COR Literacy Framework Part 1

Recently I was invited to present my research on reading comprehension at the 18^th International Lindamood-Bell Conference in Anaheim, California.  High profile guest speakers included Professor Allan Paivio and Professor Mark Sadoski (see link http://www.lindamoodbell.com).

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes is an organisation dedicated to helping children and adults learn to their potential. Their research-validated instructional programs have proven successful for individuals with a wide range of learning challenges, including previous, third-party diagnoses of learning disabilities such as dyslexia, hyperlexia, ADHD, CAPD, and autism spectrum disorders.

In my presentation I mentioned that teachers generally know what works in teaching reading comprehension but the difficulty has been in knowing how to orchestrate comprehension strategies. Unlike phonics instruction, comprehension strategies need to be used simultaneously and practised over a long period of time with different text types in order to be successful. The question that many theorists and practitioners have been asking is how can this be done most effectively and what is the best combination of strategies for reading comprehension to be most effective? 

To answer this question I presented the findings from a joint project between Griffith University and Independent Schools Queensland that was conducted over a four-year period to provide a professional development package to teachers in a number of ISQ affiliated schools throughout the state. This involved the implementation of the COR Literacy Framework (see 'Catalyst' p24-27) which is a systematic approach to teaching reading comprehension. 

The COR Framework is based on three levels of cognition; stepping foreword (Consider), Stepping into (Oganise), and stepping back (Reflect) which can operate simultaneously or in combination during a learning task. A reading activity, for example, can also have three phases: before reading, during reading, and after reading that require different strategies. The framework also has an embedded self-regulation focus involving goal setting, monitoring, and reflection process that relate to all three levels. The combination of the two dimensions (phases and levels of cognition) provides a flexible framework that enables teachers to fill the nine cells with pedagogical practices (or questions) that will orchestrate effective learning by integrating the three cognitive levels.

For example, in the table (COR Literacy Framework - above) the nine cells have been filled in with elements from two well known reading comprehension procedures: Reciprocal Teaching and the KWL strategy. The Reciprocal Teaching strategies (Predicting, Clarifying, Questioning, and Summarising) have been inserted into the cells that correspond to the particular level and reading phase that they target. The KWL procedure asks the questions: 'What  do I know?' 'What do I want to know?' and 'What have I learned?' These questions have also been inserted into the appropriate cells. The other two remaining cells have been filled with other elements to reflect an overall self-regulation focus. As a flexible framework other items can be substituted as long as they fit with the two dimensions (phase and level of cognition).  

More ideas about reading comprehension can be found in my recently published book, 'Reading Comprehension: AssistingChildren with Learning Difficulties’, Springer International. 
See full review by Peter Westwood: This book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every teacher and researcher concerned with improving literacy standards. … I recommend this book most highly to everyone with a genuine concern for raising standards in literacy. (Peter Westwood, Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, Vol. 17 (1), May, 2012). 

Assisting Reading Infographic

For more information about assisted reading see my Assisted Reading blog series called 10 Principles for Assisting Reading.

This infographic was created using tools from www.easel.ly

Book Review - Dyslexia and Inclusion

Dyslexia and Inclusion: Classroom approaches for Assessment, Teaching and Learning (2nd Ed.) by Gavin Reid

Dyslexia is a vexing problem for many children and one that can cause lifelong difficulties with reading. Gavin Reid's book has the potential to influence teachers and parents and make a positive contribution to the overall wellbeing of struggling readers.

A key issue is the inclusion of students in the mainstream classroom and the inclusive practices that support these students. This will be of particular concern for many teachers who may feel they do not have specialised skills and knowledge to adequately assist these children.

I enjoyed reading this book because it was easy to read and the ideas were expressed clearly and succinctly. No doubt it will make a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge related to the area of literacy and learning difficulties. As the title implies, the focus is on dyslexia and inclusion in mainstream classrooms. Reid notes that dyslexia is clouded by confusion and misconceptions. However, he is able to chart a clear course though this mine field of uncertainty and conflicting ideas. He does this by taking a realistic and balanced view of the current body of research and proven practice.

After reading this book the reader should come away with a good understanding of the nature of dyslexia and gain the knowledge required to assist individuals with reading difficulties. He acknowledges that children with dyslexia exhibit a range of learning problems. Despite these differences he gives the teacher a range of practical teaching tips and ideas to help those  struggling with reading.

Oh, my goodness, we have slipped!

Oh, my goodness, we have slipped!

At the end of last year international comparisons of student reading levels revealed that Australia had slipped - we are now 27th out of the 50 countries mentioned in the report. This has come as a shock considering Australia's previous high ranking in reading performance within the OECD countries, as reported through the Programme for Student Assessment (PISA) over recent years.

In my last blog entitled 'A decade of lost action in reading; Let's get some balance!' I commented on an earlier article by the Weekend Australian that reflected the shock and horror that rippled through the media, educational establishments, and the public in general. It was obvious that some reactionaries were looking for someone or something to blame, such as the whole language approach to reading,  teacher educators, universities, and who ever else they could possibly think of. The Rowe (or Nelson) Report (2005) was cited as having the answers, however, many of the report's recommendations were never implemented.

The Weekend Australian (19-20th January) article entitled 'Rowe inquiry spelled out how children can be taught to excel in reading' seems to have put this very emotional reaction into some rational perspective. In this article Gregor Ramsey, a prominent Australian educationalist, gives some balance to this debate. He acknowledges the importance of the Rowe Report and articulates that the report focused on both phonics and whole-language strategies as part of a balanced approach to the teaching of reading.

He reminds us that the report viewed parents as having a key role in the development of children's reading outcomes. The question is, "Are parents more involved with teaching reading than they were in 2005?" Possibly not much more!

Generally, research shows that greater parental involvement in assisting children with reading at home will improve their children's reading outcomes. For family tutoring programs to be effective schools need to identify productive home literacy practices and give the necessary training and ongoing support for parents and care givers. Successful family reading programs will help children to read more effectively while fostering positive home and school cultures that promote cooperation and the sharing of resources between homes and schools.

Visit my video interview, "Tutoring: Collaborative approaches to assisted Reading." and also see my blog series called '10 Principles for Assisting Reading" for some tips on how to assist reading at home or at school.

A decade of lost action in reading: Let's get some balance!

The Weekend Australian's front page article A Decade of lost action on literacy reports on Australia's poor performance in a recent international reading test. According to the PIRLS results 25 per cent of year 4 children in Australia failed to meet the standard in reading for their age.

The paper version of the Australian has a cartoon placed at the beginning of the article. The picture shows a female teacher with an annoyed look on her face and assuming an aggressive pose. Her fists on her hips while standing over a sheepish looking boy sitting at his desk. In the middle ground there is an adult male and female looking through the classroom door.

The female figure says, "Is the kid a slow learner?"

The other observer then replies, "No but the teacher is."

The first comment is designed to blame the child by giving him the label - 'slow learner'. The second comment blames the teacher.

What is even more interesting is that the electronic version of the article (see the link above) completely leaves out this very derogatory cartoon. Quite possibly, it may have been a copyright issue or maybe the editor realised that it was demeaning to a mainly dedicated and self-sacrificing group of people.

What did the newspaper replace the cartoon with?

Now this is worth a thoughtful look. The photo shows a teacher  in the foreground with his back to the viewer and facing a large group of students sitting in regimental rows of single desks with heads bent over their work. Presumably this is a test situation but the question is, "Why did they choose this particular photo to go with the article?"

The second attempt to blame the victim employs another label - "Whole Language". The implication being that the drop in our reading results is because teachers have been using a 'whole language' approach.  Whole language was a term that became popular about three to four decades ago but few Australian teachers embraced this as their only approach to the teaching of reading. Can you even find a single teacher still using a whole language only approach today? How long will they keep using this label as an excuse? If you did a word frequency count of all articles in Australian professional journals over the last 15 years you would most likely find that the term 'phonics' or 'phonics instruction' has a high count while the term "Whole Language" is hardly ever mentioned.

Even though the teaching of phonics is essential it is not sufficient for reading progress through school. Phonics teaching by itself is a very simplistic response to a very complex learning process. There is more to reading than what you see. An emphasis on phonic instruction as the panacea for all reading difficulties can lead to a situation whereby children can word call with little or no comprehension. This  debate continues in the United States where similar arguments are often used. Some eminent researchers in the US claim that some phonics only approaches are driven by vested commercial interests. Obviously it is very simple to market a phonic teaching package rather than invest in ongoing training of teachers in effectively teaching the reading process. Recognised research reports advocate for a balanced approach to reading instruction, this includes the US National Reading Panel, Australia's Nelson Report and prominent researchers such as the late Michael Pressley.

Low scores for reading in year 4 support the notion of a well recognised year 4 slump. This is not only a problem in Australia but can be seen in other English speaking countries including the US and England (see my Book). This is a complex problem  - many children, who appear to read well in the lower primary or elementary grades begin to exhibit difficulties in reading around this year 4 period.  At this stage the language in books becomes much more complex with less illustrations to assist comprehension. In the lower grades books are often levelled to match children's individual reading ages and many children tend not to acquire new and challenging words. During the year 4 stage more complex non-fiction genres are introduced and children are expected to read to comprehend. This requires the explicit teaching of reading comprehension skills with practice over an extended period of time. Reading problems begin to manifest in year 4, particularly in schools where little emphasis is placed on comprehension in the lower grades.

The situation is that if education systems continue to place more emphasis on word level skills and neglect training teachers to implement a balanced approach that includes reading comprehension, they will face a very slippery decline in reading performance.  

Visualization and Comprehension Pt 10

This is the final post in this series of blogs so I thought that I should direct fellow bloggers to three very good resources related to visualization and reading comprehension.

The first site 'TeacherVision' shows you how to begin a series of visualisation lessons .

The second site 'Readwritethink' (the International Reading Association's blog) has a good beginning visualizing lesson plan to start the ball rolling.

The third site is the Lindamood-Bell 18th International conference, 'Imagine Learning' (see the picture below).

I have been invited as a guest Research Presenter and I've chosen to call my presentation 'Tale of Three Cities' tracing my research across three Australian cities. This will be a brief outline spanning twenty-years of exploration and discovery. It centres around Dual Coding theory and the teaching of visual and verbal thinking processes to enhance reading comprehension, particularly for children who struggle in this aspect of their learning. It begins on the Gold Coast (the Surf City), continues in Canberra (the City of the Lake) and finishes in Brisbane (the River City).

The underlying theme of this research journey will be how I have endeavoured to link visulaization (Australians use 'visualisation') at the local level or sentence level with the larger global level comprehension of text discourse.

Hope to see you there!

Visualization and Comprehension Pt 9

Oral  vocabulary is one of the most important contributors to children's reading, academic development, and progress through school. It is a significant indicator of success at school. However, it has been estimated that the size off children's receptive flexibility can vary quite considerably. Children with poorer vocabularies may have as many as 4000 fewer words in their mental lexicon than children starting school from homes where parents regularly interact with their children and provide rich language experiences. As a result, children entering school with larger vocabularies tend to have less problems with reading, read more, and learn more new vocabulary through their extensive reading experiences. In contrast, children who have poorer vocabularies tend to have more difficulty learning to read, read less, and fall behind their more successful classmates in acquiring new words.

Produced using 'Wordle'

At school good readers learn a vast amount of new vocabulary incidentally as they read. They are able to use the context to help them decipher new meanings for new words and add them to their mental lexicons as they read. However, many children struggle with reading and this word learning process becomes quite difficult for them. In response to this, it is necessary for some direct teaching of  vocabulary in the classroom.

I have been working on an article for a professional journal about teaching vocabulary in the classroom.     While doing this I came across an article  by Mark Sadoski called "A dual coding view of vocabulary learning" (see below). This was very timely as it gave some insights on how 'Dual Coding' theory can contribute to the teaching of vocabulary (as well as fitting neatly into this blog series).

According to Sadoski, words are verbal labels for concepts, their meanings and even pronunciations  are determined by their connections to a variety of other words. However some words are easier to learn than others. For example, words like 'sofa', are more concrete and are generally easier to imagine than words that those that are more abstract,  such as the word 'justice'. This notion supports dual coding theory because it demonstrates that people use different coding systems to encode the words. Concrete words tend to be associated with imagery while abstract words depend primarily on the web of verbal associations for their meaning.

One particularly effective direct teaching method for learning new vocabulary is called the keyword method. This requires learners to form an interactive mental image of the definition of the new word together with a familiar concrete word that shares a similar acoustic element. In the article Sadoski uses the example of the word 'potable', which means suitable for drinking. 'Pot' is the keyword that forms part of a word potable and can be visualised as the pot containing water.  Thus, visual and  acoustic  word associations are linked to word symbols, meanings and context. Word roots, suffixes and prefixes can also used in conjunction with the key word method to enhance this learning experience.

Sadoski, M. (2005). A dual coding view of vocabulary learning. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 21, 221-238.