EarlyBird Education’s Post

Fantastic to see oral language as part of what we need to teach for learners to be successful. How are you focusing on oral language in your context? Are you differentiating teaching for your learners? Is it fun and engaging for your learners? Have you had time to explore this yet? ACER has unpacked the science of reading in this online resource showing the best way to develop capable readers. It draws on research in education, cognitive psychology, neuroscience and linguistics to map the most effective approach. https://brnw.ch/21wLauQ #reading #literacy

Recently, I was introduced to the Active View of Reading (Duke & Cartwright, 2021 - accessed via https://lnkd.in/efC4_94v) During my time as a teacher, I had heard so much about the Simple View of Reading, so this new, multi-faceted model was intriguing. Particularly, I was interested by the first 'bubble' in the model - Active Self-Regulation. We know that if students are not interested, motivated or engaged, for whatever reason, then they will struggle to sustain attention when reading and therefore may find reading and comprehension challenging. Equally, I think it is somewhat a cycle because as students begin to realise they are falling behind their peers and become aware of their lack of literacy skills, they become more disengaged, less motivated and may begin to truant or 'act out' (there are, in fact, evidence-based links between literacy data and attendance). This, in turn, becomes a barrier to developing their reading, which makes them less motivated/engaged and so on... This is so crucial to think about when using phonics-based interventions in secondary environments. Many of these struggling students have been placed in phonics-style interventions their entire school career. Year after year doing the same thing, with little progress (I'm always reminded of Einstein's quote on insanity here). There is no question that some secondary students definitively need phonics to help with decoding. However, with older students, it is imperative that intervention programs that target phonemic awareness are not 'babyish', and that the vocabulary and techniques used are age-appropriate. Instead then, we should be offering fun and engaging ways to motivate students to attend and fully participate, subsequently facilitating their reading. Lexonik - literacy at the speed of sound #Education #Phonics #Reading #Literacy #LiteracyIntervention #Teaching #Lexonik #Training

Secondary teachers face challenges in reading instruction beyond fourth grade. The focus shifts to meeting ELA standards, like comprehension, leaving middle and high school teachers with limited guidance on addressing reading difficulties. Despite persistent low reading scores, teachers often expect students to independently access grade-level content. To support older readers and teachers, addressing key areas is beneficial.

Reading aloud isn't just for young children—it’s beneficial for students of all ages. Recent research underscores the value of this practice throughout a child’s educational journey. A 2021 study titled "The Impact of Interactive Reading Aloud on Language Development in Early Childhood" published in Frontiers in Psychology provides key insights: Enhanced Vocabulary Acquisition: Interactive reading aloud helps children understand and retain new words, significantly expanding their vocabulary. Improved Narrative Skills: Regular engagement with complex stories strengthens children’s ability to comprehend and craft narratives, essential for future literacy. For secondary students, a 2023 study titled "The Role of Read-Aloud Strategies in Improving Comprehension and Engagement Among High School Students" in Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy found: Increased Comprehension: Reading complex texts aloud in high school improves students’ comprehension and retention by making abstract concepts more accessible. Enhanced Engagement: Incorporating read-aloud strategies fosters greater engagement with the material, helping students stay motivated and participate more actively in discussions. Whether for young children or secondary students, incorporating read-aloud sessions can greatly enhance cognitive, emotional, and academic development. Let’s advocate for the transformative power of reading aloud throughout all stages of education. #ReadingAloud #LiteracyDevelopment #StudentEngagement #EducationResearch #readingmatters #readingforall #secondaryeducation #education #reading

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞? Here is what combining the Active View of Reading (Duke & Cartwright)¹ + Extended View of the Simple View of Reading (Nation)² together in one graphic looks like. I have found it so helpful to see all the important components these models emphasize clearly mapped together and how they all reinforce each other. Oral language as the foundation contributing to active self regulation, decoding, and language comprehension. Bridging processes that overlap decoding and language comprehension. All of these pieces work together bi-directionally leading to reading comprehension. Better comprehenders lead to greater language skills. I encourage you to share this to be a helpful display of the current science of reading models to teachers and education leaders. Sources: ¹https://lnkd.in/gDTwfRRU ²https://lnkd.in/gTp9iu4Z #orallanguage #ScienceOfReading #inquirybasedlearning #earlychildhoodeducation #professionaldevelopment  #teachersoflinkedin #kindergarten #prek #firstgrade #vpk #earlyeducation #readingforall

Bad comprehension. Tell me, how many times do we face this issue when working with colleagues every single day? And we say out loud, "Schools should really focus on basic foundational literacy. Otherwise, how will the next generation improve?!" Well, we take foundational literacy very seriously at Walnut School, as we know it has far reaching effects. We have a highly structured language arts curriculum right from Nursery, where our students gain reading and comprehension skills. This goes above and beyond what #CBSE schools usually do. The proof of the pudding is that ALL our students regularly demonstrate their skills to their parents in the school. So, this also improves their presentation skills. You can easily make out a student from Walnut School, just by the way they speak! #literacy #schooleducation #comprehension #cbse

Basic comprehension - this is a very serious and important issue which the world faces today. At Walnut School, we take this issue head on, with a wonderfully structured language arts program. One outcome of this foundational literacy program is that our students of class 1 and 2 become budding authors, where they write their own small stories. They plan, structure, and finally express stories, all on their own. Parents are not involved in this process, other than when the students "publish" these stories. Hassle-free all the way! More here: https://lnkd.in/dE_fRBsN

In our new open access article in "The Reading Teacher", we provide a new resource for early reading teachers: “The CPB Sight Words: A New Research-based High-Frequency Wordlist for Early Reading Instruction”. The Dolch and Fry Sight Words were developed in the depths of last century, yet these lists are still amongst the most widely used resources when teaching children to read. The idea is they represent the set of high frequency (and the majority of) words children encounter when they are first learning to read (so good initial learning targets for print mapping). That basic idea is sound, the lists themselves needed a bit of polish. We hope the new list in "The Reading Teacher" is a valuable alternative for teachers in early reading development!

When I became Education Minister last year, little did I know I’d be stepping into a half-century-long policy debate about how we teach our kids to read.   The reading wars are not quite over, but they should be. Evidence must trump rhetoric. Studies show that children learning by the explicit and systematic phonics method are two years ahead of their peers. Even more so, just two months of teaching phonics has been shown to put students ahead compared to all other methods. Explicit instruction and systematic phonics are the most effective ways to teach children to read, and schools need to do what’s best for the children. Teachers, principals, and parents work hard to improve their children’s reading. As Minister for Education, I stand with them. #EducationState

Heading in the right direction but schools need further clarity, guidance and support. - Rhian, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 “I think the teachers should be using phonics as the key building blocks, but within a balanced system." Cabinet Secretary for Education, Lynne Neagle, said she acknowledged schools “would benefit from more guidance” and that the government will be issuing further guidance and resources by January. https://lnkd.in/gx7FwbTs #phonics #SSP #syntheticphonics #reading #earlyliteracy #welshgovernment #curriculumforwales