like 2010 to 2015 was the Wild West of literacy. The balanced literacy approach seems to have allowed teachers many different options of varying degrees of effectiveness. This bred much inconsistency, leading to many gaps in the reading skills of students—some of whom are still in high school today. Furthermore, there seems to be an unofficial border at fourth grade where reading becomes the expectation, with much less emphasis on phonics, if any. I’m sure some of those balanced literacy inconsistencies linger today. I also really appreciated the Shaw displayed text in Russian to make a point about how students with lapses in reading see material. 5. My biggest takeaway from this section is probably just that this is one thing teachers, parents, and students can agree
