Mybeliefinthephilosophyofreadinginstructionliesintheinteractiveliteracytheory.The interactiveliteracytheoryproposesthenotionofparallelprocessing(Morrison,10).Interactionists donotbelievethatalinearprocessofreading,suchasintopdownorbottomup,isthewayinwhich informationisprocessedcognitively.Rumelhart,aninteractionist,arguedthatmultipleinformation sourcesinteractsimultaneouslyonthevisualinformationthattheeyesendstothebrain(Morrison,10). Syntactic,semantic,orthographic,andlexicalinformationsourcesworkinthebraintodecodethe meaningofthedifferentlettersinordertoproperlyprocessthewordandhowitisread,whilealso retainingitsmeaning.Thereaderinteractsandprocessestheinformationsimultaneouslyinmultiple differentwayswiththetextinordertodevelopmeaningfulconnections.Stanovich,anotherpopular interactionist,describestheconceptofcompensation,wherethedifferentprocessesworktogether whencertaininformationsourcesareweaker,inordertoutilizeastrongerinformationsourcetodecode symbolsand,ultimately,wordsandmeaning.Sensory,semantic,syntactic,andpragmaticinformation mustbeswitchedonandadaptedtobridgeperceptualandcognitiveprocessesofreading. Interactionistsbelievestudentsparticipationwhenchoosingwhattoreadaboutfostersa relationshipofpositivityandinternalizedmotivation.

Inmyownclass,Idefinitelywillincludestudent choiceintomycurriculum,especiallyinLanguageArts.Childrenhaveadifficulttimeformingaloving relationshipwithreadingtowardthebeginningofreadinginstructionduetogreatfrustration,disinterest, andboredom.However,ifchildrenareinvolvedintheprocessofchoosingwhattoreadabout,they willbecomemoreexcitedaboutreadinginstructionandwillwanttoreadandparticipate.Iplanto chooseafewbooksatareadinggroupsreadinglevelforaguidedreadinglesson,andhavethe childrenchooseoutofthose.Thisgivesthechildrentheoptiontochoosewhattheywouldpreferto readandlearnabout,whilestillhavingthestudentslearnwhatisontheagendaforourclass.Inquiry,

selfimprovement,andselfawarenessofabilitiesisalsotobeprioritized,aspairedwiththeinteractive literarytheory.Inordertofosterpersonalgrowthinmystudents,Imustremembertocontinuouslytalk tostudentsandmonitortheirfeedbackinordertodeliberateiftheircuriosityisstimulated,their selfunderstandingisbeingexplored,andtheyarebeingencouragedtoproblemsolve.Withouttalking andlisteningtostudents,Iwillneverknowhowmuchtheyareactuallyretainingnewinformationand developingnewskills. Theinteractivemodelseemsmosteffectivetomebecauseithelpsstudentsprocessinformation inamorerealisticway.Byconnectingwiththematerialandprocessingreadingutilizingdifferent informationalprocessors,childrenaremorelikelytoenjoyandretaintheinformationtheyhaveread. Studentswillbecomemoreproficientinreadingwhentheyaretaughtinformationusingallofthe informationalprocessorsavailable.Teachersthatincorporatethesedifferentinformationalprocessing systemsintheirlessonswilltrainstudentstobemoreintunedwiththemselves,theirreadingandanalysis abilities,andtoenjoyliterature.