A Balanced Approach to Reading Instruction.
Learning to talk is a process that comes naturally and is an almost effortless learning experience for young children. This is largely because we as humans have evolved as animals that can communicate orally. However learning to read is a completely different skill to master altogether, this is because humans have been literate for a very short time. There are five key areas that teachers needed to focus on in order to have effective instruction if reading for young students. These five areas have become known as the five pillars of effective reading instruction and are comprised of: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension. To effectively teach students these five pillars, a teacher needs to do this in a balanced approach using direct and explicit instructional methods. Taking a balanced approach is a key criteria in effective reading instruction, the NICHHD with scientific evidence has identified that the most reliable and effective approach in teaching the five pillars is through systematic and explicit instruction (NICHD 2000).
Phonics, phonemic awareness and phonological awareness are now widely used in the instruction of reading however they are often misunderstood in their precise meaning. Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness are often used together, though it must be stressed that these two terms are not and do not mean the same thing (Konza, 2011). Phonological awareness is a skill that enables students to blend sounds together; they are able to segment words into their constituent sounds (Phonemes) and then able to combine the sounds of words as well as having the knowledge of whether two words have the same sound (Anthony & Francis, 2005). S...
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...to as the “Goldilocks” phenomenon – not too much, not too little, but just the right amount (Miller, p.42, 2013)
A balanced approach to literacy is aimed at teachers gradually releasing responsibility from teachers through systematic and explicit instruction to students. For the effective facilitation of this process to take place teachers first and foremost must have the required knowledge and programming skills to effectively impart knowledge to students and a fun and engaging way that students actively want to learn. Teachers must also take the necessary steps to know the skill level of their students and their developmental requirements. It is crucial that teacher understand the varying skills level between students consequently providing effective systematic and explicit instruction to achieve successful outcomes for all students.
Differentiated instruction caters to differences among students, how students learn, different learning styles, and the interest of each learner. Running records support differentiating lessons for each learner during guided reading. Running records are diagnostic tools designed to identify a student’s reading deficiencies and monitor progress. The implementation of running records allows the teacher to differentiate each child’s reading lesson and hone in on the child’s needs and abilities. It is the educator’s responsibility to fine-tune instructional needs so that classroom, small group, and one-to-one teaching occur when and for whom they are needed in a timely way and with the high quality every child deserves (Fountas & Pinnell, 2009). Each child enters a classroom with varying needs; differentiating guided reading lessons based on the results of running records will help meet the individual needs of each child. Kelly M. Anderson (2007) states, teachers who differentiate believe each child is unique, with differing learning styles and preferences. Teachers can differentiate based on students’ readiness by varying the level of difficulty of the material covered in class. Guided reading offers the opportunity to vary the children’s reading based on their reading level. Differentiating instruction is not lowering expectations for some students. Differentiating instruction is establishing high expectations for all students while varying the process to which each child learns the same concept. Differentiating involves addressing the individual needs of diverse learners. Watts-Taffe, et al. (2012) notes although differentiating instruction is not new; it has become increasingly i...
Six principles for early reading instruction by Bonnie Grossen will be strongly enforced. It includes Phonemic awareness, each letter-Phonemic relationship explicitly, high regular letter-sound relationship systematically, showing exactly how to sound out words, connected decodable text to practice the letter phonemic relationships and using interesting stories to develop language comprehension. Double deficit hypothesis which focuses on phonological awareness and rapid naming speed.
Phonemic Awareness is when a person is able to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in words. In the article Tell Me About Fred’s Fat foot Again, Geri Murry did a study on phoneme awareness. It started with Geri working with a four year old on a tongue tickler, getting her to manipulate the sounds. Geri also made the learning fun, relatable, and intriguing to get the little girl Jenny interested in the lesson. Then, the article went into detail over four things that should be included in phonemic awareness lesson plans. The first thing is to focus on the individual phoneme. Second, make the phoneme memorable. To help out with making the phenome stand out, the article suggested analogies, illustrations, gestures, graphemes,
Phonological awareness refers to an individual’s ability to hear and manipulate a variety of sounds in spoken words as well as recognize various parts of speech including syllables, rhymes and letter sounds (Canadian Council on Learning, 2006; Johnson, McDonnell, & Hawken, 2008). A child’s level of phonological awareness is directly related to later reading outcomes. Phonological awareness is enhanced when children are exposed to rhymes, have opportunities to practice letter sounds, and have opportunities to identify initial sounds in words
Overall, teachers need to take into account all six critical areas of reading when teaching. No matter the subject or time constraints, teachers need to incorporate all areas into the curriculum. Reading is a complex process. If a student does not know to read, a student will never to be able to achieve their best. When using all six areas teachers are using a balanced literacy approach and create greater success for students to succeed in reading and writing.
Phonological awareness is the ability to be aware of the sounds certain letters in words make. Sue Bredekamp and Carrol Copple explain, “Another strong predicator of phonological awareness; that is, noticing the sounds of spoken language- beginning speech sounds and rhythms, rhyme and other sound similarities, and, at the highest level, syllables and phonemes (the smallest units of speech that make a difference in communication)” (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009, p. 147). An example of something I can use in the classroom will follow standard LAFS.K.RF.2.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). a. Recognize and produce rhyming words. By teaching children to listen to the ending sounds of a word, I can use a felt board to hang up pictures of a cat, bat, rat, hat, mat, and images showing pat, sat, and splat. I will ask the class to listen for ending sounds and find the similarities. I can assess them by adding pictures of a dog, chair, fan, and pen on the mat and see if they can match the rhyming words and omit the non-rhyming
Whole language is considered a "top down" approach where the reader constructs a personal meaning for a text based on using their prior knowledge to interpret the meaning of what they are reading. Teachers are expected to provide a literacy rich environment for their students and to combine speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Whole language teachers emphasize the meaning of texts over the sounds of letters, and phonics instruction becomes just one component of the whole language classroom. Problems associated with whole language include a lack of structure that has been traditionally supplied by the scope and sequence, lessons and activities, and extensive graded literature found in basal readers. Whole language puts a heavy burden on teachers to develop their own curriculum.
The seven pillars of effective reading instruction are an important base to an effective and engaging classroom. Teachers, who are able to apply each of these pillars to everyday learning in the classroom, reach their students and provide instruction in meaningful and approachable ways. Each of these pillars provides important ideas and information that work together to create an effective learning environment in the literacy classroom. By accessing and including each of these pillars in my classroom environment, curriculum and instructions, students benefit from the more effective reading instruction possible.
Phonological awareness (PA) involves a broad range of skills; This includes being able to identify and manipulate units of language, breaking (separating) words down into syllables and phonemes and being aware of rhymes and onset and rime units. An individual with knowledge of the phonological structure of words is considered phonologically aware. A relationship has been formed between Phonological awareness and literacy which has subsequently resulted in Phonological awareness tasks and interventions.This relationship in particular is seen to develop during early childhood and onwards (Lundberg, Olofsson & Wall 1980). The link between PA and reading is seen to be stronger during these years also (Engen & Holen 2002). As a result Phonological awareness assessments are currently viewed as both a weighted and trusted predictor of a child's reading and spelling and ability.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in words. It is very important to teach phonemic awareness because it the start of teaching the students how to read. This lesson taught me about all the steps it takes to teach students about phonemic awareness. It’s something that can’t be done in one class. Phonemic awareness has for stages, word, syllable, onset rime, and phoneme. All these steps are crucial for learning how to read. This lesson taught me a lot about phonemic awareness and it’s a lesson I’ll be using in the near future when I begin
Looking upon my time here at Central Michigan, I recall in previous courses that phonemic awareness is how we interpret the sounds in a word. Essentially, being able to hear and identify these sounds of our language. After deeply focusing on Phonological and phonemic awareness over the course of a few weeks, it is clear that my prior knowledge isn’t far off. Both of these skills involve sound and can be processed with eyes closed—no printed material. After much research, these skills are vital to a child and their development; they aid in spelling, alphabetic principle, and letter-sound correspondence. If this skill is not obtained by a child, he or she will have a difficult time with reading and comprehension in addition to poor spelling.
The FLaRE (Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence) Center has published a professional paper entitled “Phonemic Awareness” of which I will be presenting a critical review. Phonemic awareness is one of the five essential components of reading identified by the National reading Panel (Learning Point Associates, 2004). Phonemic awareness can be defined as a person’s understanding that each word we speak is comprised of individual sounds called phonemes and that these sounds can be blended to form different words (Learning Point Associates, 2004). The article was intended to give a synopsis of phonemic awareness and the vital role it plays in a literacy program. I found the article to be very clear and concise presenting valuable tactics that can be applied in the classroom.
Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.
practices to best meet the literacy needs of all learners. The debate over which method of teaching literacy may be put to rest because studies show that no single method is best for all children all the time. With that being said, educators must use a balanced approach, simple and complex view or reading, to approach literacy development. Key Issues and Priorities in Emergent Literacy The curriculum is important in teacher effectiveness and preparedness.
The five key elements are one, Phonemic Awareness. This is when a teacher helps children to learn how to manipulate sounds in our language and this helps children to learn how to read. Phonemic Awareness can help to improve a student’s reading, and spelling. With this type of training the effects on a child’s reading will last long after training is over. The second key is Phonics. Phonics has many positive benefits for children in elementary schools from kindergarten up to the sixth grade level. Phonics helps children who struggle with learning how to read by teaching them how to spell, comprehend what they are reading, and by showing them how to decode words. The third key is Vocabulary. Vocabulary is important when children are learning how to comprehend what they are reading. Showing children, the same vocabulary words by using repetition will help them to remember the words. The fourth key is comprehension. Comprehension is when a child’s understanding of comprehension is improved when teachers use different techniques such as generating questions, answering questions, and summarizing what they are