Conference on Writing DevelopmentJuly 2, 2009.ppt

Conference on Writing DevelopmentJuly 2, 2009 Charles Read University of Wisconsin - Madison Alphabets currently in usefrom O Examples of Japanese Writingfrom Wikipedia: Japanese Writing System Chinese charactersby Benjamin L. Read Initial Steps Knowing that symbols represent an utterance, such as a word or sentence. [Scribble] “says ‘Let’s go.’” Initial Steps Knowing that symbols represent an utterance, such as a word or sentence. Recognize or manipulate conventional symbols, such as letters. Initial Steps Knowing that symbols represent an utterance, such as a word or sentence. Recognize or manipulate conventional symbols, such as letters. Associate letter(s) with word(s). “M is for Max.” Key Steps (1) Acquiring phonemic awareness The concept of sounds within syllables. Not all are pronounceable in isolation Those that are pronounceable don’t sound like language. Signs of Phonemic Awareness Pronounce or name individual sounds, such as “first sound” in a word. Manipulate sounds: Add, delete, move sounds within a syllable Key Steps (2) Knowing that spellings (one or more letters each) represent those sounds. The Alphabetic Principle Not just “M is for Max,” but “M is for [m]” Phonemic Awareness and the Alphabetic Principle [PA and AP] are BIG STEPS. Phonemic Awareness May not develop outside of instruction in alphabetic writing. Morais, et al.: studies in Portugal: Illiterates can detect sound similarity (e.g., rhyme), but cannot analyze a syllable into its phonemes (e.g., delete an initial sound). Study in China Syntheses of Research Snow, Burns, and Griffin (1998) Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. National Academy Press. /catalog.php?record_id=6023 Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read. (2000). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. /publications Both conclude PA is essential Snow et al.: [PA is] “key to understanding the logic of the alphabetic principle and thus to the learnability of phon