Developmental Strategies for early readers: Where are we and where should we be going? Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek Temple University

Early childhood on the front page! Learning starts here (PA Library System, 2004) Born Learning Civitas; Family and Work Institute No Child Left Behind Government accountability America’s Promise Marketable skills

WHY? Because… The gap between rich and poor –25% of low income families have fewer than 10 age appropriate books in their homes (Whitehurst) –Vocabulary disparities Children ages 0-6 are spending more time on entertainment media than on reading, being read to and playing outside combined (Rideout, 2003) Language and literacy skills are the single best predictors of later academic success

WHY? Because… There is a clear research basis telling us which developmental strategies work for promoting language and literacy We know that intervention helps! Head Start Early Childhood Longitudinal Study High Scope Abecedarian

A talk in 6 parts Introduction: –Burnout on the front lines Language Development: –The foundation for reading Narrative development –Where language meets reading Literacy Writing –A partner for reading Conclusions

Burnout on the front lines Even if it is with the best of intentions…….

Examining the pressures No Child Left Behind –Good idea /bad execution Accountability –Outcomes vs. process Testing: The problem –“You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it” Closing the gap between teaching and testing –Forging a new road: from language to narrative to literacy to writing

Language Development The foundation for reading

What you see: Landmarks in production 0-3mo: coos, burps 3-6 mo: coos; laughs, cries, gurgles 6-9 mo: babbling; turn taking; pat-a-cake 9-12mo: points; first words; Bam Bam 12-18mo: 2 words per week; 50 words at –18 mo., names for body parts, animals, imitates mo: naming explosion; “Whas sat?; –Talk about here and now; loves stories over and over;follows simple commands

What you see continued 2-3 yrs: 500 wds; asks questions; –past tense; Wh-; sits 20 minutes; WHY?; pronounce clearly - m,n,f,b,d,h,y; uses fuller sentences with “in,” and “on.”; girls might appear to stutter 3-4 yrs: 800 wds; contractions - won’t; –can’t; can follow plot in story line; time words - morning; afternoon; adds sounds k,g,r,l; may still distort v,sh,ch,j and th; wonderful new made-up words like, “Michael wave” or “vampire”

What you see continued 4-5 yrs: 2000 words; speaks clearly most –of the time; can make up stories; use complex sentences; still might mispronounce s,r,th,t,v,sh,ch, j. 5-7 yrs: retells stories with more depth; – participates in discussions; learns relationships like big/little/happy/sad 1st grade: 11,000 words 3rd grade: 20,000 words 5th grade: 40, 000 words YOU: 52,000 words Big jump in school age: What causes this? Addition of derived words like sadness, manager… Kids seems to have root words and inflected words and idioms but greatly add in compounds and derived words

Beyond words to conversations Building vocabulary through dialogue Questions not answers Playing with language –Jokes –Games –You’re mama….

Cautionary notes Pediatricians have had this chart for a long time Different strokes for different folks –Groups –Individuals It’s not all over at 4 years! There is a lot of variation and what I showed you are just general guides to the patterns in language development

The role of language in reading

Two models Indirect and direct

Direct

Given the importance of language for reading….. What can you do to help language growth?

Enhancing language Talk with not at children –Hart and Risley –Responsive, contingent conversations on their topic of interest Read, read, read and read some more –Dialogic reading (Whitehurst) Vocabulary games –Snark, snarkist, snarkly Taking the Latin and Greek out of English –Heal and health Tell stories -- from you, jointly

Narrative Structuring the stories of our lives

Stories The role of stories –From Thanksgiving to Christmas Grids for experience Decontextualized language –Distance between sender and receiver –Complex sentence structure –High degree of cohesion

The Structure of Narrative Setting (place, characters) Initiating event Problem Resolution Most 3 year olds have setting, most 5 or 6 year olds have parts with no embellishment, most 10 year olds have full plots.

Cross cultural differences Asian – “mouth is source of misfortune” African American – topic association rather than topic centered; performance, exaggeration Caucasian American –Topic centered rather than topic association Respect individual differences!

Literacy

A definition The earliest sign of a child’s interest in and abilities related to reading and writing. Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998 The case of 12 month old Kelly and 21 month old Jim

Key components of emergent literacy Phonemic awareness –To understand that speech is composed of units Letter recognition –The ability to associate letters with appropriate sounds Awareness of print –The understanding of print and word conventions Early writing development –Attempts to produce written text (scribbling, invented spelling) Oral development –Vocabulary, discourse and narrative

How we help children learn these skills? Talk with them Tell stories Read aloud and expose children to print Targeted learning of code skills and phonological development

Reading aloud Going beyond the covers of the book Reading the same thing over and over and over again Using the book as a spark for conversation

Reading aloud: What to avoid “Shushing” -- –the technical term for forcing silence Reading every word as is with no breaks Meaningless reading that children can’t identify with or understand –“Spot the dog”

Targeting Phonological Skills: Code learning Pointing out similar sounds Rhyming games Singing –An example Playing the alphabet games What starts with this letter/sound? Creating print rich environments

What to avoid Boring repetition with no meaning Only learning the 10 letters of the alphabet –Why MNOP is one letter!

Writing

Writing as…. The right arm of reading –Tell a story -- write a story Writing as relevant –Labeling your clothes –Getting your way What you can do –Writing letters on issues that matter for children –Writing to stuffed animals or Santa Clause –You tell the end of a story and have the children write the beginning

Interventions that work Creating language rich environments –The castle on the hill -- in the classroom Creating literacy rich environments –Signs and charts Telling stories –While -- building forts, blowing bubbles Learning to play and playing to learn PLAY = LEARNING

Conclusions

What’s happening in PA

The way out of the crisis in education Think process not just product –How you learn is as important as what you learn Reclaim education –It’s for educators not for business people. Children are not widgets. Close the gap –between what we know about how children learn and what we are doing in the classroom Add PLAY to the equation

Then we will have Smart and happy children in our classrooms today who become sensitive and creative adults in the workplace of tomorrow