Joey’s Matters

Focus on Learning

Parent involvement is the number one predictor of  early literacy success.

  • Edutopia, 2013

Reading

 

Learning to read can be a daunting task and when we look at the complexities of the English language, it is no wonder why! To beginning readers, letters appear to be foreign symbols and squiggles. We need to take these foreign symbols and give them pronunciation and meaning in order for children to learn to read. 

 

 

 

The complexity of the English language doesn't end there however. When we consider the following five points, it is easy to understand why learning to read is a difficult task and why we must provide appropriate and explicit instruction for our beginning readers. 

 

  1. The English language consists of 44 phonemes

Whilst we know that the alphabet has 26 letters, the English language actually consists of 44 phonemes (sounds) that students need to master.  Some words are only made up of the most regular phonemes, for example the word ‘cat’ is made up of three regular phonemes:

 

                                                            

                                                                              /c/    /a/    /t/

 

However there are many words that are made up of more irregular phonemes. Let’s use the word ‘treasure’ as an example. Whilst some phonemes are quite regular (for example the /t/, /r/ and /e/, this word also contains the phoneme /zh/ and the ‘shwa’ phoneme (that /uh/ sound at the end of the word.    

 

   /t/   /r/   /e/   /zi/  /uh/

 

 

2. There are approximately 250 ways to represent these phonemes

When we represent a phoneme with a symbol, we refer to these symbols as graphemes. Over the course of their schooling, our novice readers will learn that there are approximately 250 different ways to represent the 44 phonemes in our English language. 

 

3. Phonemes can be represented by single graphs, digraphs, trigraphs and quadgraphs

The collection of the 250 graphemes are made up of :

 

Single graphs 

A single letter representing one phoneme

For example: 

the ‘b’ in bat                       the ‘f’ in fish

 

Digraphs 

Two letters representing one phoneme

For example: 

the ‘sh’ in dish                   the ‘ay’ in play

Trigraphs 

Three letters representing one phoneme

For example:

the ‘tch’ in catch                the ‘igh’ in night

 

Quadgraphs 

Four letters representing one phoneme 

For example:

the ‘ough’ in though        the ‘eigh’ in weigh

 

4. Multiple graphemes can represent one phoneme

Readers will need to understand and be proficient at identifying the various ways one phoneme can be written down. For many of these graphemes, there are guidelines as to when and why they appear in words (for example, an English word never ends in ‘j’, hence the need for ‘ge’ or ‘dge’), however for others there are simply no guidelines and readers will need to come to learn the various graphemes through immersion and repeated practice. 

 

          

5. One grapheme can represent multiple phonemes

Whilst readers are learning that there are various ways to represent one sound, they must also come to the understanding that one grapheme can represent multiple phonemes. 

For example, the grapheme ‘y’ can represent:

 

the long /i/ sound as in sky                       

  the long /e/ sound as in berry

 

the most regular /y/ sound as in yo-yo

 

 

When we consider these points, we can clearly see why the English language is complex and why our novice readers need structured and explicit instruction, which can take years to complete. 

What you can do at Home to help your child with their reading.

  • Build time into your schedule - establish a routine
  • Choose a comfortable space
  • Turn off/remove electronic devices and other distractions
  • Make it an enjoyable experience! Stay positive and enthusiastic  
  • The child has control over the book
  • Keep it short (10 mins a day)

Before Reading

Look at the title, cover and illustrations and ask: 

  • What do you think will happen in this book?
  • What characters do you think might be in the book?
  • Do you think it will be like any other books you have read?

Go for a book walk by looking at the pictures on the pages and discussing what the child can see. 

 

During Reading

  • Encourage the child to track the words with their finger. 
  • Pause, Prompt and Praise 
  • Model decoding if the child is stuck. 
  • Talk about the illustrations
  • Check for understanding of words
  • Ask questions at certain points, e.g. what has happened in the story so far or what they think will happen next.

After Reading 

  • Praise your child for their reading efforts. 
  • Have the child provide a retell of what happened in the story (beginning, middle, end)
  • Ask questions to check for comprehension
  • Discuss favourite part, real life connections 

And Remember the 3 P's- Pause, Prompt and Praise

 

Pause: Don’t jump in straight away. Give the child time to process.

 

Prompt: Offer gentle prompts e.g. ‘Can you sound that out?’, ‘Look at the first letter, what sound does it make’, ‘I can see that the word starts with /b/ and then has an /a/’.

 

If the child is completely stuck, you may need to model the decoding skills (or offer the whole word if it is unknown)

 

Praise: Give praise for the child’s effort e.g. I love how you tried to sound that out.