Early Identification and Intervention to Prevent

Reading Difficulties

Linda SiegelUniversity of British Columbia

Vancouver, CANADA

linda.siegel@ubc.ca

Critical Issues

• Recognize and treat dyslexia (reading disability) early

• Understand ESL reading difficulties – dyslexia or not

Why Early Identification + Intervention

• 82 % of the street youth in Toronto had undetected and unremediated learning disabilities

• All the adolescent suicides in a 3 year period in Ontario had undetected and unremediated learning disabilities

We are missing many children with learning

problems!!!!!!!

Traditional Model

• Detailed Assessment

• Classification

• Resources only if criteria are met

• Reliance on the discrepancy definition

Response to InstructionModel (RTI)

–Initial Assessment–Classroom Based Instruction –Evaluation of Progress–Individual Instruction if

needed

Aims of the Study• Identify children at risk for

literacy difficulties

• Provide an appropriate intervention

• Assess the effectiveness of the intervention

Longitudinal Study• Screening at age 5 when

children enter school• Tested every year on

reading, spelling, arithmetic, language and memory skills

• Results at grade 6 – age 12

Longitudinal Sample

• All the children in the North Vancouver School District

• 30 schools• Varying SES levels• 20% English as a Second

Language (ESL)

• Arabic• Armenian• Bulgarian• Cantonese• Croatian• Czech• Dutch• Farsi

• Japanese• Korean• Kurdish• Mandarin• Norwegian• Polish• Punjabi• Romanian

LANGUAGES IN THE STUDY

GermanGreekHindiHungarianIndonesianItalianFinnish

RussianSerbianSlovakSpanishSwedishTagalogTamilTurkish

normales

L1 English ESL

Kindergarten

Dyslexic

Normal

Dyslexic

Normal

Grade 6

L1 English ESL

Why is the North Vancouver School District

so successful?

Kindergarten Screening

•Letter identification

•Memory

•Phonological processing

•Syntax

•Spelling

Letter Identification

c r m k b w os y t a u d qx l g e z n jp h v i f

Sentence RepetitionSentences are spoken orally to the child and

the child is required to repeat them exactly.

Examples.Drink milk.I like ice cream.The boy and girl are walking to school.The girl who is very tall is playing

basketball.

Reading Test

the

and

sit

when

book

anacampersote

mithridatism

qualtagh

ucalegon

groak

Phonological Awareness

• Ability to break speech down into smaller units

words syllables phonemes

Terminology

• Phonological Awareness – the ability to break down speech into smaller segments

• Phoneme – the smallest unit of sound

• Phonics – a method of teaching reading that emphasizes the association of sounds with letters

SYLLABLE IDENTIFICATION

RHYME IDENTIFICATION

PHONEME IDENTIFICATION

ORAL CLOZE

• Jane ____her sister went up the hill.

• Dad ____ Bobby a letter yesterday.

Oral cloze

• child’s name

• mom

• dad

• cat

• I

• no

SIMPLE SPELLING

Firm Foundations

• Activities and games designed to develop

–Phonological awareness

–Letter sound relationships

–Vocabulary

–Syntactic skills

• Circle Skills -Teaching the whole class

• Centre Skills – Practicing in small groups

• Resource Withdrawl - Working with

individual students

Firm Foundations

• Rhyme detection• Initial sounds • Segmentation• Blending• Sound discrimination

Terminology

• Phonological awareness training – teaching the sound structure of words– Auditory training

• Phonics training – teaching the connection between sounds and letters– Training with print

Literacy ActivitiesListening to stories

Acting out stories

Singing songs

Letter of the week

Letter cookies

SES & Reading

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

K-97 K-98 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3

SES & Spelling

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

K-97 K-98 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3

Other Important Abilities

• Vocabulary – understanding and producing the meanings of words

• Syntax – understanding the basic grammar of the language– Differences between Chinese and English

• Verb tenses• Plurals • Articles

Reading 44

• Training reading comprehension strategies

• Vocabulary

• Syntax

Conclusions

• It is possible to identify children at risk for reading disabilities in kindergarten.

• It is possible to provide a classroom based intervention to bring these children to at least average levels of reading.

• Children learning English as a second language can perform at L1 levels and bilingualism may be an advantage.

Internet Resources

http://www.nvsd44.bc.ca

–Click on Firm Foundations

–Click on Reading 44