Category: Foundations of Reading

What is Reading Fluency?

Reading fluency requires many different components working together to produce accurate reading fluency. Reading fluency is defined as “reading skills that involve the ability to read text aloud with accuracy, appropriate rate, and good expression” (Ray, 2017). The skills necessary and the degree of dependency on those components for reading a written passage change over time. Students will rely more on letter-sound correspondences to decode words when they are beginning to learn how to read and more on orthographic mapping as their reading abilities increase. Students will also depend more on their oral language or phonemic awareness abilities when they are first learning how to read. All students begin to read at the same point, no matter the age. In this blog I will focus on the accuracy part of reading fluency. In the future blogs, I will discuss the rate and good expression of reading fluency.

Reading fluency is dependent on how accurate the passage is read. This is the ability to read aloud written words or symbols on a page with little or no mistakes. Reading accuracy develops in layers, beginning with the foundation – oral language ability. This is developed through student environment, with their immediate or home environment having the largest impact on their oral language development. This means that students begin learning how to read through the individuals that they spend the most time interacting with. These individuals assist in their development of phonological awareness skills; the ability to recognize and manipulate sound parts of words, like phonemes and on-set rimes. Student phonological awareness skills before learning how to read written words usually dictates their rate of acquiring reading skills.

Another vital skill in the development of reading accuracy is knowing each individual phoneme and how it is represented by grapheme(es), which is letter – sound correspondences. This skill is essential for initially learning how to read. This skill gives students the power to decode written words. Student will combine this skill with their phonemic awareness skills, such as rhyming to decode words. Some students will learn this with little instruction. The majority of students need explicit, direct instruction accompanied with lots and lots and lots of practice. And still, some will need direct one-on-one instruction that includes oral, visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile components. Students will continue to rely on their knowledge of graphemes and their corresponding phonemes through-out their lifetime.

Another skill that is necessary for reading accurately is the ability to break down multisyllabic words into more manageable parts, sometimes called chunking. Students begin to automatically divide and conquer multisyllabic words based on their knowledge of phonemes, graphemes, syllables, and morphemes. This skill becomes more relevant after students learn how to accurately decode CVC, CVCe, CCVC and CCVCe words. Students use their knowledge of syllable types and morphemes to breakdown a multisyllabic word. The different syllable types have recognizable patterns that help the reader to decode words. Over time the student brain develops a “catalog” of rules and patterns about letters and groups of letters (orthographic knowledge) to increase the speed in which a person conquers new or previously introduced words that still need practice. Students use their orthographic mapping skills to permanently store a word for instant retrieval. Over time students will naturally depend less on the individual phonemes to decode words and rely more on their orthographic knowledge and mapping abilities.

Why worry about reading accuracy? Student usage of the words read in a passage is compromised when students are unable to accurately read at least 95% of the words. The inaccuracy usually causes a cognitive overload, similar to an overload on an energy circuit. The connection is disabled.

Learning how to read is not a naturally phenomenon. Each person has to learn, develop new skills in order to read written words. These skills are usually taught in a systematic format beginning with oral language knowledge and skills.

In my next blog I will discuss the appropriate rate necessary for reading fluency.

References
Apel K. What is orthographic knowledge? Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2011 Oct;42(4):592-603. doi: 10.1044/0161-1461(2011/10-0085). Epub 2011 Aug 15. PMID: 21844399.
Ray, J. S. (2017). Tier 2 intervention for students in grades 1-3 identified as at-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826/
Reading Rockets (2024). Basics: sight words and orthographic mapping.
https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/sight-words-and-orthographic-mapping

Reading Development, in Relation to Cognitive Maturation Stage Two, Semiotic or Symbolic, 2 – 6

Cognitive development during the semiotic or symbolic stage is dependent on the amount and type of social interaction that takes place during the maturation process (Vygotsky, 1934). Children usually develop in a blurred manner. Each individual will move through the natural layers of maturation at different speeds, dependent on their environment and genetics. All children use a different formula to analyze knowledge and a different way of integrating the knowledge into their brains. All children demonstrate different tempos for processing information. Children will comprehend higher levels of oral language before using higher levels of oral language. The cognition of children will increase as they master social processes. Children begin imitating or playing the roles of other individuals. Children begin to process abstractly. At the end of this stage students should be able to complete more multi-layered tasks, like a simple two-step task or first take out the trash, then bring the trash can back in, and put a new liner in the trash can.

Symbolic play helps children work through their unsolved conflicts and self-identity. Children usually possess the desire for symbolic play within their genetic design. Piaget and Inhelder (1966) argued that there are four different types of symbolic play. The first type is exercise play, which involves repeating previous activities that children enjoyed learning. The second kind of symbolic play is actually called symbolic play. Children mimic other characters or individuals. They enjoy dress-up or make-believe. They often play out unresolved situations. The third form of symbolic play is playing games with rules, which children learn by playing with other individuals. Learning and playing games increases their social connections. This type of symbolic play typically begins during the first years of formalized schooling. The fourth type of symbolic play involves solving equations or playing games that involve more abstract thought. Children begin being able to visualize pictures or images not physical seen within their minds. The fourth type of symbolic play signals a transition into the next phase of cognitive development.

Regarding literacy development, learning how to read begins in the womb through genetic wiring. The environment stimulates and effects the genetic wiring. When this stage begins children have been soaking in their environment for about two years, gaining knowledge and assembling the wiring to express comprehendible words. Oral language usually increases as their cognition abilities increase. Children usually include two or more words in a sentence by the end of age two, when children begin developing syntactical rules. Children usually speak what has been modeled in their environment. Piaget and Inhelder (1969) argued that language is acquired through assimilation and “requires both linguistic and psychological competence” (p. 89).

Reading written words begins with oral language knowledge that is transferred to written language. Children at this stage of development are in the pre-alphabetic phase of learning how to read written words. Children are manipulating language sounds to develop coherent sentences. Children are listening and mimicking their environment about how sounds make words and sentences to communicate their needs and wants. Children at this age will also begin using pencil and paper type objects to convey their thoughts through pictures and letters. Children begin transferring images from within their mind to paper in the form of scribbling and drawing. The pictures become clearer as the child moves closer to age six (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969). Children at this age usually move from little to greater explanation of their drawing. They will also begin “pretend” reading books. Children begin to learn that the written symbols or letters on a page represent oral sounds. The items related to reading and writing in their immediate environment usually impact the rate of growth.

In a formal learning environment, like pre-school children are usually receiving instruction in phonemic awareness. They are listening to books that are usually increasing their vocabulary and comprehension. Pre-school usually begins to teach grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Children usually begin the writing process through pictures before moving to letters and words. Children learn the correct way to hold a book. Children learning that English is read from left to right.

At this stage of learning how to read, we begin to see major signs cognitive processing issues that tend to clog or place road blocks for students learning how to read. One processing deficit that may become more apparent at this stage of learning how to read written words is phonological dyslexia. These children lack the natural wiring to begin learning how to read. They need certain ingredients to be present to develop the necessary wiring or processing routes to learn how to read. This type of dyslexia is genetically driven. Children with phonological dyslexia typically use the non-lexical route to process grapheme-phoneme correspondences, instead of the lexical route. Another processing deficit is surface dyslexia. Surface dyslexia is more environmental developed. These children typically have a lexical route in place that may increase their ability to learn to read. At this stage of learning how to read, identifying and providing intervention or explicit direct instruction is cost effective, in relation to both later emotional and instructional intervention needs.

References

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children. Williams & Wilkins Co.

Chall, J. S. (1983). Stages of reading development. McGraw-Hill Book Co.

Ehri, L.C. (2022). What teachers need to know and do to teach letter-sounds, phonemic awareness, word reading, and phonics. The Reading Teacher, 0(0),1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2095

Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol. I). D.C. Heath & Co.

Healy, J. (1987). Your child’s growing mind. Broadway Books.

Johnson, G. (2010). Internet use and child development: validation of the ecological techno-subsystem. Educational Technology & Society, 13(1), 176-185.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.

Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

 

Reading Development, in Relation to Cognitive Maturation (Sensori-Motor, Birth – 2)

The development of cognition and cognitive processing begins in the womb according to genetics. Most individuals have a unique genetic design from the mixing and matching of their maternal and fraternal genetics. The exception would be identical twins, who have the same unique genetics. Disabilities linked to genetic dispositions will begin to form at this stage. The child’s environment may alter (increase or decrease) possible impacts of a genetical directed disability. Children gain their intelligence through familial genetics. Their intelligence is usually altered through the environment before and after birth (Binet & Simon, 1916). Genetics also plays a role in child motivation (Fowler, 1983). Infant environment both in and out of the womb will also affect the beginning stages of cognitive growth (Binet & Simon, 1916; Piaget, 1966).

Cognitive development takes place in a layered manner (Binet & Simon, 1916; Vygotsky, 1934; Piaget, 1966; Fowler, 1983). Systematic in nature, building each skill upon the previously learned skill. Children learn how to move their limbs before, rolling over. Children learn how to say sounds before a whole word. Children usually begin to verbalize one-word sentences, before using two or more-word sentences. Students learn how to comprehend oral words and sentences before reading and comprehending written passages. The brain begins to prune the unused cognitive connections or highways and byways at about 12 months (Fowler, 1983). This begins and defines the structure of how an individual’s thoughts will be organized. New connections will develop based on their environmental layers of influence (Johnson, 2010).

Oral language develops naturally from different types of babbles or cries towards comprehendible sentences. Children develop oral language that echoes their immediate environment. For example, if a child hears simple words like pretty or yellow to describe a flower, the child will usually use those same words to describe the flower. If a child hears higher-level words, like elegant or marigold in their immediate environment then the child will follow the modeled use of those words. The child is dependent on the accuracy of the modeled use of the word to learn the meaning and use of the word. Children who hear a word often mispronounced will usually use that pronunciation of the word. Most children learning to speak words will initially mispronounce words, as some letters are naturally harder to learn how to pronounce correctly. If a child’s environment continues to correctly pronounce the word, they will usually make the self-correction.

During the Sensori-Motor stage of cognitive processing development children are developing their foundation for reading written words. Children are developing their oral language skills that are necessary for reading written words. They are learning how to manipulate sounds to form words and sentences to communicate their needs and thoughts. Most environments provide the right climate for individuals to learn how to manipulate sounds to make different words. This is the beginning or foundation of learning how to encode and decode written words. They are developing the highways and byways of oral comprehension. This is when written comprehension begins. They are developing subject categories and connections. This is the prerequisite of learning how to read written words.

The brain is a muscle that needs to be nurtured and exercised on a regular basis, similar to going to the gym and focusing on increasing the strength of a person’s leg or arm muscles. Some individuals need more exercise or practice to accomplish the goal of strengthening their leg muscles. This concept also applies to learning how to speak and comprehend oral words. The time spent exercising or practicing usually determines oral language growth. Genetics begins the process; environment assist in the growth process.

Reading is not a natural phenomenon. Reading is a taught skill that has a few prerequisites that need to be learned and practiced before actually being taught to decipher written symbols or the written form of oral language. One prerequisite is a solid foundation in phonemic awareness skills, which children begin building in the womb.

Definitions

  • Cognition – thinking skills
  • Cognitive processing – how the brain processes information – synergizing stored and gathered information to make conclusions. Individuals use the highways and byways of their brain to process and comprehend their environment.
  • Cognitive development – is how a brain typically maturates/grows over time within its environment.
  • Cognitive flexibility – “Ability to shift attention among competing stimuli and consider alternatives” (Birsh & Carreker, 4th, 2018, p. 818).

 

References

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children.             Williams & Wilkins Co.

Birsh, J. R. & Carreker, S., (Eds.). (2018). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (4th ed.). P. H. Brookes Pub. Co.

Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol. I). D.C. Heath & Co.

Healy, J. (1987). Your child’s growing mind. Broadway Books.

Johnson, G. (2010). Internet use and child development: validation of the ecological techno-subsystem. Educational Technology & Society, 13(1), 176-185.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (2000). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.

Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

The Benefits of Utilizing Word Ladders to Teach Literacy Skills – Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing, Fluency, Comprehension

Word Ladders were first created in the late 1800’s by Lewis Carroll, as a two-person game. The original game was called Doublets. Players were given the beginning word and the ending word, like head – tail. Each player had five moves to change the first word into the last word. Players were only allowed to change one letter of the previous word to create their next word or move toward the target word.

There are a few differences between the original word ladder game played in the late 1800s and the Word Ladder curriculum developed by Dr. Timothy Rasinski. One difference is that only the beginning word is given. Another difference is that Rasinski ladders usually require more than five moves. Another difference is that solvers of the “puzzle” must use a clue and the previously developed word to discover the next word in the puzzle. Another difference is that Rasinski’s Word Ladder allows for different amounts of letter changes, instead of a set amount. The clue states how many letters need to be added or subtracted to the previous word of the puzzle to form the new word. Another difference is that there may be different amounts of letters within a word in the same puzzle. The puzzle shows solvers how many letters are in the word that they are solving for. Rasinski’s Word Ladders are published as literacy curriculum for students in Grades K-6. Each ladder has a focus or topic.

The benefits of using Word Ladders are many. Word Ladders usually help to increase student knowledge of spelling—encoding of words. Students must think about the letter order of possible words. Students must link graphemes to phonemes and analyze written letter structures within possible words, as they discover the next word. Another benefit is vocabulary. The clues require students to think about different words that are described in the clue. Students must retrieve possible words from their lexicon. Student collaborations about possible words usually help students to retrieve the necessary words. These conversations also help to link other possible words to words of similar meaning. Students also benefit from learning the meaning of words that are unfamiliar to them. The conversations grow, broaden and deepen student lexicon. This growth assists in student comprehension of both oral and written communication. This growth also strengthens student ability to write more complex sentences.

Many students will be frustrated until they understand how to complete the puzzle. Modeling or completing the process of the solving the ladder puzzle together a few times usually creates a student interest of completing the task independently or in collaboration. Matching student ability with the right grade level curriculum will also decrease student helplessness of solving the mystery. I usually use them as a whole class exercise. Students are allowed to collaborate and we usually go over the puzzle, so that every student feels included. When a student asks, I will give clues – leading questions or statements – that might help them to accurately solve the current clue.

Rasinski’s Word Ladders may still be used as a game. Students are usually motivated to solve the clues within each ladder to complete the puzzle. Many students like the competition of seeing who can solve the puzzle first. The puzzles may be a hard challenge for struggling students, when given as a whole class assignment. Allowing student collaboration usually eases the frustration. Some of that will depend how the puzzle(s) are used.

Teachers use Rasinski’s form of the puzzle to strengthen student spelling, written comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, oral language and or motivation to participate in literacy activities. These puzzles might be used in the regular class at grade-level to increase student knowledge of the previously noted. These puzzles might also be used as an intervention for student who are struggling with vocabulary knowledge or the other mentioned benefits.

Why Teach Spelling?

Spelling knowledge is a gateway to higher student achievement in literacy. Individuals begin learning how to spell, as they begin manipulating sounds. Individuals begin to encode words as they begin writing symbols that represent sounds. Individuals are not initially wired to encode words they must be taught how the sounds are represented in print – for any language.

Spelling instruction enables students to become better skilled at decoding and encoding written words, which usually increases student reading fluency. Students also increase their lexicon, building depth and width of knowledge about different subjects. Students also increase their ability to write and use higher level words within their writing. Students also build or strengthen their synthesizing skills and become more self-assured.

Spelling instruction should encompass several different components that are known to increase student retention of how individual words are spelled. These different components assist students in completing “word studies” of how words are encoded. Spelling instruction should increase in complexity as students grow academically—moving in a systematic, sequential manner. Spelling instruction should include the following components:

• Phonology – “the study of spoken sounds (phonemes)—rules of how sounds are encoded, such as why these sounds follow this pattern to form this sound(s). Individuals should have phoneme awareness skills before learning how to read. This is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulated individuals sounds in spoken words. Phoneme awareness is part of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to process and manipulate letter sounds, rhyming words, and segmenting of sounds within words. The study of phonology usually increases student ability to spell, pronounce, and comprehend written words” (Ray, 2019).

• Morphology – the study of the smallest units of meaning. Word analysis helps students understand how the smallest units of meaning dictate a word meaning. The word meaning determines spelling pattern. Morphology increases student lexicon and comprehension abilities of both oral and written language.

• Syllabification or syllable knowledge – how words are divided into different chunks or parts. There are six major syllable types in the English language. Understanding how words are divided into syllables usually increases student decoding and encoding skills. Syllable knowledge also increases the accuracy of language pronunciation and comprehension.

  • Orthography – the rules of how letters form written words. The internal structure of a word in print. Encoding words requires knowledge of how the letters and letter patterns of a word dictate its sound and meaning. In some cases, the same sound within words is generated by different letters, for example the long /ā/ sound is generated using these different letters or combination of letters:
  • -eigh (weigh)
  • ai (rain)
  • a – e (cake)
  • a
  • ei (vein)
  • -ay (stay)

Another example is the letter k that uses different single or combination of letters to create the /k/ sound, for example:

  • c (cut)
  • ck (back, chick)
  • k (kick)
  • ke (bake)
  • Orthography Mapping – “the mental process we use to store words for immediate, effortless, retrieval. It requires phoneme proficiency and letter-sound proficiency, as well as the ability to unconsciously or consciously make connections between the oral sound in spoken words and the letters in written words.” (Redding, 2023, slide 6). Instruction in orthography usually leads to faster retrieval of how words are spelled, which typically increases student reading fluency rates. Students memorize the letter layout of words and store them to be retrieved for later use—sight words.
  • Etymology – the study of word origins. English is deprived of many different languages that may have different rules of how letters are ordered within a word to create the same sounds. For example, words of the German or Latin language use different letters to form the same sounds of different origin. Some languages are more transparent than other languages. English is less transparent than other languages.

Students often resist being taught purposeful lessons about how to accurately encode letters into the “right” word. Students usually show less resistance to spelling instruction when it is embedded within other lessons.

Spelling should be taught systematically and explicitly. Students begin learning how to spelling written words through oral language. Students increase their knowledge of how to spell words when they begin bridging their oral language to written letters or combination of letters.

References

Redding, N. (2023). The importance of spelling instruction. Presentation International Dyslexia Conference (IDA).

Ray, J (2019). Structured literacy teacher, instructional knowledge. The Literacy Brain. https://theliteracybrain.com/category/structure-literacy-instruction/page/2/

Rosenberg, D. (2023). The forgotten skills needed for literacy success: spelling and handwriting. Presentation International Dyslexia Conference (IDA), Wilson Language Training.

The Necessary Components of Learning How to Spelling

Writing is often hard for students. Writing in general requires a higher level of cognitive skills. Writing requires students to synthesize known information. This is easier to accomplish orally. Individuals often speak (especially young children) at a higher cognitive level than they can write. Oral language is usually developed naturally through one’s environment, whereas writing words on paper requires instruction. Students often orally convey their thoughts in fragments, whereas most thoughts on paper must be put into complete sentences. One piece of the writing pie is correctly spelling or encoding words on paper. Students will often use lower-level words that they might be able to spell correctly. Students who struggle in spelling words correctly usually avoid writing words on paper. This is when creative instruction needs to be brought in play.

English is not a transparent language; it has stable rules and many exceptions to those stable rules. In transparent languages like, Finish or Italian the graphemes and phonemes are more consistent, with little expectations of the graphemes changing sounds within words. English is derived from multiple languages. Most American English words are derived from Latin, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon languages. These languages have stable rules that can be learned through studying letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns and morpheme patterns. When a student knows where the word is derived from and the “rules” of that language assist in spelling the word accurately.  Webster brought more constancy in how we spell American English, while he creating the first instructional spelling books in the early 1800s.

Spelling requires students to know about phonology, orthography, and morphology to correctly encode a word. Phonology is the study of the sounds of letters that develop words. Students need to know the one-on-one grapheme-phoneme correspondences of the 26 letters in the English alphabet. During the study of phonology students begin learning how each letter may change its sound depending upon where the letter is placed in a word. Students should know these norms by Grade 2. They will use this information throughout their lifetime.

Orthography is the “rules” of how words are spelled within a language. The rules dictate if a letter will remain a one-on-one correspondence or change based on other letters within a word. Orthography is the visual representation or graphemes that represent words spoken orally. Students should have background knowledge of the “norms” of how letter placement creates the sounds of words. Orthographic knowledge increases student lexicon, which increases student reading fluency.

Morphology is the study of the meaning of the smaller parts of words, such as re- meaning again and -ing meaning an action. These different parts usually dictate its meaning. Students need to know the meaning of how something is spelled as American English has many words that are spelled differently, but sound the same (homophones).

Phonology, orthography, and morphology should be taught simultaneously. Phonemic awareness or oral language ability is the prerequisite in which these vital elements of learning how to decode and encode words is built upon. Some students will need to review some or all of the parts of phonemic awareness to effectively learn how to decode and encode words. Decoding is an easier skill for most students to grasp and use, than encoding words. Each of these components of learning how to spell words correctly increases with complexity as students mature. Teaching lessons about semantics along with lessons of morphology, usually increases student ability to effectively spell words that convey a more accurate meaning. These components are part of the Structured Literacy Method of effectively teaching students how to read and write.

References

Redding, Nancy. (2023). The Importance of Spelling Instruction. Presentation International Dyslexia Conference (IDA).

Rosenberg, Dee. (2023). The Forgotten Skills Needed for Literacy Success: Spelling and Handwriting. Presentation International Dyslexia Conference (IDA), Wilson Language Training.

 

 

 

Teaching Phonics Gives Students a Navigational Tool of Written Words

Would you allow a child to jump into the deep end of a pool without having instruction in how to swim? Some children might be able to surface and survive, most would need assistance to navigate the deep waters. Why put any child through the anxiety or possible drowning?  Students should be taught how to swim systematically to avoid a possible drowning. This should be the same for students navigating or learning how to read written words.

Instruction should begin at the basics or foundation to give students the tools to rescue themselves as they navigate the deepening waters of written verbiage. Instruction should be systematic moving students from basic to complex. Students use their knowledge of phonemic awareness to learn how to encode and decode written words. Phonemic awareness is the knowledge of how to manipulate sounds to develop words and sentences. Students examine the sounds of oral language and how the arrangement of letters within words represent unique sounds to convey meaning.  Oral language knowledge provides the initial layer of the foundation for reading written language.

Phonics instruction relies on student oral communication skills in particularly their ability to synthesize, comprehend, and mimic spoken sounds. Oral language usually develops naturally through an individual’s environment. They learn to mimic sounds of spoken language within their environment. Toddlers usually babble or play with individual sounds before they produce words and practice voicing a few words at time before moving to a full sentence. Written language is not a natural occurrence gained through their environment; it is a learned experience. The skill is best learned through an explicit, systematic format.

Phonics is the study of words, in particular the individual sounds that make a particular word and the symbols that represent those sounds of that word. The order of the letters dictates the individual sounds of a word. English Language has approximately 44 sounds that are used to develop written words. These sounds of are comprised of only 26 letters. Phonics instruction usually begins during the pre-school years of formal education. Not all students will gain the skills taught on the same timeline. Skipping this instruction is similar to throwing students into the deep end of the pool.

Written words composed into sentences have set doctrine that allows for comprehension. Words are read in a set pattern, from left to right. How the letters are arranged in a word dictate the pronunciation and meaning of the word. Explicit instruction teaches students this doctrine without confusion. Typically, students who are learning to read think concretely (black and white). Abstract thinking usually doesn’t begin to make an appearance until around age 7, when most students are already reading full sentences. Students who are learning how to read also benefit from visual or pictures of a new concept. Systematic instruction of written words helps students to learn new skills from basic to complex, such as learning about individual vowel sounds before learning about vowel digraphs.

Phonics instruction shouldn’t end in Grade 1, but continue until student(s) are able to automatically decode and encode words.

Has reading instruction really changed in the last 200 years?

Has reading instruction really changed in the last 200 years? Webster’s main push was to unify an American literacy curriculum that was different from the literacy curriculum used in the mother country of England; the current push is to unify reading curriculum through national standards in reading. Webster utilized phonics within his reading curriculum; phonics is still a major portion of reading instruction today. Educators have been pushed and pulled in different directions regarding reading instruction, with the goal that every child will be blessed with the gift of reading. This national effort is a laborious undertaking, because each child is unique and reaches the school door with a different learning style, different learning challenges, and a different home environment. Over the last 200 years, there have been changes to accommodate the needs of a growing society in learning to read, despite a dependence on old ideals.

Webster (1843) saw language as a way of conveying one’s thoughts and feelings from one person to the other. Webster thought that America needed ownership of their own language, a simpler language to read and write apart from the language of the “mother country” of England (preface, 1790, p. x,). Webster noted, “America must be as independent in literature as in politics, as famous for its arts as for arms; and it is not impossible but a person of my youth may have some influence in exciting a spirit of literary industry” (as cited in Blinderman, 1976, p. 32). Utilizing British grammar as a model, Webster wrote an America version of language and spelling instruction called A Grammatical Institute of the English Language in 1783.  Webster would continue to improve his methods of teaching language and spelling until his death.

Webster (1790) saw that the strength of the United States was dependent on the education of its youth; his patriotism led him to remold the education of young people, noting that no person, regardless of their social economic status, cultural heritage, or sex, should be excluded from educational opportunities. He saw language arts as the center piece of educating youth, adding moral issues, science, history, government, and the arts to the curriculum. As Webster’s curricula progressed, he introduced other subjects into standard teaching lessons, and this curriculum was the beginning of an instructional approach to teaching subjects separately and purposefully.

Webster (1843) also saw a need to improve the separate entities of language, spoken and written. He simplified and regulated the spelling of words, utilizing didactical marks for punctuation; this method improved student ability to spell and to pronounce words. Webster also noted that spoken language involved the correct articulation of words, utilizing an intricate team of the throat, tongue, palate, teeth, and lips. Teachers were looked upon to model correct articulation and to correct students on the spot in order to ensure correct articulation of words spoken or read. A student’s body language was seen as a part of how words were articulated correctly. Written language was the part committed to paper, written to communicate a variety of thoughts, and to be utilized in a global sense that could be transported from place to place.

Webster (1843) believed that grammar made logical sense of words and provided the rules for both spoken and written language. Webster also saw grammar as the science of organizing words together, utilizing firm rules that were seen as a model of organized language in order to communicate effectively. Webster saw four major parts to grammar: orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody.

“Orthography treats of the letters, their powers and combinations in syllables; or, it teaches the true manner of writing words, called spelling. Etymology treats of derivation of words from their radicals or primitives, and of their various inflections and modifications to express person, number, case, sex, time and mode. Syntax explains the true mode of constructing sentences. Prosody treats of the quantity or accent of syllables and the laws of versification (p.7).”

Each portion of the language puzzle was taught in a “systematic, sequential, letter-based, and learned by rote—would not be challenged until 1820’s” (Monaghan, E. J., 2010, p. 4, para. 4).

Webster (1790) felt so strongly about the need to improve education in the United States that he shifted from his role as a lawyer to an educator in order to devote his energy to the transformation of the reading curriculum in America. To protect his own writings, Webster helped to develop the copyright laws, holding the first copyright of a book; these laws ensured that the money from the sales of publishing through his efforts to develop, improve, print, advertise, and distribute would be protected and placed in his hands. He standardized orthography, spelling, articulation, and other portions of grammar in America, leaving heavy footprints within the reading curriculum and instruction of today.

References

Blinderman, A. (1976). Three early champions of education: benjamin franklin, benjamin rush, and noah webster. Bloomington: Phi Delta Kappa Ed. Foundation.

Monaghan, E. J., Ed. (2010).  Noah webster (1758-1843) – webster’s innovations, perfecting the spelling book for reading instruction, other works. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2544/Webster-1758-1843.html.

Webster, N. (1800). A grammatical institute of the English language; comprising an easy, concise, and systematic method of education. Boston: Thomas & Andrews.

Webster, N. (1814). An American selection of lessons in reading and speaking: calculate to improve the minds and refine the taste of youth. Philadelphia: Hogan.

Webster, N. (1843). An improved grammar of the English language.  New York: Webster & Clark.

Webster, N. (1790). Collection of essays and fugitive writings on moral, historical, political and literary subjects. Boston: Fauet’s Statue.

 

Relieve Student Stress—Teach Spelling

The stress and anxiety that students often feel when they are trying to spell words without the proper tools usually diminishes when students learn how the letters work together to form words of meaning. Students begin learning the sounds of letters and words as they begin mimicking the conversations of their environment. Students begin learning the rules of how letters are encoded into words through their daily interactions with people and their environment. Some letter phonemes are consistent, some phonemes or chunks of words are influenced by other letters within the word. Parents and educators often model how to orally sound out words to provide students the opportunity to mimic words and learn a new tool. This tool usually assists students to more accurately pronounce words. This is called phonological awareness, which is defined as “a reading skill that involves a range of understandings related to the sounds of words and word parts, including identifying and manipulating larger parts of spoken language such as words, syllables, and onset and rime. (Ray, 2017, pp. 13-14).

Students build on the foundation of phonological awareness when they begin to attach graphemes to the spoken sounds. This is when students begin learning letter-sound correspondences. Letter-sound correspondences is the second pillar of structure literacy (Ray, 2020, p. 38). Some graphemes are constant, some have variances that are dependent on how the letters are placed within a word. The rules of how letters influence other letters within a word is identified as phonics. Ray (2017) defines phonics as:

A form of instruction that cultivates the understanding and use of the alphabet, which emphasizes the predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds in spoken language) and graphemes (the letters that represent those sounds in written language) and shows how this information can be used to read or decode words.” (p. 13)

There are many ways to teach how the letters are encoded to develop words. One type of instruction that may strengthen student sound-letter correspondences and how letters may change individual letter phonemes during the primary grades is to write the symbol(s) that represent the individual sounds of a word. Students begin to understand how letters change their individual sounds based on where they are placed in a word. There are many benefits of teaching students the letter-sound correspondences, such as improved spelling and comprehension. This practice should be taught throughout a student’s formal education, beginning when they start encoding or writing down the graphemes to build words. The complexity of how the letters create different sounds and words increases with each grade-level.

The following is an example of how I often model/instruct later primary students to examine the relationships of phonemes and graphemes. These students usually can read the words that they are examining.

Sound out the word gym.

What letter sounds do you hear?            /___/   /___/   /___/

What letters or letter diagraphs are used to

represent those sounds?                   ____   ____   ____

 

Sound out the word gym.

What letter sounds do you hear?              / j /   / i /   / m /

What letters or letter diagraphs are used to

represent those sounds?                        g       y       m

 

another example:

Sound out the word tardy.

What letter sounds do you hear?                / t /   / ä /   / r /   / d /   / e /

What letters or letter diagraphs are used to

represent those sounds?                          t       a       r       d      y

I usually use spelling words that students are expected to know how to spell at their particular grade level.

Educators might use a different format for teaching students at different grade-levels or complexities of words. When systematic, direct, explicit instruction is used students usually learn the “rules” of how letter placement affects the sounds of words and the spelling of words that are new or hard become natural. When teaching spelling you are essentially teaching all of the pillars of structured literacy (phonemic awareness→letter-sound correspondences→syllables→ morphology→ syntax→semantics).

References

Ray, J. S. (2020). Structured Literacy Supports All Learners: Students At-Risk of Literacy Acquisition – Dyslexia and English Learners. Texas Association for Literacy Education Yearbook, Vol. 7, pp. 37-43.

Ray, J. S. (2017). Tier 2 intervention for students in grades 1-3 identified as at-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826/

 

Developing the Reading Brain Connections is Hard Work!

The brain has elasticity or the ability to grow new connections and prune unused connections. This is an easier task for younger individuals, when their brain has a greater degree of elasticity. No matter the age growing new or different connections or routes of communication between the different parts of the brain for effective reading is usually very tiring. When a person has dyslexia, this impedes the process.

In his book The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, John Corcoran (2008) describes living a life similar to a prisoner with no way to escape or get out for good behavior. In his 40s John stumbled upon or was talked into trying a program called, Lindamood Bell. He hesitated because no one else had been able to break through and help him learn the skills necessary to read.

Even though he read at about Grade 2, he had wholes or gaps in the necessary tools he needed to effectively read at Grade 2. He first began meeting with his instructional team at Lindamood Bell for four hours a day, after a week he moved his instruction time to six hours a day. He describes his plunge into intense therapy-training like a soldier readying himself for war. John states, “at times my shirt would be soaking wet as I strained to learn the new techniques. I never worked so hard at anything in my life, and I never felt so good” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 201).

John describes that his journey of learning how to read began with phonemic awareness (oral language), learning how to better manipulate sounds of words. He was lacking the phonemic awareness skills that many educators take for granted as this is usually acquired before students enter formal education. Once those skills were learned, he began learning the names of letters and their corresponding sounds. Instructors assisted John in learning how the movements of his face and mouth helped him to create the sounds of the individual letters, letter diagrams, and words.

He noted that part of his issue was a lack of correct sound linkage. Meaning his brain did not accurately connect the right oral sounds with their corresponding letter(s). He lacked sound discrimination skills that are necessary to distinguish between different sounds associated with each letter. He stated that nearly a third of individuals who possess normal hearing “do not have fully developed auditory conceptual ability” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 204). This skill is necessary for decoding words into the individual sounds and their corresponding letters. He noted that he had to use his senses of hearing, seeing, touching, and moving to accurately absorb the skills necessary to read.

After about three weeks, he began to feel the prison walls tumble as “the task went from being hard, physical labor to a fun learning activity” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 203). “I felt my own transition from being physically and mentally exhausted to being relaxed and confident” (p. 203). He began to unmask his deception of not knowing how to read, no longer feeling the need to manipulate his environment to protect himself.

After one month of instruction or 100 hours of treatment in the Lindamood-Bell Learning Process, John “gained 10 years in word-attack skill” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 206) moving from Grade 2 to Grade 12; “three years in word recognition” (p. 206) moving from Grade 5 to Grade 8; and “a year and a half in spelling” (p. 206). His therapy also increased his ability to follow oral directions and his reading comprehension skills.

The Lindamood Bell Program was developed in the late 1960’s to teach students with unreliable auditory perceptions known as Auditory Discrimination in Depth (ADD). The program teaches “students to perceive sounds in isolation and in context and how to produce them” (American Federation of Teachers, 1999). They have other programs such as Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing Program (LiPS), which focuses on reading and spelling. “Combining phonics with auditory discrimination in depth (LIPS) program is what I will call the Complete Intensive Systematic Phonics Learning System” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 209).

Each student is unique having different genetic and environmental factors that may affect students’ ability to learn how to read, making accurate diagnose of individual student learning needs a challenge.

Identifying dyslexic or literacy deficit students during grades Pre-Kinder – 2, when an individual’s brain in more flexible, decreases the dollars to educate and rehabilitate individuals during their teens and adulthood. Identifying them can be tricky! Many states have passed laws making dyslexia a learning disability and many districts have now adopted the necessary assessments to diagnose these students. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) defines dyslexia as:

“a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge” (Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002).

Classic dyslexia or developmental dyslexia is acquired through one’s genetics. These students are usually identified though their lack of phonological process skills. They rely on different parts of the brain to process written words. These students work twice as hard to process written words. This type of dyslexia was first discussed in research during the 1800s. Another type is dyscalculia, which affects an individual’s ability to effectively process math equations. Another type of dyslexia is dysgraphia—a student’s ability to learn how to process information into written language. There are programs outside of public education that can effectively diagnose and treat individuals of dyslexia. I encourage individuals to choose programs that are Orton-Gillingham based and endorsed by IDA.

“A good builder, like a good teacher, uses the best tools and material available, which includes a plan and blueprint” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 210).

References

Corcoran, J. (2008). The teacher who couldn’t read. Kaplan, Inc.American Federation of Teachers (1999). Lindamood-bell reading intervention      program. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/ lindamood-bell-reading-intervention-program

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