Literacy and Reading Difficulties in Young Children

1. Literacy and Reading Difficulties in Young Children Partially adapted from LETRS, Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling Development of Young Children with Disabilities#872.514 (61)Carol Ann Heath

2. Why a National Priority? • Students must be good readers to make it in life. • Too many are not proficient (NAEP). • Up to 70% of children in high-poverty schools are “below basic,” especially children of color and Hispanic children. • This problem is preventable! • If we start early, in pre-K and K–1. • If we use research-based instruction.

3. Research Basis for LETRS • Becoming a Nation of ReadersAnderson, Heibert, Scott, and Wilkinson (1985) • Report of the National Reading PanelNICHD, NIFL (2000) • Beginning to ReadM. Adams (1990) • Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young ChildrenSnow, Burns, & Griffin (1998) • Every Child ReadingLearning First Alliance (1998; 2000)

4. Teach Ourselves Well, Teach the Children Well Teachers are not born knowing how to teach reading! We have to learn how. Teaching reading is rocket science! (Which is why the American Federation of Teachers proposed a core curriculum for teachers.) Reflection and introspection are insufficient. Fads have often misled us. Student failure is unnecessary! All but 2–5% of students can learn to read well.

5. When We Know Our “Stuff” • We can interpret assessments and group children for instruction. • We can identify and teach students before they get into big trouble. • We can respond to children’s errors insightfully. • We can make better decisions about programs, methods, and priorities. • We can feel confident.

6. What is reading? • Reading is more than translating print into the spoken word (decoding). • Reading is getting meaning from print.

7. Reading and Literacy • Reading is an essential function in current society • Directly linked to social and economic advancement • Must be able to read to ensure understanding and to meet the demands of a complex and competitive society

8. Current issues of literacy are linked to higher demands for literacy, rather than a decline in absolute levels of literacy • Demands for higher literacy creating more grievous consequences for those who cannot read

9. Reading Literacy • Determined by multiple factors: • Many factors that correlated with reading fail to explain it • Many experiences contribute to reading development without being prerequisite to it • There are many prerequisites, not by itself considered sufficient

10. Initial reading instruction requires that children: • Use reading to obtain meaning from print • Have frequent & intensive opportunities to read • Be exposed to frequent, regular spelling-sound relationships • Learn about nature of the alphabetic writing system • Understand the structure of spoken words

11. Progress in Reading (reading English or any alphabetic language) Depends on: * having a working relationship of how sounds are represented alphabetically * sufficient practice in reading to achieve fluency with different kinds of tests * control over procedures for monitoring comprehension * continued interest and motivation to read for a variety of purposes

12. Reading Skills • Acquired in a relatively predictable way by children with normal language skills • Have had experiences in early childhood that fostered motivation and provided exposures to literacy in use • Get information about he nature of print through opportunities to learn letters and recognize the internal structure of spoken words • Attend schools that provide effective reading instruction and opportunities to practice reading

13. Literacy Facts • In 1998, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tested 4th grade children nationwide for reading skills: • Below basic- 38% • Proficient- 31% • Advanced- 7% (US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics)

14. In 1998 there were ten million children between seven and eleven years of age who performed below the most basic level of reading achievement (Population Estimates Program, Population Division, US Census Bureau Washington, DC)

15. In 1998, students who reported watching 3 or fewer hours of television each day had higher average reading scores than students who reported watching more television (US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics)

16. National Institute of Health studies are finding that at least 95% of even the poorest readers can learn to read at grade level is they are given proper instruction in sound-letter relationships.

17. The average reader spent 6 minutes per day reading connected text. Children with reading problems spent about one minute per day. The amount of time students spent on worksheets did not relate to gains in reading achievement. What appeared to be most relevant was time spent reading connected print. Stahl, S. A., Duffy-Hester, A., et al. (1998). Everything you wanted to know about phonics (But were afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly 33(3), 338-356.

18. Four year old children who were read one alphabet book per day significantly improved in their awareness of phonemes- tiny letter sounds that make up words. Stahl, S. A., Duffy-Hester, A., et al. (1998). Everything you wanted to know about phonics (But were afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly 33(3), 338-356.

19. Development Blocks • Difficulty understanding and using the alphabetic principle- the idea that written spellings systematically represent spoken words • Failure to transfer the comprehension skills of spoken language to reading and to acquire new strategies that may be specifically needed for reading • The absence or loss of an initial motivation to read or failure to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of reading

20. 1st - 3rd Grade Curricula • Beginning readers need: • explicit instruction and practice that lead to an appreciation that spoken words are made up of smaller units of sounds, • familiarity with spelling-sound correspondences and common spelling conventions and their use in identifying printed words, • sight recognitions of frequent words, • and independent reading, including reading aloud.

21. Children who have started to read independently (2nd grade and beyond) • Should be encouraged to sound out and confirm the identifies of visually unfamiliar words • Recognizing words primarily through attention to their letter-sound relationships.

22. The ability to obtain meaning from print depends on the development of word recognition accuracy and reading fluency • Should be assessed regularly • Permitted timely and effective instructional response when difficulty or delay is apparent

23. Beginning in the earliest grades: • Instruction should promote comprehension by actively building linguistic and conceptual knowledge • Direct instruction should include comprehension strategies,such as: • Summarizing the main idea, • Predicting, • Events and outcomes in upcoming text, • Drawing inferences • Monitoring for coherence and misunderstandings

24. Once letters are learned, children should be encouraged to: • Write them • Use them to begin writing words • Use words to begin writing sentences

25. Beginning writing with invented spelling can be helpful for developing understanding of the identify and segmentation of speech sounds and sound-spelling relationships.

26. Conventionally correct spelling should be developed through focused instruction and practice

27. In early grades, time, materials, and resources should be provided: • To support daily independent readings texts selected to be of particular interest for the individual students and below the reader’s frustration level, • To support daily assisted or supported reading and rereading of texts that are slightly more difficult in wording or in linguistic, rhetorical, or conceptual structure to promote advances in capabilities

28. Five Areas of Reading Instruction • Phonemic awareness • Phonics • Fluency • Vocabulary • Text comprehension

29. Phonemic Awareness • The ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words • Phonemes are the smallest parts of sound in a spoken word that make a difference in the word’s meaning

30. Children demonstrate phonemic awareness: • Recognizing which words in a set of words begin with the same sound • Isolating and saying the first or last sound in a word • Combining or blending the separate sounds in a word to say the word • Breaking or segmenting a word into its separate sounds

31. Phonological Awareness • Five characteristics make a word easier or more difficult: • Size of the phonological unit • # of phonemes in the word • Phoneme position • Phonological properties of words • Phonological awareness challenges

32. Phonics Instruction • Phonics instruction teaches children the relationships between the letters (graphemes) of written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language. • Goal is to help children learn and use the alphabetic principle- the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds.

33. Fluency Instruction • Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. • Fluent readers read silently, recognize words automatically, group words quickly to help them gain meaning; read aloud effortlessly and with expression • Provides the bridge between word recognition and comprehension

34. Vocabulary Instruction • Vocabulary refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively • Vocabulary can be described as oral vocabulary and reading vocabulary • Oral vocabulary refers to words that we use in speaking or recognize in listening • Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or use in print

35. Researchers identify 4 types: • Listening vocabulary- the words we need to know to understand what we hear • Speaking vocabulary- the words we use when we speak • Reading vocabulary- the words we need to know to understand what we read • Writing vocabulary- the words we use in writing

36. Text Comprehension • Comprehension is the reason for reading • Good readers are both purposeful and active • Instruction in comprehension can help students understand what they read, remember what they read, and communicate with others about what they read

37. Metacognition • Defined as “thinking about thinking” • Strategies to think about and have control over reading • Involves comprehension monitoring • Identify where the difficulty occurs • Identify what the difficult is • Restate the difficult sentence or passage in their own words • Look back through the text • Look forward in the text for information that might help them to resolve the difficulty

38. The developmental course of literacy: • Birth to Three Year Olds • Recognize specific books by cover • Pretends to read books • Understands that books are handled in a certain way • Enters into book sharing routine with caregivers • Vocalizes in crib, rhyming, word play • Labels objects in books • Looks at pictures • Listens to stories • Requests adult to read • Purposeful scribbling

39. Three-four year olds • Knows alphabet letters are print; knows 10 • Recognizes print in stories • Understands text forms & functions • Uses new vocabulary and constructions • Shows an interest in books and reading • Connects info to life experiences • Questions & comments on books • Displays reading attempts

40. Kindergarten • Knows the parts of book and functions • Begins to tract print • Reads familiar texts emergently • Recognizes and names uppercase/lowercase letters • Learns one-to-one sound correspondences • Some sight words • Retells, reenacts stories • Can same book titles & authors • Correctly answers questions about stories read aloud • Writes names and some words

41. First Grade • Transition from emergent to real reading • Reads1st grade text aloud with accuracy and comprehension • Decodes one syllable words • Recognizes common, irregularly spelled words • Creates written texts • Reads simple written instructions • Discusses how, why, what-if Qs. • Answers written comprehension Qs • Spells 3-4 letter words • Uses invented spelling • Uses basic punctuation

42. Second Grade • Reads & comprehends 2nd grade fiction and nonfiction • Decodes multi-syllable words • ]reads many irregularly spelled words • Reads voluntarily • Rereads when meaning is not clear • Interprets diagrams, charts, & graphs • Connects info across nonfiction selections • Represents the complete sounds when spelling • Discusses ways to clarify writing • Attends to spelling, mechanics, & presentation

43. Third Grade • Reads aloud with fluency & comprehension • Reads 3rd grade material with ease • Reads chapter books independently • Creative responses to texts • Points to specific words • Summarizes major points, fiction/nonfiction • Identifies underlying themes • Distinguishes cause & effect • Infers word meanings, roots, prefixes, suffixes • Uses all aspects of the writing process; edits, revises

44. Intervening- Important features • Duration of the intervention- generally occurring on a daily basis for the duration of the school year • Amount of instructional time- more time in reading and writing • Array of activities that consist of reading/rereading of continuous text; some forms of word study; specific strategies for decoding • Writing in a systematic manner

45. Materials used should be: • Predictable • Patterned • Sequenced from easy to more difficult • Phonological • Interesting

46. Programs of intervention should involve carefully planned assessments that monitor the response of each child to the intervention

47. What Causes Reading Difficulty?

48. Written Language Is Harder to Learn Than Spoken Language • Reading is a relatively new human capability, invented only a few thousand years ago; we’re not “wired” for it as we are for oral language. • 25% of the adult population of the U.S. has not learned to read (yet). • A child learns to speak at age one; reading is learned beginning at age five or six, and takes several years.

49. Written Language Differs From Oral • Speech sounds • Vocabulary • Sentence structure • Errors • Paragraphs • Overall structure (discourse) • Available context

50. Types of Writing Systems • Logographic: uses symbols to directly represent concepts (Chinese radicals) • Syllabic: uses symbols for vowel-consonant or consonant-vowel combinations (Cherokee) • Alphabetic: uses letters for single speech sounds, has consonant and vowel letters (English, Russian, Greek)