Increasing Explicitness in Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Instruction

1. Increasing Explicitness in Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Instruction Michael C. McKenna University of Virginia Sharon Walpole University of Delaware

2. Today’s Goals Learn about direct instruction techniques to teach early reading skills Consider instructional procedures in direct instruction Consider chances to incorporate these techniques in your whole-group and needs-based instruction

3. Back in School Apply concepts from our book study to increase explicitness in first-grade lessons Test your modified plan for three days in a first-grade classroom Consider strategies to share what you learned with the rest of the first-grade team

4. Let’s look at teacher directions for four lessons, each taken from a different core program, to introduce the sound of the letter B. Think about your struggling readers.

5. Teacher reads poem Teacher rereads and asks students to clap when they hear a word beginning with /b/ Teacher models /p/ + /ig/ = /pig/ “Now you blend; what word is: /b/+/ig/ /f/+/ig/ /r/+/ig/ “I need four volunteers to hold up letter cards.” “What letter do I need to add to /ig/ to get /big/? Who should hold up their card?” “What letter do I need to add to …” (ran/hat/get/bit) “b,g,r can also be heard at the end of a word” “What letter do I need to add to the end of /ka/ to get cab? /tu/ to get tub? /be/ to get beg?”

6. Read sentence and exaggerate the /b/ “Baby Bobby blows big bubbles.” Underline each B while reading. “What’s the sound of B?” “Read this sentence with me.” Touch each B while they read with you. “What other words begin with the letter B?” List their words and add others for variety. If they offer a word that does not begin with /b/, record on different list and contrast with list of /b/ words. Have all read through list of /b/ words together. Underline B in each word as it is read.

7. Record letters on chart as you discuss the sound of each. Write Bb on chart. “The sound for B is /b/.” “What is the sound for B?” “Let’s review.” Record Hh and repeat lesson. Continue with Dd Ll Gg Cc If they get it wrong, correct immediately and have students repeat.

8. “My turn. When I touch it I’ll say it.” Touch b quickly say /b/ - repeat 3 times “Your turn. When I touch it you say it.” Pause. “Get ready.” Touch b. “Again.” Touch b. Repeat until all are firm with sound “Get ready to say two sounds when I touch them.” Alternate b and p.

9. How do these letter-sound lessons compare? How do they differ?

10. Some GARF Assumptions • First-grade achievement is critically important in our schools. • Our state-wide data indicate that first-grade achievement varies widely. • We must consider improvements in our whole-group and in our needs-based instruction to improve achievement.

11. What experience do you have with direct instruction?

12. What does research say about direct instruction? • There is evidence that direct instruction can be effective (CSRQ Center Report). • There is evidence that it is not always effective (e.g., Ryder, Burton, & Silberg, 2006). • There is controversy over the role of the curriculum designers in the program evaluations (e.g., Stahl, Duffy-Hester, & Stahl, 1998).

13. A Closer Look at Direct Instruction During the 1970s and 80s, researchers worked to identify the characteristics of effective teaching. They asked two key questions: What do more-effective teachers do that less-effective teachers don’t? If less-effective teachers learn and apply these techniques, will the learning of their students increase? In 1986, a now-classic article by Barak Rosenshine appeared in Educational Leadership. In it, he summarized the findings of the huge body of effectiveness research. The result is a teaching model called “explicit instruction,” or sometimes “direct instruction.”

14. The explicit teaching model is sometimes divided into three phases: 1 2 3 Guided Practice Independent Practice Introduction of new material, organized into clear objectives, tied to previous learning, and accom-panied by modeling and monitoring by the teacher

15. Keep in mind that most of the researchers who studied effective teachers were not specifically interested in reading instruction. This is why the model sounds generic. It can be applied to nearly any content subject! When reading researchers, such as the National Reading Panel, say that research favors “explicit, systematic” instruction, this is the model they mean. Now let’s look more closely at the characteristics Rosenshine extracted from the research.

16. For your teaching to be explicit, you should … • Begin the lesson with a short statement of goals. • Begin the lesson with a short review of previous, prerequisite learning. • Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step. • Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations. • Provide active practice for all students. • Ask many questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students. • Guide students during initial practice. • Provide systematic feedback and corrections. • Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork exercises and, where necessary, monitor students during seatwork. • Continue practice until students are independent and confident. – Rosenshine (1986), pp. 60, 62

17. Direct Explicit Some confusion can occur when the phrase, “direct instruction” is used interchangeably with “explicit instruction.” This is because a publishing company has long used “Direct Instruction” in the name of its commercial products. One way to avoid confusion is to say “Little d-i” when referring to explicit teaching and “Big D-I” when referring to the product. Of course, you can also avoid confusion by using the phrase “explicit instruction.”

18. Our study group book today is designed for teachers who want to apply specific procedures from “little d-i” to their own core scope and sequence. Some of the authors have been associated with Big D-I curriculum design, and they have written this book specifically for an audience not using D-I.

19. If we are adapting the procedures of direct instruction, why not just use their commercial materials? You are likely to recognize that some di procedures are already built in to your core; others may be unnecessary for your children. In GARF, you can use both materials and instructional strategies based on research findings.

20. Criticisms of core programs • Too many activities. • Vague directions. • No assessment or progress monitoring. • Too much too fast for struggling readers. • Teacher language too difficult. Carnine, Silbert, Kame’enui, Tarver, & Jungjohann, 2006, Chapter 2.

21. Little di teaching procedures • Model (teacher demonstrates directly) • Lead (teacher responds with the students, as in choral reading) • Test (students respond on their own) • Plan teacher talk so that students understand it and it is repetitive Carnine, Silbert, Kame’enui, Tarver, & Jungjohann, 2006, Chapter 3.

22. Basic di lesson characteristics • Homogeneous small group • Choral response • Teacher hand signals • Brisk instructional pacing • Procedures for teacher monitoring the learning of each child • Error correction strategies Carnine, Silbert, Kame’enui, Tarver, & Jungjohann, 2006, Chapter 4.

23. Coaches’ Corner To what extent are these instructional design concepts already in your core? What specific areas do you think could be improved?

24. As we work on collaborative study group tasks this year, we have two goals: • To wrestle with new content and consider ways to use that content to improve teaching and learning • To wrestle with our own presentation skills and consider ways to present the content clearly and meaningfully to other adults

25. Ground Rules for Jigsaw Activities • Form groups that cross districts and programs. • Do not engage anyone in sidebar conversations. • Work for consensus as well as completeness in your group; take responsibility for everyone’s understanding. • Be sure that everyone has a role in your final presentation. • We will begin by planning 45 minutes to read and prepare and 1 hour to share.

26. Group #1: Rhyming, Segmenting, and Blending • Read chapter 5, pp. 35-53. • Discuss the main ideas in the chapter, and prepare a chart paper summary to share. • Prepare a teaching demonstration for the chart on page 51 (segmenting and blending) and one for the chart on page 52 (teaching rhyming)

27. Group #2: Teaching Letter-Sound Correspondence • Read Chapters 7 and 8, pp. 65-86. • Discuss the main ideas in the chapters, and prepare a chart paper summary to share. • Prepare a teaching demonstration for the chart on page 80 (teaching letter-sound correspondence) and one for the chart on page 86 (teaching common letter combinations).

28. Group #3: Beginning Word Reading • Read Chapter 9, pp. 87-112. • Discuss the main ideas in the chapters, and prepare a chart paper summary to share. • Prepare a teaching demonstration for the chart on page 111 (sounding out regular words) and one for the chart on page 112 (sight-word reading with regular words).

29. Group #4: Primary Word Reading • Read Chapter 10, pp. 113-139 • Discuss the main ideas in the chapters, and prepare a chart paper summary to share. • Prepare a teaching demonstration for the chart on page 137 (reading words with common letter combinations) and one for the chart on page 138 (reading words with affixes).

30. Let’s Plan . . .

31. Back in School Apply concepts from our book study to increase explicitness in first-grade lessons Test your modified plan for three days in a first-grade classroom Consider strategies to share what you learned with the rest of the first-grade team And we’ll begin our next session with your report!

32. References Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center and American Institutes for Research (no date). CSRQ Center Report on Elementary School Comprehensive School Reform Models. csrq.org/reports.asp Carnine, D. W., Silbert, J., Kame’enui, E. J., Tarver, S. G., & Jungjohann, K. (2006). Teaching struggling and at-risk readers: A direct instruction approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Rosenshine, B. V. (1986). Synthesis of research on explicit teaching. Educational Leadership, 43(7), 60-69. Ryder, R. J., Burton, J. L., & Silberg, A. (2006). Longitudinal study of Direct Instruction effects from first through third grades. The Journal of Educational Research, 99, 179-191. Stahl, S. A., Duffy-Hester, A. M., & Stahl, K. A. D. (1998). Theory and research into practice: Everything you wanted to know about phonics (but were afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly, 33, 338-355.