1. Mature Word Identification
Education 573
Spring, 2016
S. Rosenberg, Ed.D.

2. When we say that our goal is to help all students read “at grade level or above” what do we really mean?
We want students to be able to read grade level text with a reasonable level of understanding
We usually also mean we want them to be able to do this fluently, so that reading the text doesn’t take an inordinate amount of time.
And we would like them to find pleasure in reading, which also means we would like them to be able to read a book like we read books, without having to struggle with the words, and be able to focus on the meaning
All this brings us to a consideration of the most important things that Reading First is designed to help schools accomplish. Here are three of the most important.

3. What skills, knowledge, and attitudes are required for good reading comprehension?

4. What we know about the factors that affect reading comprehension
Proficient comprehension of text is influenced by:
Accurate and fluent word reading skills
Oral language skills (vocabulary, linguistic comprehension)
Extent of conceptual and factual knowledge
Knowledge and skill in use of cognitive strategies to improve comprehension or repair it when it breaks down.
Reasoning and inferential skills
Motivation to understand and interest in task and materials

5. In other words, student’s reading comprehension depends on:
How well they read the words on the page
How much knowledge they have, and how well they think
One reason for optimism that we can do better this time, is that we have a significxant amount of new information from science about how children learn to read, what causes difficulties, and how to provide effective instruction for children who struggle.
How motivated they are to do “the work” of comprehension

6. The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled Reading
(Scarborough, 2001)
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE
LANGUAGE STRUCTURES
VERBAL REASONING
LITERACY KNOWLEDGE
PHON. AWARENESS
DECODING (and SPELLING)
SIGHT RECOGNITION
SKILLED READING:
fluent execution and
coordination of word
recognition and text
comprehension.
LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION
WORD RECOGNITION
increasingly
automatic
strategic
Skilled Reading- fluent coordination of word reading and comprehension processes
Reading is a multifaceted skill, gradually acquired over years of instruction and practice.

7. Three potential stumbling blocks to becoming a good reader (NRC Report, 1998)
1. Difficulty learning to read words accurately and fluently
2. Insufficient vocabulary, general knowledge, and reasoning skills to support comprehension of written language
3. Absence or loss of initial motivation to read, or failure
to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of
reading.

8. Consensus Definition of Reading
At a general level, reading is a process of getting meaning from print using knowledge about the written alphabet and about the sound structure of oral words for purposes of achieving understanding. “Preventing Reading Difficulties
in Young Children” 1998

9. Meaning and understanding
Knowledge of alphabetic characters
Knowledge of sounds

10. Word Identification and Comprehension are Separable
Individuals can comprehend spoken language without being able to identify a written word.
Individuals can identify words, but cannot comprehend.
To be able to read, an individual must be
skilled at identifying words and comprehension.
Word Identification and comprehension are carried out in different parts of the brain.

11. Just because learning to identify (and spell) words comes early in the learning to read process does not mean it is easy.
In fact, for some students (i.e. those
with dyslexia) this is the most difficult challenge of the learning to read process.

13. How do good readers identify words?

14. Good readers fixate/stop and focus at almost every word
Literacy How, Inc.

15. letter of the text. Word Reading Good readers appear to process every
a. Good readers “fixate” (their eyes stop) on about 85% of the words in a text.
b. It takes more time to read longer words. (i.e.
over 6 letters, approximately)
c. When individual letters are deleted from a text,
it takes good readers longer to read. .

16. Medial letters of words are omitted
I c t b e t t I c d a y u d w t I was r g. The p l p r of the h n m d, a g to a r h at C e U y, it d ’t m r I what o r the l s in w d are, the o y I t t g is t t the f t and l t l r be in the r t p e. The r t can be a t l m s and you can s l r d it w t a p m. T s is b e the h n m d d s not r d e y l r by I f, but the w d, as a w e. A g huh? Y h and I a s t t s g was I t!

17. Medial letters are scrambled
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in wrods 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!!

18. Letter level cues are the primary means good readers recognize words.
Good readers do not guess based on the meaning of the text up to that point as do beginners.

19. Good readers are experts at word identification/decoding!
Good readers are characterized by their ability to read real and non-sense words in isolation, and without any semantic cues.
Good readers decode words “accurately” and “automatically;” that is they can read words with little or no conscious effort.

20. scuppernogation presterpine planchetting tusiptekable torpoundative
unfestability
Dictate words for spelling: biffermatization, gabttable, joskettomater

21. Good readers can identify novel words accurately and automatically because they can easily associate letters with their sounds, and blend the sounds to pronounce a word;
Good readers can recognize common letter combinations automatically, and that makes word identification for known and unknown words automatic, accurate and fast.

22. Show them how to build a better mouse trap!
Most children entering school (and older struggling readers) try to identify words by using their knowledge of the topic and/or illustrations and/or letters.
Research results indicated that those first graders who begin to use letter-sound cues earliest go on to be the better readers at the end of the year.
The teacher needs to decide when and how to begin to wean beginners (and struggling readers) away from using picture clues and
Guessing/predicting from the meaning of the text.
Show them how to build a better mouse trap!

23. The comprehension of a text depends on accurate and efficient word identification.

24. Oral vs. Written Language
Oral language development comes first before written language development for the culture (i.e. historically) and for the child.
What did the creators of writing system in general and the alphabet specifically know about language that their ancestors didn’t?

25. Oral Language Development
By the time most children enter school they have:
1. Many thousands of words in their vocabulary.
2. Have mastered almost every grammatical pattern they will ever learn.

26. What does a child entering school need to know about language in order to learn written language over and above what they need to know in order to learn oral language?

27. Learning oral language is “natural;” it is part of our genetic inheritance (like learning to walk) and therefore does not require “conscious” attention to the elements of language.
Learning written language needs to be learned (like learning to dance) and therefore requires the learner to be consciously aware of elements of language.

28. English is an alphabetic language.
This means the characters of the writing system –letters- represent sounds/phonemes.
This means the learner of a writing system that uses an alphabet needs to be consciously aware of the sounds/phonemes words are composed of.

29. Letters and letter order
Why do we spell the name of this object with the letters “m” “o” “p” and in that order?

30. The oral word /mop/ is composed of the
sounds/phonemes /m/ /o/ /p/ in that order.

31. Why is the name of this animal spelled “f” “r” “o” “g” ?

32. The oral word /frog/ is composed of the
sounds/phonemes /f/ /r/ /o/ /g/ in that order.

33. Why is the name of this object spelled “g” “a” “t” “e” ?

34. The oral word /gate/ is composed of the__
sounds/phonemes /g/ /a/ /t/ in that order.

35. Why is the name of this object spelled “s” “o” “a” “p” ?

36. The oral word /soap/ is composed of the__
sounds/phonemes /s/ /o/ /p/ in that order.

37. Children need to become consciously aware of the sounds/phonemes in words prior to learning to identify written words just like the inventors of the alphabet.

38. Why don’t we teach all beginning kindergartners how to analyze words into sounds/phonemes?
What makes learning how to analyze words into sounds/phonemes difficult?

40. Allaphones
Different sounds/phonemes that are considered the same in a language.
A set of phonemes that are considered to be the same.
/l/ in /lime/ /mile/ is different
/e/ in /seed/ /seen/ is different
/t/ in /time/ / later/ is different
It is possible that these sounds/phonemes may be considered different in another language.

41. “Red” is a set of colors that are considered to be the same
“Red” is a set of colors that are considered to be the same. Where does “red” end and “orange” begin?

42. Phonemic Awareness Activity

43. Since many children entering school are not ready to analyze words into sounds/phonemes, how can we get them ready to learn how to do it?
We teach easier phonological awareness skills

44. Phonological Skills 1. Word Segmentation 2. Rhyme production
3. Syllable Segmentation
4. Initial sound identification
5. Final sound identification
6. Phonemic segmentation
7. Phonemic blending