How We Learn to Read

A workshop Barbara Welsford, 2007

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Reading Process
Awareness Activity A short reading is provided on the next screen. Read the excerpt silently to yourself Write down the step by step process of what you were doing as you were reading

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Hatchet By: Gary Paulsen Chapter 1 BRIAN ROBESON stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane, a Cessna 406a bush- planeand the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud, that it ruined any chance for conversation. Not that he had much to say. He was thirteen and the only passenger on the plane with a pilot namedwhat was it? Jim or Jake or something who was in his mid-forties and who had been silent as he worked to prepare for take-off. In fact since Brian had come to the small airport in Hampton, New York to meet the planedriven by his mother the pilot had spoken only ATC five words to him. Barbara Welsford 2007

Reading Process
Language is innate Reading is a learned process Writing was invented 5,000 years ago, and not many people were literate until the last few centuries Hereditary tendencies for reading conserving brain areas for reading have not operated for more than several hundred generations. Calvin and Ojemann, 1994
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Our Oral Language

Different parts of language include: Sounds Meanings structures

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Language is made up of sounds, or phonemes, which are usually meaningless by themselves Phonemes put into words start to give us meaning Words put into phrases give us more meaning because they tell us about relationships between the actor, the action and the acted upon Combining word phrases gives us infinite possibilities for sentences and paragraphs
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 We need to have many and varied oral language experiences

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 We need to bring our rich language experiences with us when we deal with print
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Printed words and printed word units (morphographs) represent the meaningful units of our oral language Letters represent the individuals phonemes, the sound units of our oral language

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Phonemic awareness is a prerequisite to learning to read with efficiency

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Phonemic Awareness
Level 1: Knowledge of nursery rhymes Level 2: Matching the sounds in words
Recognizing words with the same beginning Recognizing words with the same middle sounds Recognizing words with the same final sounds Recognizing words that rhyme
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Phonemic Awareness
Level 3: Syllable Splitting
Separating the beginning sound from the rest of the word

Level 4: Blending Sounds

blend sound together to make a word

Level 5: Phonemic Segmentations

Being able to break words up into their separate sounds

Level 6: Phonemic manipulation

Changing sounds around in words

Also, knowledge of the order of sounds

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Awareness Activity
A story is provided in braille font (next slide). Imagine first what it is like to read real braille Do you think you could read the story in braille? Could you read the story just by looking at the braille font? What is the story about? Could you read the story? Why or why not? Discussion
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Sound + Symbol = Sound Letter Relationship Required for efficient reading

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Reading and Brain Processing

It is ALL about Brain Processing Synapses Synaptic strengths More neurons change activity with word reading than with naming objects or repeating words Reading is intrinsically harder, requiring more well-organized neurons
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Attention

Attention is the gateway to memory

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 New learning requires selective attention, commitment of this information to short term memory, which with repetition and use, is engraved in long term memory

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 New learning and recall of all information relies on the efficient electronic activity of neurons and the chemical transfer of impulses at the synapse

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

The Reading Process

Marilyn Jager Adams model of Reading based on an intensive study of effective readers vs. reluctant readers. Reading involves various processors in the brain including Orthographic Processor
Orthography is the study of spelling Receives information from the eyes Figures out which letters are which Sends this information to the phonological processor Sends this information to the meaning processor Sends this information to the context processor
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Phonological Processor
Phonology is the study of sound Sounds are attached to the letters Sends this information back to the orthographic processor Sends this information to the meaning processor

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Meaning Processor
Tries to figure out what each word means Sends this information back to the orthographic processor Sends this information to the context processor

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

 Context Processor
Helps predict what letters are likely to come next Helps predict what word may come next Helps decide which meaning of a word is being used Interprets series of words: phrases, clauses, sentences Helps interpret what we have just read and how it ties in with what we had read before Sends information back to the meaning processor Sends information back to the orthographic processor
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

Marilyn Jager Adams Beginning to Read 2001 Context Processor

Meaning Processor

Phonological processor

Orthographic Processor

What we hear

Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

What we see

Reading Process For successful reading all these processors must work efficiently and fluently together. Readers must reach the level of automaticity to achieve fluent and effective reading (i.e. comprehension)
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007

What about Spelling?

Spelling involves Hearing the word Segmenting the sounds Determining the sequences of the sounds Matching letters to the sounds Applying spelling patterns Using meaning and context Recall words that dont play fair How to form and space the letters (fine motor; visual motor etc.)
Barbara Welsford ATC 2007