Harvard professor Jeanne Chall is noted for her research on developmental stages of reading. She was among the first researchers to describe reading as a developmental process. Her 1967 book, Learning to Read: The Great Debate, summarizes her findings on the debate (which continues today) between proponents of phonics and proponents of meaning-based approaches to reading. Chall's study concludes that, while learning the alphabetic code (variously called phonological awareness, word analysis, decoding, and sound/symbol relations) is essential in beginning to learn to read, it is not all-important. Other crucial factors include language, good teaching, and instructional materials on an appropriate level of difficulty.
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Stage 0: Pre-reading/Emergent Reading (birth to 6 years)
The child pretends to read (pseudo reading); retells story when looking at pages of books previously read to him/her; names letters of the alphabet; recognizes some signs; prints own name; plays with books, pencils and paper.
Prealphabetic phase
According to Gunning (2006) in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties, in the prealphabetic (logographic) phase, "students learn words by memorizing their shapes and other distinctive features" (p. 228). The word McDonald’s is recognized because golden arches are in the background, not because the child realizes that McDonald’s start with an m. The word look might be remembered because the o’s in the middle look like eyes…Poor readers remain in this stage longer and may overrely on picture and meaning cues” (p. 228).
Alphabetic phase
Gunning (2006) stated that "students learn words by using knowledge of letters and sounds" (p. 229).They note that the b in boy stands for /b/, and that cat ends with t, which represents the sound /t/. Gunning (2006) noted that novices "may not make all the necessary letter-sound connections in a word. They may only associate the first or last letters with speech sounds" (p. 229). Students can read and learn more words easily because they use the relationships between the word's letters and its sounds to help them remember words. Students may overemphasize phonics" and produce words that are kind of similar like bad for bank. Gunning (2006) said they may also produce nonsense words like hep for help.
Consolidated alphabetic (orthgraphic, within-word phase)
Gunning (2006) said that "students use their knowledge of patterns, rather than single letters to read and spell" (p. 229). For example, the reader may use the final e as a sign that the vowel sound in cape is /ā/ rather than /a/.
Stage 0 Strategies
1. Reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers can do with children. Reading aloud builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helps children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about.
Savage (1994) said, "Reading to children stimulates their interest, imagination, emotional, and linguistic development. It introduces children to literature that will be the basis of their continuing interest in reading for pleasure" (p. 125).
Read-aloud lesson (Gunning, 2006)
Before Reading
Read the title and display the cover and encourage students to predict what the story might be about. Have them justify their predictions. Introduce any concepts that might hinder students’ comprehension of the story to compare their predictions with what actually happens.
During Reading
Clarify any elements that might be confusing. Also check students’ predictions, and when appropriate, encourage them to make new predictions. However, emphasize the story itself. Do not allow long discussions to interrupt the flow of the story.
After Reading
Discuss students’ predictions. Have them compare their predictions to what actually happened in the story. Discuss the events in the story and characters. Have students justify and explain their responses so that they are analyzing the text and the language of the story. (p. 184)
Gunning (2006) said, “How a book is read has a bearing on how much students benefit.”
See comments below for other Stage 0 strategies and benefits of reading aloud.
Exam Practice Questions
1. Why is Chall's Stage 0 important to teachers and parents? (6 marks)
2. Explain three strategies the teacher can use to foster reading development in Stage 0. (9 marks)
3rd Journal Entry (End of Week 2)
Summarize the characteristics of Stage 0 in a graphic organizer.
List the teaching strategies for Stage 0 in a graphic organizer.
Reflect on the significance of Stage 0 to parents, teachers and students.
Teach Phonological Awareness Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and identify the various sounds in spoken words. Kids who have strong phonological awareness can do things like rhyme, count syllables, and blend sounds into words. And most important of all, kids with strong phonological awareness learn to read much more easily, making their first attempts at reading more successful. This early advantage sticks with kids as they continue through their school career.
ReplyDeleteHow Phonological Awareness Develops
Kids don’t just pop out of the womb ready to run (although with some kids it may feel that way!). Instead, babies learn to stretch their little limbs, turn over onto their bellies, crawl, and walk–and then, eventually, they are off and running.
In the same way, phonological awareness develops gradually over time. Kids start with the easiest skills–like understanding that spoken language contains words–and then move on to skills like rhyming. Eventually they develop more advanced skills like manipulating sounds and are able to play word games like “Go Find It.”
Quick Check for Phonological Awareness
Here are six skills that indicate that your child is phonologically aware.
1. Your child is able to rhyme. If you say the word bat, your child can respond with words that rhyme like hat, sat, mat, or flat.
2. Your child understands word boundaries. If you say the sentence Don’t let the cat out, your child is able to separate the sentence into five individual words.
3. Your child can clap syllables. If you say dog, your child knows to clap once. If you say umbrella, your child knows to clap three times.
4. Your child can blend sounds to make a word. If you say the sounds sh…eep, your child can respond and say the word sheep.
5. Your child can identify the beginning sound in a word. If you ask your child to say the first sound in pig, your child is able to respond with the sound /p/.
6. Your child can identify the ending sound in a word. If you ask your child to say the last sound in the word jam, your child is able to respond with the sound /m/.
o Read lots of great rhyming picture books!
o Share lots of nursery rhymes with your child.
Teach print concepts (fostering emergent literacy)
ReplyDeleteGunning (2006) said that low-achieving readers may not have acquired essential concepts about print. These include book-orientation concepts such as locating the front and back of a book, recognizing the function of the cover and title page, and recognizing the function of print and pictures.
Print-orientation concepts include reading from left to right and from top to bottom.
Print concepts include understanding that words can be written down and read, recognizing a letter, word, and a sentence, understanding that words are composed of sounds and letters represent sounds, as well as the difference between uppercase and lowercase, and function of punctuation marks.
Gunning (2006) stated, “Above all, students should understand that reading is a meaningful act (p. 185).
Gunning (2006) noted, “Although many children may develop literacy naturally, with a minimum of instruction, low-achieving readers and at-risk students need direct instruction in addition to numerous opportunities to engage in reading and writing. Areas in which direct instruction are especially important are concepts about print, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and knowledge of beginning consonant correspondences (pp. 184-185).
What is print awareness?
Print awareness refers to an understanding about the functions, structure and conventions of written language.
Print awareness encompasses the following skills:
• Recognizes that spoken words are represented in written language
• Recognize print that is relevant in the environment
• Distinguish between print and illustrations
• Show where reading begins on a page
• Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page to page
• Understand the concept of a letter
• Understand the concept of a word
• Understand that letters form words
• Distinguish letters from numbers
• Understand that words are separated by spaces in print
• Begin to recognize some simple punctuation, such as the comma, period and question mark.
Why does print awareness matter?
Developing print awareness is one of the number one goals of prekindergarten literacy teaching! It sets a firm foundation for reading instruction in kindergarten and beyond. When children learn how print works, they will be more eager and ready to learn to read.
How do you teach print awareness?
A big part of the foundation for teaching concepts of print is creating a print-rich environment. Families and teachers should immerse children in print! This can be done by labeling the children’s belongings, labeling storage areas and displaying print in the classroom.
Print awareness will develop as the children observe print concepts during classroom instruction. Make sure your language is intentional and explicit while you demonstrate print concepts.
More strategies
Involve children in vocabulary activities
Provide alphabet activities
Draw children’s attention to environmental print
Provide books, paper, pencils, letters, time
Benefits of Reading Aloud
ReplyDeleteGunning (2006) said, “A key element in a literacy-rich environment is reading to students…According to the Commission on Reading (as cited in Gunning, 2006), ‘The single most important activity for building knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children’ (p. 183).
o Reading aloud to a child builds background of experience, vocabulary, syntax, and comprehension.
o Reading aloud also builds acquaintance with literary language and a sense of story so that students have a framework for understanding narratives.
o Reading aloud to children helps them to understand different topics about the world and everyday life.
o Adults tend to use enriched language when discussing books with children who pick up on this enriched language. Reading enhances a child’s vocabulary and help him understand how to read and write.
Gunning (2006) said:
§ select books that both teachers and students should enjoy
§ select texts that are conducive to students’ level
§ include informational texts to build background and knowledge
§ for fiction, start with simple narratives and work up to more complex selections