presented by susan meehan literacy coach leonardo grade school april 9, 2014
TRANSCRIPT
HOW CHILDREN LEARN TO READ
Presented by
Susan Meehan
Literacy Coach
Leonardo Grade School
April 9, 2014
What Is Reading?
Reading is: recognizing written words and understanding their meaning
There are Three Schools of Thought
Phonics (sound/letter match)
Sight Words (memorized)
Using Context and Pictures (meaning based)
What Does That Tell Us?
We don’t teach with just
ONE method.
We try them ALL!
BEFORE WE TEACH THEM TO READ…..
We need to make sure
that children can …….
WHAT?
HEAR the sounds in words!
PHONEMIC AWARENESS
It can be “done in the dark.”
Why is Phonemic Awareness So Important?
Children need to be able to both identify and hear the placement of sounds in words so that they can change them.
For example, if a child says hat and wants to change the word to bat, he/she needs to know that the FIRST sound only changes.
In second through fifth grades, children need to be able to hear syllables so that they can effectively attack multisyllabic words.
Simple Ways to Strengthen Phonemic Awareness (Do it in the car!)
Say a sentence and have your child tell you how many words are in it (I can go home-4).
Clap syllables in words (hap-py-2, el-e-phant-3).
Reread nursery rhymes, sing songs, and read Dr. Seuss books. Have your child provide the word that rhymes (I do not like Green Eggs and Ham. I do not like them Sam I AM!).
See how many words you can think of that rhyme (goat, boat, float, moat).
What else…….
Say a word (let). Take the first sound off. What do you get?(et)
Say a word (let). Take the last sound off. What do you get? (le)
See how many words you can think of that start with ( coat, cap, cat) or end with (will, wall, mall ) the same sound.
THREE WAYS TO TEACH PHONICS
BLENDING /c/ + /a/ + /t/ = cat
WHOLE TO PART cat = /c/ + /a/ + /t/
RIMES c + at = cat
tr + ee = tree
s + ing = sing
Why Does it Matter?
Each child learns differently. Researchers claim that 80% of children can learn to read phonetically using one of these approaches.
. Out of the remaining 20%, 80% of these children will
be able to read phonetically using another approach.
Out of the remaining 20%, 80% of these children will learn to read phonetically using the third method.
Why Can Reading Be Difficult?
When we speak, sounds are blended together (bag does not sound like /b/ + /a/ + /g/).
However, when we try to read unknown words, we sometimes need to break them apart. It’s not “natural”.
Children may need explicit instruction in breaking words apart and putting them back together.
HOWEVER…………
We can’t JUST focus on phonemic awareness
and phonics!
Sight Words All words cannot be decoded. Try sounding out the,
there or they. It doesn’t make sense. Strong readers need a good sight word vocabulary so
that they use their limited time well. When readers get to a tricky word, they will have the time to figure it out.
Children should practice sight words in class and at home.
The goal is to be fluent and automatic. However, don’t spend too much time (and energy) on any one task.
What Can Parents Do?Support- Don’t Teach!
Practice sight words at home. Review them each day for a few minutes. Put them on index cards. Play concentration with 4-5 especially challenging words at a
time. Play “Go Fish”. Write 10 different sight words on 4 cards each
(for a total of 40 cards). Take turns making matches. Play “Snap”. Write three tricky sight words on 10 cards each (for
a total of 30 cards). Shuffle and pass out the cards. Take turns flipping one card over at a time. If the words match, the first one to say snap takes the pile of cards.
Write a few words on sticky notes. Place them around the house. Whenever your child opens the refrigerator, for example, he/she has to name the word. Vary the location and make it fun!
Phonics: It’s More Than Letter/Sound Match
WORD SORTS
Many of the classrooms are sending word sort activities home. Play the games with your child.
Sort the cards by sound or letter combinations. Notice how they are the same or different.
Do a speed sort. Have your child beat his/her best time.
English is Tricky……Here are some examples of common letter/sound combinations.
When children are explicitly taught that many words have patterns, they become automatic readers and expand their reading ability!
20 Vowel Sounds and How They Look
Vowel sounds How They Look
/a/ apple a
/e/ elephant, bread e, ea
/i/ igloo, gym i, y
/o/ octopus, wash o, a
/u/ umbrella, won u, o
/oo/ moon, new oo, ue, ow, ew, u-e
/oo/ book, could oo, u, ou
/ou/ house, cow ou, ow
Continued…….
Vowel Sounds How They Look
/oi/ coin, boy oi, oy
/ar/ star ar
/or/ fork, board or, aw, a, au, ore,
oar, oor
/er/ herb, nurse er, ir, ur, ear, or
/air/ chair, pear air, ear, are
/ear/ spear, deer ear, eer, ere
Continued…….
VOWEL SOUNDS HOW THEY LOOK
/ae/ rain, tray ai, ay, a-e, a
/ee/ tree, me ee, ea, ie, y, e, ey
/ie/ light, kite ight, i-e, y, i, ie
/oa/ boat, bow oa, ow, o, o-e
/ue/ tube, emu u-e, ew, ue, u
37 Rimes That Make 500 Words!(These are good to know!)
ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw, ay
eat, ell, est
ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it
ock, oke, op, ore, ot
Most Common Prefixes and Suffixes
SUFFIXES -s (more than one)
-ed (past tense)
-ing (present tense, now)
PREFIXES un- (not, opposite) re- (again) in-, im-, ir-, il- (not) dis- (not, opposite) en-, em- (cause to) non- (not) in-, im- (in or into)
Then comes…….
SUFFIXES -ly (characteristic of) -er, -or (person) -ion, -tion, (act,
process) -ible, -able (can be
done)
PREFIXES over- (too much) mis- (wrongly) sub- (under) pre- (before) inter- (between,
among)
Now What?Read “Like a Detective!”
Children should first have a strong sense of phonemic awareness and letter/sound correspondence.
Now it’s time to “attack” unknown words and make sense out of them.
Reading Strategies Check the picture.
Pop it out!
Backtrack and reread.
Skip it!
Change the vowel sound.
Think of a word you know.
Sound it out slowly.
Look for a little part of the word you know.
Check the Picture
Children naturally use this strategy. It’s very effective in reading kindergarten and first grade books. However, it becomes less effective as the books get more challenging.
Pop it Out!
“Get your mouth ready.”
Make the first sound of the word and see what POPS out!
We are sitting at a t_______.
You are in first gr________.
Backtrack and reread.
This strategy is all about thinking as you are reading. If the child makes a mistake he/she should stop, backtrack, and read it again.
We womped down the street.
We walked down the street.
Skip It!
This is my favorite strategy because it works! Children skip the unknown word, read to the end of the sentence, and then go back to try again. The other words in the sentence usually help them read it accurately.
We ___________ down the street.
We walked down the street.
Change the Vowel Sound
When a child tries to “sound out” a word they often will say a vowel sound they know (they = th eee, yuh). They have been taught the rule and they try to use it. But we need to teach children to be flexible and try a different vowel sound.
The bear went down the road.
The boat sailed away.
Think of a Word You Know.
Use rhyming words to solve unknown words.
We went to the _______.
(I know fall, and this starts with an m. It must be mall!)
Sound it out slowly.
Stretch the sounds out. This is where phonemic awareness comes in. If your child can hear the sounds in the words, he/she will be able to decode an unknown word more easily.
Word Part
Children act as detectives to find little words, or word chunks, in a bigger word.
goat
fantastic
incredible
How many strategies should your child
use?
As many as they need!
Please contact me with any questions or concerns about
reading/writing and your child.
(732) 291-1330 ext 4607