Tag: structured literacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Definitions

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

 

References

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Necessary Components of Learning How to Spelling

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

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

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

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

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

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

References

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

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

 

 

 

Relieve Student Stress—Teach Spelling

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

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

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

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

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

Sound out the word gym.

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

What letters or letter diagraphs are used to

represent those sounds?                   ____   ____   ____

 

Sound out the word gym.

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

What letters or letter diagraphs are used to

represent those sounds?                        g       y       m

 

another example:

Sound out the word tardy.

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

What letters or letter diagraphs are used to

represent those sounds?                          t       a       r       d      y

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

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

References

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

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

 

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.

See the source image

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.

 

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)

Facebook
Twitter