The Literacy Brain

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/.

Grouping Students for Instruction

Meeting the instructional needs of all students is a bit overwhelming! There are some instructional approaches that can help teachers to better meet the challenge. One approach is teaching students in small groups, 4 to 6 students. Student groups can be developed using different formulas based on the intended outcome of the small group instruction. Small groups allow for more “intimate” or one-on-one conversation that help you, the teacher form a better idea of their academic and social needs. They also allow teachers to monitor and or scaffold student interactions, like collaboration or discussions. Every student wants their voice heard; each student needs to learn how to listen to others. Small group instruction gives the teacher opportunity to teach focused lessons that may include a new task or reteaching of a previous task. Small group instruction also allows for the other groups of students to practice a task, new or old.

Some of the reasons that I develop groups of students are to:

Develop social skills, usually 2-4 students
Group projects, can be efficient with 2-6 students depending on the project to be completed
Learning level instruction—most classrooms will have 3-5 different learning levels for math and reading, 4-6 students, grouped by data
Reviewing
Introducing

When working with a new group of students, I often use different ways of building groups, such as student choice, drawing names, or numbering students. When grouping students by ability to teach, I tend to focus on the data—current assessments and observations. I usually ask the following questions when I group or regroup students.

What is the activity?
What should the final outcome look like?
How will students react to the task?
What is the learning level of students? Will they need help in completing the task? Who would be most helpful to those needing assistance? Not completing the task for them, but leading them to the completion of the task.
Who will be here for the lesson? Most classrooms have students entering and exiting the classrooms throughout the day.
How will students work together?
How many “parts” to the task? I asked this question when grouping students for group projects.

When grouping students remember that each group is growing and may need adjusting along the way.

Structure Literacy, Pillars 5 & 6

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. The more common parts of a sentence are:

Verb-describes the action
Adverb-modifies a verb, helps to clarify or further define a verb Example: warmly, quiet, loudly, today, outside

Noun-person, place or thing
Adjective-modifies a noun, adjusts the meaning or further defines the noun to better clarify the meaning Example: beautiful, dark, old

Article-modify a noun, like an adjective Example: a, an, the
Preposition-usually precedes a noun and in relation to another word Example: at, in, on, with, for, about, after, of
Conjunction-connecting words, they connect clauses and sentences Example: and, but, if One form of syntax is sentence diagramming.

commons.wikimedia.org

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.

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.

What is Structure Literacy Instruction – Pillars 3 & 4

Structured literacy instruction includes six pillars or parts of language development-oral and written. This post includes Pillars 3 and 4.

Pillar 3 is syllable knowledge, the understanding of the different types of syllables. The English language has six major types of syllables:

cvc …….. cat, ban, bit
final e …. kite, bone
open …… me, began
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

Syllable knowledge increases the accuracy of language pronunciation and comprehension. Syllable knowledge also increases student decoding and encoding skills.

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. Morphology includes word analysis that 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.

Structured literacy instruction typically includes the following instructional principles:

Systematic instruction, students should learn the foundational or prerequisite skills of the current lesson
Modeling of task being taught
Interactive discussions about the task being taught
Many opportunities to practice the new skill
Scaffolding of instruction to match student abilities
Monitoring of student achievement through observation and interaction

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.

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.

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.

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Oral Language Development-Phonological Awareness56

Phonological awareness skills are developed through a child’s environment. Children are learning what types of words to use for particular situations, based on “modeled” oral language. Children are forming their natural responses to the words heard, based on the responses heard. Children are learning how to form words and sentences based upon what they are hearing throughout their day. I will also argue that children learn how to form verbal responses based on more than their sense of hearing. Children also form language through touching, seeing, smelling, and tasting. Individuals have different types of environmental influence that assist in developing their oral language.

There are different “layers” of influence in developing oral language or verbiage that becomes written language. The first influence is the home. The second influence is where the child spends most of their day—school, daycare, etc. The third layer is those brief encounters with other individuals that may occur during the day, such as listening to a store clerk. In today’s world, “the media/technology” has also become a factor in language development. The amount of exposure/interaction time dictates the amount of influence. The amount of natural phonological awareness skills that a student possesses when entering the formal classroom depends on the exposure within the different layers of language development.

Phonological awareness is the ability to process letter sounds, rhyming words, and segmenting letters within words. These skills may be purposely taught throughout the day before children arrive at school or formal education. Simply stopping and helping a child sound out the correct pronunciation of a word—segmenting each sound, such as /c/ /a/ /t/ is a form of phonological awareness development. Reading a book that emphasizes the alphabet and adding the sound of the letter is another form of phonological awareness development. Reading poetry or books that included rhyming words—Dr. Suess—is a form of phonological awareness development. Formal or purposeful education of phonological awareness is usually woven within a child’s formal education.

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is a key cognitive function in learning how to read. Phonological awareness skills are more important during the early years of education when children are learning to read (Vaessen & Blomert, 2009). Phonological awareness skills are often used for initially processing letters into words that are coded into memory for future use in reading fluency and reading comprehension. The reliance of students on phonological awareness skills often declines as their cognition develops, and proficient readers use their memory rather than the assistance of phonological awareness skills to decode written words. Students’ level of phonological awareness is often used as a predictor for later reading skills. High phonological awareness skills frequently void the effects of lower socioeconomic status (Nobel, Farah, & McCandliss, 2006). Low phonological awareness can also lead to diagnoses of developmental phonological dyslexia.

Phonological awareness is the ability to process letter sounds, rhyming words, and segmenting letters within words (Molfese et al., 2006). Students use phonological awareness skills to process pseudowords or nonwords, and they provide the rules and sounds of letters to sound out these words. Phonological awareness skills are developed through oral language. Oral language is developed through child’s environment, which may happen through chance or purposeful conversations. Earlier oral language skills often predict later phonological awareness skills (Peterson, Pennington, Shriberg, & Boada, 2009). The phonological processing skills of children usually determine their rate of letter identification (Molfese et al., 2006).

References

Molfese V., Modglin, A., Desbick, J., Neamon, J., Berg, S., Berg, C., & Mohar, A. (2006). Letter knowledge, phonological processing, and print knowledge: Skill development in nonreading preschool children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(4), 296-305.

Peterson, R., Pennington, B., Shriberg, L., & Boada, R. (2009). What influences literacy outcome in children with speech sound disorder? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 1175-1188.

Vaessen, A., & Blomert, L. (2009). Long-term cognitive dynamics of fluent reading development. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 105, 213-231.

Diagnosing Dyslexia

The information in this blog is focused on developmental dyslexia, which is acquired through genetics. Usually, students who acquire dyslexia through environmental causes can be flagged or diagnosed using the same information.

The definition of dyslexia is:

Dyslexia is 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 (International Dyslexia Association, 2002).

I am not big fan of labeling students for various reasons, but labeling must occur if the student is not getting the support and instruction that they need to acquire literacy skills. Students will continue to struggle to acquire and use grade-level literacy skills, if they do not learn foundational literacy skills during their early elementary school days. Most students can receive the support and instruction that they need to remain at grade-level through a response to intervention (RTI) or multitiered program. RTI is a program that when implemented with fidelity can provide instructional lessons at student learning level, in addition to their regular classroom literacy instruction. Some students will need more intense intervention that may include special education services, which requires the development of a 504 or IEP plan. This will depend on your school’s literacy program and student learning needs.

Diagnosing dyslexia can be tricky and complex. Dyslexia affects approximately 3 of every 20 students. Dyslexia is blind to ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Some students will “scream” dyslexia, many will not. Some students will never be diagnosed. Children of parents diagnosed with developmental dyslexia have a 50% higher chance of having dyslexia. It is also important to note that students can show traits of dyslexia, but not have developmental dyslexia.

Diagnosing dyslexia usually begins with a screening of student literacy skills. A screening is a series of short probes or assessments used to learn student reading ability. Most schools universally screen students three times a year. Universal screenings can flag students who may have dyslexia, this will depend on the reading probes used to screen students. Some probes have a stronger correlation to reading deficits normally found in individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. Student knowledge of phonological awareness is a stronger flag until Grade 2, when rapid automatized naming tests (RAN) or reading fluency probes become a stronger flag (Ray, 2017). Usually students that show a deficit in decoding nonsense words are dyslexic. Teacher observations of student reading ability can strengthen the validity of a word decoding outcome. There are also “private” on-line screenings. Use on-line screening with caution, as not all screenings are valid. The Shaywitz DyslexiaScreenTM was developed by Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a professor and researcher in Learning Development at Yale University. This screening can be used for students in kindergarten and Grade 1. The screener can be found at https://dyslexia.yale.edu/, the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Students who show signs of literary deficits or traits of dyslexia may be assessed deeper or more extensively by a trained educational professional.

Diagnosing Dyslexia

The Gillingham (1955) formula of diagnosing dyslexia was developed by Anne Gillingham while she was working for Dr. Samuel Orton in the early 1900s. She believed that standardized achievement tests were not a valid method to diagnose students’ reading deficits or to place students in remediation. Gillingham determined that the following seven assessments should be given to students one year before beginning reading instruction: (a) intelligence, (b) optical or vision, (c) family history, (d) motor pattern or skills, (e) visual sensory recall skills, (f) auditory sensory recall skills, and (g) kinesthetic sensory skills. The data from each assessment should be compiled and analyzed for each child. The child is then placed into a classroom setting, based on the analyzed outcome of these assessment. Gillingham noted that when students were assessed correctly and place in the proper programs, many of the emotional issues disappeared. Gillingham also noted that occasionally the analyzed placement needed to be revisited as the child progressed through their formal education. Gillingham (1956) believed that teachers in the regular classroom were the first to identify students at-risk for reading acquisition.

Today, dyslexia can be diagnosed by a neuropsychologist who specializes in educational disabilities, in particular dyslexia. The process includes three or four hours of testing that can be quit tiring for students. Most public schools do not have licensed psychologists trained to administer the depth of assessment required to diagnose dyslexia. Students can also be diagnosed using MRI imaging. This method of diagnosis should be used with caution, as very few people know how to conduct or correctly read the MRI screening images for dyslexia traits.

Ray, J.S. (2017). Tier 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/