Building Capacity for Strengthening ‘Reading with Meaning’ i n the Early Years

Building Capacity for Strengthening ‘Reading with Meaning’ in the Early Years Presented at the National Conference on Early Learning : Status and the Way Forward New Delhi, September 2013 Zakiya Kurrien Centre for Learning Resources, Pune

Can children ‘read’, and yet not read? Yes, they can ‘decode’ words and sentences, but many children do not understand what they read. Reading is deriving meaning from the printed word

Teachers’ Understanding of ‘Teaching Reading’(Classroom observations and teacher interviews) • Teach by breaking up each word, letter by letter, syllable by syllable • Teacher reads aloud, students repeat in unison Meaning explained by teacher • ‘Reading’ is only oral reading, never independent silent reading • Teacher asks a question after passage is read; teacher states answer; several students asked to repeat the answer

Teachers’ Understanding of ‘Reading Comprehension’ Grounded in a transmission model of reading, i.e. meaning to be conveyed by teacher to student vs Students to interpret text by acquiring certain comprehension strategies (Video clip)

Teacher development for teaching Reading with Meaning Helping teachers to understand that • The skills involved in ‘reading with meaning’ go beyond • visual recognition of printed words • Meaning does not reside in the printed words • Meaning is constructed by the reader

Sharing with teachers what Cognitive Psychology tells us about the reading process Meaning is constructed through • socio-cultural information • semantic information • syntactic information • grapho-phonic information

Importance of ‘Schema’ A schema is the internally organised knowledge of the world that the reader brings to the reading process. Children develop ‘schemata’ – units of background knowledge – through everything they experience. The more limited a child’s experiences, the more likely she/he will have difficulty deriving meaning from what is read. Hence, the significance of cognitive stimulation and wealth of experiences in early childhood.

What Cognitive Neuroscience tells us about the reading process Reading has a large biological component whose role is critical in the early stages of literacy acquisition Concept of working memory : holds the information that one is currently thinking of Working memory is like a sponge – moving about 12 seconds behind people’s thoughts and wiping the slate The verbal buffer can only hold about 7 items for about 12 seconds Hence, to understand a sentence, the mind must read it fast enough to capture it within the time limit of the working memory. Children must read at least 45-60 words per minute to understand what is read.

Implications for policies and programmes • Spread awareness amongst education departments, school principals and teachers, about existing ineffective classroom practices • Provide a wide range of resources for a print-rich environment, in each classroom and in the community • Reform assessment, to test reading achievement differently

Implications for policies and programmes • Strengthen knowledge of teacher trainers regarding issues in ‘reading with meaning’, and sound pedagogy • Include special focus on reading pedagogy in pre-service and inservice teacher training curricula – for both preschool and primary school teachers

Reading achievement in the context of RTE • The case for effective teaching-learning at preschool and primary level The Mathew Effect Already good comprehenders Further spurt in comprehension read more Increases achievement differences between them and their age-mates who have not learned to read with understanding • The cognitive consequences of reading achievement Early and efficient acquisition of reading with meaning yields faster rates of growth in cognitive skills, critical thinking Rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer effects embedded in the socio-developmental context of schooling

Focus areas in CLR teacher training for reading readiness in preschool and Class 1 3 broad areas that influence ability to read with meaning : - Background knowledge and experiences - Development of spoken language - Desire to read Specific skills Phonological awareness ; Phoneme awareness ; Letter-sound association ; Orientation to print ; etc. 3. Opportunities for meaning-making through a print-rich, visually rich classroom environment (Video clip)

Classroom Library(Graded selection for Classes 1 & 2) Picture books with 1 or 2 words per page Text of 2-3 lines per page with pictures Story books with simple sentence structures Story books & poetry for reading aloud to children

Devising activities for reading with meaning (Level : Class 2-3)

Matching Examples of Items Sharad Kaka has a long face, large ears and a beard Pramod Kaka has a long face and he is wearing a cap Ashok Kaka has a round face and he is wearing glasses Etc.

Matching Decide who is speaking each of the sentences given below “Oh dear, I dropped the milk” “Come, I’ll help to wipe it off” “Wow! Nice milk for me” Etc.

Understanding and drawing

Understanding sequence and re-writing Read what Abhay does everyday. Then copy the sentences in correct order.

Cloze

Classifying Here are 10 children’s responses (numbers 1 – 10) when asked about pet dogs. Sort their answers by putting a (ü) in the correct box. E.g. Child 1 : I love dogs. I would love to have a pet dog Child 2 : I am afraid of dogs. A dog bit me once. Child 3 : Keeping a pet dog costs a lot of money. ü ü

Comparing If each pair of sentences has the same meaning, put a (ü). If the meaning is different, put a (l). l

Deducing Sunita has lost her chappals. Everyone is trying to help her to remember where they could be. Can you figure out where she left them?

Validating Where is each object on the shelves? If the sentence is true, put a (ü). If it is false, put a (x). If you can’t say, put a (l). E.g. The vase is on the bottom shelf. The photo is on the top shelf. The mobile phone is not working. ü l

Building Capacity for Strengthening ‘Reading with Meaning’ i n the Early Years