ThatReadingThing

Over on the Reading Reform Foundation site, there’s been a discussion, in part, about what constitutes “Explicit, Systematic Phonics Instruction”. (here for the whole thread) I’m always worried that some teachers will read through these discussions and leave thinking, “I’m not that kind of teacher so phonic-based instruction isn’t for me” (but with more colourful language)

So I’ll say it again: No matter what your philosophy of teaching, whether you’re a die-hard “ist” with a defined “ism” or just a teacher who is frustrated daily by students who can’t read very well, your learners (whether 4, 14, or 54) need to learn how to get from sound to print and back again – or print to sound and back again, depending on your preferences.

I happen to be slightly obsessed by discovery in education and here’s how I define the main terms relating to linguistic/synthetic/explicit & systematic/all-through-the-word phonics. (must think of a more concise title)

Explicit Instruction – This means that we are teaching reading, not teaching history or car mechanics and expecting reading to be picked up implicitly. It doesn’t mean standing or sitting in front of one or more people and telling them how to read or making them memorize all the ways to write the “ay” sound in English.

Systematic – The grapheme/phoneme correspondences are carefully controlled so that learners can discover that the language is both limited and learnable.

Discovery - This is the very best process by which a person learns anything. (raised, educated and teacher-trained that way!) In the case of reading this means discovering how the code works by using it over and over again in the context of whole and meaningful words, sentences and and texts. Success is aided hugely by a safe and friendly learning environment. See The Deal.

Teach/Facilitate – The prime function of the teacher/tutor is to facilitate discovery. A good reading programme will aid this. I realise this is might be a case of “You can take the kid out of the 70’s but you can’t take the 70’s out of the kid” but this is the very best thing to come out of that era of education. (God bless Neil McAllister and the other “facilitators” in the Bayview Open Area)

Starting with sounds – If you want to facilitate discovery then it’s best to start with something that your learner can already do. Assuming they have no serious hearing or speech impairment then you can start with the words that they can hear and say and use in meaningful speech. By saying the word aloud, attaching a written symbol to each sound and writing the symbols in order whilst saying the sounds, they are discovering how the English code works. No one has stated: “This is how it works” and it’s likely that no one will need to.

Right and Wrong – There is absolutely such a thing as right and wrong in this type of instruction and this is what separates it from the “woolly and useless” instruction that I think some rrfers are picturing when they hear the word “discover”. (I’ve heard a kindergarten teacher say “good number!” to a child who has clearly given a wrong answer to a sum. That’s plain silly and anti-education)

Correcting Errors – There has to be a good way to get to the right answer without the instructor making the correction. Therefore, instead of correcting an error with an answer, you do a series of things to allow the learner to make their own correction and further their process of discovery. In ThatReadingThing it goes like this:

If a student says “sit” for the word set, do the following:

Show the error by pointing at it. Point with the tip of a pencil to the e .

&

Tell your student what the problem is. ‘You said “sit”.’

Ask a question which points them in the right direction. ‘What sound it that?’ (still pointing at the e.)

Answer if necessary but try to let the student discover it first. If the student doesn’t know, say, ‘It’s “e”. Try again with “e”’

So, in the world of ThatReadingThing, it is all about discovery. And it’s explicitly about reading. And it’s systematic. And it can start with whole spoken words. And it works! (no matter what the teacher’s philosophy of education)