Learning to Read
How did you learn to read and write?
What are the differences between learning speech and
learning to read and write?
Consider:
• Are you taught formally to speak? Are we taught to read and
write?
• Do children struggle more with speaking or reading and
writing?
• What are the differences in the purposes of spoken and
written language?
Some differences between speech and writing
• In normal circumstances when children learn to speak before five,
they do not need any formal teaching. This is clearly not the case
with writing and reading.
• Many pupils fail to become literate. There is also no maturational
barrier. Writing is not as natural as speech.
• Skilful adult readers read at twice the rate they speak.
• Writing is not face to face, not co-operative, and is isolated.
• Writing is used for different purposes, recording facts, ideas and
information, labelling.
• The more demanding a text, the more re-reading is necessary.
Writing needs re-reading. Difficulties- 44 phonemes- 26 graphems.
• Punctuation can represent speech sounds.
• Speech contains false starts, incomplete utterances, hesitations,
repetitions, rephrasing fillers and colloquialisms such as well and
you know.
• It takes a child some time to see writing as a different mode of
communication.
Controversy …
• There is a long standing and sometimes heated
debate in educational circles about the best way of
teaching reading.
• Most recently: a strong emphasis has been placed on
the phonics-based approach in the ‘Literacy Hour’
introduced in English primary schools. This is versus
the ‘whole word’ approach, also called the ‘look and
say’ approach
Phonics history – when did you
learn to read?
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1898 The phonics program devised by Nellie Dale becomes popular in the UK
and USA, following the development of phonics in the mid-nineteenth century
1920s One-word flash cards become the rage
1960s Janet and John reading books take centre stage
1970s Frank Smith's books saying reading emerges naturally become influential
1989 National English curriculum published, emphasising variety of approaches
1992 Curriculum rewritten with more phonics
1998 National Literacy Strategy emphasizes a structured approach to teaching
reading, with some phonics; half of all schools ignore phonics
1999 The DfES publishes phonics materials for teachers
2001 OFSTED finds that teaching of phonics is weak
2004 A six-year study in a Gloucestershire primary school shows phonics
substantially boosts boys' achievements
2005 A report on a seven-year synthetic phonics study in Scotland shows
success with all children, particularly boys and disadvantaged pupils. The
Education Committee in the Commons asks for a widespread trial.
What is ‘phonics’?
• There are two ‘types’ of ‘phonics’ –
‘synthetic’ and ‘analytic’
• This approach generally starts before
children are introduced to formal
reading or reading books.
• Don’t confuse the terminology – a
phoneme is a unit of sound. Phonics is a
method used to teach children to read.
Synthetic Phonics
• Synthetic phonics involves the development of phonemic
awareness. The child learns 44 phonemes and their related
graphemes.
• Child expected to recognise each grapheme then sound out
each phoneme in a word, building up through blending the
sounds together to pronounce the word. This approach
works well with phonetically regular words.
• The sounds and their corresponding written symbols are
taught in quick succession - up to five or six sounds per
week.
• A multi-sensory approach is used where children see the
symbol, listen to the sound, say the sound and accompany
this by doing an action (Jolly Phonics is widely used).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6OFxIAMxzI
Analytic phonics
• analysis of whole words to detect phonetic or orthographic
patterns, then splitting them into smaller parts to help with
decoding, for example onset and rime.
• The rimes of words used to help children read and spell by analogy.
For example, the right rime, once known, can be used to generate
another 96 words. Helps children develop a large sight vocabulary
for reading and spelling.
• Works well for those words that children cannot work out soundby-sound, for example ‘might', 'through', ‘sake'. It is an effective
way of helping children adopt the common sight words, for example
when teaching the word 'could', children would be encouraged to
recall and read the rhyming words that share the same written
pattern - 'would', 'should'.
Phonics methods …
• Graded flash cards.
• Graded readers.
• Breaking down
individual words.
Phonics advantages …
• Children learn to
understand how
written words are built
and spelt.
• Enables them to
decipher new
unknown words.
Phonics disadvantages
• Early written vocab may be limited to words with
basic phoneme/grapheme correspondences
• English spelling system is extremely complex and
full of irregularities.
Phonics research …
• Children DO need to
acquire understanding of
phonics to achieve
literacy.
• 1996: Essex schools
study: children taught
using phonics achieved
reading ages 6/7 months
ahead of children not in
scheme.
Chall’s Stages of Reading Development
Stage
0
1
2
3
Age
Key characteristics
Pre-reading and
pseudo-reading
Up to 6Pretend reading, turning pages. Some letter
recognition, especially letters in own name.
Often predicting stories and words.
Initial reading and 6-7
Reading simple texts containing high
decoding
frequency lexis. Chall estimated about 600
words understood.
Confirmation and 7-8
reading more quickly, accurately, paying
fluency
more attention to meaning of words. How
many written words understood? 3,000.
for learning
9-14 Reading for knowledge as motivation
4
Multiplicity and
complexity
14-17 Responding critically to what they read and
analysing texts.
5
Construction and 18+
reconstruction
Reading selectively and forming opinions.
Reading Scheme
By Wendy Cope
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
Jane has a big doll. Peter has a ball.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!
Here is Mummy. She has baked a bun.
Here is the milkman. He has come to call.
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
Go Peter! Go Jane! Come, milkman, come!
The milkman likes Mummy. She likes them all.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!
Here are the curtains. They shut out the sun.
Let us peep! On tiptoe Jane! You are small!
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
I hear a car, Jane. The milkman looks glum.
Here is Daddy in his car. Daddy is tall.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!
Daddy looks very cross. Has he a gun?
Up milkman! Up milkman! Over the wall!
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!