Category: literacy instruction

Teaching Sound-Symbol Correspondences

         For me, a joy of teaching is watching a student realize that they have the power (the tools) to analyze and decode words into the correct sounds. This skill can be easy for some students to master, most will need instruction. The type and intensity of instruction will differ for each student. I suggest that all instruction should include practice in naming the letter and its sound(s). This practice should happen each day. Using cards that include picture(s) of an item that begins with the sound of the letter will increase the retention of the sound-symbol correspondences. There are other instructional strategies that can be used in addition to flashcards. Some of these instructional strategies are discussed in the following paragraph.

         The following strategies include three of more of the five senses—hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling. The first strategy is to match cards of letters with cards that feature pictures of items that begin with the same sound as the letter. There should be pictures that represent all of the sounds that a letter can make, for example G…. /g/ /j/ or E…. /e/ /E/.  Students says the letter and the beginning sound of the featured item when they the matched cards. The second strategy is using a white board and marker. Students write the letter, then say the sound. Or the teacher says the sound the student writes the letter. The third strategy is using sand. Colored maybe a better choice as this usually gives a better contrast and students tend to like color. Pour just enough sand to give about a fourth of an inch layer on a plate, on a table or on deep cookie sheet type container. Students write a letter in the sand and say the sound(s) of the letter. Or the teacher says the sound of the letter the student writes the letter. The fourth strategy is using pudding. This can be used in the same manner as the sand. This is a different texture. The fifth strategy is using play dough. Students use the play dough to form a letter(s). Students point to the formed letter and say its sound(s). The teacher can ask students to form letters by uttering its corresponding sound. Students can use pictures of the letter to help them form the letter. The sixth strategy is using music. Using video that includes sound that students can sing-a-long with or mimic increases the number of senses that students use. Using video that includes motions, along with music and pictures can increase the retention of letter and sound correspondences. The last strategy that I will included in this blog is using a grate (usually plastic). The grate is usually about the size of a piece of paper. The texture should be defined enough that when you place a piece of paper over it you can run a crayon over it to create a picture of the grate. The grate can be used in a few ways. Students trace the letter with their index finger, while saying its sound. Students place a piece of paper on the grate and write a letter using a crayon. Students then say the letters’ corresponding sound(s).

              Sound-symbol correspondences or the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) are Pillar 2 of Structure Literacy Instruction. This may be referred to as phonics instruction that teaches predictable or the constant rules of sound-symbol correspondences to produce written language. At this stage students learn one-on-one correspondence, for example the written letter B represents this phoneme or sound. It is important to note that some letters are represented by more than one sound, depending on the origin and spelling of the word. Students begin decoding and encoding words as they begin to learn the sound-symbol correspondences. Student knowledge of the phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) relationships usually increases student ability to read, comprehend, and spell written language.

Book Review-The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

This is a book review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.  This is an example of a book that would be good to use during book clubs or a whole classroom group study.

Science in general has always been a fascination of mine, this may have stemmed from my childhood in rural America living on a ranch.  However, I have used science as a catalyst over the years to teach literacy.  I have yet to find a student who is not curious about something within science.  When I was looking for a book about STEM education the book, The Boy Who The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition; Paperback; Author - William KamkwambaHarnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, jumped off the shelf at me.  The title screams STEM education.  STEM Education is learning about subjects within the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  STEM education is taught through an integrated approach; one that offers hands-on and relevant learning experiences.  The book is non-fiction and suggested for ages 10 and up or about Grade 5.

The book is about a boy, William Kamkwamba and how his creativity brought life-long changes for the small nation of Malawi, Africa.  The book, written in first person, recalls how his family adjusted their lifestyle to survive during a famine.  William describes the setting and culture of Malawi.  He also describes the effects on humanity during a famine.  He discusses how he recognized the need to develop ways to overcome the lack of rain that caused the famine.  William describes how he used exploration to develop a contraption to collect and reissue electricity.  He also describes the resources and individuals that helped him to obtain his goal of providing water year-round. 

The Benefits of Book Clubs

A book club, a group of individuals that read and learn from activities related to a book, should be structured to meet the needs of the participants. A book club might meet once a month or daily. Students may choose the book club to join or the teacher might develop the book club. A book club may be comprised of two or more individuals. The number participants for each club will affect the possible activities and intimacy of the group. The types of activities that can be incorporated into a book club are endless. Developing a weekly calendar of book club activities may be helpful, like Monday—read aloud, Tuesday—collaborate. Book clubs are typically introduced around Grade 3. Although, I have worked with groups of Kindergartens that would have benefited from book clubs or small group instruction using a book.

Choosing books for book clubs can challenging. Understanding what type of information, you would like students to glean from the book can be helpful. Asking and answering a few questions before making the final decision may also be helpful. Questions like, Who will enjoy or become engaged in this book? Or What type of information will students learn from this book? Will the information be black and white or will students have to inference the meaning? What is the purpose of this book choice?

Students can benefit from book clubs in multiple ways—a few are described below.

  •  Improve reading fluency. Students usually have an opportunity to take turns reading aloud, listening to group members read, and to following along as others read. Some groups of students will be able to accomplish the task of reading aloud others may need a “coach” or teacher to facilitate.
  • Broaden and deepen their vocabulary bank. Students are usually introduced to “new “or unfamiliar words in each book that they read. Teachers can pre-teach words before they read. Students can identify and write the meaning of new words during tasks related to book clubs. Students may benefit from learning the synonyms and antonyms of the new word. Students may also benefit from attaching a picture to the new word. The new words can be added to a “dictionary” for them to use as reference later. Student discussions related to the “new” word(s) can increase the clarity of the meaning and retention of the word meaning.
  •  Improve comprehension of written words. It is important to note that “a word may produce all degrees of erroneous meaning for a given context, from a slight inadequacy to an extreme perversion” (Thorndike, 1917). Every student will gain different information or insight from a book, as every student has a different environmental background. Some students will need to learn the meaning of words before reading to be able to comprehend the words within the book, others will not need this information to digest the words. Group discussions about the meaning of a passage or book usually increases comprehension.
  • Develop better writing skills. Students can learn and practice how to formulate written responses to questions related to the passage or book. Students can journal their thoughts or a summary related to the reading.
  •  Improve oral verbiage skills. Students can learn the correct pronunciation of words. Students may learn how to have a “healthy”, but respectful discussion about the book. Students can learn how to formulate questions to ask during collaborative work. Students can also learn how to digest others’ opinions or facts into new questions.
  • Development or improvement of research skills. Students may develop research skills through activities related to book clubs. Students may learn where to find information related to the book, like where to find words meanings or what are windmills. Students can formulate questions related to the book and then interview another person who is knowledgeable about the subject matter.

The following books are resources that you may find helpful in developing and maintaining book clubs. Breathing New Life into Book Clubs by Sonja Cherry-Paul and Dana Johansen is primarily for Grades 3-8. This book was published by Heinemann in 2019. The book gives practical ideas for developing and utilizing book clubs. Some of the ideas can be used during literacy small groups, teacher led or independent work. The second resource that you may find useful in developing book clubs or reading groups is The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo. Her book includes practical instructional ideas related to developing skilled readers. Happy book clubbing!

Reference
Thorndike, Edward L. (1917/2015). Reading as reasoning: a study of mistakes in paragraph reading. Baltimore: Warwick & York, Inc. Reprinted by ForgottenBooks of Englan

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.

Defining Scaffolding in Relation to Instruction

Educators seem to enjoy the tussle of how to define the different elements of instruction. This could be rooted in their historical-cultural background. This could also be rooted in the need to be heard. Whatever the case, it can become confusing to individuals trying to find a solid definition of a term. Hopefully this post will help you to better understand scaffolding in relation to instruction. I have presented six definitions of scaffolding in relation to instruction, the first five definitions assisted in the development of the sixth. Each definition reflects Vygotsky’s 1929 cultural-historical theory of psychological development in relation to scaffolding.

The first definition of scaffolding is “support given by a teacher to a student when performing a task that the student might otherwise not be able to accomplish” (van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen, 2010). In the same article van de Pol, Volman, and Beishuizen describe scaffolding as a process that includes contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. “Contingency is the tailored, adjusted, and differentiated responses or support that a teacher gives to a student during instruction. Fading is the gradual withdrawal of the scaffolding or contingency support. Transfer of responsibility is the completion of the fading stage, when students can independently process the task” (Ray, 2017, p. 26).

The second and third definition of scaffolding were found in an article titled, Scaffolding Students’ Comprehension of Text. The second definition is “what teachers say and do to enable children to complete complex mental tasks they could not complete without assistance (Pearson & Fielding, 1991, p. 842.” The third definition is “a temporary supportive structure that teachers create to assist a student or a group of students to accomplish a task that they could not complete alone (Graces, Watts, & Graves, 1994, P. 44)” (Clark & Graves, 2005, p. 571). In the same article Clark and Graves discuss scaffolding as a process of gradual release of responsibility that includes three key components: a) all teacher—modeling and instruction, b) joint responsibility—guided practice, and c) all student—practice and application. The article also states that scaffolding allows the teacher to “chunk” the assignment into smaller manageable parts while maintaining the integrity of the whole.

The fourth definition of scaffolding is “a ‘process’ that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts” (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976, p. 90). In the same article Wood, Bruner, and Ross describe the scaffolding process to have six key functions or strategies within the process:
1. recruitment – creating engagement of the learner
2. reduction in degrees of freedom – simplifying or narrowing the process
3. direction of maintenance – motivating student towards the goal
4. marking critical features – noting the relevant components of the task, like a rubric and interpreting discrepancies of correct and incorrect production
5. frustration control – providing assistance that creates a learning environment of less stress to the learner
6. demonstration – modeling task for student to emulate
To reach independence or have ownership of a task, Wood and his colleagues believed that students must have some ideas of how to solve the task before they can systematically solve or produce the task themselves.

The fifth definition of scaffolding is found in Vygotsky’s (1929) cultural-historical theory of psychological development, particularly in relation to cognitive development and the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky emphasized several components of scaffolding. The first component is collaboration between teacher or person of higher cognitive ability and the student to solve an issue or complete a task (Vygotsky, 1935). Vygotsky believed that interaction between the student and the teacher must involve a process of removing the scaffolds in order to allow the student to complete the assessed skill using his or her own abilities (as cited in Gredler, 2009). The second component is constantly asking the student to explain the task, these responses help students develop the ability to ask questions and explain concepts. The third component is constantly modeling and explaining tasks, teacher modeling of the ideal form should change to match the current maturation level of students (Vygotsky, 1934/2002). Vygotsky believed that instruction, in the form of teacher modeling, should take place just beyond the tasks that a student can accomplish on their own. The fourth component is assessment to find ideal instruction point or the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky proposed four strategies that teachers could use to scaffold assessment of student capabilities, which included (a) demonstrate how to complete a task and observe the student mirror this demonstration, (b) start a task and ask the student to complete the task, (c) ask the student to complete a task in collaboration with a higher functioning student, and (d) demonstrate metacognition in solving the task (Gredler, 2009). Vygotsky believed that each student has a unique ideal learning level that is based on past interactions of adults, peers, culture, and natural environment and biological factors.

With the previous in mind, a sixth definition of instructional scaffolding was developed “a supportive instructional structure that teachers use to provide the appropriate mechanisms for a student to complete a task that is beyond their unassisted abilities” (Ray, 2017, p. 14).

References
Clark, K., & Graves, M. (2005). Scaffolding students’ comprehension of text. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 570-580. https://www.jstor.org/journal/readingteacher
Gredler, M. (2009). Learning and Instruction Theory into Practice. Upper Saddle Creek, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Ray, J. (2017). Tiered 2 interventions for students in grades 1-3 identified as at risk in reading.
(Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). Retrieved from
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826/
van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2010). Scaffolding in teacher-student interaction: A decade of research. Education Psychology Review, 22, 271-296. doi:10.1007/s10648-010-9127-6.
Vygotsky, L. (1929). The problem of the cultural development of the child II. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 36, 415-434. Vygotsky Reader, Blackwell. Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/1929/cultural_development.htm
Vygotsky, L. (1934/2002). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L. S., & Kozulin, A. (1935/2011). The dynamics of the schoolchild’s mental development in relation to teaching and learning. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 10(2), 198-211. http://ia-cep.org/journal/jcep
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 17(2), 89–100.

Literacy Instruction

The English language is more opaque than transparent. This makes learning how to read and write the spoken language seem more like taking a walk down a twisty, hard to navigate path that features many unmarked opportunities to walk in other directions. To better navigate the difficult path of learning how to read and write, scholars like Noah Webster simplified and organized literacy instruction. When America was separating from Britain and developing their own education system.

Webster (1790) saw that the strength of the United States was dependent on the education of its youth. He believed that language arts is the center piece of educating America’s youth. His patriotism led him to remold the education of young people. He believed that every young person, no matter their social economic status, sex, or cultural heritage should be educated.

Webster, a teacher while earning his college degree, witnessed that learning literacy was a challenge for the youth of America. Webster set out to improve the separate entities of language, both spoken and written. He simplified and regulated the spelling of words, utilizing didactical marks for punctuation; this method eased the learning of spelling and pronunciation (Webster, 1843). Webster (1843) also noted that spoken language involved the correct articulation of words utilizing an intricate team of the throat, tongue, palate, teeth, and lips. He believed that teachers should be looked upon to model correct articulation and to correct students on the spot in order to ensure correct articulation of words spoken or read.

Webster (1843) also believed that written language was a way to communicate a variety of thoughts, and to be utilized in a global sense that could be transported from place to place. Webster 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. He developed and used a systematic, sequential, letter-based or a phonics approach to teaching reading and writing.

Educators today continue to develop instructional curriculum and tools to ease literacy instruction and student practice of literacy. During a recent webinar, I was reminded of an instructional tool that can ease the instruction and learning of spelling vowel sounds. The tool helps to bring better transparency of the English language. This chart titled, The Spelling Chart (Moats/LETRS) was developed by Dr. Lousia Moats. It is part of her literacy instructional program LETRS. The chart displays the different spellings of 19 vowels sounds, like the long ā sound can be spelled as make, rain and vein or the short sound ŭ can be spelled cup, flood and tough.

References
Moats, L. (2019). Hard words: what teachers don’t know about teaching reading and what to do about it, pg 26, the vowel spelling chart. Voyager Sopris Learning, 2019 Webinar Series
Webster, N. (1790). Collection of essays and fugitive writings on moral, historical, political and literary subjects. Boston: Fauet’s Statue.
Webster, N. (1843). An improved grammar of the English language. New York: Webster & Clark

Structured Literacy Teacher, Instructional Knowledge

Structure Literacy Teacher (SLT) is a fairly new label, developed by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), to describe the most effective form of instruction for students identified dyslexic.  This type of instruction is also effective for English Second Language (ESL) learners and for other students at-risk for literacy acquisition (Baker et al., 2014; Gersten et al., 2009).  Structured literacy instruction should include following instructional principles: 

  • systematic instruction, taught in logical order—builds upon prior knowledge
  • students should learn the foundational or prerequisite skills of the current lesson
  • explicit instruction, direct—clearly explained and teacher modeled
  • scaffolded instruction to match student abilities, providing exact temporary support
  • interactive discussions about the “new” task
  • multiple opportunities to practice the new task or skill
  • monitoring of student achievement through observation, interaction, and formal assessment

Structured literacy instruction includes six pillars or parts of literacy development—oral and written.  Structured literacy instruction should begin with Pillar 1, as each is dependent on the previous pillar(s).

Pillar 1 is 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. 

Pillar 2 is sound-symbol correspondences or the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s).  This may be referred to as phonics instruction that teaches predictable or the constant rules of sound-symbol correspondences to produce written language.  At this stage students learn one-on-one correspondence, for example the written letter B represents this phoneme or sound.  It is important to note that some letters are represented by more than one sound, depending on the origin and spelling of the word.  Students begin decoding and encoding words as they begin to learn the sound-symbol correspondences.  Student knowledge of the phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) relationships usually increases student ability to read, comprehend, and spell written language.

Pillar 3 is syllable knowledge, the understanding of the different types of syllables.  Syllable knowledge increases the accuracy of language pronunciation and comprehension.  Syllable knowledge also increases student decoding and encoding skills.  The English language has six major types of syllables that are described in the following chart.

Type of syllable

Example

CVC

cat, log, bit, set, cut

Final e

kite, bone, bake, cute

Open

me, sky, be/gan, mu/sic, fe/ver

Vowel Diagraph

oi-soil, oil; ee-sleep, keep; ea-beat, leak; oa-boat, road; oo-zoom, smooth

r-controlled

ar-car, start; ir-girl, swirl; er-her, flower; ur-fur, burn; or-fork, corn 

Constant-le

marble, puddle, bugle, maple, little

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. Pillar 4 is morphology that is the study of the smallest units of meaning or morphemes.  Morphology focuses on how parts of meaning fit together to form words and new meaning.  Word analysis helps students to learn the meaning(s) of morphemes and how the word parts conclude its meaning.  Word analysis also increases student background knowledge, which increases student ability to comprehend written passages. 

The more common parts of a sentence.

Parts of a sentence

Definition

Examples

Verb

describes the action

bark, ran, call, like

Adverb

modifies a verb, helps to clarify or further define a verb

warmly, quiet, loudly, today, outside

Noun

person, place or thing

house, dog, car, book

Adjective

modifies a noun, adjusts the meaning or further defines the noun to clarify meaning

beautiful, dark, old

Article

determiners, modifies and precedes a noun

a, an, the

Preposition

usually precedes a noun and in relation to another word in the clause

at, in, on, with, for, about, of, after

Conjunction

connecting words, they connect clauses and sentences

and, but, if

Pillar 6 of structured literacy is semantics or study of the meaning of words, symbols, and units of words.  A person’s lexicon stores the meaning of words, symbols, and units of words—vocabulary.  People begin to develop their lexicon at birth. Individuals attach meaning to tones of sound.  These meanings are adjusted as individuals are introduced to new tones or meanings.  Individuals transfer the meaning of tones (voice) to symbols (print) as they learn how to read and write.  To better understand words and groups of words teachers often use concept maps to examine the definition of a word.   Students identify the related synonyms and antonyms of the word.  Students often identify or attach pictures to a word or groups of words.  Semantics assist in attaching inferred meaning to written and oral verbiage.  Semantics can include morphology.

You can find details about becoming a certified Structured Literacy Teacher on the IDA website.

References

Baker, S., Lesaux, N., Jayanthi, M., Dimino, J., Proctor, C.P., Morris, J., Gersten, R., Haymond, K., Kieffer, M.J., Linan-Thompson, S., & Newman-Gonchar, R. (2014).  Teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle school (NCEE 2014-4012).  Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications_reviews.aspx.

Gersten, R., Compton, D., Connor, C.M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., & Tilly, W.D. (2009). Assisting students struggling with reading: Response to intervention and multi-tier intervention for reading in the primary grades, a practice guide (NCEE 2009-4045). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/.

 

What is Structure Literacy Instruction – Pillars 1 & 2

Structured literacy instruction includes six pillars or parts of language development-oral and written.  Structured literacy instruction is taught explicitly and systematically, beginning with Pillar 1. Structured literacy may be used to teach literacy at all levels of instruction, such as Tier 1-general classroom, Tier 2-intervention usually taught in small groups, Tier 3-intervention usually taught in one-on-one group setting, or special education.  The number of levels for instruction in a RTI model may be different for each school, depending on the learning needs of the current students and the available resources.

Pillar 1 is 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. 

Pillar 2 is sound-symbol correspondences or the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s).  This may be referred to as phonics instruction that teaches predictable or the constant rules of sound-symbol correspondences to produce written language.  At this stage students learn one-on-one correspondence, for example the written letter B represents this phoneme or sound.  Students begin decoding and encoding words as they begin to learn the sound-symbol correspondences.  Student knowledge of the phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) relationships usually increases student ability to read, comprehend, and spell written language.

I will include pillars 3 and 4 of structured literacy instruction in my next post.

References

Birsh, J.R. (2011). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills. Baltimore:  Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

Henry, Marcia K. (2010).  Unlocking literacy effective decoding and spelling instruction.  Baltimore:  Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

International Dyslexia Association, dyslexiaida.org/what-is-structured-literacy/

Moats, L. (2000). Speech to print. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

Development of Reading Connections in the Brain

Translating written language into meaning or the process of reading is like completing a dot to dot picture. The brain has to connect the right dots or take the right highways and sideroads to deeply or fully comprehend written language. The complex process of connecting the right dots begins at conception, as brain connections are organized or cataloged through predetermined genetic design. The original or genetic organization can be altered or changed through a child’s environment.

Individuals are not naturally wired with the connections to process letters into usable information. The brain has to develop those connections to process written letters into useable information, which begins at birth through oral language. A child’s verbal communication connections serve as a reference for the process of developing written processing connections. Some children can more easily develop the right connections to use written language. Meaning they pick up letter names and their corresponding sounds and are able to build words and their meanings into usage information without purposeful instruction. Most children need planned instruction to learn each letter and the letter’s corresponding sound(s) and how to develop letters into meaningful words. Most children also need planned instruction to break down words into sounds and meaning. And some children will need explicit, systematic instruction to fully digest letters, words, and sentences into useable information. Understanding what type of literacy instruction children need will follow in a future post.

References

International Dyslexia Association Conference; Dr. Louisa Moats, Dr. F. Hoeft, & Dr. K. Pugh
Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916) The development of intelligence in children. Williams & Wilkins Co.
Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol 1.) D.C. Health & Co.
Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1966). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.
Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

 

 

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