In response to A's comment below, where she asks if there isn't a program that would be good for all children:
Yes, I'm sure there is... any program that has the five elements that are suggested for kids with LD, the Lindamood, Literacy Links, Fast Forward etc. would do that. However- there are many proponents of a more whole language approach who would argue that these are too stilted for regular learners. The key would be to use the program as a base, and then group the students like we did in the old days: do lots of lateral whole language stuff with one group, and stick to the basics with the other group until decoding has become automatic for them.
I find there are very few teachers who know how to group effectively, giving quality time to each group in a day. It takes some planning but that's how we used to do it "in the old days". Grouping is not discriminating- it's giving children what they need, instead of lumping them together and dragging some kids along who need to walk, and slowing kids down who need to fly. They can all get there in the end...
The points I mentioned are in Sally Shaywitz's book, Overcoming Dyslexia. if you don't have it you should get it. I stand corrected- there are 4 things that need to be included:
-Systematic and direct instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics
-Practice applying these in reading and writing
-Fluency building
-Enriched language experiences
Kathy
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5 comments:
Very interesting. Actually, all those can be accomplished in an unschooling setting, except perhaps the first one (if you're a radical unschooler who doesn't believe in "instruction"- which I emphatically am not). And yes, I think those would be very easy to build a school curriculum out of. In fact, I would have thought it would be a matter of course that they're the elements of any reading curriculum. So you mean they're not? Tsk, tsk... :)
A- WHY didn't you become a teacher? I am grinning with pleasure right now- cause you get it! Yes yes yes, home learning environments have the potential to ROCK for these kids!
Re: your question about fluency building:
Fluency building is more specific- I do timed readings with kids at certain grade levels, and then graph their errors and the number of words they read in one minute. Then we do it again and again, each time graphing progress and setting goals. You would think kids would hate this but they absolutely love it. They can see their progress visually on the graph, and they hear their own voice as a fluent reader. Very powerful. And it brings out a very competitive nature in some kids, but it's with themselves so it's safe. The idea is to get the reading to sound natural like speech.
The whole language thing refers to lots of listening speaking reading and writing in rich prose and discussions; some of what they read will be their own words written down. They need to experience reading and writing in a rich and textured context too. We use a lot of controlled vocabulary books to start with, so if we are doing the Magic E ending we use little books with tons of that for practice. But-we can't stop there. They need to read real stuff too that sounds like speech and is interesting. So we bring in other sources too.
Quite right about sight words- that is included in the Phonics training mentioned in the list- because it's a decoding strategy. Sight words make the reading easier and more fluent, while phonics allows a learner to unlock words that follow rules.
I haven't read the book you mentioned but I will look for it. I have taken linguistics and phonology, and read two books on the history of the English language. I don't see how a teacher can help this group of learners without some of this- we need to demystify the language first!
Because I got married and had four kids, instead... Seriously, if I had gone to uni that's what I would have studied. And right now I'm trying to figure out if I can still get that degree; if there's any point in starting a career in this field by the time I'm 50 (I'm about to turn 40, and at the rate I'm going, and the age my kids are at, I'll be about that age when I get done).
It's more than phonics, though. The thing is that once we've decoded a word, it then becomes a sight word, or a near-sight word. I skim over a page of writing at a speed that's phenomenal, and no way do I actually apply phonics any more when I do that. Have you seen that funny e-mail that's all full of garbled words, but you can actually read it? That's because once we know how to read, we don't use phonics any more; we just use bits-and-piece "clues" to recognize each word. As long as the clues are there, we can read the word. Only when there's an unfamiliar word do we pull out our phonics tool kit to try to decode it.
Yes- good readers need to work through a new word five or six different times and then an area at the back of the brain captures that configuration and the next time you see it the brain says "I know this one, don't decode it, it's ____". something like that anyway. Dyslexics are underactive in that part of the brain.
Kathy,
I enjoyed reading your post here about sight words and timed readings. Thanks!
A question for you: You said that you do timed reading with kids at certain grade levels. Which grade levels do you do them at and why those grade levels?
I do timed reading with the students that I tutor as well. It is a great exercise that is invaluable in their training! It is very effective in raising fluency rates and is HUGE in raising confidence levels in readers. It is amazing what happens when students hear themselves read a passage quickly after just a few repeated readings. They actually start to believe that they can read, and read like a “grown-up”!
Just the other day I was tutoring a 2nd grader who was reading at a Primer level when he started three weeks ago. He read a passage of about 70 words 3 times; each time reading the passage faster. After the third time he exclaimed, “Wow, I can’t believe I read all those words so fast!” He walked out of my studio telling his aunt (his ride home) the same thing. He even wanted me to make a copy of the passage so he could show his mom when he got home.
I also agree with your comment on sight words. At the lower elementary levels especially - they are a MUST! Just the other day I met a 1st grade teacher. When she found out I was a professional reading tutor she asked me what I do to improve fluency. She went on to explain that she has three reading groups in her class. The top group does fine but the lower two groups are so slow. I told her I do fluency exercises that work wonders. She inquired further, so I said we work a lot with sight words. She said she had never heard of such a thing. She didn’t even know what sight words were. I was amazed! So I explained to her that they are the words that are most common to written text and quite frequently can’t be sounded out. They make up about 50% of all printed material (saw, was, where, here, their, them, etc). I also told her that timed passages were a key component in building fluency. She had never heard of that either. Hopefully she implements both and will see wonderful results with her lower groups.
This example also reiterates a post you did earlier about the lack teacher training at the university level in how to teach reading. Many teachers are never given reading techniques or taught how to teach reading. They just have to figure it out on their own. Then there is the other problem here in Florida… anyone (in Florida) with a degree (in anything) can be a teacher. So just because they are a 1st grade teacher doesn’t automatically mean they know how to teach reading.
Another question I have: Have you ever heard of any research that has been done on improvement in reading ability when the child is encouraged to sit still while reading? What are your personal experiences in this matter?
I have a 1st grader who is constantly moving while tutoring. He may be ADD but hasn’t been diagnosed. His fluency is slow and I wondered how much of it might be related to his inability to sit still. So we played a game and pretended to glue his feet to the floor – just to see what happens to his reading. We tried it, he thought it was fun, and I couldn’t believe the results! So I wondered why? Does something happen in the brain when the body is inactive and just the eyes and brain are engaged? I would really like to read some research on this but don’t know where to look.
I appreciate the time and knowledge that you have put into this site. It has been a HUGE benefit to me already. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
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