Author: Molly R. Simonton, M.S.
South Charleston, West Virginia
Date submitted to deafed.net – April 4, 2006
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PowerPoint, please e-mail:
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The Art of Reading

Chapter 6
 Scheetz
 p.138-155
The Art of Reading

Reading is a form of communication that
evolves in infancy and unfolds gradually
throughout one’s lifetime.
Scheets, 2001, p. 138
Learning to Read:

Begins in early
childhood with
parents labeling
pictures with words.
 Combination of
interrelated skills
required for reading
comprehension to
occur.

The skills must occur
simultaneously in
order to accomplish
this task.
Scheetz, 2001, p.138
Learning to Read

Researchers not sure how children acquire all
these abilities. They agree that it is essential
that they be able to recognize letters as
symbols, thus enabling them to attach
meaning to them.
Scheetz, 2001, p.139
Six Phases while learning to Read
Prereading phase (Birth to Age 5)
 Phase One (ages 5 through 7)
 Phase Two (ages 8 and 9)
 Phase Three (ages 10 through 14)
 Phase Four (ages 15 through 18)
 Phase Five (ages 18 and above)

Scheetz, 2001, p.139-141
Prereading Phase (Birth – 5)





Parents introduce books,
point to pictures and name
objects
Children are exposed to print
Entertained through
educational tv shows children
start to recognize some
words
By age 4, children can
identify their names I print
and a few other words
80% can recognize ‘stop’ and
all probably know McDonalds’
“M”
Scheetz, 2001, p.139
Phase One (Ages 5-7)





Children continue to concentrate
on decoding single words
through 2nd grade
Rely on oral language and
metalinguistic skills to
comprehend the text
½ of kindergarteners and 90% of
1st graders are able to segment
words into syllables
By end of 1st grade about 70%
can segment by phoneme
Have acquired graphemic,
syllabic, and word knowledge
they need to become competent
readers
Scheetz, 2001, p.140
Phase Two (Ages 8-9)

Begins to analyze
unknown words
 Use ability to sound
out words, inspect
surrounding text, and
scrutinizing
accompanying
pictures, graphs and
charts to decipher
meaning
Scheetz, 2001, p.140
Phase Three (Ages 10-14)




Major shift in reading
process
Decoding skills have
become entrenched
Focuses attention on
comprehending written
materials
Children develop their
abilities to scan written
material while gleaning
important information
Scheetz, 2001, p.140
Phase Four (ages 15-18)

Incorporate higher
level reading skills
 Draw on ability to
make references and
examine varying
perspectives and
viewpoints found in
literature
Scheetz, 2001, p.140
Phase Five (Ages 18 and above)

Adults are able to read a variety of materials
and comprehend the meaning.
Scheetz, 2001, p140-141
Three Major Approaches To
Reading
Bottom Up Models
 Top Down Models
 Interactive Models

Scheetz, 2001, p.141-1443
Bottom Up Models

Stress importance of lower level perceptual
and phonemic processing and their influence
on higher cognitive functioning
 Readers analyze letters, decode syllables, and
are then able to focus o the meaning of text
 Reading instruction emphasizes phonetics and
the basic rules for translating written symbols
Scheetz, 2001, p.141
Bottom Up Model

Simplified reading material utilized until
phonological rules are advanced
 Identification of letters and words is stressed
 Emphasis on phonetics in the first three
grades
 According to this theory, children experience
difficulty reading because they lack the ability
to make the connection between English
speech sounds and printed letters.
Scheetz, 2001, p.141
Top Down Models
Known as problem solving models
 Focus on the cognitive task of deriving
meaning from what lies in the reader’s
head
 The reader forms hypotheses and makes
assumptions about what he or she is
reading based on his/her knowledge,
content of material, and syntactic
structures

Scheetz, 2001, p.141-142
Top Down Model

The reader comprehends the largest units
(meaning) and proceeds downward to the
smallest units (letters and words)
 Has the philosophy that children do not need
to be taught to read. They just need to be
exposed to reading and writing activities for
them to develop ease in accomplishing both
tasks
 Also known as Whole Language or Language
Experience Approach
Scheetz, 2001, p.141-142
Interactive Models






Reflects principles found in several theories
Considered to be more accurate in explaining how
both beginning and mature readers ascertain
information
Instructors implement both Bottom Up and Top Down
Model
Both word identification and comprehension are
stressed
Phonics taught and skills incorporated into the Top
Down Model for comprehension
Stresses using prior experiences of reader and
semantic maps
Scheetz, 2001, p.142-143
The Impact of Deafness on Reading
Development


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d/c d/p: experience language and reading in
the same fashion as h/c h/p
d/p continually sign to their children like h/p
talks to their infant
Later, d/p observe and correct signs of child
d/p point to illustrations, connect pictures and
later the works to signs
Through a combination of mime, gestures,
sign and fingerspelling the child begins to
develop vocabulary, cultivate concepts and
grasp the meaning of printed materials
Scheetz, 2001, p.143-144
Impact of Deafness on Reading
Development
12 months hearing child produces 1st work, 1824 months: acquire rudimentary syntax
 Deaf Child: 12 months producing one word
signs, 18-24 months: two-word stage
 Deaf Child: by age 3 capable of developing a
link between fingerspelled letters and the
orthographical system of print

Scheetz, 2001, p. 144
However:
Most deaf children are born to hearing
parents
 Prereading tasks may take a “back
burner” to fundamental communication
strategies, thus stifling the progression of
reading readiness

Scheetz, 2001, p.144-145
Impact of Deafness During Phase
One




d/c of d/p arrive at school knowing ASL but that native language is
not acceptable or understood
d/c of h/p limited English skills and few sign skills
English language skills needed to succeed with reading curricula
If preliminary skills are not intact, early school years will be
devoted to mastering these skills before they can become active,
instead of passive readers
Scheetz, 2001, p.145-146
Impact of Deafness During Phase
Two
Most deaf individuals do not find
phonological recording beneficial
 Bottom Up Model challenging
 Will start to lag behind their hearing
classmates as they struggle to master
the new vocabulary and uncover
meaning found within complex
sentences

Scheetz, 2001, p.146-147
Impact of Deafness During Phase
Three

Multi subjects such as
history, science and
advanced math
 Unable to decipher
content in these subjects
due to nonmastery of
English and poor
vocabularies
 Difficulty with both
Bottom Up and Top
Down Models
 The gap between
hearing and deaf
students widens
Scheetz, 2001, p.147-148
Impact of Deafness During Phase
Four





Need to read for content
Majority still paying attention to the details of
reading and refocusing on reading for the sake
of reading, not for deriving content
Limited vocabularies and weakened
grammatical base
Reading levels low
Complete high school with minimal reading
strategies
Scheetz, 2001, p.148-149
Impact of Deafness During Phase
Five



Some enter vocational schools or community colleges,
some workforce
The route they take has a bearing on the reading
materials they will encounter
Majority of college age deaf students enroll in
developmental reading classes
Scheetz, 2001, p.149
Strategies for Enhancing Reading
Through a Multisensory Approach
Some use oral approach
 Some use simultaneous communication
 Both approaches beneficial for few
students but many others struggle

Scheetz, 2001, p.149-150
David Schleper’s Fifteen Principles
Necessary for Reading Success





Principal 1. American Sign Language is used
by deaf readers to translate stories
Principal 2. Both ASL and English are visible to
the deaf child as books are being read
Principal 3. Deaf readers feel free to expand
sentences found in stories
Principal 4. Stories are read repeatedly on a
“storytelling” to “story reading” continuum
Principal 5. Deaf children lead; deaf readers
follow
Scheetz, 2001, p.150-151
Fifteen Principles Necessary for
Reading Success


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Principal 6. Deaf readers take implied meaning
and make it explicit
Principal 7. Deaf readers use spatial signs to
convey meaning
Principal 8. Deaf readers make adjustments in
their signing style to bring the character to life
Principal 9. Events that occur in stories are
connected to the real world
Principal 10. Attention maintenance strategies
are employed while reading books
Scheetz, 2001, p.152
Fifteen Principles Necessary for
Reading Success





Principal 11. Eye gaze is used to encourage
participation
Principal 12. Role play is utilized to extend
concepts
Principal 13. Sign variations are used to
represent repetitive English phrases
Principal 14. A positive and reinforcing
environment is established for deaf readers
Principal 15. Deaf children are expected to
become literate
Scheetz, 2001, p.153
Applying the principles to the
classroom




Andrews, Winograd, and
Deville (1996) proposed
prereading instruction be
implemented in classroom
They did a study to test ASL
summary technique
Six steps involved in the
technique
Study showed six steps
greatly improved retelling
skills and comprehending the
moral less found in reading
selections
Scheetz, 2001, p.154
ASL Summary Techniques

“designed to build background
knowledge in the reader, activate old
background knowledge, and focus the
reader’s attention on information in the
text before he reads the actual text”
(Andrews, Winograd, &Deville, 1996,
p.31).
Scheetz, 2001, p.154
ASL Summary Techniques



Step 1. The teacher
gives a summary of a
short fable in ASL.
Step 2. The student
independently reads the
fable.
Step 3. The student
individually retells all he
or she can remember
about the text.



Step 4. The student tells
the moral lesson of the
fable to the teacher.
Step 5. The teacher and
the student discuss the
student’s retelling and
moral lesson response.
Step 6. The teacher fills
in semantic and
conceptual gaps.
Scheetz, 2001, p.154