language development – Page 2 – The Literacy Brain

Alphabetic Principle

Our brain is not prewired to read, so we must “train” our brain through instruction and practice. This will develop the connections necessary to process and read printed words. But reading the words is not enough, as one must have meaning attached to the words to comprehend what the words mean. The comprehension component of reading begins at birth, when a person begins to attach sounds to meaning. Learning how to read the symbols or words begins when a person attaches pictures to sounds. Some will learn the name of each individual alphabet letter by accident, most will need to be explicitly taught what each letter is called. This can be tricky as some letters can stand for several different sounds and the sounds of the individual letter can change when they are combined with other letters. Individuals begin learning about letters, letter sounds, and the sounds of combining letters into words as they learn how to speak or communicate orally. This is called phonemic awareness.

Students are typically taught one letter and one sound at a time, before adding or talking about the other sounds an alphabet letter may make. This may seem laborious for some, but very necessary to build an adequate, firm foundation in which to develop fluent reading and comprehension of the written words. Letter-sound correspondence taught using action or movement can lessen the strain. Students should see the letter in print as they are saying the sound. It is also helpful for students to write the letters as they say the letter’s sound. There are programs or video clips that can be used to reinforce and practice letter-sound correspondences. Learning letter-sound correspondences increases students’ ability to decode and encode written words based on the individual sounds of a word.

Students who are dyslexic will often take longer to learn letter-sound correspondences as their brains are initially wired differently. Their brain connections typically develop differently from most individuals. This is also why some dyslexic individuals tend to be labeled as dumb, lazy, etc. A dyslexic brain works overtime to develop new connections between the different parts of brain necessary to process written words into meaning. This often makes students tired or overwhelmed. Students need a safe learning environment to explore the relationships of sounds and letters, without ridicule, as they develop efficient reading highways in their brain.

The University of Oregon (2009) wrote and published an article at reading.uoregon.edu that discusses the concepts and research of alphabetic principle and its components. The article defines alphabetic principle as two parts, alphabetic understanding and phonological recoding. Alphabetic understanding or sound-letter correspondences is the second pillar of structured literacy, which I defined in an earlier blog as the knowing of the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s). This knowledge gives students a tool to allow them to be self-starters, to begin sounding out (decoding) and spelling (encoding) words on their own. Learning to read is a very complex, interdependent process that takes time and practice.

Reading Increases Student Power

Making time to “just” read within the classroom should be a priority! Students should have the opportunity to just read. Students should have access to a variety of genres and types of books—picture, comic, mystery, chapter, etc. to find their “happy” genre that provides intrinsic motivation to read. Students increase their ability to read, comprehend, and use the information read each time they read. These skills provide students with the necessary tools for higher academic success in all other educational subjects. Reading written words is a complex interwoven process that provides students the opportunity to increase their personal toolbox in the following ways:

Lexicon—increases each time they interact with a book or read written words. Reading introduces readers to new written words that have the potential to increase their lexicon or mental dictionary. Students may have heard of the new word spoken orally—the meaning may already be stored in their lexicon. Meeting the word in a written format gives them the opportunity to learn how to recognize, pronounce, and spell the word. Many educators refer to this as vocabulary development.
Background Knowledge—increases each time students read. Background knowledge is the backbone of reading comprehension. Background knowledge or what the student already knows helps them to analyze new information. Background knowledge helps students make an “educated” decision about present or future choices. Background information helps students to increase their understanding of the written words.
Social Skills—usually increase when students read. Many non-fiction and fiction writings express some form of social interaction. Some of the written words need to be “deeply” read to understand the social process and its implications. Some of the social skills are inferred. Information about social skills can be learned through reading about how animals interact. Social skills can be learned through stories like folktales, fables or fairytales. Reading provides a platform to discuss the elements of the writing in relation to social skills, like what can we tell by the children’s facial expressions? Or why do you think that they decided to help plant flowers? Or what might have been a better choice for this character? Group discussions about a story usually increase social skills, background knowledge, and analyzing skills—within a “safe” environment.
Writing ability—usually increases each time students read. Reading provides writing samples for students to use in forming their own sentences. Reading written words provides “models” of a complete sentence and different types of sentence structures. Reading written words provides models of different styles of writing, such as poetry, mystery, comparison, expository, fiction, non-fiction, etc. Learning to write is similar to learning how to speak, as the writer is mimicking the writing of others.

Individuals usually make time to complete things that are important to them—students will begin to understand the importance of reading, should they be afforded a regular time to “free” read.

Advantages of Being Dyslexic

Dyslexic individuals will show similar traits in the classroom as they are learning to read and write. Many dyslexic students struggle when they learn that the pictures that they have been developing into stories actually already have words that they must read. Many will try to camouflage this transition; the camouflage will become apparent as students are held accountable for the words on the page. The signs of dyslexia are there during students’ pre and primary school years. Testing for phonology and comprehension has become more prevalent during the primary years, which lends to earlier intervention to ease the movement from oral language to written language. The amount of the book exposure and student environment in and out of the classroom will usually change the symptoms and the intervention process. Most dyslexics will become accomplished and earn a solid income. Some of the more prevalent advantages of being dyslexia are noted below.

Not visible to most. Classmates cannot usually visually see their “disability.” Unfortunately, this can also be a disadvantage.
Curious. Dyslexic individuals are usually curious. I have a friend that began experimenting with how items fit together and thought it might be okay to take the screws out of the seat that held up his highchair. Needless to say, that experiment came to crashing end. His mechanical curiosity led to rebuilding engines during his elementary school years.
Innovative and Creative. Dyslexic individuals are usually innovative and creative. While your discussing how to use the pencil sharpener, dyslexics maybe trying to understand how the mechanisms within the pencil sharpener work and how they can improve the model. Many will know how to fix the pencil sharpener without any prior knowledge of how a pencil sharpener works. Many will create or modify items to suit their needs, as stated by Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, “There’s a creative energy to our approach which I’ve taken to politics to be bold and upfront on issues. I’m not cautious, I’m not reckless, but I’m happy to take risks and that’s big part of being dyslexic” (Griggs, 2020, p. 3).
Kinesthetically Wired. Dyslexic individuals usually see through their hands—kinesthetically. They have the natural urge to touch and feel things, as it helps them put the item in their long-term memory and to contemplate how it works, what it’s for, etc. Dyslexic individuals build pictures through their hands. In addition, most need movement to keep the brain fresh with oxygen.
Picture Thinkers. Dyslexic students are usually picture thinkers. Many dyslexics have a photographic memory that can rewind an event. Many dyslexic students will not feel the need to take notes, but can recall most of the information discussed. They recall vocabulary words in pictures. The pictures usually become attached to the words that describe the picture. Sir Jackie Steward stated, “My dyslexic strength is attention to detail. When your attention to detail is good you notice things other people don’t see as important, but these little things make all the difference.”
Think outside the box. They have the ability to think or analyze things from different angles than others without dyslexia. This lends to innovation and creativity in design and problem solving,
3-D vision. Many dyslexics have the ability to see an object in 3-D. They can usually spin the object around and use this information to analyze the object. This also lends to a sharper peripheral vision.
Self-starters. Many are self-starters. Individual environment will play a role in whether they use their skill of being a self-starter. In the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the parents gave their son the freedom and a safe environment to be a self-starter. He went on the develop windmills out of the scraps/trash pile, which led to his country having the ability to pump water to grow crops and not be dependent on rain water.
Perseverance. Many will endure their mistakes or trials before accomplishing their goal. Many have very thick skin that allows them to endure the ridicule and numerous retries to better themselves and others. Again, a person’s environment will play a role.
Good Oral Language Skills. Many will have exceptional oral language skills. This was a major identifier of dyslexia in the late 1800s, early 1900s—student could have an intelligent conversation, but not be able to read the words in a book that corresponded with the conversation. Many had, had an adequate education—most thought sitting in a formal school setting was a waste of their time. Many probably experienced what Philip Schultz felt and described in his book, My Dyslexia, “He looked and spoke only to her, as if I were invisible. It was the way I felt in school, listening to the teacher talk only to the other children, as if she didn’t think I would understand what she was saying, as if it was a waste of time talking to me” (p. 32).
Can Learn. Dyslexics can learn how to use their prior knowledge of oral language to read and write. Most will need systematic, explicit instruction to become average readers and writers. Many will need this type of instruction to just hang-on or gain basic literacy skills. Some will be able to absorb their rich environment to learn how to read. This often takes different partnerships of teachers, parents, and community individuals, like tutors. This will depend on the severity of the dyslexic symptoms and the individual’s environment.

References

Davis, R. (1997). The Gift of Dyslexia. New York, NY: The Berkley Pub. Group

Griggs, K. (2020). 5 Reasons Why Dyslexics Make Powerful Changemakers. LinkedIn post published May 30, 2020.

Kamkwamba, W. & Mealer, B. (2015). The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

Schultz, P. (2011). My Dyslexia. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co.

More Instructional Support Strategies for Dyslexic Students

Individuals with dyslexia have brain processing issues, because their brains did not initially develop the same highways and byways to process written language. But many dyslexic students will have fluid oral communication skills. This may be why it has taken many years for society to recognize dyslexia as learning disability. Some students you will not recognize as dyslexic, others will jump up and down dyslexia. Boys tend to be diagnosed or show higher signs of dyslexia as they seem to squirm louder than girls.

Dyslexic students usually work twice as hard to learn how to read than the average student, as they are developing new brain connections. Teaching all students using rich Structure Literacy curriculum and instruction can reach most students. Taking brain breaks or moments of rest can the increase student motivation. My thought is that any students who is struggling to learn how to read and write should be supported in the process. Each dyslexic student will need different types of supports to develop the necessary highways and byways, as student environment plays a role in the brain development process. The earlier the intervention or supports are put into place the higher chance the student has to overcome the risk of literacy acquisition. The following dyslexic instructional strategies can be effective for any student at-risk in literacy.

Use highlighters or a marking code. A highlighter is a tool that students can use for various tasks. Students can use them to highlight important information that they may need for future tasks, such as writing or reading comprehension. Highlighters can be used to note different parts of texts, such as topic sentence, detail, conclusion, parts of a sentence, etc. Students can use different colors to signify different types of information. Students can also use boxes, circles, underline, stars, etc. to note the same things when different colored highlighters are not available. This technique is helpful to teach/model students by highlighting different parts of written language. This technique can also assist early writers in proof reading their writing.
Read the passage or words aloud at any volume. When students read the passage aloud, they are involving both their hearing and visual senses. Most dyslexic students already have good oral communication skills—they can effectively process heard information. Reading the passage aloud usually allows them to better comprehend the passage. In addition, students are using their visual sense to build or strengthen their brain connections for reading using just their vision. Whisper phones are a way for students to read written words aloud and not disrupt their fellow classmates. Some students will grow out of the need to use both their visual and hearing to comprehend the passage, while others will need to occasional use both senses.
Listen and follow along at grade-level. Students listen to a book on tape and read it with the tape or follow along. This is a good tool for students who can orally comprehend at grade-level, but not read the words and comprehend at grade-level. This strategy allows students to be exposed to grade-level information and it helps them to build and strengthen brain connections for reading to comprehend at grade-level. This strategy should be used along with other strategies to increase student achievement level. This strategy has been used for many years to teach primary students how to read. Students listen to an oral reading of a book or passage and follow along. Some of the computer programs have books or passages that can be read as the words are highlighted, but students need to follow along.
Discussing information read. Developing an environment where all students feel safe to share is key for the success of this strategy. Each student can bring their background/environment knowledge to the discussion. Many dyslexic students have strong backgrounds of knowledge and good oral communication skills. Discussing the read information can assist students in expanding their lexicon or student knowledge about a topic. Student discussion(s) can also increase their information processing highways and byways. This instructional strategy can also assist students in retaining the information read. This strategy can also strengthen student ability to communicate orally.
Encourage their interest, passion. When possible allow students to choose their topic of study. This usually increases engagement and intrinsic motivation. Some students will still “battle” the assignment or parts of the assignment. I usually use science topics during the primary and elementary school years to increase student engagement in a task. Most students can find an animal, insect that stirs their intrinsic motivation to read and write about. The topic can be narrowed, to a particular aspect of the animal.
Assistance in copying words from the board. Some dyslexic students struggle in copying words from the board or from a distance. This could be due to vision issues, which is usually an additional issue—not dyslexia. I usually lend them my notes or ask another student to assist them. Most can copy from a paper that is placed right next to the paper that they are writing on. Interactive word walls are excellent tools for students who struggle in copying from the board.

References

Gillingham, A. (1956). Remedial training for children with specific disability in reading, spelling, and penmanship. Massachusetts: Educators Publishing Service, Inc.

Hinshelwood, James. (1917). Congenital word-blindness. London: H.K. Lewis.

Composing Coherent Sentences

Many young writers may get “stuck” or have writer’s block when it comes to putting words on paper. Some of the block comes from their ability to organize verbal words and thoughts into coherent sentences that convey the exact meaning that they are wanting you to understand. Another block maybe that some students can verbalize a complete sentence, but struggle to write the same sentence on paper. Some student block comes from wanting the sentence to be perfect the first time, as many students do not care for the process of editing their writing. In my 20 plus years in education I have yet to met a student who didn’t want to be able write, many need to learn tools to ease the process. This can be a hard and daunting process for many students.

Syntax* is the study of sentence structure. There can be different variations of a sentence. Some sentences may have more or less words than the sentence before or after it. Words in the sentence can be shuffled around and placed in a different order. Some sentences provide more detail. Reading passages with complete sentences may help the writer to better understand how to put sentences together. Reading passages of different writing styles may also increase student writing ability. The writer may also see how word order may change the meaning of the sentence. Learning to write is similar to learning how to speak, as the writer is mimicking the writing of others.

Instruction of writing sentences should begin simple, for example a sentence must have a noun and a verb to be a complete sentence. This usually begins in Pre-K or Kindergarten. The complexity of the sentence should grow with student ability and grade level. Some students will learn through their natural environment how to increase the complexity of a sentence. Most will need to be explicitly taught appropriate grade level techniques and rules of generating a complete sentence.

There are different instructional approaches that can be used to teach students sentence structure. Some are noted below.
1. Use sentence starters. I like ____________. I can ____________.
2. Cut up a sentence into individual words and have students put them in the correct order. Or have students develop sentences using a “word bank” (like flashcards) of many individual words. Then have students write those sentences on paper or whiteboards.
3. Students write a simple sentence, like The boy ran. Then students may add different types of words or detail to make the sentence more complex and interesting, such as adding an adjective about the boy’s age or their hair color.
4. White boards. I often have students generate sentences on whiteboards, while I am modeling a sentence. This helps to keep them engaged. And I can observe student ability and comprehension of the current lesson.
5. Sentence study. Use mentor text that features the style or sentence complexity that you are encouraging students to use in their writing. Discuss the different features of the mentor text. Students can find different parts of a sentence. Students can also diagram sentences.
6. Develop a word list. This can be a simple column of words that help to describe the subject. I like to develop word webs that help to describe the topic. Students can also develop a list of nouns and verbs about the subject. Students use the word lists to generate sentences.
7. Students analyze their writing, editing. Are there capital letters at the beginning of the sentence? Does the sentence end with an appropriate punctuation? Is there a noun and a verb? Could I add a describing word, adverb or adjective? How many nouns does the sentence have? How many verbs does the sentence have?
8. Student sharing. This allows students to use their writing as a model for other students. This may also give other students incentive to begin. In addition, classmates can point out the positive points of their writing.
9. Give students a diagram or word order to use during an exercise. There are many different variations to a sentence, remember start simple then build the complexity of the sentence(s). Here are a few examples that were described by Dr. Laud (2018) in a webinar titled, Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! Noun + verb; noun + verb + where phrase; noun + adverb + verb + when phrase; adjective + noun + verb + where + but + noun + verb.
10. Teacher modeling, teacher modeling, teacher modeling-use all subject matters to model complete sentences.
11. During collaboration with a student about their writing, I often find a sentence that may need some more detail and ask the student to add a word(s). Not all students are ready for this type of feedback or challenge. In some cases, you may have to assist them or model how you might increase the complexity of the sentence before sending them away to work independently. Other students can also assist students or give them ideas of how they might include other details in their sentence(s) to make the sentence more interesting. This grows student writing ability
12. I often tell students that I want to feel like I am there. This helps to drive the complexity and detail of the sentence. What does it feel like? What does it smell like when I take a breath? What does it look like? What am I hearing? Have them verbal discuss the detail with you or another student. This helps them organize their thoughts and put them on paper. This can be a very hard task for writers!
Learning how to write can be hard, but teaching others how to write may be even harder.

*Pillar 5 of structured literacy instruction is syntax or the study of sentence structure. The principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence. These principles are also referred to as the mechanics, grammar, and variation of a sentence.

References
Haynes, C. and Laud, L. (2018). Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! International Dyslexia Association conference webinar.

Engaging the Learner to Write

The next few blogs will be about writing. This first blog will resonate more with online or at-home learning, as we as nation contend with COVID-19.

Writing is not a natural skill; it is a learned skill. Writing is hard work, as students are developing the brain processing connections that allow them to put coherent words on a page. Students should write every day to develop those brain connections. I like to disguise the practice of writing into assignments or tasks that seem relevant and fun. I often use science as a means to get students engaged in the task of writing. The following are ideas that can be used to get students writing every day.

Read a book about an animal or other topic that they may enjoy. When I was with a group of Grade 1 students, we had about 10 minutes of “extra time” before we needed to be at the cafeteria for lunch. So, I took a short book about worms of the classroom library shelf, read the book to them and conducted a short whole classroom discussion about student experiences with worms. Students then wrote a couple of sentences about their experiences with worms. Some students had the time to begin drawing pictures to increase the comprehension of their written words. While they were writing I was able to remind students how to form a complete sentence.
Conduct an experiment. Write observational notes in complete sentences. Students also like to draw pictures to enhance their written description. I like to have students conduct experiments that may last a week or so, as this gives more opportunity to write about their observations. Students usually love to make things in the kitchen, which can provide a natural setting for collaboration, observation of changes, and why those changes may be taking place. Students also enjoy gardening or germinating plants.
Go on a bird walk. Students can write notes about bird habitats, the colors of the birds, the sounds they may make, etc.
Go on a hunt or walk looking for wild flowers. Students can write descriptive sentences about the flowers. Students can also add a sketch to increase their retention of the flower features.
Take a virtual tour of a museum about a topic that is of interest to the student(s). Students can take notes about specified information. Students can take notes about their observations. Observations are usually different, unique to the students and can increase student participation in classroom discussions about the tour.
Go on a bug hunt. Write notes about the bugs that you see along the way. Draw sketches of the bugs.
Analyzing pictures or art. (a) Have students analyze a picture and write complete sentences about things they noticed or questions that they have about the picture. (b) The picture can be used as a starting point for a story related to about the picture.
Write a summary of a written passage. This past school year I was with a group of Grade 4 students that struggled with the idea of summarizing a two-page story. So, you may have to break the passage into paragraphs and have students write a sentence about each paragraph. Once they have a sentence of each paragraph, students can put them into a paragraph format by adding a topic sentence and conclusion sentence. Ideally the instruction should go back to modeling how to interpret sentences within each paragraph to inform the summary sentence. The instruction may also need to include word meanings or other background knowledge about the topic.
Sharing student writing. I have not met a group of students that do not enjoy the act of sharing their masterpieces. The act of sharing is good for student self-esteem and for modeling possible sentences and format for their peers. Some classrooms use this time for student acclamations of correct usage of verbiage, punctuation, etc. I would greatly discourage negative comments by the teacher or their peers.
Take notes during a video. I usually specify the expectations of the notes, like notes must be written in complete sentences and you must have at least 10 sentences related to the video. I usually will ask a few students to read one of their sentences at the conclusion of the video. This can begin a video discussion and give struggling students the opportunity to write another sentence.
Keep a journal of what they are reading. Students can write a journal entry for each time they read. This helps the reader to better comprehend the passage read. Younger readers may need assistance in processing the read information into a summary. This also helps them to better retain the information read.
Writing in a journal. Students could also write a journal entry about specific topic. I used this for students in classroom that had a very diverse student ability. At times I would have them write their interpretation of a sentence, a poem, or even just a word. The journal itself was not graded on their mechanics or grammar, but on their ability to form complete paragraph(s). This freed the writer to focus on just putting words/sentences on the paper. On some days, I would have students read a sentence or paragraph aloud to the class for those students who were struggling with forming a sentence. At times I would write a sentence or two or a whole paragraph on the board to remind, reteach students how to form a paragraph. I like to have students help me form the sentences of the paragraph to increase the “buy in” or engagement of students.
Quick write. The student writes as much information about a specified topic as they can in a designated timeframe, usually 5 minutes. This may not be an exercise for all students, as some may shut down the process of writing altogether. I encourage using incentives or individual goals to increase the buy-in of this exercise. Again, the goal is put as many words on the page about the subject in complete sentences, not about mechanical or grammar.

Happy Writing!

Increasing Student Wealth, Lexicon of Knowledge

Developing student lexicon* to increase comprehension of spoken and written language happens naturally and purposively. The environment that an individual lives in naturally develops their lexicon. For example if you live on a farm, you obsorb the knowledge/language of farm culture. The degree of farm language that you learn depends on the components of the farm that you are exposed to, and your degree of participation in the those components. The learned and stored information about farm life may be relevant in other cultures or life-styles. For example you may learn about record keeping that is applicable in every business. Or you may learn about the components of healthy food consumption that applicable to human development in any culture.

Where I was raised it was natural for most individuals to learn about fresh water fish, it was part of the community culture. It was natural to learn about the salmon run, where in a community near the ocean it may be more natural to learn about sea turtles or tide pools. The habitats, life-cycle, and behaviors of different types of fish have many similarities. Within a purposeful learning environment the study of fish usually gives the opportunity to introduce different cultures, geographical areas, bodies of water, etc. of where the fish reside. The similarities and differences help students to increase their lexicon to comprehend both seen and unseen language related to fish and their habitat. The new learned information about fish is then available to make new conclusions.

In the book How Lincoln Learned to Read,Wolff describes how 12 individuals were educated through their the culture or life-style. This is a non-fiction book that discusses individuals that made notable contributions to America. Some of individuals had great disabilities, some had wealth, and some were very poor. The book includes people and events that influenced their learning. Reading How Lincoln Learned to Read helps the reader to paint a picture of how individuals are educated inside and outside of the classroom and how a person gathers information to understand written and spoken language. The book also helps the reader to understand how early childhood education can influence adult choices.

One chapter of the book describes the education of Belle born to slaves. She was educated by her parents to function effectively within the institution of slavery. This was not the slavery of the plantation South, but of the Northern Dutch who had smaller farms. She had to learn that she was commodity and that staying with her parents could end at a very young age. The chapter also describes how her life evolved into a free woman and how she used prior knowledge to move her forward. Another chapter of the book describes how a girl named, Rachel was raised in hills without the conveniences of modern day technology. The chapter goes on to describe how she lost her father at age 11, forcing the family to move closer to her mother’s family. Where she was able gain a formal education through a private school. The chapter goes on to describe how she used the knowledge that she gained as a child her writing. Some of her writings about nature, the hills, set the stage for present science education. The book also describes individuals such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford, and Benjamin Franklin.

*Students store spoken and written words in their lexicon or mental dictionary. Students increase their mental dictionary through their environment. Student lexicon is always adding new words, pictures, gestures, etc that may help them to better comprehend language. This development begins at birth. Their brain begins attaching meaning(s) to individual tones of sound. Students adjust their stored information as they are introduced to new sounds and their meaning(s). Students also adjust their stored information as new meaning(s) or connections are introduced to the stored information. For example, if you know that dogs shakes when it gets wet, but do not know that dogs may smell when they get wet. Then you experience the a bad odor of a wet dog. Your mental dictionary will adjust your stored information to be dogs shake and may smell when they get wet. The stored information may look similar to a spider web as the information is added and adjusted. Students transfer the stored meaning(s) of tones (voice) to symbols (print) as they learn how to read and write. Student lexicon also helps students to infer or conclude the unwritten or unspoken meaning of a conversation or writing.

Reference
Wolff, Daniel (2009). How Linclon Learned to Read. New York: Bloomsbury USA.

Why are we losing ground in the reading acquisition?

The 2019 National Assessment of Educational (NAEP) reading results show that the national reading scores fell 2% percent in Grade 4 and 4% in Grade 8. This does not sound like much until you put the number of students that one percentage point represents, approximately 1,500 students. One state, Mississippi, continued its positive climb. While 17 states scored 3%-4% points lower than the previous year. And the remaining states remained unchanged from the previous year. This means that the number of students reading at Basic or Below Basic grew from 63% to 65%. It is important to note that this is a sample of students from each state.

So, what is going on? What has created the backward descend in reading acquisition? One plausible reason maybe the time that students are spending in front of an electronic device. Students often spend one to three hours using a digital device at school and then another two to four hours looking at an electronic device at home. During this time students may be reading short messages or posts often written in uncomplete sentences. Students may be spending time scanning headlines or a few sentences of an article. Students might be interacting with the latest electronic game that may offer some occasions to read, usually incomplete sentences. In addition, I am observing that more and more teachers are using mostly “on-line” curriculum or lessons that require students to spend large amounts of time in front of the computer. This may be hindering student reading ability, as time spent in front of an electronic screen may limit student ability to develop deep-reading processes (Wolf, 2018). Deep-reading requires students to read the words at a slower rate, so that the words can move through the circuits of brain to pick up prior knowledge or come alive with meaning. Deep-reading is an interactive activity that uses more energy. Skimming or light reading requires less energy. In addition, current research is suggesting that students struggle with comprehending information in an on-line format (Cavalli, et al., 2019; Kanniainen, Kiili, Tolvanen, Aro, & Leppänen, 2019).

Furthermore, technology/computers change the way students process written language. The brain is an organ that will adapt to function within its environment. If the environment is rich with positive conversations and interactions of individuals of higher cognition then an individual’s brain will build circuits to function in that environment. Research suggests that students who have interactions with individuals of higher cognition usually learn, retain, and reuse information at a higher rate (Vygotsky, 1929). If the environment is rich with limited interactions of individuals and or limited exposure to conversations of higher cognition then the brain will build circuits to function in that environment. The brain needs regular mental and physical exercise of cognition as it matures to develop and maintain connections necessary to deeply process and comprehend verbal and written words (Healy, 1990; Wolf, 2018).

References
Healy, J. M. (1990). Endangered Minds. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbooks.
Wolf, Maryanne (2018). Reader, come home. The reading brain in a digital world. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Vygotsky, L. (1929). The problem of the cultural development of a child II. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 36, 415-434. Vygotsky Reader, Blackwell. Retrieved from htts://www.marxists.org/archive/Vygotsky/works/1929
/cultural_development.htm.

Strong oral language skills may increase student ability to learn how to read and write.

Children learn oral language through what is “modeled” in their environment. At birth children begin learning speech sounds and patterns through social interaction. Children begin stringing sounds together to form words and sentences based what they hear in their environment. Children connect words to pictures and meaning to interpret the “noise.” A person’s genetic code plays a role in how they form and catalog these sounds and words into meaning. Children begin building their personal “dictionary” at birth through observations and interactions of their environment. Children catalog spoken verbiage with their understanding of the word(s). Children use their personal dictionary to process and comprehend spoken language. Children will attach “higher” functioning words to the simple words as they maturate, such as cut-carve and fun-merriment.

Children use their knowledge of spoken language to learn how to read written symbols and write words. Their knowledge of oral language helps them learn how to decode and encode words and sentences. Children edit their personal dictionary to include the written words of the cataloged spoken words. For example, I was raised on a farm and owned a flock of sheep. So, the subject of biology or science seemed easy to me until I had to sit in a formal biology class. Some of the verbiage or words used in the class to describe the subjects covered in biology class were foreign to me. I was able to transfer my verbal knowledge of the subject, which helped me to learn the “new” words used to described things that were already familiar to me. In addition, I often witness this in the classroom, as students are presented worksheets or exams that use “unfamiliar” words for things that students are already familiar with. Individuals continue to edit their dictionary to accommodate new oral and written information as they maturate.

Instructional Notes of Grade 4 Writing Assignment-differentiating, scaffolding

I was substituting in a Grade 4 classroom at a Title 1 school, where most students qualified for free meals. I had substituted in this classroom a few times before, so I was familiar with their learning abilities. Many of the students were English second language (ESL) learners. Most of the students were at-risk for literacy.

The regular classroom teacher had left the task of independently reading a passage and drawing a picture or writing a summary about the passage. Since I was familiar with the learning abilities present in this class, I chose to have students (voluntarily) take turns reading the passage. This may have created some confusion as most could not read the passage fluidly. When we finished reading the passage, I ask them to begin drawing or writing their interpretation of the passage. I usually let students work independently on the assignment before beginning to verbally work through the assignment. (The tricky thing about being a substitute is that it’s not really your job to teach, more to facilitate. Most of the time unless you have the ability to visit a classroom multiple times you do not know the learning capabilities of the students.)

After about 5 or so minutes, most of the students seemed to be lost in how to interpret the passage. I began verbally rereading the passage, one or two sentences at time. I then asked students to verbally explain what the read sentences meant. Students were still struggling, so I began to break down the sentences in phrases and words. I learned that students did not know the meaning of key words. I found myself explaining snow-capped rooves and other items within the passage to help them understand the meaning. I used pictures and the dictionary as sources to help students learn how to research the meaning. Most students were then able to draw a picture of the passage. And one or two students were able to translate their picture into words. I asked those students that were able to translate their pictures into words to read their interpretation of the passage. I used those words/sentences about the passage as examples that I wrote on the board. Students who were still struggling to write their own translation of the passage were allowed to copy, this helps to develop brain connections for writing words. As the lesson moved along students began to relax, which allowed them to process the information into the form necessary to accomplish the task.

Instructional Notes—Analysis of the Lesson
I had taken for granted that most of the students in this classroom would know the meaning of most of the words. The words were of things present in the community. The passage was talking about snowcapped roofs, chimneys, shapes of houses, and fireplaces. Many individuals in this community use fireplaces and wood stoves to heat their home and there is a ski resort within an hour of school.

Students initial lack of understanding could be derived from multiple issues. Students may not have learned the name of those things described in the passage in their native language, in English, or in both their native language and English. Students may also have learning issues that impede them from translating written words into their own words. This may have been the first time for some students to translate a passage into a picture or into their own words.

My point is students should have the opportunity to reverse, learn or review, and then regroup before moving forward again. Many students need to be shown and reshown and reshown how to accomplish a task. Often students need the task broken down into manageable parts, many will focus on the portion that they cannot accomplish and because of anxiety of that part will not accomplish the parts they can do. Most students do not want you to do the work for them. Students usually will begin writing their own words, after many opportunities to practice. It takes time to develop the brain connections necessary for fluid writing.

Category: language development