Post your responses to the following questions for this assignment.

1.    What are the three dimensions of fluency? How can you assess each dimension?

• Accuracy in word decoding – To determine proficiency in decoding connected text, calculate the percentage of words a reader can accurately decode on grade-level material.
• Automatic processing – Teachers can normally assess automaticity in decoding by looking at the student’s reading rate. An easy method for determining reading rate, and thus automaticity, involves having students orally read a grade level passage for 60 seconds and then calculating the number of words read correctly.
• Prosodic reading – The best way to assess prosodic reading is to listen to a student read a grade-level passage and to then judge the quality of the reading using a rubric that scores a student on the elements of expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace.

2.    Rasinski refers to fluency as a “bridge” between decoding and comprehension. What does he mean by the “bridge” metaphor?

Decoding and comprehension connect with one another. If a person does not have decoding and processing skills, they will more than likely not have comprehension skills either.

3.    What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?

• Hearing fluent readers
• Repeated reading such as poems, plays, jokes, riddles, and speeches
• Modeling prosodic reading in the classroom

4.    Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe what each refers to (p. 49).

• Expression & volume – Beginning readers usually begin reading words as if simply to get them out often in a quiet voice. In the next step, the reader begins to use voice to make text sound like natural language in some areas of the text but not in others, still in a quiet voice. As the reader starts to improve, he is able to make texts sound like natural language throughout the better part of the passage and the reader’s volume increases. In the final stage, the reader reads with good expression and enthusiasm throughout the text. The reader is able to vary their expression and volume to match his or her interpretation of the passage.
• Phrasing – Readers in the first stage read in monotone with little sense of phrase boundaries and usually reads word-by-word. The reader on the second level scale frequently reads in two- and three-word phrases, giving the impression of choppy reading. In the next step, the readers read with a mixture of run-ons, mid-sentence pauses for breath, and some choppiness with reasonable stress and intonation. In the final stage, the reader generally reads with good phrasing, mostly in clause and sentence units, with adequate attention to expression.
• Smoothness – Readers in the first stage make frequent extended pauses, hesitations, false starts, sound-outs, repetitions, and/or multiple attempts. Moving to the second scale, the reader experiences several “rough spots” in text where extended pauses or hesitations are more frequent and disruptive. Based on the third scale the reader occasionally breaks smooth rhythm because of difficulties with specific words and/or structures. Based on the fourth level, the reader generally reads smoothly with some breaks, but resolves word and structure difficulties quickly, usually through self-correction.
• Pace – On the first level, the reader reads slowly and laboriously. Based on the second level, the reader reads moderately slowly. The reader reads with an uneven mixture of fast and slow pace on the third level. On the fourth level, the reader consistently reads at conversational pace and keeps an appropriate rate throughout reading.

5. Given what you have learned in class, what do you think is the most efficient way to measure prosody?

The most efficient way to measure prosody is listening to the child read out loud. As I was reading this section a particular child came to my mind. One little boy reads with hardly any expression unless he sees an exclamation point. After reading the sentence or phrase, he would repeat it with the needed expression. At least he went back and read the phrase with some excitement after that. Some of the other kids continue to read in the same tone and sound like they are reading one extremely long sentence with no feeling.  

Answer these questions and post the responses into your blog.

What grade is Curt in? 3^rd grade

Look at the summary of scores in the table on page 170.  Notice that there are scores for the grade-level lists of words from the Word Recognition Test (Flash and Untimed) and scores for orally reading grade-level passages (accuracy of word reading, e.g. percentage of words read correctly and rate, expressed in number of words read per minute).

a1. What was the flash score for words at:

first-grade level?    75%        second-grade level?       50%        third-grade level?   20%

b1. What was the accuracy score at:

1-2 level?      97                   2-1 level?    90            2-2 level?    84

c1. What was the rate score at:

 1-2 level?       65                  2-1 level?     44           2-2 level?    36

d1. Look at the spelling scores in Table 5 on page 172: What was the percentage correct score for:

first-grade words   60%          second-grade words    0%

Consider the expected scores in the following tables, then compare those expectations to the scores Curt produced.

a2. With the Word Recognition Test, flash scores are generally interpreted as follows:

90-100%   indicates          Independent Level

60-85%     indicates          Instruction Level

Below 50%   indicates     Frustration Level

a3. Which grade-level flash score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

1-2 level

b2. With oral reading accuracy, scores are generally interpreted as follows:

98-100%   indicates          Independent Level

65-97%     indicates          Instruction Level

Below 92%   indicates     Frustration Level

*Note: 92-94% accuracy is marginal; take a close look at Rate.

b3. Which grade-level accuracy score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

1-2 level

c2. With oral reading rate, expected grade-level ranges are as follows:

Grade                          Words per minute

1^st                                     45-85

2^nd                                    80-120

3^rd                                     95-135

c3. What do Curt’s rate scores indicate about his grade-level reading?

Late first grade to early second grade reader

d2. With spelling scores, around 50% correct indicates Instruction Level.

d3. What do Curt’s spelling scores indicate about his Instruction Level.

Curt’s spellings reveal a sound but still-developing grasp of one-syllable word patterns that is in line with his late-first-to early-second-grade word recognition ability.

Put all of these scores together, and what do they indicate Curt’s reading level to be?

With all score results in, Curt is a late-first-grade to early-second-grade reader. He has first-grade word knowledge, but his major instructional focus is on comprehension.

3. Look at the spelling errors that Curt makes. What stage of word knowledge is Curt in?

He is in the Word Pattern stage as well as the Letter-Name stage.

Why do you pick this stage of development? What are the key characteristics?

He showed good knowledge of consonant clusters (PLAT, TRANE, and THIK) and represented short vowels conventionally (FIL for fill; DRES for dress). He reverted to the Letter-Name stage when he failed to mark long vowels in several words (DRIV, CHAS, and FLOT)

4. Describe partner reading.

A form of guided reading that often begins with a preview. Before reading a selection, a “walk through” with the pictures takes place in order to speculate on what is happening in the pictures and what may happen later in the story. The child and adult partner take turns reading (alternate pages) with the adult usually taking the first turn.

5. Which is harder for a student, partner reading or DRTA?

DRTA, because it deals with the comprehension part of reading more so than partner reading does.

6. In planning a DRTA, what is important about selecting places to stop?

There should be about three or four stopping points in the story with questions about what has happened thus far and what might happen as the story continues. These questions should be asked while planning a DRTA lesson: At what point in the story am I able to anticipate an important upcoming event or plot turn? Why am I able to do so? What information have I read that is triggering the anticipation?

7. In planning a DRTA, what is important about deciding questions to ask? What kind of questions? How many?

At each stopping point, one or two specific questions related to the story content will encourage the child to pay close attention to important information as he reads. Prediction questions will help him develop and process the incoming information and make thoughtful predictions into the story. Direct questions serve as a check on the child’s ongoing comprehension of important story information.

The reading comprehension could be explained through two factors: decoding and language comprehension. It follows the equation: RC = D x C. The simple view suggests that there are two, non-intersecting factors in reading comprehension.

What part of the Simple View of Reading does storybook reading most likely impact?

Simple view of reading is one model that might be useful for understanding the effects of storybook reading on children’s reading achievement. It impacts language comprehension, word recognition, or both.

Q2. What are Ehri’s 4 stages of word recognition? Name each and give a short description.

• Visual Cue Reading- children recognize words through visualization
• Phonemic Cue Reading/Partial Alphabetic Coding- children that begin to develop rudimentary phonemic awareness and use salient letters to identify words; they usually begin this process with the initial letters of words, but sometimes use other letters as cues as well
• Full Alphabetic Coding- children examine each letter of a word; letter-by-letter decoding in turn gives way, with practice to consolidated work recognition, in which a reader uses groups of letters, either as chunks or through analogies, to recognize words automatically, as proficient readers do
• Consolidated Word Recognition – when a reader uses groups of letters to recognize words automatically.

A question for you to think about is how these four stages compare to Morris’ four stages (as seen in Flanigan article—this would make a good exam question).

Q3. On page 368, there is a good definition of Phonemic Awareness. What is it? (Remember it.)

Phonemic awareness is that part of phonological awareness which deals with phonemes, rather than syllables or onsets and rimes. Phonologic al awareness develops from an awareness of syllables, onsets, and rimes into an awareness of initial phonemes, then final phonemes, and lastly vowels.

The development of spelling: This is a nice short section on how spelling develops. We will explore this in more depth in class, but this might be a good reading to come back to for a summary of developmental spelling.

Q4. On page 370, we learn that knowledge of the alphabet is necessary for beginning to learn to read and spell words. There is a developmental sequence to learning about the alphabet: What is it?

The developmental sequence for the recitation of the alphabet usually the ABC song, which is the naming of individual letters, the printing of those letters, and the identification of letter sounds.

Q5. What is the value in “reading to” or having children “read” alphabet books?

The relationship between letter name knowledge and phonemic awareness may be mediated by exposure to alphabet books. Children who read alphabet books may develop the insight that one can think about words as containing sounds. Through interaction with their parents, the children began with the assumption that there was an arbitrary association between the letter and the picture. Alphabet books will affect children’s awareness of phonemes and have a greater awareness of print.

Q6. What is the value in children’s finger pointing as they read?

Finger pointing is one of the most obvious interactions between storybook reading and word recognition development. Children differ in their ability to accurately point to words as they are in read-as skill known as print-to-speech match. This skill seems to be related to children’s ability to use initial letter cues to recognize words. The ability to track print seems to be the nexus of storybook reading, alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, and the development of word recognition. Finger pointing shows that a child can match printed words to spoken words as this can be used as a form of assessment.

Q7. What is a predictable book and what is its value in helping children learn to read?

Predictable or patterned books contain a repeated linguistic pattern that children can use to support their reading. These books usually carry the pattern throughout, until it is finally broken at the end. Patterns can be more or less complex and the books’ predictability can come from text placement, the amount of support given by the pictures, or the familiarity of the content, as well as from linguistic patterns.

On page 377, we learn that most likely children become aware of vowel phonemes in words through reading words. So, reading helps drive full phonemic awareness.

Q8. So, in the end, what role does storybook reading play in helping children learn to read?

Storybook reading plays a crucial role in helping children learn to read. It helps children develop vocabulary and comprehension skills as well as word recognition skills.

Specifically, what role does storybook reading play in developing vocabulary and comprehension?

Children’s storybooks provide students with rich vocabulary words that are more academic in nature than the words they hear on television or even in most of the adult conversations around them.

What role does storybook reading play in developing children’s word recognition skills?

Word recognition growth seems to be aided by repetition. Conventional storybooks may be a wonderful source for language development, in terms of both vocabulary and syntax; but the same characteristics that make them useful for oral language development, vocabulary diversity, and complex language probably impede growth in word recognition.

What other things can help with children’s development of word recognition skills?

Finger point reading, alphabet books, flash cards, and certainly repetition can all help with building development of children’s word recognition skills.

Is there a reading crisis in America?

Yes and no, it depends on how you look at the overall question. There is not necessarily a reading crisis in America; the problem in reading is not that reading performance is dropping, but that it is not increasing. However, why is reading performance not increasing?

 Are we doing as well as we should in elementary school?

 As there are many different types of learners, it is imperative that we use many different reading strategies to reach all children. According to Slavin, these strategies are not being used as they should be.

 How instruction can impact children:

 Example: Average School (Hardin Park)

100 first graders in 4 classrooms (25 in each)

Categories                                Percentage                   Count               Count

Of Students                                                                  in School          in Classroom

                                                                                             (100)                (25)

Natural Readers (40-50%)       50%                         50                    12

Teachable (30-40%)                35%                             35                      8

Tutorable (10-20%)                 13%                             13                      4

True Dyslexics (1-2%)              2%                                 2                      1

____________________________________________________________________

 Morris (Ch. 2)

Explain what Morris means by the traditional role of kindergarten is “to level the playing field” in terms of literacy experience.

 The focus should be made to prepare all children for first grade, especially those most in need of help. The comprehension of print-related instruction (letters, sounds, words) is an important factor that should be taught in a developmentally appropriate manner throughout the kindergarten year.

 What literacy activities should be included in a kindergarten reading program?

 The four core reading activities include: reading aloud to children, guided contextual reading, letter-sound study, and writing.

  Why read aloud to children? (5 things children learn)

Reading aloud to children helps children extend their experiences beyond their immediate surroundings, provides them a vocabulary to name the new experiences, and acquaints them with the characteristic rhythms and structures of written language. It also helps in the development of creating mental images about the text and keeping them over time in search for meaning as well as it enables children to use language symbols to create a mental world beyond the present context. In other words, it helps make them literate.

  Why is guided contextual reading important in kindergarten?

 It introduces the print-related instruction that prepares children for first-grade reading. It provides a concrete, supportive, and meaningful entry into reading.

            What is echo reading?

Using simple texts, the teacher reads, and then the child reads what the teacher just read.

             Describe dictated experience stories (language experience approach—LEA)

 This method uses children’s own experiences, in their own language to teach them to read. The story is stated aloud by a group of children, written down by the teacher, and then read by the children with the help of the teacher.

            Describe big book approach (shared reading approach)

The big book approach consists of a large group of children sitting around the teacher in which they can follow along visually as the teacher reads. The language pattern in most big books is natural and rhythmic, in which they often feature repetitive refrains. There are also small copies of big books that can be sent home with students for additional practice with parents.

                  Why include both LEA and shared reading methods in kindergarten?

 Using both methods in the kindergarten classroom is beneficial because it will extend children’s experiences and nurture their learning development. Both methods use finger point reading of the text and both emphasize group choral reading of stories. Children benefit from both of these methods as well as repetition and memory which are provided in both LEA and shared reading.

  Why is finger pointing so important for early readers?

 Finger pointing is so important for early readers because it helps beginning readers learn that letters make up words which match sounds and how spoken words match printed words.

 Questions about letter-sound study:

 Questions about early writing:

 Can writing improve without improvements in reading?

  Is there a role for independent reading in kindergarten?

  Yes, it is important for children to explore various types of books and no better way to do that than independent reading. By reading independently they are able to practice finger pointing as well as learning that text goes from left to right on the pages. This independent reading will allow them to explore reading, be successful in the books they choose, and hopefully gain enjoyment out of reading.

 Questions about early assessment and how it informs instruction:

  ____________________________________________________________________

Morris (Ch. 3)

What does Fraatz (1987) mean by “paradox of collective instruction”?

He means that first-grade teachers must provide reading instruction for everyone, while simultaneously addressing individual differences among their students.

What are the three critical components of learning to read?

1. Attend to individual sounds within words

2. Decode printed words by matching letters to sounds

3. Automatize decoding or word-level processing so that the mind can concentrate on the meaning of what is being read.

 List the four tasks that the first-grade teacher can use to assess individual children’s reading ability during the first week of school. Describe what each task is used to assess?

1. Alphabet knowledge

2. Concept of word in text

3. Spelling – Phonemic awareness

4. Word recognition

What are some of the challenges of small-group instruction that face students and teachers?

1. Some feel that children’s self-esteem can be harmed by placement in a low-reading group.

2. Children who are “locked into” a low-reading group placement across several grades can fall significantly behind their peers in reading.

3. The practice of ability grouping presents classroom teachers with significant organizational and management problems, such as, “What do I do with the children who are not with me in the reading circle?”

How does Supported Oral Reading (SOR) differ from round robin reading in guiding children’s contextual reading?

Round-robin reading is where one child in the group reads while the others follow along. However, many of the children do not follow along and with struggling readers, the teacher’s assistance with word recognition is needed on nearly every line. The SOR is a three-day cycle which consists of previewing and echo reading on the first day, partner reading on the second day, and expert reading on the third day. Unlike round robin reading, SOR provides guided story comprehension, modeling fluent contextual reading, monitoring children’s rereading of a given story, and providing each child with a final opportunity to show his/her mastery of the story.

Why is appropriate leveling of books important and how has it been used in intervention and classroom settings?

Books need to be somewhat challenging to students, however, they do not need to be so challenging that it turns students away from books making them feel discouraged or have  feelings of failure. Students are encouraged to select books based on their lexile number.

Describe the developmental sequence of word study instruction. What does the continuum consist of? Why is it recommended that teachers follow such a sequence of instruction?

The developmental sequence of word study instruction begins with beginning consonant sounds and once they are mastered, the reading group proceeds to short-vowel word families. Vowel patterns, both short and long are introduced. Effective word study must take into account what the student knows about words. Aiming instruction too low wastes time and effort. Aiming too high can produce frustration and worse, confusion.

How could you assess where a beginning reader’s is at on the continuum of word recognition skill?

One way to assess where a beginning reader is at is in there invented spellings. By analyzing the students invented spellings, the teacher will be able to see if the child understands beginning, middle and ending consonant sounds. As the teacher begins to work with the children in small groups, he or she will gain a better understanding of strengths and weaknesses each child possesses in the area of word recognition.

Describe word sorting activities to teach beginning sound consonants and short-vowel word families.

Beginning consonants – pictures that begin with the letter b…boy, ball, basket, etc.

Word families – at, -an, -ap, -ack, -it, -in, -ig, -ick, – ot, -op, -ock, -ed, -et, -ell, -ut, -ug, -ub, uc/c

Short vowels – a (hat), i (pig), o (top), e (pet), u (rug)

One syllable vowel patterns – (a) mat, lake, park, tail…(i) kid, ride, bird, light…(o) job, rope, coat, born

(e) leg, seed, meat, he…(u) bug, mule, burn, suit

What skills does word sorting help develop in beginning readers coupled with word games and spell checks?

It helps children develop sight vocabulary and decoding. They learn to read many short-vowel words at sight and they are able to “sound out” others that are not sight words.

What is instructional pacing? What factors were found by Barr (1974, 1982) to affect effective pacing?

Instructional pacing refers to the first-grade teacher’s skill in moving his or her students through a set of graded reading materials.

The four factors include:

1. Difficulty of the classroom reading materials

2. Time allocated to reading instruction

3. Number of low readers in the classroom

4. The teacher’s years of experience teaching first-grade

In what ways can writing help beginning reader’s development?

Writing can help children develop phoneme awareness: the understanding that words are composed of a sequence of individual sounds that match to letters. It allows readers to assume the position of an author, and it provides children a purposeful arena for experimenting with, practicing, and eventually internalizing letter-sounds, spelling patterns, and sight words.

What are three tasks that could be used to assess end-of-year reading achievement? Describe the tasks briefly.

1. Word recognition which the child attempts to read a list of forty words and is graded in difficulty from early first grade to mid-second grade level.

2. Spelling task which consists of the child attempting to spell a list of fifteen words. These are also scored and the score ranges from late first-grade word knowledge to early to mid first-grade word knowledge.

3. The passage reading task is where the child reads aloud up to six passages that progress in difficulty from early first grade to late second grade. The child begins reading at Level 1 and continues through as many passages as he or she can. This is the most important test, however all three tests are looked at together to determine the child’s overall reading ability.  

First of all, the focus of the discussion should be on major story ideas. The discussions should involve the children and provide them with opportunities to be reflective. When choosing texts, one should choose stories that exhibit an event structure and some complexities of events to build meaning in children’s thinking.  During the discussion, getting children to think about events that are taking place in the story is essential as well as the expression of their own experiences.

Summarize the key steps in planning and performing a Text Talk lesson.

First off, good quality books should be selected which contain rich vocabulary. Next, initial questions should be planned which include those that initiate discussion on important points in a story. Follow up questions should also be planned in order to connect with children’s prior knowledge. There should also be a wrap-up question to tie everything in and allow the students to focus on the main points.

How many questions typically does a teacher ask at each break?

The teacher should only ask one question, maybe two. The same goes with statements. Too many questions or statements could take the children’s focus off of the major events in the story.

What kind of questions does the teacher ask?

The questions should be based on open questions that are posed during reading that asks children to consider the ideas of the story. During the discussion, the questions should connect the children as the story moves along. They should be “building meaning from those ideas as they read the text.” (Beck – Text Talk article)

When do you show the pictures to children?

The pictures should generally be shown after children have constructed meaning from what has been read. If not, they will more than likely rely on the pictures to tell the story and pay little or no attention of the words. Distraction from the main points of the story could also be a disadvantage of showing the pictures while the pages are being read.

How is vocabulary in the story highlighted?

It is important to choose words that are likely to be unfamiliar to young children, but could be a concept they can identify with and use in normal conversation. Once the teacher reads the section where the vocabulary word is located, it is necessary to discuss the word and explore the meaning of the word. Rereading the passage is also critical. The main point is to teach and encourage the use of several words from a story after the story has been read.

                There are four stages in the model of early literacy. Stage one is beginning consonant, in this stage beginner readers begin to use the letter sound knowledge to get the first sound or letter of a word. This is the beginning of students matching written words to spoken words. Stage two is concept of word in text. In this stage the student will become more aware of the word boundaries consisting of the beginning and ending consonants.  Stage three is the examination of the internal parts of the words including the vowel letters. Once the student has grasped the beginning and end letter it is easier to understand the parts in the middle to make the whole word. Stage four is that the reader should be able to segment a whole word, meaning put all of the sounds, beginning, middle, and ending together to form a word. By this stage a student should be able to increase their sight word knowledge.

                The quote, “It is not in the telling, but it is in the very act of reading that Jack will actually learn how to read, provides me with the understanding that children learn by doing. As a parent and an educator it is important to model fluent reading and guide children to learn to read. As students are read to and read on their own or in pairs their vocabulary will expand as well as their fluency. It is crucial for children to read every day. They need to read books that will give them some level of success and confidence. Reading a story more than one time will help a children learn to read and help them to gain reading fluency. However, it is important for the reader to have text only copies to ensure word recognition instead of solely relying on illustrations.

                As with other subject matters, there are many instructional strategies that will help children learn to read such as read alouds, model finger point reading of a familiar text, echo reading, choral reading, partner reading, buddy reading, text copies, the language experience approach, concept of word center, cut-up-a-sentence, be the sentence, as well as focusing on sight word development. Being a teacher assistant in an Exceptional Children’s classroom, I have found that echo reading works really well with the particular students that I have in my language arts group. We are also focusing on sight word development through the use of poems and sentence strips. Both students in my group use finger pointing as I occasionally model for them. As an educator, I will encourage students to develop a sense for words and use the instructional strategies provided to ensure development and growth in all students.

            Nonreading kindergartners can gain new vocabulary from listening to stories. Listening to stories may promote greater vocabulary growth if the words are heard at least four times. Discussing the new words and elaborating on them as well as their meanings will help students form an understanding of the newly introduced vocabulary words.

          Based on the article, I found that it is very important to choose books that are appropriate within the grade level and particular classroom. Books with some unfamiliar words and an abundance of familiar words should be used in the classroom. If the students do not understand a word you are saying/reading, they are probably not going to pay attention. They will become bored and inattentive due to lack of comprehension of the words or the entire story. The reading material selected should be something the students can connect to and as a result will help to build their vocabulary.

          Emphasizing vocabulary in lessons enables students to focus on the words. According to the reading, this step should be taken during read aloud activities. Discussion of the story and vocabulary words help students builds upon the knowledge they may already have or may help them to make new connections.

          While observing in a third grade classroom, I was able to participate in a read aloud of the book Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo. The teacher read from the book everyday for about fifteen minutes. As she read the book, the classroom discussed various vocabulary words and happenings that took place in the story. After the discussion, each student renamed the chapter with a name they thought would best describe the chapter in their reading journal. Throughout this observation, I took notice of how some students were very involved and looked forward to the story time that otherwise did not enjoy reading.

          From that moment on, I realized how important reading aloud to students really is. Reading this article only confirmed the importance of reading aloud to students of all ages. My goal is to read aloud everyday in my classroom. I will make read alouds and discussions a part of our everyday classroom time. As a teacher, I will select reading materials carefully and choose ones that will enhance the vocabulary of all students.