Dougherty Stahl, Katherine A. (2011) The Reading Teacher 65 (1) pp.52-56
This article explains the differences between the constrained and unconstrained skills (Paris, 2005) that are important in the reading process. It is suggested that these skills can be placed on a continuum. At one end of the continuum are tightly-constrained skills such as name-writing, letter knowledge and decoding. Phonological awareness and oral reading fluency are moderately constrained, while vocabulary and comprehension are least constrained. Teachers are encouraged not to allow the teaching of the constrained skills to dominate the teaching of reading because they can be more easily measured/tested. Sufficient time must also be allocated to teaching a child the more complex unconstrained abilities throughout the learning to read process.