Tag: intervention

The Structured Literacy Model Should Be Present At Each Tier Of Reading Instruction

Many states have mandated that teachers review/learn the components of research-based literacy instruction. The mandated requirements of literacy knowledge and instruction usually follow the Structured Literacy Model. Implementing this information into classroom instructional lessons has proven to be a challenge.

After a bill becomes law, it usually takes time to trickle down through the levels of educators. A new education law is sent to the state education department, where the bill is analyzed and a plan is developed to implement its requirements. State educators are often consulted for the verbiage and passage of a bill, which may ease the development of an implementation plan. Once a plan has been realized, the new law moves to the district level and the components of the plan are analyzed for implementation based on the district’s knowledge and resources. Implementation of the bill may look somewhat different in each district; this will be dependent on the district’s size and resources. Often this means that district leaders need to be educated on the components of the bill and how they might effectively implement the law. An implementation timeline is usually developed based on the wording of the bill and state requirements. Then the implementation process of the new bill then moves to the school level. Again, the educators present may need to complete research and education based on the knowledge needed to begin implementation. Effective implementation of a new bill usually takes place when educators understand the importance or there is buy-in of the legislation. Any new educational law should also be considered for future teacher training programs.

The Structured Literacy model should be incorporated into each tier of literacy instruction (response to intervention (RTI)/multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). The components and principles at each tier should remain the same, while the intensity of instruction will differ at each level of instruction. RTI/MTSS was mandated in the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act and the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004). The RTI name can be, at times, confusing as some educators have attached the RTI name to discipline instead of literacy instruction. The method can be effect for both types of programs. I am beginning to see the RTI name move more towards MTSS within research articles. This may change in the years to come. The important thing is that educators specify the type of program – discipline or literacy.

The Structured Literacy model focuses on these components of literacy instruction: (a) phonemic awareness, (b) phoneme-grapheme correspondence, (c) syllables, (d) morphology, and (e) semantics. Learning each of these components is dependent on student oral language skills and how their brain initially develops the highways and byways to grow the necessary literacy skills to effectively process written language. Reading and writing skills are learned skills that require students to grow additional connections to their initial genetic brain processing structure. Most students are challenged with learning how to read and write. Some students who do not have the “normal” brain processing structure, already developed, are simultaneously working to create the “normal” byways and highways and expanding the “normal” pathways to create the necessary connections to effectively process written words. Many of these students are dyslexic and often seem to not possess a learning disability. Structured literacy embraces the following instructional principles: (a) learn the foundational skills of current lesson, (b) systematic instruction, (c) explicit direct instruction, (d) scaffolding instruction, (e)interactive discussion, (f) practice of new skill, and (g) progress monitoring.

Tier 1 should focus on grade-level instruction that meets 80% of present students. The curriculum should be based on state mandated outcomes for that grade-level. The state mandated outcomes are usually based on vetted research and should be adjusted as new information is revealed through valid research. Classroom curriculum should be developed or adopted based on current vetted research topics being taught. Can adjustments be made to curriculum to better serve the students being taught? Of course, but it should remain grade-level. This is when differentiation and scaffolding may be useful to stay true the grade-level task or concept. Each new concept should be taught using the I do, We do, You do scaffolding process.

Tier 2 instruction should focus on students who are struggling to master grade-level (Tier 1) skills. Educators should use data gathered through multiple avenues, like observation or formative assessments. This level of instruction is usually taught to smaller groups of students (1-6) to increase the intensity of instruction. Occasionally, educators may have a classroom where the majority of students are behind a grade-level or two or they are not mastering a new grade-level concept. This is when educators should tap into Tier 2 instructional methods, like breaking down a concept into different components or remodeling from a different angle about how to complete the task. Tier 2 instruction might also revisit previously taught concepts to patch student “holes”.  This might include using more multisensory techniques, such as a chart or graph to scaffold the learning of the concept. Progress monitoring or assessment of skills taught should take place every week or two.

Tier 3 is for students who struggling to own Tier 2 instruction. Tier 3 instruction should be an increase of intensity, with the use of more multisensory tools. This instruction should be based on assessment data gathered through diagnostic, formative, observational, and summative assessments. Tier 3 instruction usually takes place five days a week in a one-to-one group setting. Progress monitoring usually happens every two weeks. Instruction is adjusted based on daily data to better serve the student being taught. Students at this level of instruction usually have an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) or a 504.

It is important to note that not all RTI/MTSS models have three layers of instruction, some have five or six levels of instruction.

Students learn better when taught in their “sweet spot” or zone of proximal development. This is when students are ready for the next progressional step of a topic or task. When students own the prerequisites of a topic or tasks, the topic makes sense and eases their frustration of learning the new concept.

References

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

Ray, J.S. (2020) Structured literacy supports all learners: students at-risk of literacy acquisition – dyslexia and english learners. Texas Association for Literacy Education Yearbook, 7(5), 37-43. http://www.texasreaders.org/yearbooks.html

Developing the Reading Brain Connections is Hard Work!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

References

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

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/.

 

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)

Facebook
Twitter