Teachers as Professionals: Developing Goals & Contexts

for Emergent Readers

Glenn DeVoogd

Teachers as ProfessionalsProfessionals consider: 1. the goals and practices established by the

professional educational community with 2. the unique needs of the students/community and 3. the materials/resources available …to plan and organize curriculum.

(Technical workers (not professional)

follow standardized plans designed by someone else.)

Professionals consider the goals and practices established by the professional educational community

1. Research based

2. Based in theory

3. Based on local & state standards

4. Based on professional organizations

Then they make sense out of the curriculum

Professionals consider the … unique needs of students/community

1. Instruction is appropriate to the abilities and needs of the students

2. Need to consider parent and school board directives, but they do not supercede professional judgment

Professionals consider the …materials/resources available to plan and organize curriculum.

1. Materials & resources include books, computers, teacher’s knowledge

2. The teacher in consideration of all these interests plans and organizes - not the textbook publishing company or the state or the principal or the school district or the parent.

3. The teacher is not the boss but acts as judge of the different interests. Inappropriate and unprofessional teacher action is determined by lack of consideration of these interests.

So just to review….Teachers as professionals

Professionals consider: 1. the goals and practices established by the

professional educational community with 2. the unique needs of the students/community

and 3. the materials/resources available …to plan and organize curriculum.

Goals for Emergent Readers Development

California’s (our community) RICA Content Standards say to, “Plan & organize reading instruction based on ongoing assessment” (Domain #1)

So after assessment and in view of local, state, and national standards the professional teacher decides what to teach and how to organize students individually, in small groups or in whole groups.

Goals for Emergent Readers

Second Grade Common Core

Goals for Emergent ReadersAssessing State Standards and beyond:

SO WHAT IS EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION?

Goals for Early Readers:Results from the NAEP Lower Score

Using kits Worksheets >10% of time on strategies & skills Heavy emphasis on phonics Less than weekly silent reading Assigning topics for writing Assigning reading homework Weekly portfolios Lots of oral reading

The Role of Phonics in Early Reading

The National Reading Panel states that phonics is the connection between letters and sounds and how we use those sounds and letters in reading and spelling. We teach children phonics when they’re first learning to read so they realize that the letters on the page come together to form words. There are many tools that help students learn to read. Phonics is just one of them. It can help some children some of the time.

The Role of Phonics

Balance direct instruction of phonics skills and meaningful, thoughtful application. Teach letter sounds in context—instead of in isolation— so students have enough practice in ‘putting them to use’— as the research says.

Count F’s Silently and Secretly in the Passage Below

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

Phonics, Reading, & Automaticity

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 deson't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. 

Amzanig huh?

Contexts for Developing Emergent Decoders

Emergent Readers are learned in a rich literate contexts i.e.

1. teacher big book/chart/book - focus discussions mostly on decoding strategies

2. small group guided reading focusing on teacher modeling and student reading

3. students reading & discussing with parents

Research for Principles of Effective Instruction

1. Reading, writing, speaking, listening occur in an integrated manner Au, K. (1998)

2. Learning is socially constructed (Vygotsky 1978)3. Language learning is best when used in authentic

contexts (Au, 1998) which is influenced by one’s prior knowledge, motivation, culture, and goals (Delplit, 1995)

4. Learning occurs best when students are encouraged to take risks and make mistakes (Wells, 1986)

5. Modeling and scaffolding Roehler & Cantlon 1997;Wood, Bruner & Ross 1976)

Problems with Phonics Intensive Instruction: English is Irregular

Letter combinations are irregular• Clymer, T. (1963). The utility of phonic

generalizations in the primary grades. The Reading Teacher 16, 252-58. This article was reprinted in the Reading Teacher (1996). 50 (3)m 182-87.

Vowels are rampantly irregular• Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and

learning about print. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.

THE MOST COMMON INSTRUCTION IN EARLY LEARNING FOCUSES ON WORKSHEETS. WHY IS THAT?

Is it because you can sell worksheets? Are business sales influencing what and how we teach?

Research About Worksheets?

1. There is no research to support using worksheets or for homework Kohn, A. (2006). The homework myth: Why our kids get

too much of a bad thing. De Capo Lifelong Books.

2. Skills taught and practiced out of the context of real reading often do not transfer into practical use

3. Students quickly pick up the pattern of the worksheets and can complete them without really even understanding what they’re doing.

Worksheets

1.In order to complete the worksheets—on a vowel sound like short a for example—students already have to know the skill.

2.Hence, worksheets don’t teach. They are a form of assessment, not instruction.

3.Worksheets are boring. Students must be actively engaged and motivated to learn.

Neuman, S. (2001). Press release. “Access to print: Problem, consequences and day-one solutions.” White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development, Department of Education. Washington, DC, July 27.

Not an Effective Context for Emergent Readers: Worksheets

The motivation to use worksheets comes from:1.The the hope that practicing a skill on a paper will

help the child when they are reading2.The publisher 3.A desire to follow an approved program (desire to

do one’s job correctly, lack of authority, lack of confidence)

4.Tradition5.Management tool an ‘orderly classroom’

Effective Early Language Instruction

Social skills & regulation were important PA & early literacy High Scope Studies

Better social skills and language skill leads to better relationships with teachers and more conversations with teachers which leads to more learning

Little Book Reading in Preschool

We are not providing book reading in Preschool Books not read every day-166 observations 66 didn’t read booksMinimal time 7-8% less than transitionConversations not in depth 25% commentsBook reading often is not seen as educational

PISA Studies

Better readers at age 9 when the student learned to read systematically after the age of 7

94,000 students in 32 countries

Not much academic discourse

75% teachers (scoring) engage in academically oriented language 18% of time

24% teachers 5% of time academically oriented language.

Citations