Why Some Children Struggle to Learn to Read KATHRYN BURKE

CE N T RE FO R L I T ER ACY

O C TO B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 6 L I T E R A C Y A N D L E A R N I N G D AY

What is reading?

Reading is the process of acquiring meaning from print!

Reading and Speech One of the most important foundational skills for reading is speech. Comprehending text is dependent upon understanding the spoken language of the text.

Dyslexia’s Neurological Signature

Source: Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed., NCSP. “The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders.” Presented at the Alberta School Based Mental Health Care Conference, October 29, 2015. Calgary, AB Canada.

The Building Blocks of Reading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Text Comprehension Vocabulary The National Reading Panel. Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence Based Assessment if the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Implications for Reading Instruction (2000)

Acquiring Reading Skills

Comprehension & Vocabulary

Fluency

Phonological Processes

(Phonemic Awareness & Phonics)

Surface/Orthographic Dyslexia

Dysphonetic Dyslexia

Phonemic Awareness Awareness and ability to work with the individual sounds (phonemes) that make up language Understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make up words.

Phonemic Awareness ◦Can be taught ◦Is most effectively learned before age nine

Phonemes Differ by Language Different languages – different numbers of sound bites or phonemes Language

Number of Sound Bites (Phonemes)

English

44

German

46

French

24

Spanish

26

Arabic

31

Russian

39

Phonics: The Alphabetic Principle Phonics means understanding the relationship between sounds and symbols (the alphabet) Knowing the sound-symbol relationship enables children to:

◦ recognize familiar words automatically ◦ “decode” new words

Also Known As: • Graphophonemic relationships • Letter-sound associations • Letter-sound correspondence • Sound-symbol correspondence • Sound-spellings • Sound-grapheme connection

House | Home | Horse

Decoding

◦House ◦Horse

Identifying Sounds: CVC Word cat /c/ /ă/ /t/ Order of difficulty: ◦ First/initial ◦ Final ◦ Middle

Visual Memory vs. Decoding

Fluency Ability to read accurately and quickly  Automaticity Provides bridge between word recognition and comprehension More Fluent Readers… Attention focused on making connections with ideas in text & between these ideas and their background knowledge

Less Fluent Readers… Attention focused on decoding individual words and not comprehension. Previous text may be forgotten because of effort figuring out a word.

Comprehension The reason for reading Vocabulary is critical

Writing Also known as encoding It is difficult to be a code-maker if you are having trouble being a code-breaker!

Stages of Reading Development 1. Emergent Pre-reader 2. Novice Reader 3. Decoding Reader 4. Fluent Comprehending Reader 5. Expert Reader

Emergent Pre-Reader  Begins in infancy and goes to about five years of age  Enhanced by:

◦ Hearing language ◦ Seeing language ◦ Feeling loved and connected

 Building Vocabulary  “Reading” books & stories

Novice Reader  Learning to decode print  Figuring out sound-symbol connections (e.g., letter sounds)  Hears and manipulate sounds into syllables and words  Memorizes most common letter patterns  Begins to memorize simple sight words, e.g., who  Increases vocabulary to between 2500 to 5000 words (7 words a day)

Decoding Reader  Evolution to a smoother more confident reader  Absence of painful pronunciations  Familiarity with stem, roots, prefixes, suffixes that make up language  Sight chunks  Use of inference  Decoding practice results in automaticity

Fluent, Comprehending Reader  Shift from learning to read to reading to learn  Significant achievement – reading beyond the page, e.g., identifying with a character in a book  Connect and draw inferences from background knowledge  Goal is automaticity to enable reflection on meaning  Stage generally lasts to early adulthood

Expert Reader  One half second to read every word  Status as expert reader will be dependent upon what and how much is read

Reading Derailed  Vision Issues  Hearing Issues  Poor phonological or phonemic awareness  dysphonetic dyslexia  Poor orthographic processing surface /orthographic dyslexia  Difficulty with comprehension  multiple causes  Environmental  Lack of exposure to books and reading

When to be alarmed  ALWAYS trust your instincts as a parent  Reading ability is out of sync with a child’s verbal abilities and/or obvious intelligence  Child gets only first part of word  Child mixes up similar looking words, e.g., house and horse  Child has melt down if you ask him/her to read, but wants you to read the story

Some Steps You Can Take  Speak to your child’s teacher  Ask for support/help  Psycho-educational assessment ◦ Cognitive ◦ Academic

 Learning and Development Clinics  External organizations and resources, e.g., LDAA, LDEdmonton

Remediation ◦Distinction between developmental stages and problems ◦Avoid wait to fail ◦No quick fixes ◦Earlier is better ◦Mental health trumps everything ◦Difference between literacy programs and remediation programs ◦If it is too good to be true, it is too good to be true

Contact Information Kathryn Burke Executive Director Centre for Literacy 100, 9797-45th Avenue NW Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5V8 780-434-3698 [email protected] www.Centre4Literacy.com