Cathy Ryan
Dr. Schlagal
RE 5100
3/9/10
Take Home MidTerm RE 5100
Question 1
Reading is developmental and thus can really click for some a little later. The reasons for a student’s underachievement in reading can be comprised of many different factors. Some common reasons may include; reading role models and life experiences, the acquisition of reading skills, specifically phonics and comprehension, visual processing, and learning disabilities. Recently, researchers who study reading concluded the two best predictors of how well a child will learn to read in first grade are phonemic awareness and letter knowledge. Effective teachers find ways to modify instruction and activities to foster learning of all children. “First-grade students who don't yet know their letters and sounds will need special catch-up instruction. In addition to such phonemic awareness, beginning readers must know their letters and have a basic understanding of how the letters of words, going from left to right, represent their sounds. First-grade classrooms must be designed to ensure that all children have a firm grasp of these basics before formal reading and spelling instruction begins.” (Learning First Alliance: 1998). Knowing this, as the teacher, I would begin very early on in the year by assessing the student’s phonic awareness, which would require continually monitoring student’s progress both to allow those who are progressing quickly to move ahead before they become bored and to ensure that those who are having difficulties get the assistance they need.
Part1.) Assessing Where Students Are and What They Need:
I would begin by using the same assessment that was used at the end of kindergarten. The assessment component would include alphabet (letter) awareness (lower case only), concept of word intext, spelling, and word recognition. This assessment would only take a short amount of time to administer and would provide me with the variations in student performance. I would be able to use the assessment to make a judgment on how to best group students to meet their needs as beginning readers. I am in agreement with Morris that grouping just on ability could have negative consequences on a child’s self-esteem, and “lock” them into a specific reading group, which could result in them falling behind their peers. It is vital that teachers have a well-planned grouping scheme. Morris suggests two reading groups for first grade students. 1.) Grouping with in the Classroom: A daily reading schedule is used. “One purpose of this schedule is to give the teacher approximately twenty-five minutes of instructional time with each ability group.” (Morris & Sullivan). 2.) Grouping Across Classrooms: The advantage here is that it greatly reduces the variability in student reading skills facing the teacher. However considerations must be made that not all students progress at the same rate, therefore if children in the low group start to quickly “catch on”, they should directly be given the opportunity to move up to a higher group (Morris &Sullivan).
I deem it is the role of the teacher to be well informed of the many different factors that can be an influence on struggling readers and that there is no one-shot solution that will enable success for all students.
Part2.) What Aspects of Early Literacy Work Will You Emphasize to Improve and Grow Student’s Interest in all Aspects of Literacy?:
I have found that providing for students’ individual needs at reading can be quit challenging for a teacher. Formats for instruction and activities should be selected to match the goals and needs of the children. For reading instruction to be truly effective it should be research based instruction, include tutoring for those who may need it, be appropriate for English-language learners, include explicit phonics based instruction, have a listening and reading comprehension component, and an at home involvement component. When teachers proactively address these underdeveloped skills in the classroom, I judge that struggling readers can make progress. I believe teachers need to be flexible and have an inventive mind. Teachers must be knowledgeable in the content of reading instruction, have empathy, and be willing to work hard. One area I would emphasize and use to learn how to modify their instruction to ensure the students are progressing in both their basic skills and in their interest in reading would be their self-confidence as a reader. Their self-confidence as a reader is correlated to their engagement, which in turn is correlated to their self-learning prospects. This can be done by apprising students’ strategy knowledge level, providing modeling, small group instruction, peer modeling, and individual feedback on progress. I believe for students to become self-confident readers they must be surrounded by a rich literacy environment, which allows them ample practice at mastering their skills. Thus, a climate that promotes feeling good about yourself, being recognized for who you are and what you can do, has powerful effects on the persistence and motivation so crucial to reading achievement.
Question 2
Option 1: Concept of Word
A child’s concept of word in beginning reading refers to their ability to match the spoken word and the written word in the reading of text. There is a significant relationship between concept of word and phoneme awareness in the beginning reading process. When evaluating whether a child has “got” concept of word a teacher should focus on whether the child knows what a word is, the child can point one-to-one spoken words with written words on a page, the child finger points readings of memorized text, the child can read his/her own name, and recognizes name in various formats. “Concept of word has been assessed in a variety of ways in the literature. Morris (1993a) practiced and read sentences with the students, reading the sentence until the student had memorized the text. Then the student was asked to read the sentence and point to each word as it was read. An example might be: I like ice cream and cake.” (Developing Concept of Word; The Work of Emergent Readers” by Susan E. Gately, Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 36, No. 6, 2004, pp. 16-22).
Some instructional approaches are designed to aid a student’s development of concept of word. Literacy activities that include environmental print, picture word matching, one-one spoken word and written word matching, repeated readings of predictable and familiar leveled texts and scaffolding writing have proven to be noteworthy practices to include in a beginning reading program of instruction to increase the student’s command of concept of word. In regards to finger pointing one-to-one spoken word and written word matching, a teacher should ensure that she/he is scaffolding this practice often. By scaffolding this strategy the teacher isdemonstrating the importance of directional tracking in reading- the student must learn to process sounds in order from left to right. Early young readers often exhibit erratic eye movement as they look around for whole words. Scanning left to right in a straight line is not a natural process. The most effect way to teach a child to physically track print is by the use of your finger and the child’s finger. Simply use your fingers. By sliding your finger under words as you read you visually depict the proper directional tracking. The child learns from this concrete demonstration that we process print left-to-right. It is vital that this strategy be taught correctly and monitored for accuracy often. It is best to begin early on in a child’s life as when a baby sits with a parent as the parent simply reads to the child. However, not every student comes to school with a rich background in literacy supplies, and literacy engagement from their homes. As educators it is important that we guide our beginning readers in finger pointing to ensure that they have proper exposure to how it is correctly done. The physical pointing motion is also helpful in directing and focusing the student on individual sounds within the word. Teachers should assist students in their own finger pointing. Having the teacher just demonstrate the strategy would be insufficientat having an impact on the student’s ability to produce the same results. The actual engagement of the child in the finger pointing helps engrain necessary left-to-right processing, but pointing at sounds also helps the child focus on and correctly process individual sounds within the word. It improves attention to detail as well as proper left-to-right tracking. As children progress Morris suggests an echo-reading format, in which the teacher reads first, then the child reads. The child finger-point reads a short four sentence story, and then the child will attempt to identify individual words within the sentence when the teacher points to the words (Morris & Sullivan). In due course, the child will ‘outgrow’ the need for physically pointing at the letters. When the child has learned the essential left-to-right processing of all sounds physical tracking no longer needs to be directly taught. We as adult readers do not naturally point to the print we read; however, we might occasionally “point” to maintain our lineof sight in reading, or at a visually difficult text. Students need to know it is okay that we do that. If the student has established strong phonologic processing of print, and does not make tracking or attention to detail errors, they may have mastered the necessary directional tracking skill and can drop finger pointing. However, the teacher should always keep “in mind” that he/she should always be available to provide help when “needed.”