Developing Early Literacy Skills

1. Developing Early Literacy Skills Tracey Kallander, M.A., Ed.S. Reading & Learning Disabilities Specialist Hampstead Central School November 29, 2017 Kallandert@hampsteadschools.net

2. Ben & Eric first day of school – September 2000.

3. Picture worth a thousand words Ben had nearly every early warning sign of difficulty with reading: Late talker Mispronounced & misunderstood words Couldn’t follow directions Word retrieval Articulation Rhyme awareness Sequencing information Alphabet and letter identification Writing his name – BEN

4. “Most early predictors tend to be better at identifying who will be successful at reading than who is at risk.” “Children who get off to a good start generally continue to do well and those who show initial problems generally continue to struggle. Hugh Catts, University of Kansas, 2009

5. Predictors of Reading Success: • Oral language ability • Phonological Awareness • Letter/print knowledge • Hugh Catts, University of Kansas

6. The variation in children’s IQs and language abilities is relative to the amount parents speak to their children. Children’s academic successes at ages nine and ten are attributable to the amount of talk they hear from birth to age three. Parents of advanced children talk significantly more to their children than parents of children who are not as advanced. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children describes the remarkable findings of Betty Hart, Ph.D., and Todd R. Risley, Ph.D. (1995)

7. Language Development As a result of the Hart & Risleyresearch (University of Kansas), “the importance of the early language environment began to be understood: that the words a child heard, both the quantity and quality, from birth through 3 years could be linked to predictable stark disparities in ultimate educational achievement.” Source: Thirty Million Words, Dr. Dana Suskind (2015)

9. “One of the earliest indicators of problems in oral language, and in some cases subsequent reading problems, is failure to begin talking at appropriate developmental stages. Hugh Catts Early Identification of Reading Disabilities Theories of Reading Development: Studies in Written Language & Literacy (2017)

10. Late Talkers: A Population-Based Study of Risk Factors and School Readiness Consequences • Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a population-based sample of 9,600 children at 9, 24, 48, and 60 months old. • Being a late talker increased a child’s risk of having low vocabulary at 48 months and low school readiness at 60 months. • Limited vocabulary knowledge at 24 and 48 months is uniquely predictive of later school readiness. • Young children with low vocabularies require additional supports prior to school entry. • C. ScheffnerHammer, P. Morgan, G. Farkas, M. Hillemeier, D. Bitetti, and S. Maczuga. • Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research • March 2017

11. Adapted from Dr. Melissa Farrall’s IDA presentation referencing work of V. Berninger (University of Washington Interdisciplinary Learning Disabilities Center)

12. Receptive Language is the INPUT of information and the ability to understand words and language. • Gaining information from routine • Visual information within the environment • Understanding sounds and words • Concepts such as size, shape, color, time • Grammar • Written information (signs, stories) • Source: Kid Sense Child Development

13. Expressive Language is the OUTPUT of information and the ability to use words, sentences, gestures and writing to convey meaning and messages to others. • Label objects in environment • Describe actions and events • Put words together in sentences • Use grammar correctly • Retell a story • Answer questions • Write short story • Source: Kid sense Child Development

14. “Exposure to language at an early age has a tremendous impact on a child’s vocabulary and ability to understand and differentiate similar sounding words, learn how words are used to form sentences and convey meaning, and the syntactical relationship of words.” Source: E.D. Hirsch, Overcoming the Language Gap, American Educator 2001

15. What can parents do? • Vocabulary & language development • Read to/with your kids (read a variety of books) • Model reading • Point out interesting and unfamiliar words and develop understanding of word meaning(s) • Don’t be afraid to use “big” words and encourage children to use them • Talk to your kids throughout the day noticing things that you’re doing and things happening around them • Emphasize quality of conversation vs. quantity • Model proper pronunciation and grammar

16. What Parents Can Do: Turn off/limit the devices Learning language from TV shows isn’t teaching kids sufficient language skills. Limit and carefully monitor screen time – I-pads, smart phones, TV. Have conversations with your kids. Explore topics of interest – yours and your child’s.

17. Develop Background Knowledge “The more you know about a topic, the easier it is to read a text, understand it, and retain the information.” Source: Building Background Knowledge, Susan Neuman (Reading Rockets)

18. Develop Background Knowledge • Teach words in categories • Use contrasts and comparisons • Use analogies • Encourage topic-focused reading • Develop through experiences and exploration (go for walk, visit beach, park, pond, ocean, mountains, museums, library) • Develop locational vocabulary

19. Phonological Awareness "Phonological awareness is the most potent predictor of success in learning to read." Keith Stanovich, cognitive scientist and psychologist (1994) “All children can benefit from being taught directly how to break up spoken words into smaller units and how letters represent sounds.” Dr. Sally Shaywitz(1999)

21. Phonological awareness includes the ability to: • Segment sentences • Onset and rime • Identify and count syllables • Manipulate syllables • Rhyming and alliteration

22. Phonemic Awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds within words to create new words. • Phoneme isolation • Phoneme blending • Phoneme segmentation • Phoneme addition, deletion, substitution

23. pig Lat·in ˈpiɡ ˌlatn/ noun a made-up language formed from English by transferring the initial consonant or consonant cluster of each word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syllable (usually ˈpiɡ ˌlatn: so chicken soup would be translated to ickenchayoupsay . Pig Latin is typically spoken playfully, as if to convey secrecy.

24. How Can Parents Help Develop Phonological Awareness • Play word games (I spy something that begins with /b/) • Make up silly sentences using alliteration & rhyme • Read books, poetry and nursery rhymes (Mother Goose, Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss) • Play rhyming games with pictures or words (orally)

25. How Can Parents Help Develop Phonological Awareness • Sing songs • Encourage your child to predict next word when reading rhyming story or poem. • Provide clues to words (I’m thinking of something that grows outside that starts with a /t/ and rhymes with free). • Count syllables in words

26. The Alphabetic Principal Children's reading development is dependent on their understanding of the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language. Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read with fluency. Source: The Alphabetic Principle, Texas Education Agency (Reading Rockets)

27. Source: Mark Anderson

28. Alphabet Knowledge • Knowing the names of letters and their associated sounds • Kids need to know that the letters have meaning and order and need practice putting letters/words in alphabetical order. • English does not have 1:1 correspondence of letters to sounds  26 letters and 44 speech sounds.

29. How parents can help kids with learning the alphabet • Use magnet letters or letter tiles to: • touch each letter as the child name’s it • practice alphabet order (letters, words) • identify the letters in random order • write letters in sand or shaving cream • Match letters to their primary corresponding sound (what letter says /m/?) • Teach them the letters in their name • Look for letters in their name in books or signs

30. Fill in missing letter (C ___ E, P Q __ S T __) • Read a variety of Alphabet books • When singing Alphabet Song, carefully separate (L-M-N-O-P and X, Y, Z) • Sing Alphabet to tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb • A – B – C – D – E – F – G • H – I – J • K – L – M • N – O – P – Q – R – S – T • U – V – W • X – Y – Z

31. Naming Letters – “what letter is this” – as you point to random letter • Letter Recognition – “find the letter B” • Letter Matching – “ find the letter that looks like “M” • Sound/Symbol - “What letter makes the sound /m/ like “mouse” • Play Alphabet Memory • Match upper to lower case letters • Alphabet card deck in random order

32. “G” gargoyle /g/ Create alphabet picture book: G – girl, grass, gargoyle, green

33. Castle – then and now Tis is a kaluvnIst.

34. Give our children (and grandchildren) the best possible advantage: Develop language skills through reading, conversations and experiences Enhance phonological awareness through word play and games Learn about the alphabet – the names of letters and their sounds.