Post #3 (9-26-11) Fluency

In the Deeney article, she talks about the many aspects that are involved in fluency. One topic she discusses in depth is the ability of prosody. Prosody is defined in the article as the ability to read smoothly with appropriate phasing and expression. This is an incredibly valuable characteristic of fluency and one that doesn't seem to be discussed as much as rate and accuracy are.

A child with a low ability of prosody will obviously have more of a difficult time comprehending reading. It usually exists in people with damaged Broca's area and people who have Asperger syndrome. In order to improve the prosody of a child, it is important to focus on coarticulation. By teaching them the difference between the spaces in text and that there are not spaces in the phrases or sentences we say, helps to give speech natural flow and will assist in the development of appropriate stress and intonation.

Post #2 (9-19-11)

Another interesting topic that the IRA NAEYC position paper covered was the concept of reading aloud to children. The paper says that it is the most important activity for building understanding and skills essential for reading success. If a child feels emotionally secure and confident in his or her reading ability, they will develop more of an excitement for reading and will move on to more advanced material. Creating a love and interest in reading is in my opinion the most important task a teacher possesses and is the most important task in a child's reading development.

In my Children's Literature class, our teacher has time and time again stressed the importance of reading to your children. She says that it should be done at least once a day and should cover a wide abundance of topics. She told us of a single father who read to his daughter every night for 3,218 days and even up until she left for college. The girl, Alice Ozma, has stated that this changed her life in so many ways, including her relationship with her father. The two of them have dedicated their lives to spreading the word of how important and beneficial it is to read to your children. Below is a link to their site.

http://www.makeareadingpromise.com/

Post #1 (9-12-11) Invented Spelling

Reading is an important skill that helps society communicate information and express ideas. It is crucial to the foundation of society that we teach our children how to read at a young age and encourage them to grow and enhance their reading abilities throughout their school careers and throughout their lives. The NAEYC article explains many different ways that children can develop their reading skills.

At a young age, many children will possess some knowledge of word sounds and structure but will not have a firm grasp on the exact phonic rules of letter combinations. With this in mind, a teacher can have their student's write an assortment of words and let them try to spell them out using their knowledge of sounds. This strategy is known as invented spelling. By using invented spelling, a teacher can pinpoint which areas of word comprehension a child understands and which areas a child needs to work on. This serves as valuable knowledge for a teacher and can be used to advance a student in the skill of reading. This strategy should not be used in excess but if used in the proper amount, it can be incredibly beneficial to a student and their reading level.

I remember my 1st grade teacher (Mrs. Lawson) used this method and it made a great impact on my learning. We would write a few sentences every morning about a given topic and she would not tell us how to spell the words. Instead, she would makes us sound them out and spell them the way that we thought they were spelled. Then she would read through them and talk to us individually and show us how the proper way to spell a word was.

Below is a video that highlights the multiple benefits of invented spelling. Enjoy!