What difficulties do students encounter when learning to read words?

1. EDUC 603 Week 2 What difficulties do students encounter when learning to read words? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 8– Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

2. Phonics and the Poor Reader • Students are expected to master the basics of phonics by the end of Second Grade • Struggling readers often: • Have generalized difficulty processing words phonologically • Are slower to learn phonics • Rely on smaller units of sound • Have difficulty applying phonics • Scan words less efficiently • Tend to over-rely on phonics • Fail to integrate context clues with phonics use Benedictine University

3. Decoding • Poor decoding skills is a primary cause of poor reading, even among older students • In a study of 4th graders who failed a state proficiency test, 41% had significant difficulty with decoding (Valencia and Buly, 2004) Benedictine University

4. Types of Word Recognition Difficulty • Deficient Decoders • Lack basic decoding skills • Need systematic instruction with lots of practice • Disabled Decoders • Learn new patterns slowly or not at all • Need long-term, intensive instruction that includes techniques for improving attention and memory • Inaccurate Decoders • Misread patterns due to poor phonemic awareness or little practice • Need systematic instruction, lots of practice, and instruction in monitoring for meaning • Non-automatic Decoders • Have solid word recognition skills, but they are not automatic • Need lots of practice with easy material and emphasis on reading for meaning Benedictine University

5. How Words Are Read • Decodinginvolves… • Sounding out words • Analogy involves… • Recognizing the similarity between words like: • “Hat” and how it reminds the student of the word “Cat” • Prediction involves… • Using the first letter of a word and the context or the use of illustrations on a page to predictthe meaning of words • Memory/Immediate Recognition involves… • Using familiar “sight” words Benedictine University

6. EDUC 603 Week 2 What are the basic principles of teaching phonics? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 8 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

7. Teaching Phonics • Early systematic instruction in phonics should be balanced with application in context • Avoid over-emphasizing phonics • 10-15 minutes of phonics per day is sufficient • Tip: Incorporate the phonics skills learned recently in authentictext situations Benedictine University

8. Approach to Teaching Phonics • Part-Whole Approach • The correspondence or pattern is presented and then is applied within the context of a whole story • Whole-Part Approach • Start with the whole story and then break the whole into parts • Whole-Part-Whole Approach • Start with the whole story, then break into parts, then go back to the whole Benedictine University

9. EDUC 603 Week 2 What are the principles of teaching consonants? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 8 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

10. Consonants • There are 26 letters in the alphabet • But…there are 41 speech sounds in English • 25 are consonant sounds • 16 are vowel sounds • These sounds may be spelled in different ways • (This is a significant complicating factor for ELLs) • Consonants are usually introduced or presented first in most phonics programs • Often the first letters in words provide usable clues in words • In invented spelling, consonants often appear first ‘C’ Clue… Benedictine University

11. Approaches to Teaching Consonants • Explicit /synthetic approach • Students are taught isolated sounds and then blend the sounds together to create a word • Problems with this approach: • Distorts sounds • Blending poses a short-term memory problem • Implicit /analytic approach • Teaches letter-sound relationships in the context of whole words • Problems with this approach: • Students must be able to segment the first sound in the word Benedictine University

12. Other Consonant Elements After learning a variety of initial consonant correspondences, students are taught other consonant elements: • Consonant Digraphs • Two letters that represent one sound (e.g., “sh”) • Final Consonants • Introduced after most initial consonants and consonant diagraphs • Consonant Clusters • Composed of two or more letters that represent two or more sounds (e.g., “scr”) • Confusing Consonants • Representing different sounds is trickiest (e.g., C can be /k/ or /s/) Benedictine University

13. Sequence of Teaching Consonants • Struggling readers tend to have difficulty with auditory discrimination and perception • Best practice suggests starting with continuants (articulated with a continuous stream of breath), which are easier to say and detect in isolation • /f/, /y/, /h/, /v/, /s/, /m/, /f/, /r/, /n/, /w/, /sh/, /th/, /wh/, /zh/ • Consonants and vowels should be taught together • After presenting four or five initial-consonant correspondences, then introduce – ‘at’(vowel pattern) or another vowel pattern and begin to form words • Then gradually introduce other high frequency patterns • Figure 8.4 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties (page 233) presents recommended sequences for phonics instruction Benedictine University

14. Reinforcement Activities for Consonant Correspondences • Reading • Use children’s books, especially alphabet books • Sorting sounds • Can help children discover basic principles of word construction • Ask students to look for a specificconsonantinbook titles, signs, food labels,etc. • Create alphabet books • Multi-sensory approaches may help students who have associative learning disabilities Further information on reinforcement activities for consonant correspondences can be found on pages 234-237 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties Benedictine University

15. EDUC 603 Week 2 What are the principles of teaching vowels? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 8 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

16. Approaches to Teaching Vowels • Vowels may be taught implicitly or explicitly, in pattern or a word-building approach • Vowels tend to be easier to teach because they can be pronounced in isolation without distortion • A popular approach is to present elements in patterns or phonograms • Read pages 240-248 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties to become familiar with the similarities and differencesbetween the three approaches to teaching vowels: • Word-building Approach • Sound by Sound Approach • Make and Break Technique Benedictine University

17. Vowels • Poor readers often have trouble applying the five vowel spelling generalizations: • Short vowels (1 in 4 words) • A vowel is short when it is followed by a consonant: bat, sit • Open Syllables (1 in 5 words) • A vowel is long when it comes at the end of a word or syllable • Final-e Markers (1 in 20 words) • A vowel is long when it is followed by a consonant and a final silent-e marker: cane, time • Unstressed Syllables (1 in 5 words) • A vowel is given a schwa pronunciation when it occurs in an unaccented syllable: a-bout, di-vide • Digraphs (1 in 6 words) • A vowel sound that is spelled with two or more letters. Because blanket generalizations don’t work well with these, vowel-decoding charts can be helpful (page 239) Benedictine University

18. Sequence for Teaching Vowels • Short-vowel correspondences • Often CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) • Long-vowels • Easier to perceive auditorally • Easier to learn to read and spell if introduced via the simplest patterns • Save the final-e spellings and digraph-plus final consonant spellings until later CVC Benedictine University

19. Application Through Reading • As students learn phonics elements and decoding strategies, it is essential that they apply them to reading whole sections of text • Materials to reinforce phonics are: • Children’s books • Decodable texts Benedictine University

20. Using Prompts to Foster the Use of Balanced Decoding Strategies • Foster self-correction • Avoid the urge to jump in immediately! • Promote the effective use of strategies • When students overuse phonics cues: • Check that the level of text is appropriate • Construct cloze passages to practice using context clues to fill in the blanks • When students overuse context clues: • Check that the level of text is appropriate • Encourage wide reading of easy materials for practice • Before reading, review key phonics patterns in the piece Benedictine University

21. EDUC 603 Week 2 How do students apply word analysis strategies to reading? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 8 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

22. Word-Analysis Strategies • Pronounceable Word-Part Strategy • Student looks for parts of the words that he/she can pronounce and starts there • Analogy Strategy • Students work out the pronunciation by comparing it to a known word • Decoding Strategy • Students are encouraged to read the word sound by sound and then to blend the sounds together Benedictine University

23. Word-Analysis Strategies • Context • Students should use verbal and picture clues • Prompting Strategy Use • Use a “pause, prompt, pause” to give the students a chance to work out the word on his/her own • Review the chart on page 270 in Assessing and Correcting Reading Difficulties for prompts to encourage using the word analysis strategies Benedictine University

24. Using Prompts to Foster the Use of Balanced Decoding Strategies • Teachers may need to prompt students with different questions, depending on the cueing system you want them to use: • Semantic: Does that make sense? • Syntactic: Does that sound like real language? What would sound right here? • Phonic: “Zebra” begins with a “z,” but what sound does it end with? • Review the case study on pages 267-269 in Assessing and Correcting Reading Difficulties for an example of how to use prompts Benedictine University

25. EDUC 603 Week 2 High-Frequency (sight) words? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 8 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

26. High-Frequency (Sight) Words • Sight words are the 200 or so most frequently used words in printed English • Often, sight words are the most difficult words for struggling readers to learn • Sight words: • Look alike (was, were, where, are) • Are abstract (the, of, with) • May have spellings that give little or no clue to their pronunciation (one, of) Benedictine University

27. Learning High Frequency Words • Readabouthigh frequency words on pages 274 – 278 in Assessing and Correcting Reading Writing Difficulties • Consider teaching techniques that can be useful for Ken as you read pages 274 – 278 • This information will assist you with Ken’s Case Study in your discussion question this week Benedictine University

28. Indirect Teaching Techniques for High Frequency Words • Shared Reading • Singing High Frequency Words • Predictable Books • Holistic Programs (series of predictable books) • Creating Little Books around familiar themes • Read-Along with accompanying audiotapes For more information about these techniques, see Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties, pages 279-285 Benedictine University