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Activity
4 ~~ NICHD Pie Chart (1 hr 30 minutes)
Note: When you complete this assignment, save your work to
submit to the course facilitator.
Objective: Reflect on the factors
that account for learning differences among children as they pertain to
reading, and then use that information to complete Activities A and B.
Context: On July 10, 1998 G. Reid
Lyon, Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, was asked to speak before
the House of Representatives' Committee on Education and the Workforce,
and on April 28, 1998, he spoke before the Senate Committee on Labor and
Human Resources.
During his remarks to the two committees,
Dr. Lyon presented data he and his colleagues collected in regard to percentages
of children who have varying degrees of difficulty or ease in learning
how to read. He also postulated on the reasons for these differences.
Click here
to view a chart that attempts to graphically depict the data included
in Dr. Lyon's narrative.
Dr. Lyons' research suggests that the following
four factors play a significant role in a child's success in learning
how to read:
- Deficits in phonemic awareness and development
of the alphabetic principle.
- Deficits in acquiring and applying reading
comprehension strategies.
- Deficits in developing and maintaining
the motivation to learn to read.
- Limitations in effectively preparing
teachers.
Some additional details about the four factors
listed above:
Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to hear the individual sounds
in words. For example, in the word "light", there are three phonemes,
or component sounds, /l/, long/ i/ and /t/. Children who can separate,
blend, isolate, and delete these sounds are better able to later assign
letters that correspond to these sounds. Phonemic awareness has been determined
to be one of the strongest predictors of reading success.
The alphabetic principal refers to phonics, or the ability to apply
the correspondences between sounds and symbols when reading.
Reading comprehension strategies refer to what skilled readers
do before, during, and after reading. These strategies include accessing
prior knowledge, making predictions, setting purposes, using imagery,
adjusting reading rate, and monitoring comprehension.
Activity A:
Use the
same five categories as Dr. Lyon and write down the the number of students that fall into each category in your classroom.
Activity B:
Dr. Lyon suggested four reasons for the varying success of readers. Considering
the chart you just made, to what degree do each of his reasons account
for the performance levels you placed on your chart?
After completing Activity B, read the G.
Reid Lyon text "Why reading is not
a natural activity" in Educational Leadership, pages 15, 14-18.
For Further Consideration:
Question 1
To what degree does phonemic awareness and knowledge of
the alphabetic principal affect your students' reading performance?
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Question 2
To what degree does use of
reading strategies affect your students' reading performance? |
Question 3
To what degree does motivation affect your students' reading
performance? |
Question 4
To what degree does teacher training (quantity and quality)
affect your student's reading performance? |
Question 5
What are the instructional and staff development implications
of your answers? |
Submit: Numbers of students that fall under each reading category, Reply to Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
You should title this document "Session 1 Required Activity".
Submit assignment to facilitator.
When you're finished, please proceed to
Activity 5
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