Journal Article Critique Essay

Multnomah County had a survey done for kindergarten teachers. The results suggested that 19.4% of their students were not headed toward literacy success, due to a lack of necessary language and pre-reading skills. There is a 90% probability of a child that is a poor reader in first grade, still being a poor reader three years later, in fourth grade (http://www.co.marion.or.us). As Early Childhood Educators, we must help our students.

What is the problem you are addressing? Students have to learn the names and sounds of the letters in order move on into more advance connections that will lead them into success in reading and writing. Traditional teaching methods in our schools allow students to make the connections between letter prints and phonemes using mostly visual and auditory learning styles. This early reading task is not easy for beginners (Ehri, Deffner & Lee, 1984, p. 880). In order to ease the difficulties young scholars might encounter while learning sound to letter graphic representation, multi sensory teaching

The analysis determined that difficulties in reading are strongly related to the lack of phonemic awareness. Instruction, when given explicitly and direct one on one focus in one skill area of phonemic awareness were greater than instructions that focused on three or more skill areas. In addition, the NRP continued to state that children taught in small group settings showed larger improvement gains than students taught in large groups or individually. The panel concluded that it could be taught under a variation of conditions, for a diverse range of learners. Furthermore, it stated that instruction of phonemic awareness was more effective through the use of letters, explicitly focused on only one or two areas of awareness, lesson and activities were tailored toward small group development levels, and program ranged from 5 to 18 hours – remaining under 20 hours of instruction based on 25 minute instruction

The second indicator states that children will know that the alphabet has a symbolic representation that has an individual name. Using one letter shows that each letter has an individual name and shape. Children will learn to recognize the letters when they internalize the name to the physical appearance. The NYS Early Learning Guidelines suggest reading an alphabet book with children. Alphabet books are useful because the letter has a physical form so children can look and say the name of the letter. Also, alphabet books can help build vocabulary. Using an alphabet book during story time helps assess whether or not children remember the letters they learned before. One indicator of the guideline is the child’s ability to “associate names of letters with their shapes.” (pg. 108) First I would show the pages to children without reading the book. They can link letters to the beginning of their names and they can ask or tell me what word begins with that letter. After reading the book I can ask the children about the letters in the book. I can focus on the letters we have done previously and what objects we can name with them. I can ask them to point out the letters on the alphabet chart. Then I can focus on the letter we are currently working on in class. We can create a word chart with words that begin with the letter “D.” They can point

Dahlgren, D. M. (2008). Oral Language and vocabulary development Kindergarten & First Grade. Nashville: Reading First National Conference. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/2008conferences/language.pdf

I agree with the author when she says that letter recognition should begin before children enter

Direct phonics instruction, word walls, word sorts, making words, manipulative letters, picture clues, songs, poems, rhymes

The authors and graduate students that conducted this study wanted to find out if incremental rehearsal (IR) was an effective intervention strategy to help struggling students improve letter sounds and fluency. Interventions are arranged by intensity (lowest to highest) which is organized using a three-tiered model. Incremental rehearsal is a Tier 3 intervention; therefore, it is typically implemented when a Tier 2 intervention was not proven to be successful. Not only were the authors testing the success of incremental rehearsal, but they were also doing so using a computer-assisted tutoring program. The study examined this strategy with four kindergarten students.

The purpose of interventions in language includes altering or reducing a problem, refining the disorder through particular behaviors, or educate the individual with strategies to help compensate their deficits. It is imperative that the child is taught behaviors that are specific to their impairments because they are important for improving their communication. According to Paul and Norbury (2012), facilitation quickens learning or growth, without altering the final results of what the child could typically learn without the help of a speech-language pathologist (SLP). This assists children in being successful in targets of language versus if the child was to meet the

As the standards of education change a consistent factor remains the focus on reading. Early childhood educators must provide an atmosphere that is both developmentally stimulating to the student while also meeting the standards of education. The methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers vary from student to student. Without the foundation of phonics research shows that a child will not learn to read. All children must know the alphabet in order to communicate effectively. Phonics cannot be drilled into the child. This will only produce memorization. Instead, educators must understand a child’s individual needs as well as balance. There is no true need to teach phonics as a separate subject. Most children will develop a sense of curiosity from their own knowledge, ideas, and interest. There will of course be a select few that may benefit from a more formal instruction. When children

Word recognition involves an individual’s ability to identify words independently without requiring related words for contextual help. A widely examined topic in the field of cognitive psychology, it deals with understanding printed letters as a word which has been kept in the lexicon. The word frequency effect is important in the recognition of words. It suggests more common words in printed language are easier, faster and more accurate to distinguish than words that appear less frequently. Outlined in their journal article, Howes and Solomon utilized Thorndike-Lorge’s word count for word frequency and measured the threshold of recognition. They found correlation coefficients of -.68 to -.75 between word frequency and threshold or duration.

Goal: To gain knowledge of letters of the alphabet through sensory play during small group time in the classroom.

When children experience early speech difficulties they tend to be at risk later on. By being susceptible to language skills early on allows the child (ren) to be more proficiency and react in a way that contributes to them being able to express themselves in a way that causes them to use a variety of different phonemes and at the same time mix and maneuver other language and literacy skills. Numerous studies have found that there is a strong link between language problems, reading and overall academic achievement (Konza, 2006, Snow Burns and Griffin, 1998, Justice and Ezell, 2000).

The child generally lacks knowledge of the alphabet, lacks left-to-right directionality in writing, and lacks concept of word (one-to-one matching of spoken and written words). Consistent spacing between words and consistent use of letter-sound correspondences are absent.

When data from students who had average accuracy and fluency scores, but lower comprehension scores were compared to data from those with similar accuracy and fluency but average comprehension, the consistent differences were found to be lower oral language and vocabulary skills in the poor comprehenders upon entry into formal schooling. (Nation, Cocksey, Taylor & Bishop) Thousands of dollars each year are spent on intervention, trying to improve the reading of children that show delays. When one reads, the clear goal is comprehension of what is read. Without communication of ideas between the author and reader, decoding texts is pointless. Most intervention programs are focused on phonics and word decoding. Oral language interventions concurrent with vocabulary and comprehension tasks at age eight have been shown to lead to significant improvements in reading comprehension. (Nation, et al., 2010). Reading comprehension is not merely a product of being able to decode words and sentences. How we teach children to process and integrate the ideas found in text can have a large impact on their ability to function in a world of ever expanding knowledge and information.