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Avoiding Instructional Casualties

:

Matching the Instructional System to the Developing Reader

2012 Indiana Non-Public Education Conference October 18, 2012 Presenter: Pam Peroutky, Ed.D

Big Ideas

1. Learning to read is not a natural skill and must be taught.

2. There is a great deal of research consensus on teaching reading.

3. Scientists know the major brain-processing systems involved in reading.

4. There are key instructional practices that are critical for any beginning reader.

Why this matters

In a class of 24 kindergarten students, about how many: Will come to school already reading? Will learn to read regardless of the instructional approach that is used? Will require systematic, explicit, and supportive instruction, as well as additional opportunities to learn? Will require systematic, explicit, and supportive instruction, with intensive opportunities to learn?

Will have a reading disability and require special education services?

Points of Consensus

There are two main parts to reading: – Accurate, fluent word recognition (decoding, memory words) – Vocabulary/Language proficiency (comprehension) – C=DxLC A solid reading program should incorporate explicit, systematic instruction in the alphabetic code The majority of reading problems arise from failure to acquire basic skills in word recognition With appropriate instruction, virtually all but a small percentage of our students can learn to read

Key terms

Explicit

Plain in language, distinctly expressed, clearly stated, not merely implied

The sequence of teaching and teacher actions must be conspicuous “I do, we do, you do” Systematic

Characterized by a method or a plan

The skills that are needed to acquire the alphabetic principle cannot be learned sporadically or opportunistically. To be effective, instruction must be organized and sequential.

Instruction that follows the developmental sequence of skills necessary to be a reader

Predictable Progression of Skills

Word Recognition: Phoneme Awareness Letter recognition and naming Comprehension: Oral language Vocabulary Listening comprehension Letter-sound association Blending letter-sounds Decoding Memory words Automaticity (“Mental Orthographic Images”) Fluency Text Comprehension

Big Ideas 1 and 2 Review

• Learning to read is not a natural skill and must be taught.

– We learn to speak without formal instruction – Reading must be taught – There will always be a range of reading ability in any classroom – All but a small percentage of children can be taught to read • There is a great deal of research consensus on teaching reading.

– C=DxLC – Explicit, systematic instruction is critical

Big Idea 3: What the Brain Must Do to Read Words

Four-Part Processing Model

(experience; language) Context Processor (vocabulary) Meaning Processor (speech sound system) Phonological Processor (phonics) Orthographic Processor

(

memory for letters

)

Big Idea 3 Review

• Scientists know the major brain-processing systems involved in reading.

– Phonological – Orthographic – Meaning – Context • Readers must become proficient in accessing the text (phonics) in order to activate meaning and context.

• All systems work seamlessly and in conjunction in a proficient reader.

Good Reading Requires … Accurate Word Reading, Fluency, and Comprehension

Decoding

2 domains

x Comprehension

PA Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Text Comprehension 5 components

Instructional Practices: Phoneme Awareness • A phoneme is a speech sound that can be combined with other speech sounds to make a word.

• Phoneme awareness is important for reading and spelling in an alphabetic system. It is the “gateway skill” to reading.

• English has about 44 phonemes.

• Every language has a unique inventory of phonemes.

• English has about 15* vowel sounds, plus 3 r-controlled combinations. (Linguists argue about /y/ + /u/, as in music).

• English has 25 consonant sounds.

• Phoneme awareness tasks “can be done in the dark.” •

What processor(s) come into play during phonemic awareness instruction?

PreK

A Phonological Processing Continuum

• Repetition of sentences, phrases, words • Word identification • Syllable manipulation (counting, blending, segmenting) • Onset-rime manipulation • Rhyming • Alliteration • Phoneme awareness – Comparison/Matching – Isolation – Blending – Segmenting – Manipulation K

Best Practices in Phoneme Awareness

• Follow a progression of tasks • At the pre-K level, the focus is on auditory discrimination to phonological awareness • Focus student attention on sound before introducing letters • Make sure you are pronouncing phonemes correctly • Encourage mouth awareness • Introduce all sounds, including vowels • Use sound spelling cards • Use motions to help with instruction • Phonemic awareness training should be no more than a few minutes a day, focused in kindergarten

Instructional Practices: Phonics

• • Phonics is the study of the relationship between letters (graphemes) and the sounds (phonemes) they represent • Consensus for phonics instruction is beyond controversy.

• Phonics instruction should begin as soon as children can identify 2 to 3 phonemes in spoken words and when they know their alphabet letters.

• Instruction should continue until students know all the major phoneme/grapheme correspondences and syllable patterns and can attempt to decode any unfamiliar word.

What processor(s) come into play during phonics instruction?

Important research to know

• Eye movement studies help us understand that proficient readers perceive and register all letters in words while reading. (Rayner et.al, 2001) • Children in explicit phonics programs read words more quickly and score higher in reading comprehension than those in implicit phonics programs. (Christenson, C.A. and Bowey, J.A., 2005)

Phonics Program Comparison

Systematic, explicit

• Preplanned scope and sequence • Easy to more difficult • Cumulative review • “I do, we do, you do” • Guided practice to independent practice

Incidental, Embedded

• Opportunistic, as children make errors • No predetermined sequence • Skills taught in mini lessons, as needed • Insufficient practice for most students

Phonics Program Comparison

Systematic, explicit

• Look carefully at the word • Sound it out • Check it (use context to resolve meaning)

Incidental, Embedded

• Think about what makes sense here • Read the whole sentence • Look at the pictures • Look at the first letter • Sound it out

The power of phonetic controls

“There is a period during beginning reading instruction when all children benefit from practicing letter-sound correspondence in decodable text. To immerse children in a print environment without instruction in letter-sound correspondence and practice in decodable text is to doom a large percentage of children to reading failure.”

(Foorman, Fletcher, Francis, 1997)

What Are Your Goals?

Students who…

Read texts that focus on high frequency words Read from predictable texts Read from decodable text

Will…

Use visual strategies for word identification Memorize patterns, repetitive language and rhyme Develop a phonemic decoding strategy based on spelling-sound correspondences.

Big Idea 4 Review

There are key instructional practices that are critical for any beginning reader • Instruction/practice in phoneme awareness (18-20 hrs./yr) • Instruction/practice in phonological awareness for pre-K • Explicit, systematic phonics instruction • The use of decodable text

Big Ideas

Take Two Review

How will this impact my teaching or leadership?

Learning to read is not a natural skill and must be taught.

There is a great deal of research consensus on teaching reading.

Scientists know the major brain processing systems involved in reading.

There are key instructional practices that are critical for any beginning reader.

Thank you!

Pam Peroutky [email protected]