2P-ECED 01 Teaching Early Oracy and Literacy Course Content PDF

2P-ECED 01 TEACHING EARLY ORACY AND LITERACY Course Content BERNADETTE A. PASTOLERO, Ph.D. Course Professor UNIT 1 A. Oral Language Development 1. Language Development Theories and Milestones The stages of language development in order of age are: Babbling, one-word speech, two-word speech, telegraphic speech, post-telegraphic speech, and formal grammar. Each stage builds on the previous and consists of a growing vocabulary and a growing understanding and description of the world around an individual. Language development is a slow process that starts during early childhood.The most significant human invention is arguably language.The nativist linguistic theory postulates that every human being is born with innate language ability BF Skinner suggested that learning a language is like learning any new skill. Although there are several language development theories, they mostly focus on nature vs. nurture. Any language boils down to a set of symbols representing sounds and grammar governing the system. But contrary to what you might believe, you don’t need to know grammar by heart to learn a language. Grammar is the conventionalization system of a language, often wrongly distilled into a single word, “rules.” The word “rules” suggests a language should have a set of rules first, then people can speak it. However, languages do not work this way. As a matter of fact, it’s the other way around. People collectively create the language, then come to the rules that describe it and conventionalize it. Language is like a living creature. It grows, evolves, and changes over time. Grammar rules simply reflect the usage of language at a particular time. Maybe no other person has manipulated the English language like William Shakespeare. But reading the Bard of Avon’s plays, you can come across many gross grammatical errors that average people don’t make. Giving Shakespeare a break, there was no such thing as grammar back then in the way we think of it today. If you go back to the 16th century, you could hardly make sense of the English you hear. Indeed, by learning grammar, you can develop an understanding of a language. But grammar can’t explain language development as a cognitive, social, and cultural phenomenon. What is Language Development? Language development is a slow process that starts during early childhood, allowing children to grasp the spoken word and communicate. The emergence of language in human children comes after a period of significant development of the brain. This term also applies to the origin of languages and why humans developed language as a communication tool in the first place. Language development is a vast field with contributions from various disciplines. These include linguists, anthropologists, archaeologists, geneticists, neurologists, and computer scientists, to name a few. The most significant human invention is arguably language. Today, the world is bustling with thousands of spoken languages. There are 7,111 to be exact and this number is constantly changing. With less than living 1,000 speakers, 40% of languages (2,895) are considered “endangered”. Without language, civilization might not exist. There may not be science or art. Or, we may never have technologies or the Internet or Google! Language Acquisition in Children Usually, it’s an exciting event for parents when their child utters her or his first words. Although we can’t know for sure when exactly the baby’s babbling turns into words with meaning. Soon, the baby turns into a chatterbox, starting to make sense of sounds and picking up new words used haphazardly. Then, syllable by syllable and word by word, a substantial vocabulary accumulates, and a functioning language is readily accessible. It is also possible to master a second language and a third. Speaking of which, there is a lot of work to do regarding the understanding of the systematic mechanism of language development in the brain. That’s because we don’t know a lot about how the brain works in the first place. But, what scientists do know is that a system of brain regions work together when acquiring and using language. 1. Daniel Everett’s Theory: Language Scratches the Communicative Itch Picking up and using a language is something, inventing it from scratch is a whole another thing. Here come the homo Erectus! The language phenomenon may not have started with us, homo sapiens. According to linguist Daniel Everett, nearly two million years have passed since “homo Erectus” first started uttering meaningful sounds. Homo erectus is considered the first human species, which also includes homo sapiens and Neanderthals. These early hominins had big brains, walked upright, and were the first gatherer-hunters. They traveled in groups across the islands, and the ocean couldn’t get in their way. 2. Chomsky’s Nativist Linguistic Theory: Universal Grammar Evertt’s work suggests that a language is a social tool that humans developed to communicate and share knowledge to solve problems. Linguist Noam Chomsky, however, thinks language is innate. What is grammar? It is “The whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics.” For Chomsky, who formulated the concept of universal grammar, language has a genetic component to it. The nativist linguistic theory postulates that every human being is born with innate language ability. Pioneered by Chomsky, this theory suggests that a human baby’s brain comes to the world pre-equipped with language-learning systems. Chomsky thinks there could be a single master language that served as the origin of all other languages. A child comes to the world with the prerequisites for language learning. Namely, a built-in tool Chomsky calls the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This brain device allows the child to acquire linguistic abilities rapidly. Worth noting, Chomsky’s LAD is a hypothetical concept. There’s no brain region recognized as such by neuroscientists. 3. B.F. Skinner Behaviorist Theory The innatist, or nativist theory, attributes the emergence of language as a neural mutation that occurred way back in a single individual. Everett thinks it was born from a more social necessity, slowly shaped by many individuals. This means there’s no universal grammar shared between all languages and from which they take their linguistic cues. The notion of universal grammar and the innateness of the language faculty is also opposed to the behaviorist concept of language. It’s American behaviorist and psychologist B.F. Skinner who developed the behaviorist theory of language acquisition. This theory suggests that learning a language is much like learning any new skill through observation, imitation, repetition, errors, rewards, and punishments. Or what Skinner calls Operant Conditioning. Behavior theorists posit that language development is a learned behavior. When babies first speak, they are trying to imitate the behavior of their parents and adults around them. A language would develop as responses to stimuli from the environment. Hugging the baby for his or her first word is a reward that pushes them further on the learning curve. Kids in school could get either rewarded or punished for their language learning acquisition process. 4. Vygotsky’s Social Interactionist Theory The social interactionist theory is based on the work of Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. The basic notion of this theory is that language has a social origin. In that regard, it has some similarities with Everett’s model. This concept suggests that the child, from birth, is continually engaging in social interactions, which allows him to develop higher cognitive functions, namely language, and thought. According to Vygotsky’s social development model, socio-cultural interactions come first, then cognition and language development. 5. Piaget’s Constructivist Theory For Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, language is not only due to genetic predisposition or imitation. Piaget’s constructivist theory argues that language is constructed by following cognitive development. In other words, people develop their language skills and construct overall knowledge based on their own experience. Beyond just language development, Piaget’s theory focuses on understanding the nature of intelligence itself. He defines four stages that cognitive development goes through: Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years Preoperational stage: 2 to 7 years Concrete operational stage: 7 to 11 years Formal operational stage: 12 and up What is the Maturation Theory of Language Development? An American pediatrician, Dr. Arnold Gesell, introduced the Maturation Theory of Child Development in 1925. His theory focuses on how genetics influences development and other behavior.. Gesell believed that human skills — adaptive, motor, and language — develop and unfold naturally based on our biological makeup. Be that as it may, he didn’t disregard environmental factors’ influences on a child’s development. However, the clinical psychologist was convinced that they were less influential than genetics. So, Gesell focused his investigation on children’s physiological development — which he called maturation. According to the pediatrician, the rate at which children develop depends primarily on their nervous system’s growth. And that includes the brain, spinal cord, and a complicated web of nerve fibers. Gesell’s language acquisition theories about maturation propose that language development milestones occur between ages 40 weeks and five years. 0-50 weeks: A child produces meaningful sounds. 1 – 2 old: The child uses longer phrases and straightforward sentences. 2 – 3 old: The child begins to communicate in complete sentences. 3 – 4 old: The child uses language as a tool to expand their knowledge of the world. 4 – 5 old: The child has a basic mastery of the language. Gesell also pointed out that children under the age of 10 are emotionally predisposed to learn a second or third language. And that’s because they still perceive language as fun at that stage of development. How are the Theories of Language Development Similar and Different? The psychological theories of language development have one thing in common. And that’s the focus on how genetics and the environment may have influenced language development. Indeed, researchers believe that language acquisition is partly inborn and partially learned through interaction. However, each language development theory places a varying degree of importance on nature and nurture. For example, BF Skinner’s behaviorist theory focuses on how the environment influences language acquisition. Similarly, Vygotsky’s social interactionist theory highlights the impact of nurture on language development. Daniel Everett’s theory, on the other hand, explores the genetic disposition of language development. With that said, most theories of language development believe that language acquisition is a blend of nature and nurture. B. Developmental Reading Levels Five Stages of Reading Development “[In] a developmental theory, literacy is not a single skill that simply gets better... Being literate is very different for the skilled first grader, fourth grader, high school student, and adult, and the effects of school experiences can be quite different at different points in a child’s development.” — Catherine Snow, et al, 1991, pg 9 Literacy is not something that just happens. One does not wake up literate nor does one become literate in the same way that one learns to walk. It is not intuited from the environment nor is it simply a matter of physical maturation. Literacy learning requires instruction and practice, and this learning occurs across discrete stages. The following notes explore the five stages of reading development as proposed by Maryanne Wolf (2008) in her book Proust and the squid: the story and science of the reading brain. These five stages are: 1. The emerging pre-reader (typically between 6 months to 6 years old); 2. The novice reader (typically between 6 to 7 years old); 3. The decoding reader (typically between 7 - 9 years old); 4. The fluent, comprehending reader (typically between 9 - 15 years old); and 5. The expert reader (typically from 16 years and older). Stage 1: The Emergent Pre-reader (typically between 6 months to 6 years old) By the end of this stage, the child “pretends” to read, can - over time - retell a story when looking at pages of book previously read to him/her, can names letters of alphabet; can recognises some signs; can prints own name; and plays with books, pencils and paper. The child acquires skills by being dialogically read to by an adult (or older child) who responds to the child’s questions and who warmly appreciates the child’s interest in books and reading. The child understand thousands of words they hear by age 6 but can read few if any of them. Stage 2: The Novice Reader (typically between 6 to 7 years old) (back to top) In this stage, the child is learning the relationships between letters and sounds and between printed and spoken words. The child starts to read simple text containing high frequency words and phonically regular words, and uses emerging skills and insights to “sound out” new one-syllable words. There is direct instruction in letter-sound relations (phonics). The child is being read to on a level above what a child can read independently to develop more advanced language patterns, vocabulary and concepts. In late Stage 2, most children can understand up to 4000 or more words when heard but can read about 600. Stage 3: The Decoding Reader (typically between 7 - 9 years old) In this stage, the child is reading simple, familiar stories and selections with increasing fluency. This is done by consolidating the basic decoding elements, sight vocabulary, and meaning in the reading of familiar stories and selections. There is direct instruction in advanced decoding skills as well as wide reading of familiar, interesting materials. The child is still being read to at levels above their own independent reading level to develop language, vocabulary and concepts. In late Stage 3, about 3000 words can be read and understood and about 9000 are known when heard. Listening is still more effective than reading. Stage 4: The Fluent, Comprehending Reader (typically between 9 - 15 years old) By this stage, reading is used to learn new ideas in order to gain new knowledge, to experience new feelings, to learn new attitudes, and to explore issues from one or more perspectives. Reading includes the study of textbooks, reference works, trade books, newspapers, and magazines that contain new ideas and values, unfamiliar vocabulary and syntax. There is a systematic study of word meaning, and learners are guided to react to texts through discussions, answering questions, generating questions, writing, and more. At beginning of Stage 4, listening comprehension of the same material is still more effective than reading comprehension. By the end of Stage 4, reading and listening are about equal for those who read very well, reading may be more efficient. Stage 5: The Expert Reader (typically from 16 years and older) By this stage, the learner is reading widely from a broad range of complex materials, both expository and narrative, with a variety of viewpoints. Learners are reading widely across the disciplines, include the physical, biological and social sciences as well as the humanities, politics and current affairs. Reading comprehension is better than listening comprehension of materials of difficult content and readability. Learners are regularly asked to plan writing and synthesise information into cohesive, coherent texts. I- Activity 1 Direction: Imagine you are an observer in this classroom. Interpret the events and behavior of each child in relation to knowledge development on reading and writing. What is your concern on this matter as a future teacher? II- Think about It Direction: Write a reflective journal on how has literacy traditionally been defined in educational setting? What impact might this have on children from diverse cultural and social contexts? III- Assess Direction: Read and answer the following questions carefully. 1. What is the primary focus of language development theories? 2. Why is it important to understand different theories of language development? UNIT 2 A. The Key Stage 1 Literacy Curriculum 1. Filipino 2. English The main goal of Key Stage 1 is for young learners to develop their basic literacy skills and fluency in their use of L1, Filipino and English (oral and written) in understanding and expressing familiar and developmentally- and grade-level appropriate texts (70% narrative and 30% informational). The languages curricula, anchored on the principles of the first language-based multilingual education, underscore the importance of learning the first language (L1) of the learners and additional languages, such as Filipino and English, in order to communicate effectively with others and to develop an understanding of the world around them. Learning languages allows learners to expand their horizons and provides them with opportunities to communicate with others, allowing them to understand, interpret, and create meaning in their relationships and cultural experiences. It enables them to develop their thinking, expression, appreciation, and reflection on their experiences and participation in society. Further, learning languages contributes to strengthening capabilities for social, economic, and international development, which contributes to the development of rich linguistic and cultural resources (ACARA, 2012). For Indigenous peoples/communities, learning their own language grounds them in the context of their community life and enables them to develop deeper recognition and understanding of their Indigenous knowledge systems and practices (DO 32, s. 2015). It also ensures full and effective participation and inclusion in society, as in the case of the Filipino Deaf community (RA 11106). Specifically, learning languages: develops the ability to communicate and expands their literacy repertoires; improves understanding of the nature of language, culture, and processes of communication; fosters an appreciation and respect for diversity and openness to other perspectives; helps learners understand how languages and cultures shape their understanding of the world and of themselves, their own heritage, and their identity; and enhances creative and critical thinking skills as well as intellectual and analytic capacity. The development of the languages curricula recognizes the role of the L1 as the language and literacy resource that the child knows best and can use most effectively, in order to establish a strong foundation for further education and literacy development. Becoming literate in the first language, according to the recent World Bank policy paper (2021), promotes learning outcomes in the L1 and in the subsequent second language (L2), as well as in other academic subjects, and promotes the development of general cognitive abilities. Further, basic literacy in the L1 can facilitate the learning of a second language (World Bank, 2021). Consistent with recent research, the use of the L1 provides the best foundation for the development of initial literacy and learning in the first years of formal schooling, which in turn results in better educational outcomes (Barron, 2012; Kosonen & Young, 2009; Ocampo, 2006; UNESCO, 2016). The Languages Shaping Paper guides the development of the learning areas for languages, including Mother Tongue, Filipino and English. Itintroduces two new learning areas for L1 education in Grade 1: The Language learning area gives emphasis to the development of oral language skills for communication in the learner’s first language to provide a bridge for the transition to literacy and learning in the other content areas. The development of the Language learning area recognizes the role of the L1 as a resource that learners can use to establish a strong foundation for literacy development and further education. It recognizes the status of the more than 180 languages in the country, including sign and visual languages, and the languages of Indigenous groups and communities. The Reading and Literacy learning area aims to develop foundational reading skills essential for early literacy. These goals include building phonemic awareness, decoding skills, and sight word recognition to facilitate reading in the first language. The new design of the languages curricula reorganizes the language offerings in the K to 10 Curriculum. Language and Reading and Literacy learning areas are offered in Grade 1, while Filipino and English are offered simultaneously starting in Grade 2. The foundation established by the Language, and Reading and Literacy learning areas in L1 will help learners to transition to the language of schooling or cognitive and academic language proficiency (CALP) in Filipino and English. Filipino and English subjects in Grade 2 continue to build on what the learners have learned in their first language and then transition to further developing literacy in Filipino and English and in other learning areas or subjects. B. The Pre Literacy skills 1. Oral Language Skills Oral language encompasses both speaking and listening. Oral language skills include learning how spoken words sound, what words and sentences mean, and how to communicate ideas. Nurturing oral language skills provides a strong foundation for learning to read. The term “Oral language” is often used in reference to vocabulary, but it actually encompasses five main areas: phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. MORPHOLOGY refers to morphemes, the smallest units of meaning in language, and how they are combined to form words. The importance of oral language It is through oral language that most students are introduced to the language concepts relevant to both producing and understanding spoken and written language. Research such as Konza (2016), Lervag et al. (2018) and Oxley & de Cat (2021) suggests that students’ ability with oral language provides an indication of how easily they will learn to translate oral language knowledge and skills into an ability to decode and comprehend written language. Knowledge about language and skills in using receptive and expressive oral language all contribute to students’ understanding of sounds in words or ‘phonemes’ and their relationship to letters or ‘graphemes’, required for the decoding aspect of reading and the encoding aspect of writing. Fluency with oral language or the ability to speak with accuracy, appropriate speed and prosody (expression and phrasing) (Rasinski et al., 2021), supports a reader’s attention to reading for meaning when reading aloud, rather than needing to concentrate on the sounding out of each word. This assists with successful comprehension of what is read (Konza, 2016; Marzano, 2020; Afflerbach, 2022; Pressley et al., 2023). a. Listening Comprehension Listening comprehension is defined as one's ability to comprehend spoken language1 at the discourse level – including conversations, stories (i.e., narratives), and informational oral texts – that involves the processes of extracting and constructing meaning. When discussing listening comprehension, education professionals often think of it as a single skill. In reality, however, it makes more sense to think of listening as related skill sets: 1. Passive listening or appreciative listening – oral reading, theater, music 2. Discriminative listening – distinguishing sounds, phonemes, and non-verbal cues 3. Informational or precise listening – finding details, retelling, sequencing 4. Strategic listening – finding the main idea, summarizing, inferring 5. Critical listening – analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating Those skills need to be explicitly taught and practiced in multiple ways throughout a student’s school experience for them to really grasp the nuances. Four of the five skills are grouped in what some people may call active listening. We will explore the five different listening categories below. 1. Appreciative or passive listening comprehension Passive listening – sometimes called appreciative listening – gets a bad rap amongst educators, but it’s what most of us do while we listen to a podcast while we’re driving or an audiobook while we walk the dog. Passive doesn’t mean not listening – it’s just listening with a different purpose. Perhaps strictly for entertainment, perhaps to learn informally, maybe even to reduce the number of outside distractions. Passive listening is generally motivated by the listener’s personal, informal interest. It’s important to note that passive listening usually still results in some comprehension and learning. There also seem to be benefits to passive listening in language learning. Dr. Paul Sultzberger ran a study out of Victoria University in New Zealand that explains that passively listening to a spoken language – even if you don’t understand the word meanings – creates connections between sound patterns and words that are critical to learning and fluency. 2. Active listening comprehension Active listening is generally where most teachers focus their attention when working with students. The listener is often expected to do something with the information they’re listening to, and so it must be processed differently than just hearing it in the background. To comprehend and incorporate information gathered through listening, teachers need to encourage students to make listening the primary activity – not something they’re doing while they’re doing something else. While there are many ways to break down the various types of listening (e.g., Opitz & Zbaracki’s Listen Hear! framework ), active listening can be broken down into the following categories: 3. Discriminative listening Discriminative listening is when the listener determines and defines both auditory and visual information. It involves distinguishing among sounds, identifying their sources, and using nonverbal communication to contextualize them. If a child is playing on a busy playground and hears someone yell her name, she will look up to see if her mother called her. Discriminative listening encompasses: hearing her name (determining that a sound applies to her) looking around to see her mother was sitting on a bench reading (visual cue indicating the sound does not apply to her), and seeing another parent nearby calling their child with the same name (defining the sound and using visual information to confirm its applicability). 4. Strategic listening When students are listening strategically, they actively look for connections to their own knowledge and try to make sense of the information. They can generally summarize, identify the main idea, make inferences and connections, as well as compare and contrast the information against what they know. In a classroom, a teacher might be reading a story to the students and asking them questions along the way: What did the main character look like? Why did the main character make that decision? Do you know another story like this one? Describe the story in one sentence. All of these tasks make sure the students actually understood and could make sense of what they were listening to. 5. Critical listening Critical listening is evaluative in nature. The listener is making judgments and measuring new information against current information to make decisions or ask the next question. Students are often critically listening when they engage in classroom or group discussions, project planning with other students, or engaged in debate because they must not only listen, but respond with the delivered information in mind. Eight key listening comprehension skills: 1. Recognizing literal meaning. Questions about facts, details, or information explicitly stated in the audio story. 2. Understanding vocabulary. Questions about the meanings of words as they are used in the context of the audio story. 3. Making inferences. Questions asking students to make inferences as they listen to audio stories, interpreting what is said by going beyond the literal meaning. 4. Identifying the main idea. Questions asking students to identify the central idea or gist of an audio story. 5. Determining purpose. Questions asking students to determine the purpose of an audio story. 6. Drawing conclusions. Questions asking students to draw conclusions by synthesizing information in an audio story. 7. Analyzing reasoning. Questions asking students to analyze reasoning supporting a claim in an audio story. 8. Finding evidence. Questions asking students to identify statements or details in an audio story that provide evidence to support claims or conclusions. b. Narrative Skills Narrative skills is being able to describe things and events and tell stories. Talking with children helps them develop comprehension skills. Being able to tell or retell a story helps children understand what they read. Narrative Skill is an ability to understand and tell stories and describe events. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Narrative skills help children learn story structure, predict what will happen in a story, understand what they read, and build critical thinking skills. Babies Talk to your baby as you go through your day, telling him what you are doing. Listen to your baby’s responses when you talk – it may be a sound, a wiggle, or an expression – and respond back. Share nursery rhymes and bounces with a strong sequence. As you sing them over and over, she’s learning that certain sounds and actions can be anticipated. Share books that relate to your baby’s life and talk about what you see in the pictures. Toddlers Narrate the day for your toddler, from the repetition of getting dressed to talking about what you are going to do later. For familiar activities, ask what comes next – “shoes or socks next? Can you hand me one?” Listen to your child’s questions and pause to give him time to repeat a word or two. Ask her “what do you see?” or “what happened?” Affirm and enrich her simple answer with a descriptive word “Yes! It’s a brown doggie”. Rhyme: Some nursery rhymes are mini-narratives with a beginning, middle and end. Read books with a simple plot in which something happens. Read and re-read books that give your child a chance to participate by saying what’s coming next, lifting the flaps, or making animal noises. Share simple wordless or nearly wordless books and encourage your child to help “read” the story. Preschoolers Give your child lots of opportunities to talk with you. Ask questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no”. Encourage your child to think and increase their understanding. Read books with a repeated pattern or cumulative structure. Enjoy wordless and nearly wordless books that have more complex plots and details. Let your pre-reader help build the narrative by ‘reading’ the pictures. Retell favorite stories. Use toys or props to extend the fun and stretch imaginative skills. Create verbal stories together. Start with “once upon a time there was a ____” and let your preschooler fill in the blank. Take turns building and retelling the narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. Create pictures and books that tell a story. Have your child draw the pictures and tell you the words to write down. Make a scene with stickers and write down what he says is happening. Play and imagine. When your preschooler imagines, you are invited into a world-building narrative. Enjoy the adventure together. 2. Knowledge of Print Print concepts are knowledge about the function and purpose of print. Print concepts prepare students to read or write across a variety of genres by helping them to understand the properties and features of print and how it is organized. Concepts of print can be described as a "set of rules" that are followed by readers and writers so that the text can be understood in the intended way. Concepts of print demonstrate to children the logistics of reading and writing, which allow the processes of literacy to take place. For example: Understanding that print relays a message Knowledge about book orientation and directionality of print Book handling (e.g. holding a book right way up, turning pages) Emerging knowledge of the alphabet Awareness of books, pages, words and letters Children who are learning about books and reading need to know these concepts so that they are able to understand the rules and begin to understand the message. Examples of concepts of print Concepts of print are important for emergent reading and writing. The main understandings or elements of concepts of print for English include: the concept of text concept of book the idea of directionality mechanical features alphabet knowledge 3. Developing Genuine Love for Reading Developing a Love of Reading in Students Exposing new readers to a variety of genres can help them find the books they love. Plus, reading comprehension strategies to deepen their engagement. Every elementary school teacher is a reading teacher and is essential in helping each child on his or her reading journey. When we provide the resources to meet the literacy needs of our students beginning as early as prekindergarten, students and teachers will feel both confident and competent in teaching and learning to read. While helping students learn to read, it is also important to create a love of reading. Students who read voluntarily report less negativity about reading than those who are required to read. 1. Create Motivation Motivation is the key in promoting a love of literacy in children. One of the best resources I have found for creating motivation is a shelf filled with books that match students’ interest level and reading level. They should be surrounded by titles that reflect the lives of themselves as well as their classmates. When students find titles with characters that look like them and families that resemble their own or their neighbors, their interest level increases. Making these connections also increases student comprehension. Students should be provided with books that represent all genres so that they can determine what they most enjoy reading. Unless a child is given the opportunity to read poetry, mysteries, historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, and science fiction, he or she may not know all of the types of stories that are created for readers of all ages. Student book choice is the first step in getting children hooked on reading. When students have ownership of their reading, successful, independent readers begin to bloom. Teachers can be the best book matchmakers for their students. While teachers are building relationships with their students in the beginning of the year, they can also conduct one-on-one interviews or give interest surveys to each child. This practice will help teachers learn the strengths, challenges, likes, and dislikes of their students. This information helps teachers select the best book to spark a child’s interest in reading. Peers can be a great resource for helping students find what books they will love to read. Encourage classmates to be book matchmakers by creating personalized book recommendations for their peers. It's easy to create a recommendation template that can be stacked in the class book nook. When students find a book they think would match the interests and hobbies of classmates, they can fill out the personalized book recommendation form and give it to their classmate. Literacy diagnostic tools such as running records or anecdotal notes can also be used to understand the instructional and independent reading levels of students. During one-on-one or small-group reading instruction, teachers can note the reading behaviors they observe, including any errors made during reading, students’ responses to comprehension questions, or details about their expression, tone, or reading rate. 2. Read Together Through daily guided reading, teachers can introduce students to high-interest instructional text across genres. Daily individualized reading practice gives students the opportunity to read books of choice on their independent reading level and grow as readers. Introduce children to multiple genres of books during small-group reading instruction. When children find a book of interest, they can turn the book into their choice book for independent reading time. Background knowledge about a topic or subject matter can help students engage in the reading. For example, if a child has never been to a farm, he or she may not understand how the setting of the barn is crucial to the plot of a story that takes place on a farm. If a student has no prior knowledge about the roaring twenties, he or she will not fully comprehend an article about the Great Depression. Making stories and articles relevant to everyday life and current events is one more way to increase background knowledge. In order to build background knowledge before reading, teachers should consider taking students on virtual or live field trips or giving them access to real objects. Assume that students have no understanding of the vocabulary words or content of the text. Allow them to make predictions, make connections, and ask questions before every reading experience to gauge their knowledge. These three comprehension strategies inform a teacher of the students’ proficiency about a particular topic. Encourage readers to use the title and pictures to make a prediction about what the book is about before reading it. During reading, students confirm their prediction and make a connection. Ask questions such as, “What does this text remind you of?” or “What is going to happen next?” to build comprehension. Give students daily experiences in instructional guided reading, independent reading, and choice. Exposure them to culturally relevant and diverse genres, and guide them with comprehension strategies to enhance a love of reading. 4. Phonemic Awareness What is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds – phonemes – in spoken words. A phoneme is a unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another, for example, /b/, /k/, and /s/ in the words bat, cat, and sat. Phonemic awareness is critical to reading and is the first of the five principles of reading. When we hear or read words, we don’t often think of the different sounds that are combined to construct the word. It becomes automatic. What are the components of phonemic awareness? 1. Phoneme Blending Phoneme blending is the ability to listen to a sequence of phonemes (sounds) and to be able to combine them to form a word. /c/ /a/ /t/ is cat. This is the process used in decoding words. 2. Phoneme Segmentation Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break a spoken word into its separate phonemes. This can be seen as the process of spelling words phonetically. In the word step, there are four sounds: /s/ /t/ /e/ /p/. 3. Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence A grapheme is how a phoneme is represented as a letter, punctuation, or other symbols. Phoneme- grapheme correspondence is the sound-symbol relationship. I- Activity 2 Direction: Observe a parent sharing a story book with a young child (3-5 years old). Prepare a written description of what you observed and respond to the following questions: 1. How does the parent encourage the child to participate in the story sharing? For example, does the parent comment on the illustrations, ask questions, or repeat what was read? 2. How does the child respond to this storybook sharing? Include both verbal and non-verbal responses. II- Think about It Direction: Complete the table to show the similarities and differences of each theoretical perspective on literacy development. Behaviorist Naturalist Interactive Transactional 1. Similarities in Reading 2. Similarities in Writing 3. Differences in Reading 4. Differences in Writing III- Assess Direction: Read and answer the following questions carefully. 1. Why is teaching reading considered a fundamental skill in early education? 2. How do the stages of reading development influence instructional strategies? UNIT 3 The Literacy Skills 1. Phonological Awareness Phonological Awareness is a foundational literacy skill that involves the ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structures in spoken language. This skill is crucial for developing reading and writing abilities because it helps learners understand that words are made up of individual sounds, which can be segmented, blended, and altered to create new words. Key Components of Phonological Awareness: 1. Rhyming The ability to recognize and produce words that have the same ending sounds. Example: Identifying that "cat" and "hat" rhyme, and being able to generate another rhyming word like "bat." 2. Syllable Awareness The ability to hear and break words into syllables, or units of sound. Example: Clapping out the syllables in the word "banana" (ba-na-na, which has three syllables). 3. Onset and Rime The ability to distinguish between the initial sound(s) of a word (onset) and the rest of the word (rime). Example: In the word "dog," the onset is "d," and the rime is "og." A child with onset-rime awareness can change the onset to create new words, such as changing "d" to "l" to make "log." A more specific aspect of phonological awareness that focuses on the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual phonemes (the smallest units of sound) in words. Example: Identifying that the word "dog" consists of three phonemes: /d/ /o/ /g/, or being able to change the /d/ sound to /f/ to form the word "fog." 4. Blending The ability to combine individual sounds to form a word. Example: When given the sounds /c/ /a/ /t/, a child blends them together to say the word "cat." 5. Segmenting The ability to break a word into its individual sounds. Example: When asked to segment the word "bat," a child identifies and separates it into the sounds /b/ /a/ /t/. 6. Phoneme Deletion The ability to recognize what word remains when a specific sound is removed. Example: If you take away the /s/ sound from the word "sand," you get "and." 7. Phoneme Substitution The ability to substitute one phoneme for another to make a new word. Example: Changing the /h/ in "hat" to /p/ to form "pat." Importance of Phonological Awareness 1. Reading Readiness: Phonological awareness is a key predictor of reading success. Children who can recognize and manipulate sounds in words are better prepared to understand the relationship between sounds and letters (phonics), which is essential for decoding words in reading. 2. Spelling and Writing: Understanding how sounds are structured helps children spell words correctly. If a child can break a word into its phonemes, they can use that knowledge to spell it more accurately. 3. Language Development: Phonological awareness also supports overall language development, including vocabulary acquisition and the ability to understand and use complex sentences. Activities to Promote Phonological Awareness: 1. Rhyming Games: Playing games that involve finding rhyming words or creating rhyming strings (e.g., cat, hat, sat). 2. Syllable Clapping: Clapping hands or tapping out the syllables in different words to help children understand word structure. 3. Sound Matching: Playing games where children match objects or pictures that start with the same sound (e.g., dog and doll). 4. Segmenting and Blending Activities: Using blocks or counters to represent each sound in a word and having children move them together (blending) or apart (segmenting). 5. Phoneme Manipulation Games: Asking children to change the first sound in a word to make a new word (e.g., changing the /b/ in "bat" to /r/ to make "rat"). By developing strong phonological awareness skills, children build a critical foundation for reading and writing, which supports their overall academic success. 2. Phonics Phonics is a method of teaching reading and writing that focuses on the relationship between sounds and their corresponding letters or groups of letters. It involves understanding how letters combine to form sounds and how these sounds form words. Phonics is crucial for decoding words, which means reading words by sounding them out. Key Components of Phonics: 1. Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence Understanding the relationship between phonemes (the smallest units of sound) and graphemes (the written symbols, letters, or letter combinations that represent those sounds). Example: Knowing that the phoneme /s/ can be represented by the grapheme "s" in the word "sun" or by "c" in the word "cent." 2. Decoding The process of using knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly pronounce written words. Example: A child sees the word "dog" and uses their knowledge of phonics to sound out each letter (/d/ /o/ /g/) to read the word as "dog." 3. Blending Combining individual sounds (phonemes) to form words. Example: Taking the sounds /c/, /a/, and /t/ and blending them to say the word "cat." 4. Segmenting Breaking down a word into its individual sounds. Example: Hearing the word "bat" and being able to break it into the sounds /b/, /a/, /t/. 5. Digraphs A pair of letters that represent a single sound. Example: "ch" in "chick" makes the /ch/ sound, and "sh" in "ship" makes the /sh/ sound. 6. Consonant Blends Groups of two or more consonants where each consonant sound is heard. Example: "bl" in "black" and "str" in "street." 7. Vowel Teams (or Vowel Digraphs/Diphthongs) A combination of vowels that work together to represent a single sound. Example: "ea" in "bread" makes the short /e/ sound, and "ou" in "house" makes the /ou/ sound. 8. CVC Words Words that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, often used in early phonics instruction. Example: Words like "cat," "dog," and "pen." 9. Silent Letters Letters that appear in a word but are not pronounced. Example: The "k" in "knight" and the "b" in "lamb." Importance of Phonics: 1. Reading Fluency Phonics helps children read more fluently by enabling them to decode words quickly and accurately. As they become familiar with letter-sound relationships, their ability to read unfamiliar words improves. 2. Spelling Accuracy Phonics also plays a crucial role in spelling. By understanding how sounds correspond to letters, children can make more accurate guesses when spelling unfamiliar words. 3. Comprehension By reading words accurately, children can focus more on understanding the meaning of the text rather than on decoding each word. This improves their overall reading comprehension. 4. Word Recognition Phonics teaches children to recognize patterns in words, making it easier for them to identify and remember words they have read before. Phonics Instruction Strategies: 1. Synthetic Phonics: Teaching children to convert letters into sounds (phonemes) and then blend these sounds to form words. Example: Teaching the sound /p/, /a/, and /t/ separately, and then blending them together to read the word "pat." 2. Analytic Phonics: Teaching children to analyze whole words to detect phonetic or spelling patterns, then applying this knowledge to other words. Example: Identifying that the word "cat" shares a common "at" pattern with words like "bat," "hat," and "sat." 3. Embedded Phonics: Teaching phonics skills in the context of reading whole texts, rather than in isolation. Example: Reading a story and stopping to highlight words that use the same vowel sound, like "boat," "coat," and "goat." 4. Analogy Phonics: Teaching children to use parts of words they know to help them read unfamiliar words. Example: Using knowledge of the word "cake" to read a new word, "bake." 5. Phonics Through Spelling: Teaching children to segment spoken words into phonemes and to select letters for those phonemes. Example: Saying the word "bed" and having children write down the letters they hear, /b/, /e/, /d/. Activities to Promote Phonics 1. Sound Sorting: Sorting objects or pictures based on their initial, medial, or final sounds. Example: Sorting pictures of a bat, ball, and bag under the letter "b" for the /b/ sound. 2. Letter-Sound Matching Games: Using flashcards to match letters with their corresponding sounds. Example: Holding up a card with the letter "m" and having students say the /m/ sound. 3. Word Building: Using letter tiles or magnets to build words from given sounds. Example: Giving children the letters "c," "a," and "t" and asking them to arrange them to form the word "cat." 4. Phonics Readers: Using books designed with simple phonics patterns to help children practice their decoding skills. Example: Reading a storybook that focuses on CVC words like "The Fat Cat Sat." 5. Rhyming Activities: Engaging children in activities that focus on rhyming words to reinforce sound patterns. Example: Playing a game where children have to find a word that rhymes with "hill" (e.g., "pill," "fill"). Phonics is a critical component of early literacy instruction. It helps children make the connection between spoken language and written text, enabling them to read and write with greater ease and confidence. 3. Vocabulary Development Vocabulary Development -refers to the process of learning and expanding the words and phrases an individual can understand and use effectively. It is a critical aspect of literacy that plays a significant role in reading comprehension, communication, and overall language proficiency. A strong vocabulary allows individuals to express themselves clearly, understand others better, and engage more meaningfully with written and spoken content. Importance of Vocabulary Development 1. Reading Comprehension A rich vocabulary enables readers to understand and interpret the meaning of texts. Without a strong vocabulary, students may struggle to understand the nuances of what they are reading. 2. Communication Skills Having a broad vocabulary helps individuals express their thoughts, ideas, and emotions more accurately and effectively, both in writing and speaking. 3. Academic Success A well-developed vocabulary is linked to academic achievement. Students with strong vocabularies are often more successful in subjects that require reading and comprehension. 4. Cognitive Development Vocabulary development is linked to overall cognitive growth. It enhances critical thinking skills and helps children make connections between concepts. 5. Cultural Awareness Learning new words and phrases can help individuals understand different cultures and perspectives, broadening their worldview. Strategies for Vocabulary Development 1. Direct Instruction Explicitly teaching specific words and their meanings. This often involves pre-teaching vocabulary before reading a text or during lessons. Example: A teacher might introduce the word "metamorphosis" before a science lesson on butterflies, explaining its meaning and providing examples. 2. Contextual Learning Learning new words through exposure to them in context, such as in reading or conversation, rather than through isolated memorization. Example: Students encounter the word "vast" while reading a story about the ocean and use the context of the sentence to infer that it means very large or expansive. 3. Word Mapping and Semantic Mapping Visual tools that help learners connect new vocabulary words to related concepts and synonyms. Example: Creating a word map for the word "happy," linking it to related words like "joyful," "content," "cheerful," and "pleased." 4. Using Vocabulary in Multiple Contexts Encouraging students to use new vocabulary words in different contexts and settings to reinforce their understanding and retention. Example: After learning the word "architect," students use it in sentences related to various subjects, such as history ("The architect of the building was famous") and art ("She drew like an architect"). 5. Reading Aloud and Shared Reading Reading books aloud to children or reading together as a class, which introduces them to new vocabulary in a natural context. Example: A teacher reads a book about the rainforest, stopping to discuss and define words like "canopy" and "ecosystem" as they appear in the text. 6. Engaging in Conversations Having rich, meaningful conversations with children and encouraging them to use new words. Example: Discussing a recent field trip to a museum, prompting children to describe their experiences using descriptive vocabulary words learned recently. 7. Use of Multimedia Incorporating videos, apps, and digital tools that introduce and reinforce vocabulary. Example: Using an educational app that includes interactive games focusing on synonyms, antonyms, and word meanings. 8. Vocabulary Games and Activities Playing games that focus on word learning to make vocabulary development engaging and fun. Example: Playing "word bingo" where students match words with their definitions or playing "charades" to act out vocabulary words. 9. Word of the Day Introducing a new word each day and encouraging students to use it throughout the day in various contexts. Example: The word of the day is "serendipity," and students are encouraged to find moments of unexpected happiness and use the word in sentences. 10. Morphemic Analysis Teaching students to understand and use the smallest units of meaning (morphemes) to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words. Example: Teaching the root word "bio" (meaning life) and its use in words like "biology" (the study of life) and "biography" (a written account of someone's life). Examples of Vocabulary Development Activities: 1. Read-Alouds: Select books with rich vocabulary and read them aloud to students. Pause to explain difficult words and encourage students to use context clues to guess their meanings. 2. Word Walls: Create a word wall in the classroom where new vocabulary words are displayed. Encourage students to add to the word wall and use the words in their writing and speech. 3. Personal Vocabulary Journals: Have students keep a journal where they write down new words they encounter, along with their definitions and example sentences. 4. Semantic Feature Analysis: Use a chart to compare and contrast different words based on their features, helping students to understand subtle differences in meaning. 5. Vocabulary in Writing Assignments: Encourage students to use newly learned vocabulary words in their writing assignments to reinforce their understanding and use of the words. 6. Role-Playing: Use role-playing scenarios to help students use new vocabulary in conversation. For example, acting out a scene in a restaurant to practice words like "menu," "appetizer," "entree," and "dessert." Vocabulary development is a continuous process that enhances language and communication skills. It is essential for academic success, effective communication, and personal expression. By using a variety of strategies and activities, educators can support students in expanding their vocabulary, improving their ability to understand and use language effectively. 4. Comprehension Skills Comprehension Skills refer to the ability to understand, interpret, and derive meaning from written or spoken language. These skills are critical for academic success, effective communication, and lifelong learning. Comprehension involves more than just reading words; it includes understanding the main idea, details, making inferences, analyzing information, and evaluating the content. Key Components of Comprehension Skills 1. Literal Comprehension Understanding the explicit or straightforward meaning of the text. This includes identifying facts, details, and the sequence of events. Example: After reading a passage about a dog, a student can answer questions like, "What is the dog's name?" or "Where does the dog live?" 2. Inferential Comprehension The ability to read between the lines and make inferences based on information that is implied but not directly stated. Example: In a story, a character might be shivering and putting on a sweater. The student infers that it is cold, even though the text does not directly say so. 3. Predicting The ability to anticipate what will happen next in a text based on the clues provided and prior knowledge. Example: After reading the beginning of a mystery novel, a student might predict who the culprit is based on the clues and hints provided. 4. Summarizing The skill of condensing the main ideas and key details of a text into a shorter version, capturing the essence of the material. Example: After reading a chapter of a textbook, a student summarizes the main points, such as the causes and effects of a historical event. 5. Main Idea and Supporting Details Identifying the main point or central message of a text and recognizing the details that support or elaborate on this main idea. Example: In an article about recycling, the main idea might be the importance of recycling to save the environment, with supporting details about how recycling reduces waste and conserves resources. 6. Comparing and Contrasting Identifying similarities and differences between two or more ideas, characters, settings, or events. Example: Comparing the characteristics of two characters in a story, noting how one is brave and the other is cautious. 7. Cause and Effect Understanding the relationship between events, where one event causes another to happen. Example: Reading a story where a character gets wet because it started raining while they were outside, showing the cause (rain) and effect (getting wet). 8. Analyzing Characters Understanding the traits, motivations, and development of characters within a story. Example: Analyzing how a character changes from the beginning to the end of the story, such as growing from shy to confident. 9. Making Connections Relating the content of the text to one's own experiences, other texts, or the world around them. Example: After reading a story about friendship, a student might relate it to their own experiences with friends or to another book about friendship. 10. Evaluating Making judgments about the text, such as the credibility of the information, the author's intent, or the effectiveness of the arguments presented. Example: Evaluating whether the arguments in a persuasive essay are strong and well-supported by evidence. 11. Drawing Conclusions Making decisions or forming opinions based on the information provided and one's own reasoning. Example: Concluding that a character in a story is brave after observing their actions throughout the text. Understanding Vocabulary in Context: Definition: Using context clues from the surrounding text to figure out the meaning of unknown words. Example: Encountering the word "frigid" in a sentence describing a cold winter day and using the context to understand it means very cold. Strategies for Enhancing Comprehension Skills 1. Questioning Encouraging students to ask questions before, during, and after reading to enhance their understanding and curiosity about the text. Example: Asking "What do you think will happen next?" or "Why did the character do that?" 2. Think-Alouds Teachers model their thought process while reading a text aloud to demonstrate comprehension strategies, such as predicting, visualizing, and making connections. Example: While reading, a teacher might say, "I wonder why the character feels this way... Maybe it's because of what happened earlier." 3. Graphic Organizers Using visual aids like Venn diagrams, story maps, and cause-and-effect charts to organize information and ideas from the text. Example: Using a story map to outline the setting, characters, problem, and solution in a story. 4. Retelling and Paraphrasing Having students retell the story or passage in their own words to demonstrate understanding. Example: After reading a passage, a student explains it in their own words, highlighting the main points. 5. Visualization Encouraging students to create mental images of the scenes described in the text to enhance understanding and memory. Example: While reading a description of a garden, a student visualizes the flowers, trees, and paths in their mind. 6. Using Prior Knowledge Activating what students already know about a topic before reading to help them connect new information with what they already understand. Example: Before reading a book about space, students share what they know about planets and stars. 7. Summarizing and Note-Taking Teaching students to identify key points and take notes while reading to help them organize and retain information. Example: Writing down the main events of each chapter in a notebook. 8. Reciprocal Teaching A collaborative learning activity where students take turns being the teacher, leading discussions about the text using strategies like summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. Example: In a small group, one student asks a question about the text, another summarizes, a third clarifies a difficult part, and the last one makes a prediction. 9. Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World Connections Encouraging students to connect the text they are reading to their own experiences (Text-to-Self), to other texts they have read (Text-to-Text), and to broader world issues or events (Text-to-World). Example: After reading a book about kindness, students share personal experiences when they were kind to others (Text-to-Self) or compare it with another book on kindness (Text-to-Text). 10. Using Discussion and Collaborative Learning Engaging students in group discussions about the text to share insights, ask questions, and build on each other’s ideas. Example: After reading a passage, students discuss what they think the main message of the text is and provide reasons for their answers. Comprehension skills are vital for understanding and engaging with text effectively. By developing these skills, students can better analyze information, think critically, and become more proficient readers and communicators. Using a variety of strategies and activities can help strengthen comprehension skills, enabling learners to make sense of complex texts and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. 5. Fluency Fluency refers to the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression. It is a critical component of reading because it bridges word recognition and comprehension. Fluent readers can read aloud effortlessly and smoothly, making it easier for them to understand and enjoy what they read. They do not have to focus on decoding individual words, which allows them to focus on the meaning of the text. Key Components of Fluency 1. Accuracy The ability to read words correctly without making mistakes. Example: A student who reads the sentence "The cat sat on the mat" without mispronouncing any words or substituting other words. 2. Speed (Rate) The rate at which a person reads. Fluent readers read at an appropriate pace, not too fast or too slow. Example: A fluent reader reads a passage at a consistent speed that is neither too hurried nor overly slow, allowing for natural comprehension of the material. 3. Prosody (Expression) The use of pitch, stress, and intonation in reading. Prosody involves reading with appropriate expression, conveying the emotion, mood, and emphasis of the text. Example: When reading a question aloud, a fluent reader's voice rises at the end, and when reading dialogue, they use different tones for different characters. 4. Phrasing The grouping of words into meaningful units or phrases. Fluent readers recognize natural breaks in sentences and use these to read more smoothly. Example: Reading the phrase "in the middle of the night" as a single unit rather than pausing awkwardly between each word. 5. Automaticity The ability to recognize and decode words effortlessly, without conscious thought. It allows readers to focus on the meaning rather than on decoding each word. Example: A fluent reader quickly recognizes common words like "the," "and," and "because" without needing to sound them out. Importance of Fluency 1. Enhances Comprehension Fluent readers can focus on the meaning of the text rather than decoding individual words, leading to better understanding and retention. 2. Increases Reading Enjoyment When reading is effortless, it becomes more enjoyable, motivating students to read more and develop a love for reading. 3. Improves Vocabulary Fluency allows readers to encounter and understand new words in context, which aids in vocabulary development. 4. Builds Confidence Fluent readers are more confident in their reading abilities, which can lead to greater participation in reading activities and discussions. 5. Supports Academic Success Fluency is linked to success in other academic areas that require reading, such as science, history, and math, because it enables students to understand and engage with content effectively. Strategies to Improve Fluency 1. Modeling Fluent Reading Teachers or adults read aloud to students, demonstrating fluent reading with proper pace, expression, and phrasing. Example: A teacher reads a story aloud, showing how to use different voices for characters and how to use punctuation as cues for pauses and inflection. 2. Choral Reading The whole class or group reads a text together aloud. This helps students practice reading with rhythm and expression without the pressure of reading alone. Example: The class reads a poem together, following the teacher’s lead in pacing and expression. 3. Echo Reading The teacher reads a sentence or passage first, and the students repeat or "echo" it back, mimicking the teacher's fluency. Example: The teacher reads, "Once upon a time," and the students repeat the phrase, mirroring the teacher’s intonation and pace. 4. Repeated Reading Students read the same text multiple times until they can read it fluently. This practice helps improve speed, accuracy, and expression. Example: A student reads a short passage three times. Each time, the student becomes more familiar with the words and can read them more fluently. 5. Paired or Buddy Reading Students work in pairs to take turns reading aloud to each other. This provides an opportunity for peer support and practice. Example: Two students take turns reading pages from a storybook, offering feedback and encouragement to each other. 5. Reader's Theater A form of dramatic reading where students perform a script derived from literature. This practice encourages reading with expression and enthusiasm. Example: Students read a script based on a popular children's book, acting out the characters' parts using expressive voices and gestures. 6. Use of Audiobooks and Recordings Listening to recordings of fluent reading while following along with the text can help students internalize fluent reading patterns. Example: A student listens to an audiobook while reading along in their own copy of the book, paying attention to how the narrator uses expression and pacing. 7. Timed Reading Activities Having students read a passage for a set amount of time and then tracking their reading rate. The goal is to increase the number of words read correctly per minute. Example: A student reads a passage for one minute, and the teacher records the number of words read correctly. The student then practices and tries to beat their previous record. 8. Phrase-Cued Reading A technique where text is marked to show where natural pauses occur, helping students practice reading in phrases rather than word-by-word. Example: A passage is divided into phrases using slashes, such as "The cat / sat on / the mat," guiding students to read smoothly and with proper phrasing. 9. Sight Word Practice Practice with high-frequency words that students should recognize on sight without having to decode them. Example: Using flashcards with common sight words like "the," "and," "said," and having students practice reading them quickly. 10. Use of Apps and Technology Utilizing reading apps and technology-based programs that provide interactive fluency practice. Example: A reading app that highlights words as they are read aloud, allowing students to follow along and practice matching their reading speed to the audio. Fluency is a foundational skill that supports overall reading development. By becoming fluent readers, students can more easily comprehend and enjoy reading, which in turn fosters a lifelong love of reading. Educators can use a variety of engaging and interactive strategies to help students improve their fluency, making reading a more enjoyable and rewarding experience. I- Activity 3 Direction: Create a Photo Essay about the Roles of Early Childhood Education Teacher in Teaching Reading. II- Think about It Direction: Make a sample preschooler activity which assess their comprehension, vocabulary understanding, and ability to summarize and question the text. III- Assess Direction: Read and answer the following questions carefully. 1. What are the key components of literacy skills, and why are they important for a child's overall development? 2. Why is reading fluency considered a critical literacy skill, and how does it impact comprehension? The Strategies for Teaching Reading A. Phonics Teaching Phonics is an approach to teaching some aspects of literacy, by developing pupils' knowledge and understanding of the relationship between written symbols and sounds. This involves the skills of hearing, identifying and using the patterns of sounds or phonemes to read written language. Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read. Understanding phonics will also help children know which letters to use when they are writing words. Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. For example, the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck or ch. Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out. For example, when a child is taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, they can start to build up the words: “tap”, “taps”, “pat”, “pats” and “sat”. How is phonics taught? Introducing young children to the joy and wonder of books requires a systematic teaching of phonics. 1. Synthetic phonics The most widely used approach associated with the teaching of reading in which phonemes (sounds) associated with particular graphemes (letters) are pronounced in isolation and blended together (synthesised). For example, children are taught to take a single-syllable word such as cat apart into its three letters, pronounce a phoneme for each letter in turn /k, æ, t/, and blend the phonemes together to form a word. 2. Analytical phonics A popular approach in Scotland, this method is associated with the teaching of reading in which the phonemes associated with particular graphemes are not pronounced in isolation. Children identify (analyse) the common phoneme in a set of words in which each word contains the phoneme under study. For example, teacher and pupils discuss how the following words are alike: pat, park, push and pen. 3. Analogy phonics A type of analytic phonics in which children analyse phonic elements according to the phonograms in the word. A phonogram, known in linguistics as a rime, is composed of the vowel and all the sounds that follow it, such as –ake in the word cake. Children use these phonograms to learn about “word families” for example cake, make, bake, fake. 4. Embedded phonics An approach to the teaching of reading in which phonics forms one part of a whole language programme. 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. The Alphabetic Principle The alphabetic principle is the understanding that individual sounds are paired with visual symbols (letters). Students start to learn the alphabetic principle by: 1. Acquiring and remembering letter names. 2. Acquiring and remembering letter shapes. 3. Matching letter sounds with their written form (shape). Best Practices for Teaching Phonics 1. Teach the letter-sound relationship in a clear and detailed way and in isolation. 2. Start with teaching the beginning sound and letter for your kids’ names. 3. Teach your kid’s name written out, you can do this by putting their name at their place where they sit at the dinner table. 4. Then start with these letters: f, m, n, r, and s as they can be pronounced easily in isolation. 5. Teach five additional sounds: a, i, e, m, t. 6. Then you can make words with them: at, it, fat, mat, sat, rat, fan, tan, man, ten, set, sit, met, and mitt. 7. Next, make sentences with them: Matt ran. Matt sits. 8. Next, give multiple opportunities each day to practice the sound-symbol relationships. 9. Label objects in their rooms and around the house. Ask them what other objects they would like to label i.e.: dresser, bed, tub, door, etc. On the way to school, practice the names of the letters with their sound and even a word that begins with that sound. Think of rhyming words with /at/. This is a great way to introduce additional letter-sound relationships (at, cat, fat, hat, etc.) Review daily previously taught sounds-symbols and gradually add new sound-symbols (letters). Practice and apply these sound-symbol relationships with phonetically spelled words that are familiar to them. B. Language Experience Approach The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is a literacy development method that has long been used for early reading development with first language learners. It is also perfect for diverse classrooms. It combines all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Working on the four language skills side by side aids fluency. A LEA lesson is centered around a learner-generated text. The rationale behind LEA is that materials with familiar vocabulary and ideas are more meaningful and accessible than texts found in pre-prepared books. For teachers wanting to work on reading fluency with emergent readers, learner-generated texts are ideal. The following sections describe the steps of an Language Experience Approach lesson. STEP #1: A Shared Experience The LEA process begins with something the class does together, such as a field trip, an experiment, or some other hands-on activity. If this is not possible, a sequence of pictures (that tell a story) can be used, as can a student describing a sequence of events from real life. STEP #2: Creating the Text Next, the teacher and students, as a group, verbally recreate the shared experience. Students take turns volunteering information, as in a large-group discussion. The teacher transcribes the student’s words on the board in an organized way to create the text. STEP #3: Read & Revise The class reads the story aloud and discusses it. The teacher asks if the students want to make any corrections or additions to the story. Then she marks the changes they suggest and makes further suggestions, if needed. STEP #4: Read and Reread The final story can be read in a choral or echo style, or both. Students can also read in small groups or pairs, and then individually. STEP #5: Extension This text can be used for a variety of literacy activities like illustrations or creating comprehension questions. The Language Experience Approach The language experience approach integrates speaking and listening, reading and writing through the development of a written text based on first hand experiences. Through scaffolded talk, the teacher supports students to document experiences and ideas, using familiar and expanded vocabulary, modelling ways in which their thoughts and words can be written down and later read. Typically, the language experience approach involves a shared experience such as everyday happenings, common school experiences, a classroom event or hands-on activity, excursions but can also include students’ personal experiences or ideas. The teacher’s role in language experience is to support the student to recreate the experience orally as they: Capitalise on students’ interest and experiences Prompt the students to reflect on the experiences Ask questions to elicit details about the experience through more explicit language Help students to rehearse the ideas they will be writing about. Creating the text The text might be written by the teacher or by the student. As the writer, the teacher acts as a model, demonstrating how thought and words can be represented in writing as students dictate their ideas. Individual children might dictate a sentence, or a longer text might be written. Alternatively, students will write their own texts. Here, the teacher can guide students’ writing, encouraging them to understand that what they think can be said, and what they say can be written down by them or others (Hill, 2012). In the writing that occurs as part of the language experience approach, it can be helpful to remind the children that the writing produced will provide information for those who did not directly share the experience. In that way, differences between spoken language and written language can be emphasised. “How can we put that in writing for someone that wasn’t there?” is a question that might support children to create more elaborate, extended text. As the texts written through the language experience approach reflect first hand experiences, the formats will vary – for example, charts, labels, captions, lists or genres such as recounts, procedures, information reports. Drawing either before or after writing will often complement the written text. In her research into connections between drawing and writing, Mackenzie (2011) found that when emergent writers see drawing and writing as a unified meaning making system, more complex texts are created. Reading What is written can now be read. As the language experience texts are relevant to the students, the opportunity to read them aloud creates a positive experience and reinforces the reciprocity between reading and writing. Texts that the students have produced based on their experiences, using familiar language make good early reading material which can be read chorally or individually. Lorraine Wilson advocated the importance of the language experience approach in ‘Write me a Sign’, published in 1979. A key message from this publication is that language is central to learning in all areas of the curriculum. Wilson also acknowledges the need for children to read published texts which open up possibilities of engaging with other people’s language and ideas as they become more experienced readers and writers. Understanding the difference between spoken and written language is critical in the primary years of schooling (Christie, 2013). Hill (2012) states that language experience enables young literacy learners in particular to understand the difference between spoken and written language. Importantly, children’s language is extended through interactions with an ‘expert other’, that is, the teacher. Through the expansion and extension of oral language based around experiences, students are supported to write about these experiences. These student-generated written texts then become texts the students read allowing the experience to be revisited. C. The FourPronged Approach The Four-pronged Approach is a holistic, literature-based approach to the teaching of reading and language. The components are: 1) Developing a genuine love for reading 2) Developing critical thinking 3) Mastery of oral language structures 4) Beginning reading. FourPronged Approach aims to immerse the child in the literature and develop a deep and lasting love for reading. Finding a good story or poem is the first step of this prong. The story/poem should be suitable to the age, interest, and vocabulary level of the child. The important details of the story/poem that may hinder the child’s understanding should be identified. Unlocking of difficulties may be made through variety of ways such as demonstrations, concrete objects, drawings, and other forms of representation. On the other hand, the children must also have a need and desire to read or listen. To do this, the teacher needs to look for an interesting quality reading material, which is familiar to the children. From this, the children can be motivated to share their personal experiences and feelings. Meanwhile, the teacher should be artistic enough in reading the story or poem to sustain the interest of the children. CRITICAL THINKING In this prong, the teacher asks motive questions, which can lead the children to discover the events and beauty of the story/poem. The teacher should employ the art of questioning so that children will able to understand the story/poem to their own pace of realization. It is stressed by Raidis Laudiano that the children are trained to reflect on the story to be adapted to critical thinking. The teacher should prepare creative exercises to enhance children’s critical thinking. Through this method of sharing literature, vocabulary is developed, attention span is lengthened, listening comprehension is honed, and critical thinking, applied daily becomes a habit. MASTERY OF THE STRUCTURES OF THE FILIPINO/ENGLISH LANGUAGE Literature is an excellence source of examples of good language. The children will catch this language and use it in their conversation in and out of the school. The story/poem gives the children experiences that they can talk about. Besides, the content of the story/poem helps the children to learn new languages and its structures. TRANSFER STAGE Children who have become used to listening stories will want to read on their own. Pretending to scan any storybooks is one of the manifestations, that the child is ready for the beginning reading instruction, or the transfer stage. This is the prong where reading readiness activities are given to the child. D. Project based/Activity-based Approach In PBL, classrooms are organized so that students work together on real-world tasks or problems. By inviting students to engage in hands-on learning activities, they acquire and solidify knowledge in a way that directly applies to their lives. Project-based learning (PBL) or project-based instruction is a student-centered teaching method that encourages learning through engaging, real-world, curriculum-related questions or challenges. Project-based learning isn’t just group work or a randomly assigned project. Let’s take a look at some of the key characteristics to help you build your own project-based learning assignment: 1. Project-based learning presents an open-ended, appropriately complex question. Students should have to do deep research, draw on existing knowledge and come up with a solution in the form of a final project — whether that’s a presentation, proposal, essay or other product. Students should have a choice in what they explore, and the questions they answer should be genuinely challenging with real-world applications. 2. Project-based learning relates to knowledge acquired through classroom lessons. Not only should project-based learning build on your classroom lessons, but it should give students the opportunity to put them to use in a real-world setting. Project-based learning encourages students to dive deeper into the subject matter and builds on content knowledge. 3. Project-based learning requires students to find their own solutions to a given problem or question. Just because the inspiration for project-based learning assignments comes from your lectures, doesn’t mean it should stay there. Effective PBL comes from requiring students to find their own solutions to a given problem — not just plugging in a formula to find the answer. 4. Project-based learning gives students a choice in how they learn. Students learn best when they’re studying something that captures their imagination and interest. Regardless of the end product, students should have as much autonomy as possible in what they make and how. They should learn how to communicate ideas in a group and on their own, and really bring their passion for the project to the forefront. 5. Project-based learning follows a clear, well-defined set of assessment criteria. The best way to keep project-based learning on track and effective is to let students know what’s expected of them. I- Activity 4 Direction: Write a lesson plan on teaching reading in kindergarten. Present a Demonstration Teaching by group. Criteria for Demonstration Teaching: Personality 10% Lesson Planning 20% Mastery of the Subject Matter 30% Classroom Management 20% Instructional Materials 20 % Total -100 % II- Think about It Direction: Create an Essay on the foundational objectives for early reading instruction and how can kindergarten teachers create a print-rich environment to support early literacy development, III- Assess Direction: Read and answer the following questions carefully. 1. What are some essential strategies that teachers can use to develop students' reading skills? 2. What role does background knowledge play in reading comprehension, and how can teachers activate prior knowledge before reading a new text? DepEd Curriculum Guide in English, Filipino and MTB-MLE Literacy Teaching Toolkit https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/Pages /default.aspx Literature in ECE Toolkit. Reading Across the Curriculum https://www.learner.org/series/teaching-reading-3-5-workshop/featured-classrooms/reading-across- the-curriculum

2P-ECED 01 Teaching Early Oracy and Literacy Course Content PDF

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