For some students, even able ones, reading is just “too much” work. A little parable is then offered in support of teaching literacy skills efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with what we now know about how the human brain learns to read–in other words–aligned to The Science of Reading.
HERE IS THE STORY — EVERYONE LIKES A STORY, RIGHT?
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining out with what most folks would consider a precocious 10 year old, currently a 5th grader in the northeast United States.
We got to talking and inevitably, I asked her the title of her favorite book. She thought about it for a while and said she really didn’t have a favorite, but was enjoying the book that was being read aloud in class. I then asked her if she read independently just for fun, and she swiftly responded with a resounding “NO.”
I asked her if she liked stories, and of course, she enthusiastically said, “Yes.” Hmmmm. What’s up here?
I then asked her the following questions:
- Do you enjoy listening to others read books? Response: “Yes, a lot! Sometimes, if I feel like it, I even raise my hand in class to read, but I mostly like listening to others.”
- Do you like reading graphic novels? Response: “I LOVE graphic novels!”
- Do you listen to audio books? Do you follow along in a printed book as you listen? Response: “I love listening to audio books, and I don’t ever follow along.”
- Do you like movies and television series? Response: “Yes, and I want to see Barbie.”
That was enough to get me thinking about literacy development in our children.
I watched this perfectly poised and conversant young lady sketch human figures elaborately as she dined with her grandparents and my husband and me (she ordered early and finished eating earlier than the adults). This young lady’s oral language vocabulary was quite advanced, as evidenced by her descriptions of what she had seen on a recent excursion to an aquarium (descriptions of manatees, use of the word ‘aquatic’, etc.), as well as her description of what she was learning in math using terms such as ‘variable’, ‘exponent’, ‘algebra’, ‘fraction’, ‘per cent’ with ease and obvious understanding. She went on to talk about her private school (she is bilingual and has attended a foreign language immersion school since kindergarten), teachers, soccer team, art lessons, and even overnight summer camp. She has it all. And yet, she thinks reading is “too much work.”
One other item I observed. This young lady, although able to sketch with skill and apparent ease, held her pencil something like this.
Image by Lori Josephson
WHY AM I SHARING THIS STORY? WHAT’S THE PARABLE?
A parable is defined as a short story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. It comes from a Greek word meaning “comparison.” A parable is a narrative, usually having a moral for instruction. I do not in any way liken my parable to anything spiritual or Biblical in nature. Instructional, yes, indeed.
It is my strong belief that this young lady finds reading “just too much work” because READING IS too much work for her. She was likely taught using techniques brain and cognitive scientists and reading researchers now know is not efficient nor optimally effective. I suspect she was taught using a Balanced Literacy (use of the 3 cueing system–what looks right, what matches the illustration, what sounds right).
According to Learning A-Z, Balanced Literacy refers to an instructional approach that involves a balance between teacher-led reading and writing instruction and independent learning. Typically, a balanced literacy framework consists of opportunities to:
- Read aloud
- Engage in guided reading
- Participate in shared reading
- Experience independent reading
- Gain exposure to authentic text
This instructional approach often leaves a student reliant upon guessing, over-reliance upon accompanying illustrations, and little to no or haphazard instruction on ‘cracking the code’ of the English language. These students often have difficulty decoding unknown words. If a student does not already have the unknown word in their oral language vocabulary, it further complicates the reading process. This is especially true for English Learners whose primary language is not English. And don’t get me started on how hard it is and/or becomes for students to master the rules of English spelling. For those of you who think English is a ‘crazy language’ with numerous irregularly spelled words, English is actually 86% regular, according to Dr. Louisa Moats. That is, 86% of all English words follow reliable spelling patterns (~50% of all words follow reliable sound-symbol relationships; ~36% of all English words follow reliable spelling patterns save for 1 speech sound.).
If your child’s teacher communicates to you that they are reading at A, B, C, D, E…. Level, your child is being taught using a Balanced Literacy Approach.
Back to my young lady. As I mentioned, her oral language is highly developed, and I suspect she also has highly developed visual and auditory memory skills. Thus, she is well able to read, gain vocabulary and background knowledge at likely an appropriate rate. She seems to have successfully compensated for the lack of explicit instruction aligned to what is known as The Science of Reading.
BUT….I absolutely recall her grandmother, my friend, tell me that her granddaughter’s spelling seemed a bit odd and not in line with what it should have been a few years ago. Do I know this young lady’s spelling skills today? I do not; however, I did ask her if she was familiar with the term ‘morphology’ (meaning parts of words such as prefixes, suffixes, bases, roots)—she did not. When I asked her about prefixes, suffixes, bases, and roots, she stated that “she knew them”, but was unable to provide examples or meanings of basic concepts.
It truly pains me to think that this young lady believes that reading is “JUST TOO MUCH WORK.”
Would it have been too much work had she been taught using instructional approaches aligned with The Science of Reading? I suspect not. Let me share one of my favorite infographics, courtesy of Breaking the Code.
Do note the instruction using Structured Literacy involves instruction in the smallest parts of our speech system (phoneme, phoneme awareness), an organized scope and sequence of teaching sound/symbol (letter) correspondences for both reading and spelling, the direct teaching of those high-frequency phonetically regular and irregular words, direct teaching of decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) patterns, use of what are known as ‘decodable texts’, which allow students ample opportunity to practice and apply the phonetic patterns they are learning. By the way, Structured Literacy approaches also include direct instruction in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary, and background knowledge.
One last item…A Structured Literacy Approach also includes direct instruction of letter formation (Is the writing legible?) and handwriting fluency (Is the writing serviceable–in other words, is the writing easy for the student to produce without fatigue?), inclusive of pencil grip. Most students who have a traditional tripod or quadrupod pencil grip do not suffer from writing fatigue. While the young lady in question did not seem to have writing fatigue, it made me think about it.
Parents, do your due diligence and ask your child(ren)’s teachers and administrators what type of approach they use to teach literacy. As literacy expert Dr. Pamela Snow points out, “as parents, you buy a lottery ticket when your child starts school. Schools get to choose their own adventure with respect to how they teach reading.” Fortunately, many states have now passed legislation forcing the hands of schools to implement methods aligned with The Science of Reading, but we have a ways to go.
Try to match up what is brought home with the approaches I have described. If they haven’t yet adopted a Science of Reading Approach, share this article with them, as well as my website to learn more about it. If your child(ren) bring(s) home what seem to be unrelated spelling words on Monday to be memorized and written several times or made into wordsearches to prepare for the test on Friday, beware.
Teachers, do what you can to improve your instruction to be more aligned with the science behind literacy development–it is not always easy, but it is worth it. A few instructional programs aligned to the science include (this list is not exhaustive): 95% Solution, UFLI, Wilson Fundations, Wilson Just Words, REWARDS.
I just know that this young lady will have much to contribute to society. Wouldn’t she have even more to contribute if she didn’t have to do “so much work” to get that print off the page? Let me call upon a saying that seems to ‘fit’ here: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”