Supporting Struggling Readers

What We Know - How We Can Help.

Anthony S. Cali Principal, Cornwell Ave. School Kathleen O’Farrell Director, English/Lang. Arts

SEPTA Presentation – Oct. 21, 2010

How America’s Children Learn to Read:National Reading Panel Report (2003)

5% - learn to read/write with ease.

20-30% - learn to read relatively easy once they enter

school and begin formal instruction.

60% - have difficulty learning to read.

Factors that interfere with reading success:

Allen, Janet (2000). Yellow Brick Roads, p. 38

Lack of interest/motivation

Ill-defined purpose Lack of background

knowledge Information overload Misuse of text

supports Character confusion Insufficient vocabulary

Intricate plot Limited world

knowledge Singular point of view Inability to break the

language code Absence of

questioning Insufficient reading

experience

What makes reading difficult for too many kids?

Lack of oral language base Lack of experience with the genre Lack of phonemic awareness Lack of letter-sound associations Lack of background knowledge Specialized vocabulary Text structures

Reading is a multifaceted skill, gradually acquired over years of instruction and practice.

The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled Reading(Scarborough, 2001)

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE LANGUAGE STRUCTURES VERBAL REASONING

LITERACY KNOWLEDGE

PHON. AWARENESS

DECODING (and SPELLING) SIGHT RECOGNITION

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

WORD RECOGNITION

increasingly

automatic

increasingly

strategic

Oral Language Base

Hearing and saying rhymes, jingles, poems, and songs.

Hearing stories read aloud. Listening to stories while looking

at text. Sharing reading of familiar story. Reading(or “pretend reading”)for

yourself. Watching someone write. Noticing signs and print in

environment.

The knowledge that language is made up of sounds and words that have meaning which can be used to communicate with others. Learning to read and write begins with oral language.

Experience with Genres

Poetry Folklore Fantasy Science Fiction Realistic Fiction Historical Fiction Biography Nonfiction

All literature can be divided into categories, called genres that have defining characteristics. Once upon a time, the term “children’s literature” referred simply to storybooks, but today the field includes much more. Children’s books are a powerful force in the lives of children.

Phonemic Awareness

D-O-G (3 letters - 3 phonemes)

C-A-K-E 4 letters - 3 phonemes)

•Eight•Enough •Ghost

ABC

The ability to hear sounds in words and to identify particular sounds. Awareness of phrases, words, syllables, rhymes, etc.

Letter-Sound Associations

mom foot next jumping

In English, there is not a 1-1 regular letter-sound match for all words. Phonetic strategies only work for about 50% of our words, so a skillful reader needs a wide range of strategies for words that don’t fit the pattern.

B bboat

G g girl

Knowledge of relationship between letters and their sounds to make sense of words.

Background Knowledge

Key Understandings:• Some words are like other words in the

way they sound. • When you read you go from left to right.• Pictures represent meaning that will help

you understand the story.• One spoken word matches one written

word on the page.• Letters come together to form

words.Words come together to form sentences, which have meaning.

Elementary students are at various levels of expertise on their way to becoming successful readers. Their levels of understanding are the result of previous experience and opportunities.

Specialized Vocabulary

Can use visual information quickly and efficiently

Know and use analogies, word parts, roots, etc.

Have a growing level of awareness of alternative spelling patterns.

Understand multiple word meanings and usage, depending on context.

When encountering difficult and unfamiliar words, the reader needs to use a range of word-solving skills and search context information for the meaning.

Text Structures

Excerpt from “Thank You, Lab Detective by Catherine Ripley

“…Bacteria live in your throat all the time. Most are harmless, but some can make you sick. For example, a bacteria called Streptococcus pyogenes (“Strep A” for short)might be the cause of your sore throat. But your doctor can’t be sure just by looking. A virus could be the culprit, too. So your doctor pokes a cotton-tipped swab around your throat. Any bacteria growing there will stick to the swab. Lickety-split, off to the laboratory goes the swab!”

The use of visual information and the nature of text changes over time. The text a child reads acts as a medium for developing the kind of processing that will be required.

What Really Matters for Struggling Readers?

Need to read a lot. Need books they can read. Need to learn to read fluently. Need to develop thoughtful literacy. Need extensive reading/writing

instruction.

Motivating Reluctant Readers

Create a book rich environment Provide a wide variety of reading

materials Provide a low stress environment Give opportunities for choice Foster personal connections and

authentic relevance Allow social interaction

“All readers, those who struggle and those who don’t, need to be taught the strategies that proficient readers naturally use to construct meaning from text.”

Harvey, S. (1998). Nonfiction Matters, p. 77

7 Comprehension Strategies

Make connections Determine Importance Ask questions Use sensory images Draw inferences Synthesize Use fix-up strategies

Keene & Zimmerman, 1997

Word Identification Strategies

Decoding Analogies Context Clues Word Meaning Syllabic Analysis

“Word solving in reading is a complex process that involves both decoding and deriving meaning; the two processes are inseparable.”

Fountas & Pinnell (2001) Guiding Readers and Writers, Grades 3-6, p. 369

Instructional Practices

Guided Reading Language Experience Thematic approach Talking books Familiar books Buddy reading Computer programs

Word sorts Word building Interactive writing Retelling Character

mapping Story mapping

MATTHEW EFFECT

90TH 40.4 MIN. 2,357,000

50TH 12.9 MIN. 601,000

10TH 1.6 MIN. 51,000

PERCENTILEMIN./DAY SCHOOL READING WORDS PER YEAR

The only way to close the gap is to read more!In a 90 min. literacy block, if students read:•20 min. - gap widens•40 min. - stays the same•60 min. - gain of 2 years Kylene Beers, 2003

General Instruction Instructional Support

Balanced Reading Fundations (Double Dose)

• Read Aloud Just Words

• Shared Reading Wilson

• Independent Reading Fountas & Pinnell

• Guided Reading Raz Kids

Reading/Writing Workshop Study Island

Fundations (Gr. K-3)

Testing Fundamentals (Gr. 3-5)

West HempsteadReading Instruction/Support Model

GETTING THE MEANINGWhat is it in language that you as a reader use to make sense of text?

Consider this:Readers use three kinds of

information to make sense of what they read;

• Graphophonic – writing, spelling, punctuation

• Grammatical – Syntax, grammar• Semantic – meaning

Readers use language patterns to get to meaning. You have everything you need to get to meaning in this nonsense story, but you can’t quite get there because you don’t bring enough meaning to the reading.

A Mardsan Giberter for Farfie

Gils was very fraper. She had denarpen Farfie’smardsan. She didn’t talp a giberter for him, so sheconlanted to plimp a mardsan binky for him. SheHad just sparved the binky when he jibbled in thegorger.

“Clorsty mardasn!” she boffed.“That’s a crouistish mardsan binky,” boffed Farfie,

“but my mardsan is on Stansan.”“In that ruspen,” boffed Gils, “I won’t whank you

your giberter until Stansan.”

Comprehension Test

1. Why was Gils fraper? She had denarpen Farfie’s mardsan.

2. What did Gils plimp? She plimped a mardasn binky for Farfie.

3. Who jibbled in the gorger when Gils sparved the binky?Farfie

4. What did Farfie bof about the mardsan binky? “That’s a crouistish mardsan binky.”

5. Why didn’t Gils whank Farfie his giberter? She didn’t talp a giberter for Farfie

Common Core Standards for ELA & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and

Technical Subjects •K-12 standards to ensure students are college and career ready in literacy no later than the end of high school•Vision of what it means to be literate in the 21st Century•Critical reading is essential•Cogent reasoning with evidence in writing is essential

Common Core StandardsStudents Who Are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking,

Listening and Language:

1. Demonstrate independence2. Build strong content knowledge3. Respond to varying demands of audience, task, purpose and discipline4. Comprehend as well as critique5. Value evidence6. Use technology and digital media strategically and capably7. Come to understand other perspectives and cultures

For more information go to:www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/commn_core_standards

Informational Web Sites

www.alline.org/euro/ereading.html Reading web site resources http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/

1349 Reading strategies for elementary

students www.globalclassroom.org/2005/

inservice/reading.html Interactive Reading/LA web sites

“Many children learn to read by the time they are seven or eight years old; but to become truly literate, they will go on learning to read throughout their lives.”

Moira McKenzie