i was taught speed (controlled reading) for 4 to 5 years in elementary school. (i think we started in 4th grade, but i don't remember exactly, i was always in the top reading group, (and way ahead of the class in reading skills)
the class (huge, baby boomer generation, parocial school classes!) was broken up into groups (3? 4?) and 3 days a week we had 20 minutes of controlled reading.(about 10 to 15 kids to a group)
we sat in a darkened class room.
there was a projector, that had a letter box slot that was further masked, /......./, to make a window shaped like the this.
the window was wide enough for 2 short words (and, we, to, for, etc) or 1 long word (constitution, or similar)
the window moved across the letter box, showing us one or two words at at time. (so the speed was controlled)
after practice (first year)the speed was increased, (and increased, and increased) until by 8th grade my group was reading over 900 words per minute, with greater than 90% comprehension.
i still read fast, (but not so fast as did as child, i guess within the 600 to 700WPM range (i've taken computer times reading test, with comprehension test after, and scored in the 500WPM range, but i know i read much slower on a monitor than i do with text on paper)
i certainly don't sound out words, (but gobble them whole!) and my reading vocabulary is considerable bigger than my spoken one (and i have mangled pronounciations of words, since i only know them from reading, and don't really know them to say (and often have never heard them spoken)
erzats was a word i had a problem with --i misread it (as ezrats)-a not uncommon dylexis problem --but understood it meant, synthetic, immitation, (like erzats butter (ie, olio, or erzats whip cream (coolwhip))
didn't recognize the word when i first heard it spoken (i was merrily thinking ezrats-- something like the name ezra.. ) i remember this words now, because of the embaressing moment it produced.
i am sure there are plenty of other words i don't know how to say, but that i feel quite comfortable reading, (and sometimes, i even know how to spell them, but not often!)
my kids are good readers, (now as adults) and read with reasonable speed and skill, but i read faster than them (and i read faster than my ex ever did)
i think i was lucky to have controlled reading (i am pretty certain controlled reading is brand name for a speed reading system.) we were taught to read every word, but quickly. and to move our eyes, not our heads (the nuns would stand behind the class and tap us gently if we moved our heads)
i know some programs have readers move their finger across a line, and other programs have other methods.
(my school also had SRA (i think this was discussed here recently (i don't remember what sra stood for, but it was a reading program we could use any time, (like if we finished a test and others hadn't we could do SRA reading..) or while waiting for something (like a guest/specialty teacher)
