Thematic Course on Supporting Students

with SEN:Engaging All Students in Literacy Development

Dr. Joanne RobertsonJuly 14, 2014

Polytechnic University, HK

• 16,262 students • Comprehensive

education: pre- K to Grade 12

• Locally developed literacy resources

Course Outline DATESJuly 14 Engaging All Students in Literacy Development July 15 Oral Language and Early Literacy Skills

Development July 16 Vocabulary Development and Phonics Instruction July 17 Reading Instruction Part One: FluencyJuly 18 Reading Instruction Part Two: ComprehensionJuly 21 Reading Instruction Part Four: Guided Reading

InstructionJuly 22 Writing Instruction Part One July 23 Writing Instruction Part Two July 24 Literacy Assessment PracticesJuly 25 Putting it All Together: Effective Literacy Practices

for All

Engaging All Students in Literacy Development

• Engaging the Literacy Learner• Key Components of Literacy Instruction• Essential Characteristics of Effective Literacy

Teachers • Differentiated literacy instruction for students

with learning and intellectual disabilities

K-W ChartWhat Do I Know? What Do I Want to

Learn?

What is the link between engagement and success in literacy development?

How does a teacher engage and motivate students to learn to read and write?

What are the key components of literacy instruction?

Which classroom strategies are most effective in developing students’ literacy skills?

How can a classroom teacher differentiate instruction for children with learning and intellectual disabilities?

Engaging Literacy Learners

Engaging the Literacy Learner

“Engagement is strongly related to reading achievement.”

(Guthrie, 2001)

• Contexts for Engagement and Motivation in Reading:

http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/guthrie/index.html

What Engaged Rocket in Reading?

Engaging the Literacy Learner

• The degree to which students engage in classroom literacy instruction is critical if they are to become successful readers and writers.

• Engaged students are intrinsically motivated to learn.• When students are engaged they are focused on

meaning-making when they read and write. • Research has identified a number of features of

classrooms that successfully foster and support student engagement.

Reflections on Literacy (Pearson, 2006)

Engaging the Literacy Learner

Engaged readers…are those who apply reading strategies for comprehension and conceptual knowledge, are motivated to learn and achieve, and who are part of a supportive literate community (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000).  Engaged readers not only are able to decode and comprehend texts, but they value reading, believe they are good readers, and choose to read.  Engaged reading is a calling for a integration between motivation, cognition, and social contributions in order to engage students in reading to become life-long, successful readers.• https://www.msu.edu/~dwong/StudentWorkArchive/CEP90

0F01-RIP/Gallagher-Reading.htm

Literacy Engagement

• What does it mean to be engaged in reading?

• How do create classroom contexts for engaging/motivating students to read?

• Think-Pair-Share• What does it look like in the classroom?• http://vimeo.com/30549561

Instructional Contexts for Engagement

1. Learning and Knowledge Goals2. Real World Interaction3. Autonomy Support4. Interesting Texts5. Strategy Instruction6. Collaboration7. Praise 8. Evaluation

(Guthrie, 2001)

Engagement

• Educators and students share their increased engagement in the classroom as a result of flexible learning opportunities in the classroom.

• http://www.udlresource.ca/?p=1648 • (SET BC- Engagement)

Key Components of Literacy Instruction

National Reading Panel

Phonemic Awareness

• The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds--phonemes--in spoken words.

• A part of phonological awareness.

Important Points about Phonemic Awareness:

• Phonemic awareness can be taught and learned.

• Phonemic awareness can help students learn to read and spell.

• Learning to read and spell words by working with letter-sound relationships also improves children’s phonemic awareness.

Phonics

• The relationship between the letters (graphemes) of written language and the sounds (phonemes) of spoken language.

• Phonics instruction is teaching children these letter-sound relationships.

Important Points about Phonics Instruction

• Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is more effective than non-systematic or no phonics instruction.

• Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves kindergarten and first-grade children’s word recognition and spelling.

• Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children’s reading comprehension.

Important Points about Phonics Instruction

• Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is particularly beneficial for children who are having difficulty learning to read and who are at risk for developing future reading problems.

• Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is most effective when introduced early (K or 1).

Some Cautions about Phonics Instruction

• Phonics instruction is not an entire reading program for beginning readers.

• “The best way to get children to refine and extend their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is through repeated opportunities to read.”-Becoming a Nation of Readers.

• Approximately two years of phonics instruction is sufficient for most students. If phonics instruction begins early in kindergarten, it should be completed by the end of first grade. If phonics instruction begins early in first grade, it should be completed by the end of second grade.

Fluency

• Oral reading fluency is the ability to read with accuracy, and with an appropriate rate, expression, and phrasing.

Important Points about Fluency

• Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

• Repeated and monitored oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement.

• Attention to fluency is often neglected in reading instruction.

Why Fluency is Important• More fluent readers

focus their attention on making connections among the ideas in a text and between these ideas and their background knowledge. Therefore, they are able to focus on comprehension.

• Less fluent readers must focus their attention primarily on decoding and accessing the meaning of individual words. Therefore, they have little attention left for comprehending the text.

Vocabulary• Vocabulary refers to the words we must

know to communicate effectively in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

• Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. Children use words in their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print.

• Vocabulary is also important in reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading unless they know what most of the words mean.

How Vocabulary is Learned

• Indirectly. Children learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language--e.g., through conversations with adults, through being read to, and through reading extensively on their own.

• Directly. Children learn vocabulary directly when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies.

Teaching Individual Words

• Teaching specific words before reading helps both vocabulary learning and reading comprehension.

• Extended instruction that promotes active engagement with vocabulary improves word learning.

• Repeated exposures to vocabulary in many contexts aids word learning.

Out Of My Mindby

Sharon M. Draper

 desperate

 

 inclusion

 language

 developmentall

y disabled

 Intensive

 

 Medi-Talker

 flailing

 competition

 burden

 

 rude

 seat belt

 embarrassing

 weird

 champion

 devastated

 aide

 helpless

 

 intelligent

 deserve

 ignore

Out of My Mind: Sort and Predict Word List

  I think …  I wonder …  I predict …  I find …  I suspect …  I find …  I notice …  I admire … because …  I don’t like … because … 

 The part where … reminds me of … This chapter is … My favourite part is when … I am surprise by … A part I find confusing is … I would change … because…  This character makes me feel … I think this character is … because … I feel … 

Reader ResponseLog….

Text Comprehension• Comprehension is the reason for reading. If

readers can read the words but do not understand what they are reading, they are not really reading.

• Instruction in comprehension can help students understand what they read, remember what they read, and communicate with others about what they read.

• Research on text comprehension suggests what should be taught about text comprehension and how it should be taught.

What Should be Taught--Key Comprehension Strategies

• Monitoring comprehension• Using graphic and semantic organizers• Answering questions• Generating questions• Recognizing story structure (and other text

structures)• Summarizing

How to Teach Comprehension Strategies

• Provide explicit (or direct) instruction: direct explanation, modeling, guided practice, application.

• Make use of cooperative learning.

• Help readers use comprehension strategies flexibly and in combination.

Key Components of Literacy Instruction

Lunch Break

Exploding Reading Myths

• Please work in a small group for this activity • Read the statements in “Exploding Reading

Myths”• Discuss the reasons why you think each of

the statements is a ‘myth’ and not a true statement.

• Try to provide examples from your own classroom practice

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 1: Learning to read, like learning to talk, is a natural process.Response from Research: Findings from decades of research challenge the belief that children learn to read naturally (Lyon, 1998). While oral language develops naturally from birth, and exposure to native speakers’ language is sufficient to trigger language acquisition in infants, literacy is not acquired in the same fashion. Reading is a cultural adaptation that must be learned.

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 2: With time, all children will eventually learn to read.

Response from Research: Since reading is not biologically innate in the same way that oral language is, it is unlikely that all children will learn to read without the proper instruction. Over time, the achievement gap becomes wider between children who have well-developed literacy skills and those who do not (Wren,2002a). Rather than waiting for a child to catch on to reading, real progress can be made with intervention and tutoring that promote decoding skills (Pressley, 2006).

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 3: Genetics rule: if the child has dyslexia, he or she cannot be helped.Response from Research: • Although dyslexia, a language-based learning disability that

originates with poor phonological skills, is influenced by genetics, most children with dyslexia can learn to read. Genetic and environmental factors have about equal influence on reading achievement at all levels of reading ability (Fletcher,Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Olson, 2006). Early intervention and code-based, systematic and comprehensive instruction enable most individuals with dyslexia to achieve satisfactory reading levels. However, spelling and fluency will likely continue to be difficult for children with dyslexia.

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 4: If you start at a disadvantage, you will never catch up. Response from Research: Findings from decades of research challenge the belief that children learn to read naturally (Lyon, 1998). While oral language develops naturally from birth, and exposure to native speakers’ language is sufficient to trigger language acquisition in infants, literacy is not acquired in the same fashion. Reading is a cultural adaptation that must be learned.

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 5: After Grade 3, children are done learning how to read.

Response from Research: Not every aspect of reading can be taught or learned before a child completes Grade 3. Most children have not yet mastered decoding by the end of Grade 3; therefore they will need further instruction in vocabulary development, comprehension, and fluency (Pressley, 2006).

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 6: Children can learn to read by relying heavily on context cues.

Response from Research: Response from research: It has been shown that context can facilitate comprehension after words have been read (Phillips, Norris, & Vavra, 2007); however, it is not useful as an initial decoding strategy. When children encounter a word they have not seen before, they need to use decoding skills to sound it out.

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 7: Students can master reading comprehension if they just read, read, and read.

Response from Research: There is substantial evidence showing that if students are explicitly taught effective reading comprehension strategies they will become much better at comprehension than those who are not taught to use these strategies (Pressley, 2006).

Exploding Reading Myths

MYTH 8: English has so many irregular spellings and inconsistencies that it is impossible to teach.

Response from Research: For reading and writing purposes, English is 80 percent regular (Bowey, 2006). The continuum of learning the patterns in English begins with the basic Anglo-Saxon words (i.e., common words such as bump, get, right) and expands to prefixes, suffixes and Latin and Greek roots from Grade 3 or 4 onwards (Henry, 2003). This continuum presents the student with logical patterns. The teacher must be knowledgeable about language in order to present these patterns clearly.

What is a Learning Disability?

• Some individuals, despite having an average or above average level of intelligence, have real difficulty acquiring basic academic skills.

• These skills include those needed for successful reading, writing, listening, speaking and/or math. These difficulties might be the result of a learning disability.

• A learning disability is defined as a condition when a child's achievement is substantially below what one might expect for that child

Learning Disabilities and Literacy Development

• Many children with LD have struggle with reading. The difficulties often begin with individual sounds, or phonemes.

• Students may have problems with rhyming, and pulling words apart into their individual sounds (segmenting) and putting individual sounds together to form words (blending). This makes it difficult to decode words accurately, which can lead to trouble with fluency and comprehension.

• As students move through the grades, more and more of the information they need to learn is presented in written (through textbooks) or oral (through lecture) form. This creates difficulties for them in succeeding in school.

What are Some Types of Learning Disabilities?

1. Reading disabilities (often referred to as dyslexia)2. Writing disabilities (often referred to as dysgraphia)3. Math disabilities (often called dyscalculia)• Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders –

difficulty understanding language despite normal hearing and vision.

• Nonverbal Learning Disabilities – a neurological disorder causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative and holistic processing functions.

• Other disabilities that affect memory, social skills, and executive functions such as deciding to begin a task.

Learning Disabilities: What are the Different Types

• Learning disabilities expert Dr. Sheldon Horowitz explains the different types of learning disabilities and their impact on people with LD.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG_xSBsFMPQ

What is Dyslexia?• Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. • People with dyslexia have difficulties with specific

language skills, particularly reading. They often experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.

• Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person's life. It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and often requires special accommodations, or extra support services.

What is Dyslexia?• Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. • People with dyslexia have difficulties with specific

language skills, particularly reading. They often experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.

• Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person's life. It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and often requries special accommodations, or extra support services.

http://explore1in5.org

How is Dyslexia Treated?• Dyslexia is a life-long condition. With proper help,

many people with dyslexia can learn to read and write well.

• Early identification and treatment are key to helping dyslexics achieve in school and in life.

• It is important for these individuals to be taught by a systematic and explicit method that involves several senses (hearing, seeing, touching) at the same time

• Students with dyslexia often need a great deal of structured practice and immediate, corrective feedback

How is Dyslexia Treated?• A student with dyslexia can be given extra time

to complete tasks, help with taking notes, and work assignments that are modified appropriately.

• Teachers can give taped tests or allow dyslexic students to use alternative means of assessment. Students can benefit from listening to books on tape, using text reading computer programs, and from writing on computers.

• Students may also need help with emotional issues that sometimes arise as a consequence of difficulties in school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPch4HQ1Js

Student with learning difficulty

Student with producing difficult

Student with learning and

producing difficulties

When are difficulties identified?

Usually not identified as having a learning disability until middle school.

Often misdiagnosed as having a learning disability or as “lazy.”

Often identified in the early years as having a learning disability.

What are some signs of the difficulty?

Takes a long time to produce work because of learning difficulties but the student can slowly produce the work.

Shows acquisition of knowledge and acts as if they did not learn the skill.Does not monitor quality of work or the effectiveness of the strategy.

Has problems learning information and producing work correctly.

In what ways do students exhibit

difficulties during daily instruction?

This student’s learning problem is directly related to a specific cognitive ability (e.g., phonological memory)

This student has difficulty planning and regulating attention, and has deficits in working memory.

This student has processing difficulties and problems regulating attention and working memory.

THREE CATEGORIES OF STUDENT DIFFICULTIES

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/every-learner/6693

1. Short, Simple Directions1. Open your book2. Turn to page 173. Read the first sentence

2. Use visual cues and modeling to reinforce oral directions1. Pictures, written reminders2. Modeling reading strategies3. “Thinking aloud”

3. Use rehearsal, visual imagery and coding1. Think-Pair-Share2. Pictures3. “DEAR”, “5 Ws”

4. Group Information 5. Graphic Organizers

1. Concept Mapping2. Chunking text 3. Sorting/categorization

Reading Instruction that Supports Struggling Readers

1. Teach essential skills and strategies.

Effective reading teachers teach skills, strategies, and concepts.

2. Provide differentiated instruction based on assessment results and adapt instruction to meet students' needs.

Effective teachers recognize that one size doesn't fit all and are ready to adapt instruction—both content and methods.

3. Provide explicit and systematic instruction with lots of practice—with and without teacher support and feedback, including cumulative practice over time.

Students should not have to infer what they are supposed to learn.

Reading Instruction that Supports Struggling Readers

4. Provide opportunities to apply skills and strategies in reading and writing meaningful text with teacher support.

Students need to be taught what to do when they get to a "hard word.”

5. Don't just "cover" critical content; be sure students learn it—monitor student progress regularly and reteach as necessary.

Effective teachers adjust their teaching accordingly to try to accelerate student progress.

Carolyn A. Denton, Children's Learning Institute, University of

Texas

Highly Effective Reading Teachers…

1. Understand how children learn oral language and how they learn to read

2. Are excellent classroom managers3. Begin reading instruction by first assessing what students already

know and can do4. Know how to adapt instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners 5. Teach the essential components of reading and writing using

evidence-based instructional practices6. Model and encourage reading and writing throughout the day7. Partner with other teachers, parents, and community members to

insure children’s learning

Universal Design for Learning

• What does inclusion look like in the classroom?

• http://www.udlresource.ca/?p=1606

Competent Teachers Make a Difference!

A major consensus of research is that the ability of teachers to deliver good reading instruction is the most powerful factor in determining how well children learn to read. It is essential to recognize the critical role teachers play in preventing reading difficulties and to provide teachers at all grade levels with the best and most up-to-date knowledge and skills to teach reading and promote literacy. “Teachers make a difference in the success of their students when they hold a fundamental belief that all children can learn to read and when they have the skills and determination to make it happen.”

Ontario Ministry of Education

Pre-Reading Activity:Activating Prior Knowledge

• Have you ever really wanted to learn to do something? How did you do it? Was it easy or difficult?

• If it was difficult, how did you feel? Were you able to do it? Who or what helped you? Who or what didn't help you?

• To start the discussion, it may help to talk about a personal experience, with the aim of modeling the comprehension strategy of making personal connections.

Making Predictions…• What do this story

will be about?• Can you predict the

connection to what we have been talking about?

Mr. Fallker

Post Reading Activity

• Good teachers are hard to forget. Think of a teacher you have had that you will remember for a long, long time. Was it a teacher at school, at home, or for activities or sports? Think about all the ways that person is special.

Exit Slip…

• Two important ideas from today’s class are:

1. _____________________________________2. _____________________________________