Literacy in Bilingual Classrooms (PDF)

LA COMPRESIÓN LECTORA Y LA PRODUCCIÓN ESCRITA EN EL AULA BILINGÜE TEMA 1 WHAT IS LITERACY? Generally speaking, literacy has been defined as knowing how to read and write. But literacy is much more than t...

LA COMPRESIÓN LECTORA Y LA PRODUCCIÓN ESCRITA EN EL AULA BILINGÜE TEMA 1 WHAT IS LITERACY? Generally speaking, literacy has been defined as knowing how to read and write. But literacy is much more than that. The 56th session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted on December 19, 2001, resolution 56/116 United Nations Literacy Decade in which it proclaimed the United Nations Literacy Decade for the period 2003-2012 towards the goal of Education for All. The agreement stresses that literacy for all is the foundation for lifelong learning for all and a tool for empowering individuals and their communities. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed, and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy is about more than reading and writing – it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture. Literacy … finds its place in our lives alongside other ways of communicating. Indeed, literacy itself takes many forms: on paper, on the computer screen, on TV, on posters and signs. Those who use literacy take it for granted – but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today’s world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of “literacy as freedom”. (UNESCO, Statement for the United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003–2012). UNESCO recognizes literacy as a basic requirement for one to be able to fully participate in society. In the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012 documentation, the UN declared that. “Those who use literacy takes it for granted – but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today’s world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of literacy as freedom.” 1 In 2004, the Expert Panel on Literacy in Grades 4-6 in Ontario prepared a report entitled Literacy for Learning. The panel, made up of educators and researchers, defined literacy as follows: The ability to use language and images in rich and varied forms to read, write, listen, speak, view, represent, and think critically about ideas. Enabling us to share information, to interact with others, and to make meaning. A complex process that involves building on prior knowledge, culture, and experiences to develop new knowledge and deeper understanding. Connecting individuals and communities. An essential tool for personal growth and active participation in a democratic society. IS READING A NATURAL PROCESS? Reading is the product of decoding and comprehension (Gough et al. 1996). We adults do not sometimes realize that this is not a natural process. Reading is a process learned through the development of the child’s ability to take spoken language and create a relationship between what the child learns and what the child sees. Reading is a very complex set of learned responses to both sounds and sight. For example, when a child sees a cat, he responds, "cat." Yet, when a child sees the written word c a t, he must be able to distinguish both the shape and the sound of the letters. Through this reading process, children must develop both critical and creative skills. The critical thinking skill is the recognition of the letter sound, and the creative skill is the recognition of the shape of the letter. Both are necessary for a child to begin to read. These processes are called encoding and decoding. Encoding is spelling for writing and the skills used in encoding are developed alongside decoding skills. Decoding is the various skills a person uses to decipher a printed sentence into an understandable statement. Decoding means translating written words into the sounds and meanings of spoken words. Both are interchangeable and both are needed for a child to become a proficient or good reader. A child who has been exposed to an extensive vocabulary learns from various resources and experiences to create meaning from both the spoken and the written word. The child's experience depends on his or her exposure to spoken and written 2 language. The exposure allows the child to create meaning that is directly related to his or her experiences through the reading process. But how does this relate to 3-5-year-old and reading skills? When a child is learning to decode words, the child depends heavily on their exposure to the spoken word. For a five-year-old to be able to tackle the complex world of reading, this child must have a working vocabulary of 5,000 to 7,000 words in their oral vocabulary. This is in stark contrast to many urban children who enter kindergarten with a vocabulary of around 500 words. So, we must ask ourselves, how will a child whose vocabulary consists of only 500 words be able to learn to read? The answer is-they can't. This is due to the extreme lack of vocabulary awareness. For a child to begin to grasp the concept of reading, the child must know and recognize a large amount of spoken words. Language Skills and Early Literacy Development Strong oral language skills support early literacy development, both in a child's native language (Catts, Fey, Zhang, & Tomblin, 1999) and in his/her second language (August, Carlo, Dressler, & Snow, 2005; Yesil-Dagli, 2011). It is important to remember that preschool-age children in bilingual programs are not just learning a second language; they are still learning their first language as well (Ballantyne, 2008). Developing Foundational Reading Skills in English and Spanish With good instruction, pre-schoolers can develop many of the foundational skills they will need for learning to read. Foundational literacy skills developed in one language often transfer to a second language (Durgunoglu, Nagy, & Hancin-Bhatt, 1993). As children continue to develop language and literacy skills in their first language (L1), those skills provide a scaffold for developing those same skills in their second language (L2). SIMILIARITIES: ENGLISH AND SPANISH In Spanish/English bilingual programs, teachers can take advantage of the similarities between the languages to support children's early literacy development: Letters With the exception of three additional letters used in Spanish (ch, ñ, ll), English 3  and Spanish alphabet letters are the same. Both languages use the Roman alphabet. That knowledge helps build a phonemic and phonological foundation. Consonants Thirteen consonants (B, C, D, F, K, L, M, N, P, S, T, W, Y) make the same sounds in English and in Spanish. By beginning letter sound work with the more commonly occurring letters from this list (e.g., B, C, D, F, L, M, N, P, S, T), teachers can give children a head start in both languages. Syntax English and Spanish syntax are very similar, except for a few notable exceptions (e.g., placement of object pronouns and negatives). Cognates Between 30% and 40% of all English words have Spanish cognates. Helping children make the connection between these words that are similar in both languages boosts vocabulary development, which in turn supports early literacy development. English Spanish family familia center centro radio radio class clase desert desierto magic magia gorilla gorila DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ENGLISH AND SPANISH There are, however, some clear distinctions between the languages, and those are what often cause problems for second-language learners. There are some sounds and 4 patterns that occur in one language but are not present at all in the other and recognizing and manipulating these sounds/patterns often poses particular problems for young children. Perhaps the greatest difference between English and Spanish is that Spanish has only five vowel sounds while English has more than 14, depending on regional dialects. This is the reason Spanish speakers have difficulty differentiating between vowel phonemes in words like seat and sit. For example, native English speakers may find the "trilled" Spanish r difficult to produce, and native Spanish speakers may have difficulty with the following English sounds and patterns that do not occur in Spanish: SPANISH vs ENGLISH The consonants: v, ll, h, j, r, rr, z, ñ, x Combinations in Spanish that are pronounced differently: que, qui, güe, güi. For example: the u is not pronounced unless it is written as ü; therefore, students may not be sure how to pronounce words like queen, quiet, or quick Quotation marks vs. dashes: "Come here," he said. –Ven aquí–le dijo. Spanish does not have the following sounds: Vowel diagraphs: ou, ow, eigh, au, aw, oo Consonant digraphs: sh, th, wh, ph Consonant blends: sl, sm, sts, scr, spr, str Initial sounds: kn, qu, wr, sk Final sounds: ck, ng, gh Endings: -ed (pronounced /d/ or /t/ or /ded/ or /ted/) Endings: -s (pronounced /s/ or /z/ or /ez/ or /es/) Endings without a vowel: -ps, -ts Suffixes/prefixes: un-, over-, under-, -ly, -ness, -ful, -est Contractions: don't, isn't, weren't, etc. The absence of the SHORT sounds of the vowels a, i, and u can cause difficulty for young children because beginning reading instruction in English focuses on words that follow the Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) spelling pattern, and those words always have short vowels. Thus, a typical preschool activity, such as matching CVC 5 words that rhyme, sometimes requires additional support for Spanish speaking pre- schoolers, who may initially find it difficult to distinguish between vowel sounds that are not used in their own language. DIFFICULT THINGS FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS THE FINAL -S IN PLURALS AND THIRD PERSON. "We pronounce it /z/ when the word ends with…" Final Letter Plurals He, She It B mobs grabs G bugs brings V caves loves D parades slides M jams slams N vans bans L dolls calls R doors stars W cows sows "We pronounce it /s/ when the word ends with…" Final Letter Plurals He, She It P caps stops K tasks asks T dots pats F puffs stuffs 6 "We pronounce it /iz/ or /is/ when the word ends with…" Final Letter Plurals He, She It S glasses passes CH matches watches SH dishes washes THE -ED IN PAST-TENSE VERBS. "We pronounce it /d/ when the word ends with…" Final Letter Past Tense B mobbed G begged V loved M jammed N banned L called R starred W sowed "We pronounce it /t/ when the word ends with…" Final Letter Past Tense P stopped K asked S passed 7 F stuffed (and laughed) "When the word ends with t, it sounds like /tid/ as in patted." "When the word ends with d, it sounds like /did/ as in added." WHAT IS EARLY LITERACY? Early literacy is not the "teaching of reading." Early literacy is everything children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write, and those skills are developed in the first 5 years of life. Learning to read starts at home. To foster early literacy children must be provided with an atmosphere that's fun, verbal and stimulating, not school-like. The focus should not be on teaching, but on offering the child plenty of opportunities to talk and be listened to, to read and be read to, and to sing and be sung to. Experts know that: The development of language and literacy skills begins at birth. Children develop much of their capacity for learning in the first three years of life, when their brains grow to 90 percent of their eventual adult weight. HOW TO HELP CHILDREN BECOME SUCCESSFUL READERS: SIX EARLY LITERACY SKILLS Young children need a variety of skills to become successful readers. A panel of reading experts has determined that six specific early literacy skills become the building blocks for later reading and writing. Research indicates that children who enter school with more of these skills are better able to benefit from the reading instruction they receive when they arrive at school. Vocabulary 8 Vocabulary, knowing the names of things, is an extremely important skill for children to have when they are learning to read. Most children enter school knowing between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Help develop your child's vocabulary by reading a variety of books with him, both fiction and nonfiction, and by naming all the objects in your child's world. Print Motivation Print Motivation is a child's interest in and enjoyment of books. A child with print motivation enjoys being read to, plays with books, pretends to write, asks to be read to and likes trips to the library. Encourage print motivation in your child by making shared book reading a special time, keeping books accessible, and letting your child see that you enjoy reading. Explain how you use reading and writing in everyday life. Print Awareness Children who have an awareness of print understand that the squiggly lines on a page represent spoken language. They understand that when adults read a book, what they say is linked to the words on the page, rather than to the pictures. Children with print awareness understand that print has different functions depending on the context in which it appears – for example, menus list food choices, a book tells a story, a sign can announce a favorite restaurant or warn of danger. Print awareness is understanding that print is organized in a particular way – for example, knowing that print is read from left to right and top to bottom. It is knowing that words consist of letters and that spaces appear between words. Print awareness is a child's earliest introduction to literacy. In a perfect world, all students would begin school with print awareness firmly in place. But the world is not a perfect place. So, let's take a look at how teachers can help students to develop or increase print awareness A child's print awareness can be encouraged by pointing out and reading words everywhere you see them - on signs, labels, at the grocery store and post office. Children with print awareness can begin to understand that written language is related to oral language. They see that, like spoken language, printed language carries messages and is a source of both enjoyment and information. Children who lack print 9 awareness are unlikely to become successful readers. Indeed, children's performance on print awareness tasks is a very reliable predictor of their future reading achievement. Most children become aware of print long before they enter school. They see print all around them, on signs and billboards, in alphabet books and storybooks, and in labels, magazines, and newspapers. Seeing print and observing adults' reactions to print help children recognize its various forms. Narrative Skills Narrative Skills are being able to understand and tell stories, to describe things. An example of a narrative skill is a child's ability to tell what happens at a birthday party or on a trip to the zoo. We can strengthen child narrative skills by asking him/her to tell about the book, instead of just listening to you read the story. In order to develop the narrative skill and get the children involved in the reading some researchers have created a method called: Dialogic Reading (Zevenbergen & Whitehurst, 2003). The goal of dialogic interactions is to engage a child in a conversation (dialogue) and keep it going so the child has the opportunity to learn new concepts and words, practice using her words, and form longer phases and sentences. The fundamental reading technique in dialogic reading is the PEER sequence. This is a short interaction between a child and the adult. The adult: Prompts the child to say something about the book Evaluates the child's response Expands the child's response by rephrasing and adding information to it Repeats the prompt to make sure the child has learned from the expansion. Imagine that the parent and the child are looking at the page of a book that has a picture of a grizzly bear on it. The parent says: "What is this?" (the prompt) while pointing to the grizzly bear. 10 The child says, bear, and the parent follows with "That's right (the evaluation) it's a grizzly bear (the expansion) can you say grizzly bear?" (the repetition). HOW TO PROMPT CHILDREN Asking questions is an important way to help children practice their language, think about ways to put concepts into words, and expand their thinking beyond the present reality. When adults respectfully wait for an answer, they communicate that the child’s thoughts and words are valuable and worthwhile. Research shows that when adults ask 5 specific kinds of questions children can expand many key language and literacy skills. There are five types of prompts that are used in dialogic reading to begin PEER sequences. The word CROWD can help you remember the 5 kinds of questions. Completion prompts You leave a blank at the end of a sentence and get the child to fill it in. These are typically used in books with rhyme or books with repetitive phases. For example, you might say, "I think I'd be a glossy cat. A little plump but not too ____," letting the child fill in the blank with the word fat. Completion prompts provide children with information about the structure of language that is critical to later reading. Recall prompts: Recall questions allow the questioner to check their understanding usually by going back to something mentioned earlier. They can also be open, closed, or probing questions and often have a specific factual answer. These are questions about what happened in a book a child has already read. Recall prompts work for nearly everything except alphabet books. For example, you might say, "Can you tell me what happened to the little blue engine in this story?" or What happens after the wolf huffs and puffs?” The child recalls the story and puts that into her own words. Recall prompts help children in understanding story plot and in describing sequences of events. 11  Recall prompts can be used not only at the end of a book, but also at the beginning of a book when a child has been read that book before. Open-ended prompts: Asking open questions is one of the most effective ways of encouraging the person you are interacting with to talk to you. Because the question is open the respondent can answer in several ways, so this technique is useful for ascertaining attitudes, thoughts and feelings. 1. These prompts focus on the pictures in books. They work best for books that have rich, detailed illustrations. For example, while looking at a page in a book that the child is familiar with, you might say, "Tell me what's happening in this picture." - Open-ended prompts help children increase their expressive fluency and attend to detail. - Open-ended questions require more thought to answer and encourage children to use their imaginations. - Open-ended questions do not have right or wrong answers and send the message, "I want to know what you think." - Open-ended questions help the child put their thoughts into words 2. Examples of open-ended q’s: "What else do you see?" "Tell me about..." / "What if"/ "I wonder how..." / "How did that happen?" / "What do you think?" If a child doesn't know what to say about a picture, you may need to help by answering the question yourself, "I think he may be…" Wh- prompts These prompts usually begin with what, where, when, why, and how questions. Like open-ended prompts, wh- prompts focus on the pictures in books. For example, you might say, "What's the name of this?" while pointing to an object in the book. Wh- questions teach children new vocabulary. Distancing prompts These ask children to relate the pictures or words in the book they are reading to experiences outside the book. For example, while looking at a book with a picture of animals on a farm, you might say something like, "Remember when we went to the animal park last week. Which of these animals did we see 12  there?" Distancing prompts help children form a bridge between books and the real world, as well as helping with verbal fluency, conversational abilities, and narrative skills. Distancing prompts and recall prompts are more difficult for children than completion, open-ended, and wh- prompts. Frequent use of distancing and recall prompts should be limited to four- and five-year-olds. Letter Knowledge Letter Knowledge includes learning that letters have names and are different from each other, and that specific sounds go with specific letters. An example of letter knowledge is a child's ability to tell the name of the letter B and what sound it makes. Letter knowledge can be developed by using a variety of fun reading or writing activities, like pointing out and naming letters in alphabet books, picture books, or on signs and labels. For babies, talk about the shape of things, and for preschoolers, try drawing letters and pictures in the sand. Phonological Awareness Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize that words are made up of a variety of sound units. The term encompasses several sound related skills necessary for a person to develop as a reader. As a child develops phonological awareness, he/she not only comes to understand that words are made up of small sound units (phonemes). She also learns that words can be segmented into larger sound “chunks” known as syllables and each syllable begin with a sound (onset) and ends with another sound (rime). A child with strong phonological awareness should be able to recognize and use rhyme, break words into syllables, blend phonemes into syllables and words, identify the beginning and ending sounds in a syllable and see smaller words within larger words (ie. “cat” in “catalog”). THE STAGES OF THE READING PROCESS According to reading specialists E. Sutton Flynt and Robert B. Cooter, Jr. (English inventory for the classroom, 2001) the reading process can be divided in 7 different stages: 13 Stage 1: Making Early Connections – Describing Pictures In the first stage of the reading process the child is unable to read stories. Instead, he is at the stage where he can describe pictures but is unable to make much of a story by looking at the pictures. The characteristics of a child in the first of the stages of the reading process include: Able to describe pictures in books Sense of story is limited Able to follow verbal directions Oral vocabulary is appropriate for grade level or age Attention span is appropriate for grade level or age Responds appropriately to questions Able to make connections between pictures Stage 2: Forming a Story by Connecting Pictures By the second stage, the child has started to learn more about story structure and can move beyond just describing the pictures she sees. In this reading stage the child is: Able to describe an oral story based on pictures on several pages in a book Only able to use childlike, or “storyteller,” language to tell the story, rather than book language (such as using phrases like “once upon a time.”) Stage 3: Transitional Picture Reading At this reading stage the child is still only able to tell stories based on pictures but is: Able to understand how the pictures connect to the story Beginning to mix storyteller language with book language Stage 4: Advanced Picture Reading At the fourth stage, the child has finally grasped the difference between storytelling and book language. A child in this reading stage is: Able to describe an oral story based on pictures on several pages in a book Able to tell a story using book language. 14  Ex: once upon a time a little boy.........., suddenly he..............because....... Stage 5: Early Print Reading At this level, a child is beginning to understand the purpose of print and is beginning to read it. Characteristics include: Able to tell a story using pictures Understands that print moves from left to right and from top to bottom Can use book language to make up part of the story, but is able to read a few words Stage 6: Early Strategic Reading If a child has gone through the 5 previous stages successfully, he is capable of reading, but might make several miscues when reading material that is otherwise appropriate for his grade level. If a child is developing typically, he should be in stage 6 by the age of 5 or 6. Characteristics of a child at this stage include: Uses context clues to guess at unknown words and the guesses make sense. Recognizes beginning sounds in words and is able to use them to guess at unknown words Tries sounding out words Recognizes word parts, such as root words and affixes Stage 7: Moderate Strategic Reading A child who has reached the last of the stages of reading, who has developed typically, should be in stage 7 by the age of 7. At this stage the child is reading appropriately for her grade level. Children at this stage will: Use context clues and word parts to decode unknown words Self correct when making miscues Be able to retell the story Show an understanding of vowel sounds Understanding which of the stages of the reading process the child is at is key to helping him become a better reader and advance to the next reading stage. 15 What preschoolers like in books Books with simple rhymes Books with familiar items - shoes, toys, pets Books with familiar routines - bedtime, bath time, meals Lift the flap books (SPOT) Books with very few words or with repeating words - books little ones can learn by heart Goodnight books for bedtime Books that tell stories Books that make them laugh Books with simple text they can memorize Books about kids that are like them - also books that introduce children who are different from them Books about going to school and books about making friends Books that have playful or rhyming language Alphabet books, counting books and vocabulary books Books about the real world - trucks, dinosaurs, insects 16 REFERENCES August, D., Carlo, M., Dressler, C., & Snow, C. E. (2005). The critical role of vocabulary development for English language learners. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20, 50-57. Ballantyne, K. G., Sanderman, A. R., & McLaughlin, N. (2008). Dual language learners in the early years: Getting ready to succeed in school. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. Calderón, M., August, D., Durán, D., Madden, N., R. Slavin & M. Gil (2003 and in press). Spanish to English Transitional Reading: Teacher's Manual. Baltimore, MD: The Success for All Foundation. Colorín, Colorado: https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/early-literacy-instruction- dual-language-preschools-spanishenglish Catts, H. W., Fey, M. E., Zhang, X., & Tomblin, J. B. (1999). Language basis of reading and reading disabilities: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 331-361. Durgunoglu, A. Y., Nagy, W. E., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 453-465. Ford, K. (2010). Language and literacy development for English language learners in preschool. In M. C. McKenna, S. Walpole & K. Conradi (Eds.), Promoting Early Reading: Research, Resources, and Best Practices. New York: Guilford. García, G. E. (2000). Bilingual children's reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. III, pp. 813-834). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Gough, P. B., Hoover, W. A., & Peterson, C. L. (1996). Some observations on a simple view of reading. In C. Cornoldi & J. Oakhill (Eds.), Reading comprehension difficulties (pp. 1–13). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Grover J. Whitehurst, R. (1992) Dialogic Reading: An Effective Way to Read to Preschoolers. United Nations Literacy Decade: International Strategic Framework for Action.Literacy for Learning: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy in Grades 4 to 6 in 17  Ontario. http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/ExpPanel_456_Literacy.pdf UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Yesil-Dagli, U. (2011). Predicting ELL students' beginning first grade English oral reading fluency from initial kindergarten vocabulary, letter naming, and phonological awareness skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26, 15-29. Zevenbergen, A.A. & Whitehurst, G.J. (2003). Dialogic reading. A shared picture book intervention for preschoolers. In A. Kleeck, S. Stahl, & E. Bauer (Eds.) On Reading Books to Children: Parents and Teachers (pp. 302-320). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum 18  Tema 2 ELEMENTS OF READING According to Armbruster, Lehr and Osborn (2001) in their work, Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, the elements of reading are defined as: Phonemic Awareness: the ability to hear, identify and manipulate the individual sounds – phonemes – in spoken words. Phonics: the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds of the spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language). Vocabulary : refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively. In general, vocabulary can be described as oral vocabulary and reading vocabulary. Oral vocabulary refers to words we use in speaking or recognize in listening. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or use in print. Fluency : the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking. Comprehension : the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not understand what they are reading, they are not really reading. LEARNING TO READ The key to the process of learning to read is the ability to identify the different sounds that make words and to associate these sounds with written symbols (graphemes). This is called the “alphabetic principle”. Unlike the Chinese who use characters to represent whole ideas or the Egyptians who used pictures to represent words, English is an alphabetic system – letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of our speech. Spoken words are made up of phonemes, and written words are made up of letters. However, knowledge of those two facts is not sufficient for developing good decoding skills. Knowledge of the alphabetic principle refers to an understanding that the letters in written words represent the phonemes in spoken words. In order to learn to read children must be aware of phonemes. A phoneme is the smallest functional unit of sound. There are 40 to 44 sounds in English , and words made up of these sounds (phonemes) are represented by the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet. Children must be able to identify these sounds and to manipulate them. The ability to identify and manipulate sounds of language, the ability to orally recognize word features (e.g. rhymes, syllables, alliteration), is called Phonological Awareness. (Smith, Simmons and Kameenui, 1995).  Phonological Awareness is an understanding of the structure of spoken language. It understands that a language is made up of words, and words consist of syllables, rhymes, and sounds. Fitzpatrick (1997) summarizes it best by saying that phonological awareness is “the ability to listen inside a word”. Phonological Awareness is basically a skill that trains the child's ear. Phonological awareness is an awareness of the different levels in the sound system of speech. In order to learn to read or spell words, learners need to be aware that the words they hear in spoken language are made up of small segments of sound and that these sounds can be represented in print. Phonological awareness is the awareness that words can be separated in three ways and at three levels, by syllables, by onsets and rimes, and by phonemes. Levels of Phonological Awareness and how to teach it. Word level:  Recognize how many words are in a sentence. Rhyme level: Rhyming and alliteration  understand the concept of rhyming. (nursery rhymes,)  recognize and generate rhyming words. (teach them how to rhyme, word families) What is rhyming? Rhyming is the ability to identify words that have identical final sounds segments. Reading begins in a child ears: the more you talk, sing and read to the child, the bigger his/her speaking vocabulary will become. Playing rhyming games or reading rhyming poems will get the child’s ears ready.  EXPOSURE TO NURSERY RHYMES Hearing, learning and reciting nursery rhymes can help young children toward becoming proficient readers. Help children develop an ear for rhyme by: 1. Telling children that the words sound the same at the end; 2. Reading aloud and reciting to children and having the children themselves recite and sing nursery rhymes and poems. SELECTION OF NURSERY RHYMES.  Select those that contain rhyming words. Otherwise they will not promote phonological awareness. “This little piggy went to market This little piggy stayed home This little piggy had roast beef This little piggy had none And this little piggy cried, Wee-wee-wee All the way home”. (home and none are partial rhymes but they are far away in the poem).  Those that have rhyming words in close proximity to one another. In many poems and rhymes, the rhyming pattern in ABAB, so the rhyming words are not in consecutive lines, but rather in every other line. Good example: 1, 2 buckle One, Two, Buckle My Shoe One 1, two 2, buckle my shoe; Three 3, four 4, shut the door; Five 5, six 6, pick up sticks; Seven 7, eight 8, lay them straight; Nine 9, ten 10, a big, fat hen;  PARTS OF THE BODY Two little eyes, one little nose Ten little fingers, ten little toes One little mouth, one little chin And a funny body to put them in Teddy Bear Action Song and Movements Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear that will do! Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, brush your hair. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn off the light. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say goodnight! RHYMING GAMES - - Give students sentences, they finish them with a rhyming word A cat wearing a ______________(hat) A mouse that lives in a __________(house) A moose with a tooth that is _____(loose) A pig that is dancing a ________(jig) Some kittens wearing ____(mittens) A sheep that is sound ________(asleep) A bear with long brown ___________(hair) An ape that is eating a _____________(grape) A goat that is sailing a _____(boat) A duck that is driving a ___________(truck) Alliteration: It is the repetition of the first letter sound in a phrase. (tonguetwisters)  Syllable level Syllable awareness is awareness that words can be divided into syllables. A learner who has phonological awareness at the syllable level will know that the word mat has one syllable, that rabbit has two syllables and that hospital has three syllables  Identify and work with syllables in spoken words.  Segment and blend words of at least two or three syllables. Pen + cil Fin + ger Dra + gon Com+pu+ter Onsets and rimes: Onset-rime awareness is phonological awareness within the syllable level Identify and work with onsets and rimes in spoken syllables or one-syllable words. o Onsets - all the phonemes before the vowel o Rime - the rest of the syllable from the vowel to the end Sit – s+it Spoil – sp+oil Syllables Rules A syllable is the sound of a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) that's created when pronouncing a word. The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in a word is equal to the number of syllables the word has. How To Find Syllables:  Count the number of vowels (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y) in the word.  Subtract any silent vowels (like the silent 'e' at the end of a word).  Subtract 1 vowel from every diphthong. o A diphthong is when two volwels make only 1 sound (oi, oy, ou, ow, au, aw, oo,...).  The number you are left with should be the number of vowels in the word. How To Divide A Word Into Syllables:  Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes, and root words that have vowels. o sports/car, house/boat, un/happy, pre/paid, re/write, farm/er, hope/less  Divide between two middle consonants o hap/pens, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner o Never split up consonant digraphs as they really represent only one sound ("th", "sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh").   Usually divide before a single consonant. o o/pen, i/tem, e/vil, re/port. o The only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has an obvious short sound, as in "cab/in".  Divide before an "-le" syllable. o a/ble, fum/ble, rub/ble, mum/ble o The only exceptions are "ckle" words like "tick/le". Sound level: (Phonemic Awareness) The third level of separating words is by phonemes (or phonemic awareness). Phonemic awareness is knowing that mat has three phonemes (/m/ /a/ /t/). In order to learn to read children must be aware of phonemes which are the smallest functional units of sound that make a difference in the meaning of words.  identify and work with individual phonemes in spoken words.  isolate the beginning or ending sounds in words.  segment and blend sounds in a word with three sounds.  change a sound in a word to make a new word (familiar games and songs). Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds—phonemes—in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is a subcategory of Phonological awareness. HOW TO BUILD PHONEMIC AWARENESS Phoneme isolation Phoneme isolation is the ability to identify where a sound appears in a word, or what sound appears in a given position. Initial, medial or final sound. ACTIVITY TAMPAREADS. TOUCH ELBOW, TOUCH HEAD Children recognize individual sounds in a word. Teacher: “What is the first sound in van?” Children: “The first sound in van is /v/.” Phoneme identity A technique for building phonemic awareness in which students are taught to identify the same sound in different words. For example, what sound is the same in boy, ball, and bath? (Answer: the b sound) WORD TO WORD MATCHING Teacher: “What sound is the same in fix, fall, and fun?” Children: “The first sound, /f/, is the same.”  Phoneme categorization A technique for building phonemic awareness in which students listen to a series of three or more words and have to identify which word does not belong. For example, in the list cat, car, mop, can, the odd word out would be mop, which beings with a different phoneme. Children recognize the word in a set of three or four words that has the “odd“ sound. Teacher: “Which word doesn’t belong? Bus, bun, rug.” Children: “Rug does not belong. It doesn’t begin with /b/.” Phoneme blending Children listen to a sequence of separately spoken phonemes, and then combine the phonemes to form a word. Then they write and read the word. Teacher: “What word is /b/ /i/ /g/?” Children: “/b/ /i/ /g/ is big.” Teacher: “Now let’s write the sounds in big: /b/, write b; /i/, write i; /g/, write g.” Teacher: (Writes big on the board.) “Now we’re going to read the word big.” What word would we have if we blended these sounds together: /m/ /o/ /p/, /f/ /l/ /a/ /g/, /a/ /n/ /t/? Phoneme segmentation Children break a word into its separate sounds, saying each sound as they tap out or count it. Then they write and read the word. Teacher: “How many sounds are in grab?” Children: “/g/ /r/ /a/ /b/. Four sounds.” Teacher: “Now let’s write the sounds in grab: /g/, write g; /r/, write r; /a/, write a; /b/, write b.” Teacher: (Writes grab on the board.) “Now we’re going to read the word grab.” 5 Phoneme deletion Phoneme Deletion is the ability to identify how a word would sound if one sound were omitted. Children recognize the word that remains when a phoneme is removed from another word. Teacher: “What is smile without the /s/?” Children: “Smile without the /s/ is mile.” What sound do you hear in “fear” that you don’t in “ear”, “train” “ rain” “train” “ rain” Phoneme addition A technique for building phonemic awareness in which the students are asked to add single phonemes to words in order to create new words. Children make a new word by adding a phoneme to an existing word. Teacher: “What word do you have if you add /s/ to the beginning of park?” Children: “Spark.” Phoneme substitution Phoneme substitution refers to the ability to replace a phoneme in a word with another phoneme to form a new word. Children substitute one phoneme for another to make a new word. Teacher: “The word is bug. Change /g/ to /n/. What’s the new word?” Children: “Bun.” Phonics  Phonics is the relationship between sounds & spellings in printed text.  Phonemic Awareness on the other hand, is the ability to recognise phonemes or graphemes (sounds) in spoken words and so it is an oral skill and not a written skill as in phonics Vocabulary Instruction "Vocabulary refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively. In general, vocabulary can be described as oral vocabulary or 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" (Armbruster, Lehr & Osborn, 2001 p. 34). Vocabulary is an important component of children's reading comprehension. As children sound out words when reading, they compare the sounds to words they know. The larger a child's vocabulary, the easier it is for him to match words as he reads. Bromley (2004), in a comprehensive review of research on vocabulary development, concludes that vocabulary knowledge promotes reading fluency, boosts reading comprehension, improves academic achievement, and enhances thinking and communication. In schools, the study of new words is often done through direct instruction. Children study a word's parts, its origin and its meaning. Vocabulary can be taught directly or indirectly: Students learn vocabulary directly when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies. Direct vocabulary instruction aids reading comprehension. Students learn vocabulary indirectly when they hear and see words used in many different contexts—for example, through conversations with adults, through being read to, and through reading extensively on their own. Using what children are interested in can be a successful way to teach vocabulary. Children often provide clues to their interests as you read or work on projects or in your casual conversations. Picking up on these clues and using them to teach new words engages children in their learning and makes it more fun. FLUENCY "Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking" (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001, p. 22). Fluency is important because:  it helps children bridge the gap between word recognition and comprehension.  It is easier for children to understand what they read, if they don’t have to work hard to decode the words they are reading.  They can make connections among the ideas in the text and between the text and their background knowledge. Fluency is associated with strong skills in phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary.  Fluency develops gradually over considerable time and through substantial practice.  At the earliest stage of reading development, students’ oral reading is slow and laboured because students are just learning to “break the code“—to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.  Fluency changes, depending on what readers are reading, their familiarity with the words, and the amount of their practice with reading text. Two major instructional approaches related to fluency.  repeated and monitored oral reading (commonly called “repeated reading“). Students read passages aloud several times and receive guidance and feedback from the teacher.  independent silent reading. Students are encouraged to read extensively on their own. How can I help my students become more fluent readers? You can help your students become more fluent readers (1) by:  providing them with models of fluent reading  having students repeatedly read passages as you offer guidance. In addition, you can help students improve their fluency by combining reading instruction with opportunities for them to read books that are at their independent level of reading ability. Model fluent reading, then have students reread the text on their own. By listening to good models of fluent reading, students learn how a reader’s voice can help written text make sense. Read aloud daily to your students. By reading effortlessly and with expression, you are modelling for your students how a fluent reader sounds during reading. After you model how to read the text, you must have the students reread it. By doing this, the students are engaging in repeated reading. Usually, having students read a text four times is sufficient to improve fluency. Of course, hearing a model of fluent reading is not the only benefit of reading aloud to children. Reading to children also increases:  their knowledge of the world  their vocabulary  their familiarity with written language (“book language“)  their interest in reading. Have students repeatedly read passages aloud with guidance. The best strategy for developing reading fluency is to provide your students with many opportunities to read the same passage orally several times. To do this, you should first know what to have your students read. Second, you should know how to have your students read aloud repeatedly. What students should read Fluency develops as a result of many opportunities to practice reading with a high degree of success. Therefore, your students should practice orally rereading text that is reasonably easy for them:  text containing mostly words that they know or can decode easily.  the texts should be at the students’ independent reading level. A text is at students’ independent reading level if they can read it with about 95% accuracy, or misread only about 1 of every 20 words. If the text is more difficult, students will focus so much on word recognition that they will not have an opportunity to develop fluency. COMPREHENSION "Comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not understand what they are reading, they are not really reading" (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001, p. 48). The other elements of quality reading instruction—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary—are skills that contribute to reading comprehension. How well children use these skills contributes to their understanding of what they are reading. Some very useful strategies to help children understand what they read are:  Asking "wh" (who, what, when, where and why) questions when reading  making predictions about what the story will be about or what will happen in the story  looking for main ideas and connecting the story to previous experiences  pre-teaching vocabulary words before reading.  Mistakes in reading can include Mispronunciation - the child mispronounces the word, usually creating a word that isn’t a word at all. Omission - the child skips the word altogether Insertion - the child adds a word, or words, that aren’t really in the text Substitution - the child replaces a word with a different word. Sometimes the replacement word makes sense with the sentence, sometimes it doesn’t. This is important to note because if the word the child uses makes sense, it shows an understanding of the context. Self-correction - the child makes a mistake in reading, but quickly corrects the mistake on his own. Repetition - the child repeats a word, or words, that are in the passage. Parent assistance - the child asks you for help to read a word, or you help her because she is “stuck.”  READING STRATEGIES FOR EARLY READERS CHECKLIST I use the pictures to help me I sound out/blend words I don’t know I look for smaller words inside words I can break words down into syllables I use punctuation to help me make sense of what I am reading I go back and read a word or sentence again if I don’t understand it I listen to what I am reading to see if it makes sense I check that I am right by going back to look at words carefully I can tell when I’ve made a mistake and go back to try and put it right I ask questions to help me with my reading if I don’t understand I think about what might happen in the book and I can say why When I read I imagine what is happening and create a picture in my mind I use words I can see around me or that I have read before THE LANGUAGE OF LITERACY Phoneme A phoneme is the smallest part of spoken language that makes a difference in the meaning of words. English has about 41 phonemes. A few words, such as a or oh, have only one phoneme. Most words, however, have more than one phoneme: The word if has two phonemes (/i/ /f/); check has three phonemes (/ch/ /e/ /k/), and stop has four phonemes (/s/ /t/ /o/ /p/). Sometimes one phoneme is represented by more than one letter. Grapheme A grapheme is the smallest part of written language that represents a phoneme in the spelling of a word. A grapheme may be just one letter, such as b,d, f, p, s; or several letters, such as ch, sh, th, -ck, ea, -igh. Phonics Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds of spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language). Phonological awareness Phonological awareness is a broad term that includes phonemic awareness. In addition to phonemes, phonological awareness activities can involve work with rhymes, words, syllables, and onsets and rimes Phonemic awareness Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds—phonemes—in spoken words. Syllable A syllable is a word part that contains a vowel or, in spoken language, a vowel sound (e-vent; news-pa-per; ver-y). Onset and rime Onsets and rimes are parts of spoken language that are smaller than syllables but larger than phonemes. An onset is the initial consonant(s) sound of a syllable (the onset of bag is b-; of swim, sw-). A rime is the part of a syllable that contains the vowel and all that follows it (the rime of bag is -ag; of swim, -im). References Smith, B., Simmons DC y Kameenui EJ (1995). Synthesis of research on phonological awareness:Principles and implications for reading acquisition. Technical Report no. 21, National Center to Improve the Tools of Education. Eugene: University of Oregon. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED386868.pdf Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read Armbruster, Lehr and Osborn (2001) Fitzpatrick, J. Phonemic Awareness: Playing with sounds to Strengthen Beginning Reading Skills, Creative Teaching Press, 1997. David Booth: Guiding the Reading Process: Techniques and Strategies for Successful Instruction in K-8 Classrooms. Pembroke Publishers 1998. Canada David Wallace Booth, Larry Swartz: Literacy techniques for building successful readers and writers. Pembroke Publishers Limited, 2004. Canada Adams, Marilyn Jager. 1990.Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois, Reading Research and Education Center. 0262011123. Location: Dallas SIL Library 372.4 A215. Spalding, Romalda B., The Writing Road to Reading, North, Mary E. Ed. Harper Collins, New York, 2003 TEMA 3 PHONICS "WHAT IS PHONICS?" What do all these words mean? phonics phonograms phonemes phonemic awareness grapheme The English spelling system is an alphabet. An alphabet is a writing system in which the written symbols represent the phonemes (the word-building sounds) of the language, rather than, say, its syllables. For instance, the symbol in English spelling represents the sound /p/, not a syllable such as /pa/ or /po/ (the main writing system of Japanese uses symbols to represent syllables like 'ma' or 'ko' rather than individual phonemes. Such a system is called a syllabary, not an alphabet. Every writing system consists of an inventory of graphemes. A grapheme is a one of the set of symbols used to represent sounds -- it is a spelling of a particular sound. Each grapheme of a writing system is used to represent a unit of the language being written. In a syllabary, the graphemes stand for syllables; in an alphabet, the graphemes stand for phonemes. As seen above, English has numerous graphemes for the /i/ sound: me, see, seat, receive, machine, people. The 26 letters of the English alphabet are the raw material used to create graphemes, which in turn are used to represent the phonemes of the language. For instance, the two letters and are combined into a digraph to represent a single phoneme, the first sound of shoe, the middle sound of washer, etc. Letters themselves are not graphemes; they are the raw material for making graphemes. Don't let the fact that many English graphemes consist of one letter mislead you on this point. English has several grapheme types that go by traditional names in, for example, phonics instruction. These grapheme types are: Single-letter graphemes: o Vowel letters: a e i o u, as in bat, set, fit, pot, nut o Consonant letters: b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z as in ace, kit, moon, home, etc. Double-letter graphemes: o Vowel letters: ee, oo as in beet, cool. a, i, and u are only doubled in names derived from other languages such as Haas. o Consonant letters: all consonants are frequently doubled except h, j, k, q, x, and y. Examples: apple, summer, toss, dizzy, etc.  Letter-combination graphemes: Digraphs: Use of two different letters to spell a single sound, e.g., for the first sound of three; as in chum, etc. In this case, the two letters make up a single grapheme, since they spell the sound together. Blends: Two letters that represent two sounds in sequence, as in queen ( represents /k/ and represents /w/; as in black, etc. In this case, two graphemes are present: represents the /b/ of black, while represents its /l/. Silent letters, such as the of time, the of knee, and the of sight, are letters which appear in a word, but do not in themselves represent a sound. Most silent letters were pronounced at an earlier stage of the history of English, but then, though the sound was lost from the word, the spelling did not change. Many critics of English spelling decry the retention of these letters, but they do serve a purpose. In some cases, they differentiate one word from another in spelling, for instance knot vs. not. Other silent letters participate in what are called spelling patterns: they make up for the shortage of vowel symbols we suffer (English has about 16 vowel phonemes, but we use only 5 letters to represent these). English spelling does have many irregularities that are the product of history, but sometimes these help us see the meaning relation between words (as between sign and signature). The following paragraphs present just a few examples of subregularities in English spelling. represents two sounds: /s/ and /k/ (both are present in ). represents /s/ when it precedes , , or ; usually it represents /k/ in other positions, e.g.: , , vs. , , ,. The /k/ sound can be spelled in various ways: as in , as in , as in , as in , as in. One regularity in this variety of spellings is that cannot be used at the beginning of a word, but only in the middle or at the end. We find words such as and , but not *ckat. (The asterisk * means that the word it precedes violates a rule and is impossible within the system.) A double consonant is most often a cue to the pronunciation of a preceding vowel, especially in words of more than one syllable. Consider the pair ,. The double in the first word tells you that the is pronounced /a/; the single of the second tells you it is pronounced /o/. The pair , illustrates the same principle, as do , and ,. Also, double consonants preserve the pronunciation of the vowel of a base word when a suffix is added: doubling the of when -ing is added to produce preserves the pronunciation /æ/; if were not doubled, we would read. Another regularity about double consonants is that, while they often appear in the middle or at the end of a word, they never appear at the beginning; compare staff, bass, tall, hammer, apple with fine, soap, late, must, pole. Spellings such as *mmust or *ppole do not occur. Single consonants also provide cues to vowel pronunciation when contrasted with the use of a single consonant followed by silent. Consider these pairs: tap vs. tape mat vs. mate pip vs. pipe grim vs. grime met vs. mete mop vs. mope Although the final is not pronounced and therefore might seem useless, it is actually an important cue that tells us how to pronounce the preceding vowel. Silent and also signal how to pronounce the vowel in a word; compare , , , , , , ,. This is a very brief description of how English spelling works. More can be found in Dechant (1969) and other books on phonics. Phonograms: an example of a phonics teaching strategy There are many regularities of English spelling that phonics presents to the learner; for detail, the reader may want to look at the books on phonics listed at the end of this text. One interesting regularity that phonics exploits is the notion phonogram, that is, a sequence of letters at the end of a word that occurs with high frequency and relatively consistent pronunciation. Two examples are and. Many words contain these letter sequences with the same pronunciation as in these words: , etc.; , etc. Teaching phonograms as wholes to children makes sense: children have more difficulty with individual sounds at the middle and especially ends of words than at the beginning; but children do have the capability to learn and process holistically, that is, treating the phonogram as an undivided 'chunk' rather than a sequence of several letters. Combining this holistic ability to learn phonograms with their facility in recognizing individual sounds at the beginnings of words should ease children's mastery in spelling and recognizing large numbers of words. Games in which children supply different beginning sounds for given phonograms, for example, will allow them to use their knowledge of the spoken word to 'create' and then spell and recognize many commonly occurring words. Phonics is the relationship between sounds & spellings in printed text. Phonemic Awareness on the other hand, is the ability to recognise phonemes or graphemes (sounds) in spoken words and so it is an oral skill and not a written skill as in phonics PHONICS INSTRUCTION Phonics instruction teaches : the relationships between the letters (graphemes) of written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language. to use these relationships to read and write words. to help children a system for remembering how to read words. These relationships include: graphophonemic relationships letter-sound associations letter-sound correspondences sound-symbol correspondences sound-spellings THE GOAL OF PHONICS INSTRUCTION IS TO HELP CHILDREN LEARN AND USE THE ALPHABETIC PRINCIPLE: - Spoken words are made up of phonemes - Written words are made up of letters. - Letters in written words represent the phonemes in spoken words.  DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF PHONICS Synthetic phonics: Children learn how to convert letters or letter combinations into sounds, and then how to blend the sounds together to form recognizable words. Analytic phonics Children learn to analyze letter-sound relationships in previously learned words. They do not pronounce sounds in isolation THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANALYTIC AND SYNTHETIC PHONICS Analytic Phonics Synthetic Phonics Importance of Emphasis on the initial sound, e.g. the ‘s’ of ‘sun’. Each phoneme, in every position is important. We each sound This rule works for short words but is problematic care about the /s/ as much as the /u/ and the /n/. for longer words and encourages guessing as an initial reading strategy. Position Emphasis on initial sounds, onset, rhyme and word Emphasis on hearing and identifying the phonemes families. in all positions. Speed It's slow – it can be as slow as 1 letter a week. This Fast – 8 sounds over 2 weeks, getting children unnecessarily delays reading progress. reading right away. Spelling Spelling is tackled separately. Children are taught that the alphabetic code is reversible; if you can read a word you can spell it. Role of guessing Encourages guessing.The emphasis is on the initial The English language is far more logical than people sound, e.g. the /s/ of sun. Works for short words first believe. It doesn't need guessing for successful that can be guessed but it longer words is much reading and spelling, it just needs systematic more difficult. teaching. Role of the The alphabet is central to analytic phonics - The letter names are not taught initially. Children alphabet concentrating on those 26 letters and their are learning 44 phonemes and how each can be corresponding sounds. Think about these words: represented. This enables children, when they come 'place', 'kiss' and 'sell'. All words have an /s/ across: 'place', 'kiss' and 'sell', to understand that phoneme but are represented by different letters. phonemes /s/ can have many spelling choices: ce, ss Not very easy to understand, or, worse, to explain! and s. Exceptions to the There are too many exceptions to rules. There are minimal exceptions. Get Reading Right rule manages irregular, high frequency words in a child- friendly manner. The Sounds were often taught incorrectly, e.g. 'S' was Synthetic phonics places much emphasis on the pronunciation of taught as the sound 'suh', not the correct teachers pronouncing the phonemes correctly. the sounds pronunciation 'ssssss'. Blending doesn’t work as easily with incorrect pronunciation. Source: http://www.getreadingright.co.uk/analytical-vs--synthetic-phonics/  Analogy phonics Teaching students unfamiliar words by analogy to known words (e.g., recognizing that the rime segment of an unfamiliar word is identical to that of a familiar word, and then blending the known rime with the new word onset, such as reading brick by recognizing that -ick is contained in the known word kick, or reading stump by analogy to jump). Embedded phonics The type of phonics instruction used in whole language programs (which emphasizes finding the meaning in what is read and by expressing that reading in writing). Embedded phonics differs from other methods in that the instruction is always in the context of literature rather than in separate lessons, and the skills to be taught are identified opportunistically rather than systematically. Teaching students phonics skills by embedding phonics instruction in text reading, a more implicit approach that relies to some extent on incidental learning. Phonics through spelling Teaching students to segment words into phonemes and to select letters for those phonemes (i.e., teaching students to spell words phonemically). Programs of phonics instruction should be: ▪ Systematic – the letter-sound relationship is taught in an organized and logical sequence ▪ Explicit – the instruction provides teachers with precise directions for teaching letter-sound relationships. Set 1 s a t p sun ant tap pen Set 2 i n m d in net map dog Set 3 g o c k go on cat kit Set 4 ck e u r duck egg up rat Systematic and explicit phonics instruction: ▪ improves children's word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension. When a child can read a word automatically and accurately he/she can focus on the meaning. ▪ The earlier the better. It is most effective when it begins in kindergarten or first grade. Along with phonics instruction, young children must : ▪ solidify their knowledge of the alphabet ▪ be engaged in phonemic awareness activities ▪ listen to stories and informational texts read aloud to them. ▪ read texts (both out loud and silently). ▪ write letters, words, messages, and stories. Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. Phonics instruction is important because it leads to an understanding of the alphabetic principle—the systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Programs of phonics instruction are effective when they are: systematic—the plan of instruction includes a carefully selected set of letter-sound relationships that are organized into a logical sequence. explicit—the programs provide teachers with precise directions for the teaching of these relationships. Effective phonics programs provide ample opportunities for children to apply what they are learning about letters and sounds to the reading of words, sentences, and stories. Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children’s word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension. is most effective when it begins in kindergarten or first grade. Another good example of a systematic and explicit Phonics program is Jolly Phonics. Jolly Phonics Jolly Phonics is a fun and child centered approach to teaching literacy. With actions for each of the 42 letter sounds, the multi-sensory method is very motivating for children and teachers, who can see their students achieve. The letter sounds are split into seven groups as shown below. Letter Sound Order The sounds are taught in a specific order (not alphabetically). This enables children to begin building words as early as possible. How does Jolly Phonics work? Using a synthetic phonics approach, Jolly Phonics teaches children the five key skills for reading and writing. Complemented by Jolly Readers and Jolly Grammar, it provides a thorough foundation for teaching literacy over three years in school. The five skills taught in Jolly Phonics: 1.Learning the letter sounds Children are taught the 42 main letter sounds. This includes alphabet sounds as well as digraphs such as sh, th, ai and ue. 2.Learning letter formation Using different multi-sensory methods, children learn how to form and write the letters. 3.Blending Children are taught how to blend the sounds together to read and write new words. 4.Identifying the sounds in words Listening for the sounds in words gives children the best start for improving spelling. 5.Tricky words Tricky words have irregular spellings and children learn these separately.  VOWEL PATTERN CHART Closed Open Silent e cat me ride fish go cape bub- ta- hope Bossy r 2 Vowels C+le car Talkers Whiners ta - ble girl boat boy bub - ble tur- meat clown tur - tle Closed A word or syllable that contains only one vowel followed by one or more consonants; the vowel is short. “One lonely vowel squished in the middle, says its special sound just a little.” Short a sat bed fin top gum sand best print shop lunch at Ed in on up ad: bad dad had lad mad sad pad at: bat cat mat sat fat rat hat pat vat brat splat LONG VOWELS Open A word or syllable that ends with one vowel; the vowel is long and says its name. “If one vowel at the end is free, it pops way up and says its name to me.” me she he go flu fly  Silent e [Magic e] A word or syllable that ends in e, containing one consonant before the final e and one vowel before that consonant; the vowel is long. “The magic e is quiet, but it has a claim to fame; it makes the vowel before it say its real name.” “The magic e is so powerful, it gives all its strength to the other vowel so that it can say its real name” Make Steve ride hope cube Double Vowel Talkers: [vowel digraphs] A word or syllable containing two adjacent vowels; the first one is long. “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says its name.” rain day see meat pie boat toe slow suit blue Bossy r [r-controlled] A word or syllable containing a vowel followed by r; the vowel sound is altered by the r. The letter r is so bossy, it tells the vowel that it can’t say its real name (long vowel) or its special sound (short vowel), but must say the r sound (as in car, for, her). car her girl for curl Double Vowel Whiners :[diphthongs and variants] A word or syllable that contains two adjacent vowels; the vowels say neither a long or short vowel sound, but rather a very different sound. Sometimes when two vowels are next to each other, they make a funny whining sound, like when you fall down and say “ow,” “aw,” “oy,” and get a “boo-boo.” fault saw foil boy loud cow moon new book  C+le: [consonant + le] When a word ends with a consonant and “le,” the “le” grabs the consonant before it, and the word breaks into two parts right before that consonant. bub–ble ca–ble ea–gle poo–dle pur-ple SILENT LETTERS Silent K K is not pronounced when followed by N at the beginning of a word. Knife,knee,know,knock,knowledge Silent L L is often not pronounced before D, F, M, K. Calm, half, salmon, talk, balk, would, should Silent B B is usually silent when used after the letter M and also before the letter T. ▪ Examples before M: Jamb, Lamb, Comb, Tomb ▪ Examples before T: Subtle, Doubt ▪ The letter C is silent when used before the letter Z and sometimes when used before the letter L, the letter K, and the letter S. ▪ before Z: Tzar, Czarina, Czechoslovakia ▪ before L: Muscle ▪ before K: Block, Puck Silent D The letter D is silent when it appears before the letter N and also before the letter G. ▪ before N: Wednesday ▪ before G: Cadge ▪ The letter G is silent when it is used before the letters M, N and L. ▪ Examples before N: Deign, Reign ▪ Example before M: Diaphragm ▪ Example before L: Intaglio Silent GH GH is not pronounced before T and at the end of many words ▪ Thought through daughter light might right fight weigh Recommended Reading Lehr, Fran, and Jean Osborn. 1994. Reading, language, and literacy: instruction for the twenty-first century. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. Kennedy Library call # LB 1573 R2795 1994. Up-to-date, with sections on phonemic awareness and current teaching methodology. Dechant, Emerald. 1969. Linguistics, phonics, and the teaching of reading. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher. Kennedy Library call # LB 1573 D346.Teaching methods and some linguistics observations may be out of date, but much useful information on how the English spelling system works. Durkin, Dolores. 1972. Phonics, Linguistics, and Reading. NY: Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University. Kennedy Library call # LB 1573 D835. Rather confusing presentation, but good information on the English spelling system. WRITING STAGES Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo What is writing? Letters or symbols written on a surface to represent the sounds or words of a language The act of creating written works The activity of putting something in written form Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Hill (2006) describes learning to write or to represent language in written symbols as: learning to use a writing tool, to hold it properly and to create letters, words and sentences to convey meaning to others. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo CREATIVE WRITING Process Children are exposed to oral and written language experiences These experiences contribute to the developing activity to communicate in writing When they observe adults writing, they learn the value and function of writing Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Children go through different stages in the process of writing. This process is interralated with the process of reading. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Goodman has described learning to read and write as finding a balance between invention and convention (Goodman, 1996). Young writers invent spellings to express their ideas. They also invent words and punctuation marks. Goodman, K. (1996). On Reading Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Drawing/Picture Writing Children begin to express their thoughts and feelings. The pictures are usually unrecognizable Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Scribbling At this stage, the child begins to draw somewhat recognizable shapes and may tell about the picture. The child may try to imitate writing, as well. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Random Letters The child begins to print his or her own name and may put strings of letter with his/her picture. They may attempt to read the message, but it is probably still unrecognizable Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Semi-phonetic(Early Spelling) The child begins to use some letters to match sounds. Often uses a beginning letter to represent the whole word. They may begin to use left to right progression, but letter reversals are still common. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Phonetic At this stage, children begin to write words with beginning and ending sounds. They also begin to spell some high frequency words correctly. Vowels may be inserted into words, but usually aren’t the right ones. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Transitional Spelling At this stage, children are writing words the way they sound. They are beginning to leave spaces between words and spell many high frequency words correctly. They use punctuation marks, sometimes correctly. They begin to write one or more sentences. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Conventional Spelling Children spell most words correctly( some invented spelling) Use punctuation marks correctly Use upper and lower cases letters in the correct place- Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Stage Level Characteristics (Buchanan) (Ferreiro and Teberosky) Prephonetic 1 There is no correspondence between letters and sounds. Writing is not used to transmit information. The size of the letter string equals the size of the object Do not understand the difference between writing and drawing 2 Writers assume there is a fixed number of letters in a word and that there is a variety of letters. Writers use the letters of their name 3 Early phonetic Connection between the physical aspect of producing a word and the spelling of the word. Letters represent objects 4 Late phonetic Each element of sound production in the pronunciation of a word has its own graphic representation Each letter stands for one syllable or word Writers move from a syllabic to an alphabetic hypothesis 5 Phonic Sound is the key of spelling They realize that one sound may be represented by more than one letter, and that the same sound may be represented by different letters or group of letters Syntactic- In the spelling of words, meaning and syntax provide important cues that in many semantic cases take precedence over sound cues Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Prephonetic stage Children use symbols to represent things, not a word for the thing At this stage as they move from scribbling writing to recognizable letters, they mix letters and numbers. They do not associate writing and sounds. The size of the written word should correspond to the size of the letter Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Ex: they should write “father” with bigger letters than “brother”. They do not distinguish clearly between writing and drawing. They believe that words or sentences must have a minimun number of letters and also a variety of letters AAAAAA (it is not a word)( NO variety) UN ,NO (too short) (Ferreiro y Teberosky) Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Early phonetic stage (escritura silábica) One letter for each word or syllable. Include initial and final consonant sounds in words. “hs” for house”rbl” for rainbowl Ladybug as “ldbg” Emergent Spanish writers in Spanish-speaking countries generally write vowels first. Spanish speakers in an English environment may show a mixture of vowels and consonants. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Late phonetic stage Connection sound with letter They still use invented spelling They start using both vowels and consonants If they forget a letter they write it where there is space. BFLF’for butterfly reverse order of L and F “stor” for star “brlfi” for butterfly “r” for are “tec” for take “mi” for me “plis” for please “el ptito feo” for el patito feo Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Phonic Stage (invented) Realice the importance of sounds They realize that one sound may be represented by more than one letter, and that the same sound may be represented by different letters (f, ph and even gh at the end of a Word) or group of letters Spell all /s/ sounds with an s Use c to represent the /k/ sound phone as “fon” so as “sow” know as “now” (Activity invented spelling) Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Invented Spelling Invented Spelling letl bisecl ajls tehr gramotr sopr feh luv lev surt deses jopt rette rad ihovr ve sos ntu talufo mod jriv gregun Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Invented Standard Invented Standard Spelling Spelling Spelling Spelling letl little bisecl bicycle ajls angels tehr teacher gramotr grandmother sopr supper feh fish luv love lev live surt shirt deses dishes jopt jumped rette ready rad red ihovr each other ve the sos shoes ntu into talufo telephone mod mud jriv driveVirginia Vinuesa - Mástergregun Bilingüísmo dragon Der Parints, Az ur child brings home riting for the ferst tim, do not be serprized at the speling. The Inglsh langwij is confuzing for students. Prematur insistints that students uz standurd, or "correct" speling inhibits thair dezir and ability to rit. We wil uz "invntd speling" in r wrk. Az parints, u can hlp ur child by prazing awl thair riting. Let ur child red thair riting to u. Displa thair riting around ur hom. No that as ur child becomz familyer with riting, he or she wil mak the tranzishun to standard speling. Thank u, Techer Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Syntactic-semantic stage (Conventional spelling) In the spelling of words, meaning and syntax provide important cues that in many cases take precedence over sound cues. Children become increasingly aware that spelling systems reflect more than sounds. At this stage they spell most words correctly, but they may have trouble with homophones or homographs. Increase reading and writing. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Etapas de maduración en lectoescritura Pre-silábica Se caracteriza por una expresión 1. Escritura no diferenciada de garabato, continuo o suelto, zig-zags, bucles,... Todavía no diferencia el dibujo de la escritura. 2. Escritura diferenciada Comienzan a diferenciar el dibujo de la escritura. No hay correspondencia Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  Tipos de correspondencia silábica: 3. Escritura silábica Sin valor sonoro convencional. Para cada sílaba escriben una letra cualquiera. Ej.: S E M para PA TA TA Con valor sonoro convencional. Para cada sílaba escriben una letra que sí está en la sílaba. 4. Escritura silábico- Se dan cuenta de que la alfabética sílaba tiene más de una letra. Descubren que hay más partes, que la escritura va más allá de la sílaba. Ejemplos: 5. Escritura alfabética A cada sonido le corresponde una letra o grafía propia. Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo First writing activities Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo CVC Writing Assessment CLL LSL6 W 7 30.3.09 IND / SUPP Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo cat cap bat fan fin ham hen man mop Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/index.htm http://www.senteacher.org/ http://www.tlsbooks.com/kindertraceandprint. pdf Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Find all of these autumn words in the grid above and then write them on the line Leaf________________ Apple _______________ Orange______________ Brown_______________ Pumpkin______________ Fall_________________ Red_________________ Farmer______________ Yellow_______________ Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Do the letter sums and make some words Ow+l= owl h+er+d= Ch+ur+ch= w+oo+d= F+or+k= c+l+ou+d= G+ir+l= p+ur+se= T+oy= t+or+ch= Write the words you made er or ow ou oy ir ur oo Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Join up pairs of smaller words to make longer compound words pencil case black bow pencil mill hedge sharpener water board wind hog rain fall Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Writing sentences: two of the word boxes on each lorry are in the wrong place. Change the boxes and write the new sentences The lorry drives the man The guitar plays the singer Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo Here are some things that dogs need and some things that rabbits need. Write these things in the correct list and two more things each pet needs. Write your own list about what a cat needs bone basket lead Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo hutch lettuce http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/ lookcover/lookcover.html Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo TAN ______________ GOD _____________ ANAGRAMS An anagram is a word made by using the BARE ____________ letters of another word in a different order. Print out. Write the animal word from the letters of the words on the left side of the page. Color the pictures BALM ___________ LOIN ____________ Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  WRITING How many words can you make out of hot chocolate? H O T C H O C O L A T E ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ Virginia Vinuesa - Máster Bilingüísmo  WRITING Did you find? How many words can you make out of hot chocolate? Something you wear. H O T C H O C O L A T E Something you drink. ___________ ___________ A snowman’s eye. Someone’s pet. ___________ ___________ What a teacher does. ___________ ___________ What a doctor does. The opposite of like. ___________ ___________ A verb both past and present. ___________ ___________ The sound of a ho