Using Phonics to tackle literacy problems: A Study in Brain

Activity

John Baldjohnbald@talktalk.net

01223 891069

Weblog: johnbald.typepad.com/language

Presentation Copyright © John Bald 2007

Brain cells and connections(from The Learning Brain, Blakemore and Frith, 2005)

As we learn, brain cells form connections with each other that build into chunks and networks. These connections are strengthened with practice. They are the foundation of language, both written and spoken.

How the Brain Adapts:Reading in English and

Italian

• Left: reading system of both languages combined• Centre: sound processing more active in Italian (regular)• Right: word form area more active in English, to deal

with irregularity – eg should and shoulder.(from The Learning Brain, Blakemore and Frith, 2005)

Dyslexia’s Broken Bridges

Centre image shows reduced functions in isthmus and in temporal cortex

How synthetic phonics helps

• English is regular roughly three quarters of the time.

• Where phonics don’t tell us all we need to know, they usually tell us some of what we need to know.

• Many long words are regular, and can be built up using phonics.

What else do we need to know?

• Children need to understand that phonics won’t always work, and why.

• We need to understand, explain and practise patterns in irregularity. This includes an element of analytic phonics.

• We need to know and use additional teaching techniques for slow learners

• We must understand the problems caused by sensitivity to light, by hearing difficulties, by interruptions to language development in early childhood, and by shortcuts taken in everyday speech.

What the letters tell us

• Sounds. Most of the time, a letter represents a sound.

• Information. Some letters give us information about other letters - eg made, centre, general

• Groups. Sometimes letters have to work in groups. Some groups do as we might expect – ship. Others don’t patient.

• History. 1066 is most important for the French Connection – say table in French and you’ll hear it. Other historical factors include changes in pronunciation at the end of the middle ages, and Dr Jonson’s regularisation of spelling.

Two maxims for children.

We use what the letters tell us, but

we don’t believe the letters tell us everything.

The language is a thousand years old. If we were a thousand years old, we’d have some wrinkles too.

Get behind an error to tackle the thinking that caused it.

• If a child misreads a word, it’s best not teach that word straightaway. Instead, teach another that has the same pattern at the end, using plastic letters – eg if a child can’t read run, you might begin with sun.

• Once they understand the new word, change the first letter, (e.g gun). Work on this as long as it takes for child to read gun and sun confidently, then add more words, eg fun, bun. Mix up the letters and have them make the new words until they can make and read them without hesitation.

• Then put in the word that caused the problem –the child often reads it without hesitation. If not, work on it, relating it to the pattern. Once the child can read all of the words without hesitation, go back to the text at the beginning of the sentence, so that the child meets the new word again.

• Keep a note of the words you’ve worked on, and use this for practice, so that the child learns to read the words quickly and accurately.

Additional technique: selecting words

• Write words to be learned on cards or scraps of paper. Minimum of four words. Ask the child to pick out a word you call out. This gives two sources of information about the word, its sound and its spelling, and makes it easy for children to make the link. Once selection is secure, ask the child to pick any word they can read and hand it to you. Then reteach the words they can’t read.

(Adapted from the Portsmouth Down’s Syndrome Project, Professor Sue Buckley)

Sensitivity to Light

• Fluorescent light flashes 100 times per second (alternating current)

• Some children are sensitive to some wavelengths in light.

• Effects range from mild discomfort to serious reading and behavioural difficulties.

• Tinted lenses and overlays often help.• Wilkins, A, Reading through Colour, Wiley, ISBN 0 470 85116 3

Shortcuts in speech and literacy problems

• The idea of shortcuts is socially neutral - we take some in speaking

• Children can learn not to take shortcuts – this needs to be built up gradually

• Language Master (www.draked.co.uk) can help children to model sentences.

Reading and the Curriculum

• Using texts the children need to read in their lessons ensures relevance and provides practice

• Preparing these texts in advance builds success, and is better than than chasing failure

• Simplify the texts where necessary. Laminating copies where possible, and store the.

• The SENCO needs an advance copy of all materials to be used in class.

Slimmed Down Spelling

Key principles:

• Most letters represent sounds. Sometimes letters work in groups, some words have an extra letter, and occasionally letters are awkward.

• If we hear a sound when we say a word carefully, we need at least one letter for it.

• Sometimes letters work in groups – we use a group when we’ve learned we need it, eg, station

• Some words have an extra letter, eg made, chaos. We use an extra letter when we’ve learned we need it.

• Sometimes, because of shortcuts in speech, or changes in the way people speak, the letter we need is not the one we think we need. These letters are awkward, and we only use them when we’ve learned we need them. Examples include the final a in animal, and the a after with in was, water, warm etc.

• Using Phonics to Teach Reading and Spelling, Sage, ISBN 978 1 4129 3111 3

The role and training of the assistant

• The government provides generic training for assistants. This needs to be made more specific at school level.

• Assistants need training in the subjects in which they support the children. Where possible, assistants should work with departments, particularly MFL

• All departments whose work involves literacy should contribute to the training of the assistant on their specific requirements

• Assistants should be encouraged to make literacy a major part of their CPD.

• Wherever possible, training for assistants should be school-based, and applied to the children the assistant works with.

• Classroom Assistant’s Edufax (approxCurriculum Publishing) has detailed guidance on training assistants.

Sir James Rose: “Working Definition” of dyslexia

o Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.• Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.• Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category,• Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia.• A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has responded to well founded intervention..