avoid the fourth grade slump:

Amy Soupiset LIST 5373, Cohort 7, LST 1004 5th grade Interventionist Seeking M. Ed in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis in Literacy Studies

I have read and understand the UTA Academic Honesty clause as follows: Academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form at The University of Texas at Arlington. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts. (Regents Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsections 3.2, Subdivision 3.22) Further, I declare that the work being submitted for this assignment is my original work (e.g., not copied from another student or copied from another source) and has not been submitted for another class. Signature: Amy Soupiset Date: September 16, 2010

16 tips

n the important transition from third to fourth grade when students go from learning to read to reading to learn researchers have noticed a decline in student performance that has been referred to as the fourth grade slump. Jeanne Chall and her colleagues coined this phrase and did longitudinal research to study the reasons why this drop-off in achievement occurs, especially in low-income students. These researchers found that although low-income students were able to keep up with their peers for most of early elementary, when they reached the fourth grade, the gap started to increase. It was theorized that this gap stems from the increased difficulty in vocabulary in the upper elementary grades where the focus shifts from sight words and decodable texts to more contentspecific vocabulary that is found more often in expository text (Baldwin, Chall, & Jacobs , 1991).

fourth grade slump

Although these findings suggest that greater exposure to informational texts during the early years may help minimize the effects of the fourth grade slump in reading achievement, this wont completely eliminate this phenomenon. The following is a compilation of useful tips that can be used try and help students who are experiencing the effects of this slump.

Use assessments to understand the source of the slump.

The purpose of assessment is to make educational decisions by collecting data (Fleener, Morgan, & Richardson, 2009, p. 33). Students should be given several types of assessments to determine in what areas their problems are occurring. Do they struggle with vocabulary or perhaps their accuracy and fluency is interfering with their reading comprehension? Or maybe their fluency is fine and it is more of an issue with remembering what they have read. When thorough assessing is not done, the planned instruction may not meet the needs of the most struggling students. Also anecdotal notes need to be kept on each student to keep record of students continuing struggles and eventual successes. These notes will also help with planning meaningful lessons (McKenna & Stahl, 2009).

Plan interactive read-alouds.

Interactive read-alouds go beyond the normal read-aloud by asking students to participate and give their insights and feedback about the text being read aloud. Using informational texts for these readalouds provides opportunities to model how to learn new vocabulary words, how to summarize, how to use the features of nonfiction such as headings and bold print, how to visualize information, how to make inferences about texts, and how to fix up students understanding when they dont understand a text (Smith and Read, p. 219 These are skills that struggling students need to have modeled for them again and again.

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Teach text structures
Because primary students have mostly been exposed to narrative texts, they are unfamiliar with the different text structures of informational texts. Students need to be taught how to read the different text structures that can be found in informational texts and how they differ from narrative texts. Students should be led through lessons on how to read a graph, chart, table of contents, glossary, and index and many other graphic organizers that they will encounter (Smith & Read, p. 221).

Explicitly teach vocabulary

Although it is not possible to teach all of the vocabulary that students need to know, it is important to teach the most important words that students will encounter in a given text (Sedita, 2005). This strategy helps build students background knowledge and supports their reading of the text. The explicit teaching should include instruction before reading to prepare the student to read the text and after reading to solidify the learning of the new words (Fleener, Morgan, & Richardson, 2009).

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Teach words with Isolated Word Reading
Training students to quickly read lists of sight words (e.g. the Fry Instant Words or Dolch Word List) seems to be valuable for helping struggling readers develop reading fluency (Hudson, Lane, & Pullen p. 711). Researcher have found that poor readers, in particular, benefit from this type of repetitive practice and that the learning of the words in isolation transfers to their reading.

Create a Classroom Library that supports wide-reading

Regrettably what students are interested in reading is often unavailable in classroom libraries (Sanacore & Palumbo, p.69). Children need the opportunity to select and read a wide variety of books from different genres including poetry, narrative, expository and descriptive texts. The more exposure the students have to these varied texts the more their vocabulary knowledge will increase because the more students read, the more vocabulary they will learn (Sedita, 2005).

Use Graphic Organizers

The use of graphic organizers has been shown to increase students understanding of expository texts. Graphic organizers help students to visualize the relationships that are present in a text and how the parts fit together in a story. Graphic organizers can be used to support student learning before, during or after reading. Also, when readers understand the relationships among concepts in a selection, they can begin to connect the new relationships in their previous knowledge (Fleener, Morgan, & Richardson, 2009, p.83).

Utilize Guided Reading Instruction

Use small group guided reading lessons to target specific skills needs in struggling students. This approach is beneficial because it is the best opportunity to observe how well students can integrate and apply all components of the reading process as they read meaningful stories and informational texts (Smith & Read, p. 134). This purposeful time also allows for differentiation of instruction in the areas of word study, fluency, and reading.

Teach metacognitive skills

Students need to be taught how to think about their thinking. This is one of the biggest challenges for struggling readers because they do not naturally think about why they have a hard time reading. However, through interactive think-alouds and guided reading instruction, teachers can model what good readers do as they read and what skills and strategies good readers use to read and comprehend a text (Gooden, Carreker, Thornhill & Joshi, 2007).

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Provide consistent sustained silent reading (SSR) time
Children cannot become better readerswhen we are giving them only seven minutes a day to do it. If we are instructing so much that the students dont get a chance to read then were not giving them enough time to become better readers and writers (Boushey & Moser, p. 24). Students need time to independently read a text of their own choice for a protected amount of time each day. Keep in mind that too often during independent reading, precious time is wasted as students stare at books that are too difficult, talk to their classmates, and stand at the bookshelf looking for something to read (Smith & Read, p. 168). Therefore students need to know the expectations and procedures for meaningful SSR time.

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Utilize technology.
In this highly technological society, it is important to include computer literacy in a students daily learning. Computers are naturally engaging for students and students are often more willing to try something on the computer that might be more challenging with pencil and paper or a hardback book (Fleener, Morgan, & Richardson, 2009). The following website supports vocabulary development through engaging, interactive games: www.vocabulary.co.il

Use trade books to supplement challenge textbooks.

The readability level of most content area texts is above the average level of its reader. Textbooks also present content material in a dense and uniteresting manner that causes struggling readers much frustration. Using trade books to supplement the content area curriculum will increase students ability to relate to a topic being discussed and will facilitate better comprehension as well (Fleener, Morgan, & Richardson, 2009).

Explicitly Teach Comprehension Skills

Struggling readers dont naturally employ the use of certain comprehension skills that good readers do, therefore they must be given explicit instruction in skills that will assist them in understanding a text. Research has shown that explicitly teaching comprehension skills helps students to reason strategically when they encounter barriers to understanding what they are reading. This explicit instruction could include lessons on prediction, visualization, clarifying, questioning, or summarization (Natl Institue of Child Health and Human Development, 2008).

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Word Study

Make Reading and Writing Connections

Reading and writing processes are similar as they relate to the interpretation and manipulation of letters and words. Students who struggle with reading often struggle with writing as well. Special attention needs to be given to developing students writing skills. One way to support struggling students is to use an interactive writing technique where teachers share the pen with their class. After the teacher and students have written the first sentence together, individuals are invited to come and add to the story. All students record the story on their own paper which keeps them attending to the lesson and makes it more likely that the learning will transfer to their individual writing (Smith & Read, p. 181). Readers response journals can also be used for student to record the connections they are making in their reading.

Take time to build on students prior knowledge

Learners with rich prior knowledge can focus on what is important in a learning task, whereas those with inadequate prior knowledge often search in a frantic mode because they cannot distinguish relevant and irrelevant material (Fleener, Morgan, & Richardson, 2009, p. 71). In preparation for lessons where students may be lacking the prior knowledge needed to understand or be interested in a topic, time should be given to connect the topic to what students do know. These connections will aid the student in comprehending the text and prepare them for new vocabulary.

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Word study, such as Words Their Way, enables students to study words more deeply than just spelling them three times or looking them up in a dictionary. Time spent studying words teaches students how to look at words so that they can construct an ever-deepening understanding of how spelling works to represent sound and meaning (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, and Johnston, 2008, p. 3). This increased knowledge of words and how they work will transfer to students knowing more words and then being able to read more words.

Did you know that learning to read is a challenge for almost 40 percent of kids? The good news is that with early help, most reading problems can be prevented. The bad news is that 44 percent of parents who notice their child having trouble wait a year or more before getting help. (www.readingrocket.com)

1. Be your childs reading buddy and read with them every day. Help them to find a comfortable, well-lit space that they can read in on a regular basis. As you are listening to your child read, support their reading by asking questions when they struggle rather than telling them what a word is. You can ask questions like: Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Look at the first letter and tell me what word would make sense there? Use the pictures to help you figure out what would make sense. 2. You can model proficient reading for your child so that they hear what a good reader sounds like. Think out loud about what you are doing to understand a story when you read with your child. Model re-reading the text if you make a mistake. Your child needs to hear you make mistakes and correct yourself. 3. Help your child connect his/her reading to other experiences they have had or that they have heard about. These text connections can be put into three categories: Text to Self (relate story back to their own experiences) Text to Text (relate story to another text that they have read) Text to World (relate to a situation that they know of in the world) These connections will help them to understand stories on a deeper level. 4. Create a print-rich home environment: Fill your home with a wide variety of printed materials including magazines, newspapers, cookbooks, religious books, poetry, and fiction and nonfiction texts. The more exposure your child has to printed material the more likely they will be to read. Increased reading benefits students in that it increases the amount of words that they are exposed to which will improve their reading level. 5. Tell stories with your child. This is a fun way to share family stories and teach family values. Speaking with your child helps them with their listening and speaking skills and causes them to think critically and creatively. These skills have a connection to their reading and writing skills, too.

Webliography
1. http://www.vocabulary.co.il This website has terrific activities for students to build their vocabulary knowledge. It has activities for K-12 students and covers vocabulary topics such as synonyms, root words, contractions, parts of speech, and context games. 2. http://www.vocabahead.com/teachers This website is a terrific site to create personalize a vocabulary list for your class that you can share electronically. You can also create your own widget to share on a blog or class website. And you can assign vocabulary video projects and upload student work. 3. http://www.vocaroo.com This is a simple site that lets students record themselves reading and then listen back themselves so that they can evaluate themselves as readers. It could also be used to have a fluent student or teacher read a text and then another student could listen to the recording of the text as a read-along. 4. http://www.gigglepoetry.com This is an entertaining site that focuses on poetry. It can be used to get lessons from or to share poetry as well. There are poems for every category imaginable so it is a good resource if you are looking for a poem for a specific situation. There are games as well. 5. http://www.tumblebooks.com This website is a great resource for online reading and has books that students can listen to online. The books can be read to the child or the child can read to them self. There is also an interactive component of Tumblebooks that students can explore. This site does appear to have a small fee but many public libraries offer free links to this site. 6. http://www.storiestogrowby.com/choose.php This site has online stories that can be chosen by age group, country, genre and theme. This is a good site to use to explore multicultural literature. The types of stories include riddles, magical creatures, adventure, folk tales and animal tales. The extensive list of themes includes acceptance, generosity, helping, gratitude, justice and forgiveness. There are also links on this page that have to do with special holidays.

Bibliography
Bergman, J.L., & Schuder, T. (1993). Teaching at-risk students to read strategically. Educational Leadership, 50(4), 19-23. This article details a program called Students Achieving Independent Learning (SAIL) that was created by the authors from Montgomery County, Maryland in response to the question, How can we help these students acquire the attitudes, habits, and tools that will help them become successful independent readers and learners? The authors share how they used explicit comprehension instruction to help their most struggling readers reach success in reading. Lane, H. B., & Allen, S. A. (2010). The vocabulary-rich classroom: Modeling sophisticated word use to promote word consciousness and vocabulary growth. The Reading Teacher, 63(5), 362-370 This insightful article encourages teachers to model the use of sophisticated vocabulary no matter what grade is being taught. The article also addresses the simplistic way that teachers like to talk to their students. The article claims that this is a barrier to vocabulary growth. The article provides a helpful list of sophisticated words that teachers can use when discussing classroom routines and behavior, as well as content-specific vocabulary. The article also urges teachers to be word-conscious so that students can benefit from incidental learning of vocabulary. Applegate, M.D., Applegate, A.J. & Modla, V.B. (2009). Shes my best reader, she just cant comprehend: Studying the relationship between fluency and comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 62(6), 512-521. This article does a good job of explaining the kinds of students who have almost perfect word call when reading but they do not remember anything about what they have read. The article classifies these students as a struggling comprehender. It also gives insights into how teachers need to make sure to question students beyond basic recall questions to check for a deeper understanding and more critical thinking on the part of these students. Fleener, C., Morgan, R. F., & Richardson, J. S. (2009). Reading to Learn in the Content Areas (7 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. This book is a wonderful resource that explains the PAR Framework in great detail. This framework can be used to help students with reading in the content areas. PAR stands for Preparation, Assistance, and Reflection. These are the three phases of reading that the authors have associated with before, during and after reading. This book offers strategies and activities to support all ages of readers throughout the entire reading process.

References
Baldwin, L. E., Chall, J. S., & Jacobs, V. A. (1991). The reading crisis: Why poor children fall behind. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F., & Templeton, S. R. (2007). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (4th Edition) (4 ed.). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall. Boulware-Gooden,R., Carreker, S., Thornhill, A., & Joshi, R. M. (n.d.). Reading Rockets:Joshi. Reading Rockets. Retrieved September 12, 2010, fromhttp:/ /www.readingrockets.org Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2006). The daily five: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary grades (1ST ed.). York: Stenhouse Publishers. Fleener, C., Morgan, R. F., & Richardson, J. S. (2008). Reading to learn in the content areas (7 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Hudson, R. F., Lane, H. B., & Pullen, P. C. (2005). Reading fluency assessment and instruction: What, why and how?. The Reading Teacher, 58(8), 702-714. Lane, H. B., & Allen, S. A. (2010). The vocabulary-rich classroom: Modeling sophisticated word use to promote word consciousness and vocabulary growth. The Reading Teacher, 63(5), 362-370. McKenna, M. C., & Stahl, K. A. (2009). Assessment for reading instruction, Second Edition (Second Edition ed.). New York: The Guilford Press. Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Reading rockets: What works in comprehension instruction. Reading Rockets. Retrieved September 12, 2010, from www.readingrockets.org Read, S., & Smith, J. A. (2008). Early literacy instruction: Teaching readers and writers in todays primary classrooms (2nd Edition) (2 ed.). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall. Sanacore, J., & Palumbo, A. (2009). Understanding the fourth-grade slump: Our point of view. The Educational Forum, 73, 67-74. Sedita, J. (2005). Effective vocabulary instruction. Insights on Learning Disabilities, 2(1), 33-45. Thorne, G. (2006). Reading Rockets: Thorne. Reading Rockets. Retrieved September 12, 2010, from http:/ /www.readingrockets.org