Greetings Readers!  Every now and then I share information that is pertinent to parents, teachers, administrators, superintendents, therapists and basically anyone who works with children.  It almost feels like an epidemic in education when you count the number of children who have reading difficulties.  Problems range from difficulty remembering letters, learning letter sounds, poor vocabulary skills, reading basic skills, difficulty sounding out words and poor reading comprehension.  We know today that children can have a specific reading disability and dyslexia.  Many children have more than one disability which makes progress even slower.  In this column I will share the Top 10 Things You Should Know About Reading from the LDOnline.com website!

 

1.  Too many American children don't read well!
Thirty-three percent of American fourth graders read below the "basic" level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test. The "basic" level is defined as "partial mastery of the prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade" (NAEP 2009 Reading Report Card).

2.  An achievement gaps exists!
Many students enter kindergarten performing below their peers and remain behind                as they move through the grades. Differences in language, exposure to print and background experiences multiply as students confront more challenging reading materials in the upper grades. There is a well-established correlation between prior knowledge and reading comprehension: students who have it, get it. Students who don't, don't. The differences are quantifiable as early as age 3 (Hart & Risley, 2003). For some subgroups of students, the reading failure rate is even higher than their same-age peers: 52% of black students, 51% of Hispanic students, and 49% of students in poverty all scored Below Basic on the NAEP assessment. High-need students have chronic difficulty in the classroom, and teachers must be prepared to meet the challenges they face.

3. Learning to read is complex!
Reading is a complex process that draws upon many skills that need to be developed at the same time. Marilyn Adams (1990) compares the operation of the reading system to the operation of a car. Unlike drivers, though, readers also need to:

1. • Build the car (develop the mechanical systems for identifying words)
   • Maintain the car (fuel it with print, fix up problems along the way, and make sure it runs smoothly)
   • And, most importantly, drive the car (which requires us to be motivated, strategic, and mindful of the route we're taking)

Cars are built by assembling the parts separately and fastening them together. "In contrast, the parts of the reading system are not discrete. We cannot proceed by completing each individual sub-system and then fastening it to one another. Rather, the parts of the reading system must grow together. They must grow towards one another and from one another. (Adams, 1990, pp.20-21).  The ultimate goal of reading is to make meaning from print, and a vehicle in good working order is required to help us reach that goal.

4. Teachers should teach with the end goal in mind
Because learning to read is complex, the most accomplished teachers learn to teach with the end goal of readers and learners in mind. Teachers working with young children learn to balance the various components of reading, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension in their every day teaching. The very best teachers integrate the components while fostering a love of books, words, and stories.

5. Kids who struggle usually have problems sounding out words

Difficulties in decoding and word recognition are at the core of most reading difficulties. Poor readers have difficulty understanding that sounds in words are linked to certain letters and letter patterns. This is called the "alphabetic principle."  The reason many poor readers don't attain the alphabetic principle is because they haven't developed phonemic awareness — being aware that words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes (Lyon, 1997). When word recognition isn't automatic, reading isn't fluent, and comprehension suffers.

6. What happens before school matters a lot

What preschoolers know before they enter school is strongly related to how easily they learn to read in first grade. Three predictors of reading achievement that children learn before they get to school are:

4. 1. The ability to recognize and name letters of the alphabet
   2. General knowledge about print (understanding, for example, which is the front of the book and which is the back and how to turn the pages of a book)
   3. Awareness of phonemes (the sounds in words)

Reading aloud together builds these knowledge and skills. As a result, reading aloud with children is the single most important activity for parents and caregivers to do to prepare children to learn to read. (Adams, 1990).

7.  Learning to read is closely tied to learning to talk and listen

Families and caregivers need to talk and listen to young children in order to help them learn a lot of the skills they will need for reading. When a child says "cook" and her father says, "Would you like a cookie?" he is building her knowledge of vocabulary, sentence structure, syntax, and purposes for communication — all of which will help her become a reader in later years. When a caregiver sings rhymes and plays word games with the children she cares for, she is helping them recognize the sounds in words (phonemic awareness). Children with language, hearing, or speech problems need to be identified early so they can receive the help they need to prevent later reading difficulties.

8. Without help, struggling readers continue to struggle!

Many children learn to read by first grade regardless of the type of instruction they receive. The children who don't learn it, don't seem to be able to catch up on their own.  More than 88 percent of children who have difficulty reading at the end of first grade display similar difficulties at the end of fourth grade (July, 1988). And three-quarters of students who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor readers in high school (Shaywitz, 1997). These facts highlight the importance of providing a strong foundation for reading from birth through age five.

9. With help struggling readers can succeed!

For 85 to 90 percent of poor readers, prevention and early intervention programs can increase reading skills to average reading levels. These programs, however, need to combine instruction in phoneme awareness, phonics, spelling, reading fluency, and reading comprehension strategies, and must be provided by well-trained teachers (Lyon, 1997).  As many as two-thirds of reading disabled children can become average or above-average readers if they are identified early and taught appropriately (Vellutino et al., 1996; Fletcher & Lyon, 1998). These facts underscore the value of having a highly trained teacher in every classroom.

10. Teaching kids to read is a team effort

Parents, teachers, caregivers, and members of the community must recognize the important role they can play in helping children learn to read. The research shows that what families do makes a difference, what teachers do makes a difference, and what community programs do makes a difference. It's time for all those who work with children to work together to ensure that every child learns to read. It is our shared responsibility.

What Can Parents Do?

Children need certain elements to learn to read and to be fluent readers!  If I had to pick one event that facilitates reading it would be reading to your children everyday!  One researcher said children have to be good story tellers before they learn to read.  Another researcher reported that children who are read to 5000 times by kindergarten soar above their peers in kindergarten and first grade! There is definitely a strong correlation between a child’s verbal development and reading skills.  In addition to reading everyday, parents must expose their children to a variety of experiences.  Provide piano lessons, karate, dance,  games, cooking lessons, budgeting/counting money, visit the zoo, parks, museums, take them grocery shopping and visit the beach.  Take road trips where you have to go over bridges and read maps! You can also do activities in your town where your taxes go like recreation centers and libraries that offer wonderful programs for children and families. Your child doesn’t have to be good at these activities. The intent is to expose them to the new vocabulary they will learn.  For the full article visit http://www.ldonline.org/article/42934

 

Lisa-Anne Ray-Byers is a speech-language pathologist who has worked in education for over two decades.  She holds graduate degrees in speech-language pathology and multicultural education.  She also holds certification in education administration. She is the author of the book, They Say I Have ADHD, I Say Life Sucks!  Thoughts From Nicholas and she is a co-author of the book, 365 Ways to Succeed With ADHD. Both are available at www.Amazon.com and on her website.  She is a member of the National Education Writers Association and she is the Education Editor for the Community Journal newspaper in Long Island. She is currently employed in the Hempstead School District. You can contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by visiting her website at www.AskLisaAnne.com.