The greatest tragedy in life is to live without knowing how to read. Gone are the days when one can live happily without written language. Today, our country is fast progressing and keeping pace with the fast changing world. To be abreast with new technology, reading plays vital role in human’s modern life. Everything lies in decoding words and symbols written everywhere. From the instructions on cooking utensils as well as ingredients, instructions for appliances, directions of places to visit, up to traffic signs and regulations. One must have reading ability to maximize use of gadgets such as cell phones, iPods and computers. Even the use of quad-media namely televisions, radio, print, and digital world requires reading and comprehension skills.
Reading is the cheapest and easiest way to explore places, meet people, and experience cultures. A way to escape reality, reading provides an avenue to equip oneself with knowledge beyond borders. It lessens the burden of all problems if not totally solves it. It serves as a key to solve a challenging yet wonderful maze. Indeed, reading gives life spices and makes living more meaningful.
Reading is not a luxury but a necessity and life is incomplete without it. Alarming rate of illiterates beset the country in spite of the programs being implemented by the Department of Education to improve the performance of all schools and to achieve the National Goal of Education for All or EFA by 2015.1
Something is missing. Assuming that all children of school age go to school, it will be hard to ensure that these children be literate enough to become functional individuals. The funds given to education is insufficient to sustain its needs: classrooms, other school facilities, teaching instructional materials and salaries of teachers, budget for pupils and teachers’ seminars, workshops, trainings and many others. Thus a way to achieve the goal of reducing illiteracy in our country beyond these ‘shortage’ is a must, hence this study. Reading with comprehension is the fundamental key; a simple task being hindered by lack of supply of reading instructional materials in public schools.
Reading instructional material is a must in teaching pupils to read. It serves as guide and provides examples and exercises. It must be appropriately designed to suit the age, interest, and experiences of pupils. It must be simple yet effective. Effective instructional materials can be used by parents even without the guide of teachers.
Teaching reading is a difficult task. It requires tons of patience and understanding. It is not the sole task of the teachers as other parents thought. It is primarily an obligation of parents to teach their children to read and the value of reading. At certain age, these children will eventually go to school to enhance pre-learned reading skills with the guide of teachers.
Teachers must have the capacity to produce functional and competitive learners. Love strengthens this. The teacher’s love for their jobs and to their pupils will aid them in realizing their role as teachers.
With this view, the researcher, being an elementary teacher who teaches reading, would like to assess and evaluate the reading weaknesses of her pupils, develop reading instructional materials they may use, and asses its effectiveness based on the post test result. Thus, this Reading Instructional Material has been made.
Catherine Campita-Rasco
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