Ep. 149: Hot Topic Series: Clarifying Differences Between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies

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Our conversation today illuminates a hot topic in reading - skills and strategies. What’s the difference? Peter Afflerbach, researcher and professor, shares in the podcast that he and his colleagues surveyed educators and  “ten people would give us ten different answers. They were all kind of related, but all different.” 

Peter explains that with practice, strategies require less deliberate attention. When strategies become effortless and automatic, the reading strategy has become a reading skill. This is bound to change based on complexity of text and topic, so we learn that knowledge plays a critical role in strategy use and comprehension, too. 

Resources

• Clarifying Differences Between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies, The Reading Teacher 
• Teaching Readers (Not Reading): Moving Beyond Skills and Strategies to Reader-Focused Instruction by Peter Afflerbach
• Shedding Light on Reading Skills and Strategies | Shanahan on Literacy  
• Comprehension Skills or Strategies | What’s the difference and does it matter? 

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