ABCs of Reading & Reading
Instruction
SAALED, Thursday March 30th 2011
(12:05 – 13:05)
Rosemary Tannock
University of Toronto & The Hospital for Sick Children
Canada
Plan for this presentation
• Why do many youngsters have difficulty
learning to read?
• What are the key component skills
• How can we help youngsters who are
struggling with reading?
Proust and the Squid:
The Story and Science
of the Reading Brain
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3405.html#
“We were never born to read.”
Unlike language,
reading has no specific genes
to set up its circuitry or to dictate
its development.
Pyramid of Reading Behaviours
It took the human species 2000 years of
insights from first logographic scripts to
first alphabet (system of symbols for each sound)
Children are given just 2000 days
to gain the same insights!
No Genes specific to reading; no “Reading Center”
To read, each child must create a new reading
circuit from older structures & their
connections
Development of Reading

Neuronal Recycling” for Numeracy & Literacy

Existing circuits of neurons - originally
designed for vision, language, & cognition
– must forge new connections & pathways
◦
Neural
circuits & pathways are
created through hundreds
of exposures (or thousands in
the case of dyslexia) to letters,
letter patterns, & words - to
provide automatized & efficient
processing of print
What are the implications for education?
“ Children are wired for sound, but
print is an optional accessory that
must be painstakingly bolted on.” -
Steven Pinker
What must be bolted on…?
Automatic Recognition of:
 Smallest Sounds
◦ Phonemes/phonemic awareness)

Letters & Letter Patterns
◦ Grapheme/orthographic awareness

Morphology
◦ Structure & form of words

Meanings & Word Knowledge
◦ semantics

Pragmatic Knowledge
◦ Language in use
These skills must be bolted on!
letter recognition
50-150 ms
Connecting
letters-sounds;
orthography-phonology
100-200 ms
200-500 ms
Word knowledge;
~ 200 ms onwards
processing
Syntax/morphology
“Every word has 500 ms of fame” (P&S p.145)
Timeline of Fluent Reading: role of attention
from Maryanne Wolf: Proust & the Squid, 2007, p.145
At the heart of reading,
200 milliseconds allow us
“time to think new thoughts”.
Slow decoding, inattention, &
poor oral language, all have
negative impact on reading
comprehension
The Heart of Expert Reading
Normal
Readers
Visual
Recognition
0-100 MSEC
Dyslexic
Readers
Delay
Word Specific
Activation
150 MSEC
Delay
Phonological
Processing
180-300 MSEC
Delay
Semantic
Processing
200-500 MSEC
Delay
National Reading Panel (2000):
Teaching Children to Read. Washington, DC: NICHHD Clearing House
1. Phonemic/phonological
awareness
2. Alphabet principle
3. Fluency
4. Vocabulary
5. Text comprehension
What are the 5 critical domains for
reading assessment & instruction?

An oral language skill that allows us
to detect and manipulate sounds at
the phoneme, syllable, or word level
◦ Includes phonemic awareness (the ability to
identify & manipulate individual sounds in
spoken words)
◦ Does not involve written letters
Phoneme: smallest unit of speech that signifies a
differences in word meaning.
English has 40 – 44 phonemes
1. What is phonological awareness?

Understanding the relationships between
phonemes & graphemes
◦ Lack of phonemic awareness impedes
development of alphabetic principle
◦ Mastery of the alphabetic principle is required
to read words
Grapheme: part of the system of marks that make up printed
language, which is called ‘orthography’
English speech sounds are represented by letters & groups of letters,
called graphemes
English has 40-44 phonemes but 220 graphemes
The problem: 1 phoneme can be spelled with different graphemes; I
grapheme can represent more than 1 phoneme
2. Alphabet principle
 How
many phonemes are
there in the word “box”?
4 phonemes: the single letter ‘x’ is
comprised of 2 sounds (phonemes: /k/ /s/)
 What
are 2 most important
phonological awareness
abilities for reading?
Blending (pushing the sounds together)
Segmenting (pulling the sounds apart)
Self-test
Sound Blending


Start with speech
sounds that can be
sustained (/s/ /m/)
Progress from words
with 2 speech sounds to
3, then 4

Demonstrate, model,
practice

Progress to practice with
words with regular
phoneme-grapheme
correspondence
Segmentation

Start with compound
words (e.g. raincoat)

Progress to words with
2 syllables

Then onset-rimes

Finally to phonemes
(words with 2 speech
sounds, 3, then 4)

Progress to practice
with words with regular
phoneme-grapheme
correspondence
Teaching sound blending & segmentation
Sounding out
(phonological
awareness)
Reading Mastery is a
direct instruction
program that aims to
provide students in
kindergarten through
grade 6 with explicit and
systematic instruction in
English language
reading. The program
offers fast-paced and
interactive lessons and
includes placement
assessment and a
continuous monitoring
system.
 Know the sounds
 Blend the sounds (slowly without
stopping)
mmaaann
 Read the word (say the blended
sounds fast)
man
Lovett: LRDP/HSC: Derived from Reading Mastery Classic I/II/Fast Cycle 2003
Vowel Alert
glow
cow
Adapted from Lovett et al: Empower™ Reading (The Hospital for Sick Children 2006
Sound Blending


Start with speech
sounds that can be
sustained (/s/ /m/)
Progress from words
with 2 speech sounds to
3, then 4

Demonstrate, model,
practice

Progress to practice with
words with regular
phoneme-grapheme
correspondence
Segmentation

Start with compound
words (e.g. raincoat)

Progress to words with
2 syllables

Then onset-rimes

Finally to phonemes
(words with 2 speech
sounds, 3, then 4)

Progress to practice
with words with regular
phoneme-grapheme
correspondence
Teaching sound blending & segmentation
Parts of an English syllable:
An ‘onset’ is the beginning consonant
letters
A ‘rime’ is the part of a syllable that
contains the vowel and all that follows it

What is the rime of ‘swim’ ?

And “birthday”?
Onset-rime
self-test
Onset-rimes:
set of 37 rimes from which 500
primary words can be taught
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
ir
ock
oke
op
or
ore
uck
ump
ug
unk
Wylie & Durrell 1970: cited in Wendling & Mather (Eds), Essentials of
evidence-based academic interventions (2009) NY: Wiley & sons
Line
separates
onset-rime
Volunteer needed to read a word!
Periventricular
nodular
heterotopia
What does this word mean?
Periventricular nodular heterotopia is a common malformation of
cortical development in which the migration of developing neurons
destined for the cerebral cortex is abbreviated. Associated with
seizures & reading deficits
Morphemes Matter
Morpheme: the smallest unit of meaning in a language
The word ‘reddened’ has 3 morphemes, which signal:
its root = red; its verb class = - en; past tense = - ed
How many morphemes in
the word:
“replacement ” ?
What is a morpheme?
Self-test
Peeling-off tree
able
Adapted from Lovett et al: Empower™ Reading (The Hospital for Sick Children 2006
Fluency:
 “the ability to read connected text rapidly,
smoothly, effortlessly, & automatically with
little conscious attention to the mechanics of
reading (e.g., decoding)”

Fluency requires an appropriate rate, high
accuracy, and appropriate expression
Signs of poor reading fluency
Reads word-by-word with limited expression
or prosody, ignores punctuation, does not
divide sentences into meaningful phrases
3. Reading Fluency
Slow readers…

Expend more energy than peers on trying
to identify individual words

Read less text & have less time to
remember, review, or comprehend the
text

Have trouble retaining parts of the text in
memory & so less likely to integrate those
segments with other parts
Effects of slow reading on reading performance
> 1 error per 10
words read:
Student should
have accuracy of
90-94% on the
material used for
reading fluency
instruction
Instruction should
focus on building
ACCURACY
< 1 error per 10
words read:
Instruction should
focus on building
FLUENCY
When to focus on Reading Fluency

Help develop automatic word recognition
◦ 1-minute speed drills for reading word list

Provide an explicit model of fluent reading
◦ Model reading, echo reading, choral reading

Multiple readings (3 to 4) of text with
corrective feedback on missed words
Explicit instruction & practice in
recognizing larger orthographic units
 Establish performance criteria for reading
fluency & monitor progress

◦ e.g., 40% higher than current reading rate
Effective instruction for reading fluency

Grades 1 & 2:
30 correct wpm

Start-Grade 3:
40 correct wpm

Mid-Grade 3:
60 correct wpm

Grade 4 onwards: 80 correct wpm
Expected reading rate for connected text in
Grade 4: 135 words per minute
Word reading rate for 1-minute speed
drills

Help develop automatic word recognition

Provide an explicit model of fluent
reading
◦ Model reading, echo reading, choral reading

Multiple readings (3 to 4) of text with
corrective feedback on missed words
Explicit instruction & practice in
recognizing larger orthographic units
 Establish performance criteria for
reading fluency & monitor progress

◦ e.g., 40% higher than current reading rate
Effective instruction for reading fluency
A
process by which readers construct
meaning by interacting with the text
through the combination of:

Prior knowledge & previous experience

Information in the text

The stance readers take in relationship to
the ideas presented in the text
5. Text Comprehension
Characteristics of
Good Readers
Poor Comprehenders
Limited vocabulary

 Poor attention

 Poor working memory

 Lack persistence
 Poor or fluent decoding
◦ Predicting
 Do not use strategies
◦ Questioning
when reading
◦ Summarizing
 Do not use prior
◦ Visualizing
knowledge
 Uses prior knowledge
 Do not monitor their
 Monitors understanding
understanding
 Adjusts reading rate

Reads actively
Reads for a purpose
Previews text
Uses a variety of
strategies when reading

Text comprehension
A. Vocabulary instruction
B. Seven effective comprehension
strategies:
1. Comprehension monitoring
2. Question answering
3. Question generating
4. Summarization
5. Cooperative learning
6. Graphic & semantic organizers
7. Story structures
Effective instruction in text comprehension
INSERT
“I knew that”
confirms what you already know
“I thought differently”
Contradicts what you thought
“I don’t understand this”
Confuses you
“I didn’t know that”
Something new
Comprehension monitoring strategy
Reading comprehension
strategies
During:
Step
3:
Before:
Step
2:
Step
1:
Effective reading comprehension
strategies
After:
Visualize
A final reading.
Questions:
Preview the layout.
Ex. read down a
column, not across
columns. Captions go
with pictures.
Quotations mean
conversation.
Think aloud , make
connections,
inferences. Ex. Give
sticky notes to attach "I
agree", "This reminds
me of..."
Stop to summarize at
end of paragraphs.
Vocabulary: predict,
confirm and pronounce
Make predictions.
Revise predictions.
Activate prior
knowledge.
Direct (answers
are in the
story/book)
Indirect (provoke
thought "why")
Personal
questions (expand
answer based on
experience).
Use graphic
organizers.
Think-aloud reading comprehension
strategies
Explicitly teach “think-aloud”
reading comprehension
strategies,
•
•
Create posters as classroom
prompts.
Visualize
“I can see it
clearly…”
Connect
“That reminds
me of when…”
Purpose
“I want to
find out…”
• Promote
ongoing use of these
strategies across the curriculum,
•At any time that you engage the
students in a reading task, the
students may raise their hand
and voice a “think-aloud”. -
Prediction
“I think I
know what
will
happen…”
Vocabulary
“What does
____ mean?”
Inference
“I figured it
out!”
Collaborative Strategic Reading
Activate prior knowledge, consists of
brainstorming& making predictions prior to reading
•
Preview
Monitor understanding during reading, & use fix-up
strategies when fail to understand text.
Click indicates understanding.
Clunk indicates not understanding
•
Click and
Clunk
• Identify main ideas during reading
Get the
Gist
Wrap up
(Limit to 10 words per idea).
• Generate questions & review important ideas in
the text.
2 Activities: Generating questions; reviewing.
Get the Gist (Klingner, Vaughn, Schumm 1998)
◦ To help students understand the concept
of the ‘main idea’
Teach the strategy using a picture or
cartoon first, then progress to a
paragraph
1. who or what the paragraph is about?
2. what is the most important
information about the ‘who’ or the
‘what’ in the paragraph?
3. Say it in a statement of 10 words or
less

Summarization
Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)
 The collaborative strategic reading strategy has
been shown to improve reading comprehension for
all students outcomes in general education
classrooms (Klingner, et al, 1998, 2004; Hitchcock, et al, 2009;
Vaughn et al, 2001).
CSR components - combines modified reciprocal
teaching and cooperative learning
Teacher led component - teacher explicitly teaches
and models the following 4 comprehension
strategies for students
CSR Cooperative Learning Group Component
Student led component  Students will work together in groups of 4 taking turns in
roles of Leader, Clunk Expert, Gist Expert and
Announcer.
 In roles, the students discuss and apply strategies while
reading sections of the text aloud to group.
 A number of materials may be used including: Clunk
cards, Cue cards, Learning log, Timers, & Score cards.
 To support a student’s reading comprehension needs this
strategy will be implemented with a small group of students
for one school term.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=424
RAVE-O: POSSuM
Phonological
Orthographic
Semantic
processes
processes
processes
Syntactic
processes
Morphological
processes
The goal of RAVE-O is to simulate
in our teaching what the brain does when it reads
a single word, a paragraph, a text.
RETRIEVAL, AUTOMATICITY, VOCABULARY, ELABORATION,
ORTHOGRAPHY (RAVE-O) Wolf, M. et al (2003) J. Learning Disabilities 33:322-324
Major RAVE-O Premise
The more you
know about a
word, the better
and faster you
can read and
comprehend it.
FAN
“fan”
as Noun, Verb
Orthographic Component

f
an



Train the visual system to
recognize letter patterns
(chunks) and words
Connect visual
representations to
corresponding sounds
Develop speed in
recognition and retrieval
Understand and use the
linguistic structure of
English words to store and
retrieve orthographic
forms
From RAVE-O Reading program (MaryAnne Wolf)
Morphological Component




Rapid recognition of
morphemes added to
words like fan
Automatic access to
meanings of
morphemes
Contributes to rapid
recognition of words
and to semantic
development
Empower students to
attack new and large
words.
 Continuum
of knowledge about
every word
 Multiplicity
 Words
of Meanings
with richer “semantic
neighborhoods” are read more
quickly and easily!
Semantic Component

Who did what to whom

Awareness of syntactic uses
of words in text

Understanding of
grammatical relationships in
language

Pivotal for comprehension of
connected text and semantic
development
Sam Sleuth
tracked the
tracks by the
track.
Syntactic Component
Key Instructional Features of
PHAST Track Programming
 Using prior knowledge
 Teaching prerequisite knowledge
 Preskill mastery
 Teacher modelling
 Scaffolded instruction
 Metacognitive strategy-based approach
 Metacognitive dialogue training (“self-talk”)
 Attributional retraining ----Success
Word Identification Strategy Training
(WIST)
1.
Analogy: limerick
(him)(her)(kick)
2.
Seek the Part You Know (SPY): dogmatic dog mat ic
3.
Vowel Variations:
4.
Peeling Off: unrelenting
head
bead
break
seam? great? breath?
(un)(re)lent(ing)
Using the 5 PHAST Strategies
Peeling Off
Sound It Out
Rhyming
Vowel Alert
SPY
CHECK
SCORE
Choose: The best strategy
Paired-Activity
Use:
The strategy correctlyTry it yourselves!
Check:
Each step—”How am See
I doing?”
worksheet
Score:
The result—”I did it!”
Lovett et al: Empower™ Reading (The Hospital for Sick Children 2006
Lovett et al: Empower™ Reading (The Hospital for Sick Children 2006
Using the Game Plan
Step 1. CHOOSE:
"My Game Plan is to first use Peeling Off. Then I am going to use the
Rhyming Strategy and look for spelling patterns I know.”
Step 2. USE:
"I am Peeling Off un and ing. My next Game Plan is Rhyming.
I see the spelling pattern a-c-k. The key word is pack. If I know
pack, then I know stack.”
Step 3. CHECK: :
"I have to stop and think about whether I’m using the strategy(ies)
properly. Is it working? Yes, I’ll keep on going. I will put all the parts
together—un-stack-ing.”
Step 4. SCORE / RE-CHOOSE:
"The word is unstacking. I scored! I used Peeling Off and Rhyming to
help me figure out this word and they worked." (If the strategy did not
result in a real word, the child begins again at Step 1, and chooses
another strategy to try.)
Lovett et al: Empower™ Reading (The Hospital for Sick Children 2006
Key message
• Learning to read is not a natural act –
students need brief but explicit instruction
in all of the 5 key domains every day