Module 3
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| Personal Bitmoji, 2022 |
Module 3
Module 3 focuses on literacy skills development, including reading strategies, reading comprehension, and writing skills. This module was personally significant to me as I was a struggling reader as a child. I did not enjoy reading and did not understand why people did. I was able to decode fluently, but could not remember anything I read, even seconds after I finished. I dreaded round robins because I knew they would be followed by questions but I learned very quickly how to scan the text for correct answers and because I could decode fluently, I fell under the radar. I thought I did not enjoy reading because I was just "bad at it" until I was in my 30s and my brother told me about how he saw movies in his head as he read. I did not know what he was talking about but thought that could explain why some people enjoyed reading! After entering the education program we learned about visualization and I realized what was wrong, that I did not visualize at all. My professor suggested I use some of the strategies we were learning and teach myself to visualize. I have made great strides and am an avid reader today, but I am no where as skilled as I would like to be and still struggle with recall to this day. It makes for a daily challenge, especially as a teacher. I wonder how my trajectory would be different had I received support as a child.
Book Recommendation
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| Image from Amazon.ca |
While I do not have much experience beyond TOCing, I have recently started reading a highly recommended text in my district, called Catching Readers Before they Fall: Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4, by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier. In the beginning of module 3, we learned the difference between reading skills and reading strategies. Strategies are deliberate, intentional, problem-oriented, and explicitly taught, modeled and guided by teachers whereas skills are automatic, problem-free, and practiced and retaught if needed ( (Manoli and Papadopoulou, 2012). This book focuses on teaching strategies and the progression of strategy to skill development. It is written on the premise that many struggling readers do not have the automatic skills more proficient readers have and therefore need to develop their strategies in order to progress to skill acquisition (Johnson & Keier, 2010).
The authors demonstrate through instructions and case studies how teachers can teach students' reading skills through explicit instruction, guided practice and a gradual release of responsibility (Johnson & Keier, 2010). This book is designed for all educators, whether they are in support roles or are the classroom teacher. It provides detailed explanations of what kinds of information readers need to solve words, the strategies used by the most proficient readers, lessons on how to explicitly teach and prompt reading strategies, as well as suggestions for meaningful assessment. I admit I feel somewhat behind my colleagues as this is a well-read book in our district, but I am enjoying catching up and while I only started this book, I feel I am learning so much already. I was especially intrigued by the chapter about going "beyond sounding it out", as I feel this is a common overly used strategy that can be problematic and sometimes confusing for students.
My next read will be The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers, by Jennifer Serravallao. While I cannot officially recommend this book, I have heard wonderful things about it and it is next on my to read list.
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| Image from Amazon.ca |
Reading Strategies
During my research, I came across a particularly valuable video, Inside a Dyslexia Intervention | Reading Strategies for Struggling Readers which covers several areas of reading including linking letters to sounds, decoding, word recognition, sentence phrasing, linking sounds to letters (writing), grammar and proofreading (writing), and fluency and comprehension. This was a comprehensive compilation of descriptions and demonstrations of strategies for struggling readers. There were many new points and strategies I learned from this video, especially during the demonstrations. While I had seen the strategies before, I had not seen them designed with this much complexity and depth. I was impressed with how each lesson covered several related concepts using a structured, multi-sensory, purposeful approach. There were many great take-aways from this video including practical reading and management strategies. One particularly strategy that I found interesting was having the student say a word before spelling it. Typically during assessments, the teacher reads the words and uses it in a sentence while the student writes the word. In this video, they point out that it is important to have the student say the word to ensure they are correctly hearing all the sounds. Each section includes a summary of key points.
I chose an honourable mention as I found several great videos from this channel, Susan Jones Teaching, and I found her tips on increasing fluency excellent. She goes over 5 simple tips that can be easily integrated into already established classroom routines. In fact, most of her tips are things teachers are already doing but without the intentional purpose of building fluency which adds another layer to these instructional tools, such as modeling fluency in read alouds and integrating poetry into a regular reading program. She expands on each tip and adds useful practical ideas.
Reflection:
During this module, we explored literacy support strategies, the Response to Intervention (RTI) process within our school districts and also learned about the benefits of handwriting. I often feel discouraged to see the loss of handwriting in schools. Learning that cursive helps with fine motor skills was not surprising, however, it was interesting to see that there are different brain patterns for printing versus handwriting and that handwriting may help students with dysgraphia (Chassiakos, 2017). Studies show that students with handwriting skills demonstrate more neural activity associated with memory, reading and writing skills, and are able to more readily express themselves in written form (Chassiakos, 2017). Handwriting is often viewed as a "lost art" but in actuality, there is a much greater loss than aesthetics or visual appreciation.
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