EDLA 651 Developing and Effective School-Wide Reading Program EMU Lancaster Cheryl Weyant

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Why Learn About Theories? When teachers understand the theories supporting instructional practice, they can make those practices more effective. When teachers understand multiple theories of learning, they can expand their repertoire of strategies. Theories provide teachers with a clear basis for instructional decisions. A knowledge of learning theories makes instruction more cohesive.

Bottom-Up Theories Hypothesize that learning to read progresses from children learning the parts of language (letters) to understanding the whole text (meaning). Hypothesize that the human mind functions like a computer & that visual input (letters & words) is sequentially entered into the mind of the reader.

Skilled Reading “ … skilled readers identify words quickly with little help from context. It is readers of lower skill who rely on context to support word identification.” - Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky & Seidenberg. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2001 Good readers know how to decode, we teach them these skills. Pictures enhance comprehension once a child can decode, they do not help a child with decoding skills. These are skills that can be done without pictures at any time.

Four Part Processing System by Seidenberg & McClelland Context Processor Meaning Processor Orthographic Processor Phonological Processor Speech Production (phonics) Writing OutputReading Input (speech sound system) (memory for letters) (vocabulary) (concepts and information; sentence context; text structure) Fluency

Tenets of Direct Instruction The teacher is responsible for the child’s learning: “…children’s failure to learn is unacceptable and unnecessary….” (Kam’enui, 1997) Teaching procedures are very explicit. Skills are carefully sequenced. High utility skills are taught before less useful ones. Easy skills are taught before more difficult ones.

Problems We do not read letters, words and sentences in isolation. Reading requires orchestrating processes and strategies. Comprehension requires the ability to use information outside of the text. Does not address engagement and metacognition.

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The pweor of the hmuan mnid is phaonmneal! A occdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Top-Down Theories Rooted in Gestalt psychology Learners respond to physical stimuli such as images, letters, or drawings. Learners act on what they see using their own knowledge & experiences What is seen (pictures, words, letters) is processed from the whole image to its parts

Top-Down Theories Gestalt psychologists explain that: Learners actively organize & interpret visual stimuli rather than passively taking in the visual image without interpretation “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” Reading begins with a visual check of the “whole” first (text, sentences) & proceeds to identification of the smaller parts (words, letters, letter features)

Top-Down Theories The words themselves do not have meaning The reader brings personal meaning to the text from background experiences Reading begins with the reader’s knowledge, not print.

Top-Down Theories Gestalt psychologists explain that: Learners actively organize & interpret visual stimuli rather than passively taking in the visual image without interpretation “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” Reading begins with a visual check of the “whole” first (text, sentences) & proceeds to identification of the smaller parts (words, letters, letter features)

Extreme Views 1960s, 1970s, 1980s – phonics first reading instruction 1980s & 1990s – Frank Smith Extreme instructional approaches are never likely to be as effective as approaches in which these extremes are combined.

Interactive Theories Combine the strengths of both top-down & bottom-up explanations Minimize the weaknesses associated with either theory alone Believe that readers apply what knowledge is needed to understand text while simultaneously decoding print

Interactive Theories Active Processing – if a reader possesses a great deal of prior knowledge about the text, she is more likely to use this knowledge & not need to focus as much attention on the print Passive Print Processing – if a reader knows very little about a topic, she may rely more heavily on the info on the printed page to understand the author’s message

Bottom up and top down processes occur simultaneously. Readers vary their focus along a continuum from primarily text-based to primarily reader-based processing.

Comprehension Meaning (Semantic) Structure (Syntactic) Visual (Graphophonic)

Tracey, D.H. & Morrow, L.M. (2006). Lenses on reading: An introduction to theories and models. New York: The Guilford Press.

National Education Association Task Force on Reading 2000 “It is not the method that makes the difference, it is the teacher!” Teacher knowledge and competence form the foundation for effective reading instruction.

Adopting a new core reading program influences students’ reading achievement scores by only 3% The competence of the teacher influences student reading achievement scores by 15% - five times more than programs !