Heartland AEA Literacy Newsletter

Edutopia analyzed hundreds of educational studies and have identified what they felt was most impactful - from a new study on the sneaky power of sketchnotes to research that linked relationships and rigor. For each study, the big idea is highlighted but the entire article with references to the original studies can be accessed by clicking on the link in the title above.

1. There is no conflict between relationships and rigor.

Observers sometimes assume that teachers who radiate empathy, kindness and openness are "soft" and can be taken advantage of by students. But new research shows that when you signal that you care about kids, they are willing to the extra mile -- giving you the flexibility to assign more challenging school work.That’s the main takeaway from a 2022 study that examined teaching practices in 285 districts, comparing relationship-building strategies with the flexibility that teachers had in assigning challenging and complex work

2. Highlighting is not very effective until teachers step in.

Students often highlight the wrong information and may rely on their deficient highlighting skills as a primary study strategy, leading to poor learning outcomes, a new analysis of 36 studies suggests. As little as two hours of tutoring, however, can dramatically improve their capabilities.

3. A landmark study strikes a resounding note for inclusion.

Now a new large-scale study appears to put the matter beyond dispute. When researchers tracked nearly 24,000 adolescents who qualified for special education, they discovered that spending a majority of the day—at least 80 percent—in general education classes improved reading scores by a whopping 24 points and math scores by 18 points, compared with scores of their more isolated peers with similar disabilities

4. Sketchnotes and concept maps work - even better than you might think.

Simple concept maps, sketchnotes, and other annotated jottings—akin to doodling with a purpose—can facilitate deeper comprehension of materials than more polished drawings, a new study finds

5. Brain breaks are misunderstood (and underutilized)

In 2021, researchers used brain scans to observe neural networks as young adults learned how to type. During breaks, the brains of the participants appeared to head back to the keyboards, unconsciously replaying the typing sequences over and over again at high rates of speed as they flipped the material between processing and memory centers dozens of times in the span of 10 seconds. The researchers concluded that brain breaks play “just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill.”

6. On classroom design, an argument for caution - and common sense.

A study published in February this year argues for minimalism. Researchers tracked the on-task behavior of K–2 students and concluded that visually ”streamlined” classrooms produced more focused students than “decorated” ones. During short read-alouds about topics like rainbows and plate tectonics, for example, young kids in classrooms free of “charts, posters, and manipulatives” were paying attention at significantly higher rates.But, it might not be a simple question of more or less. A 2014 study confirmed that posters of women scientists or diverse historical figures, for example, can improve students’ sense of belonging. And a recent study that observed 3,766 children in 153 schools concluded that classrooms that occupied a visual middle ground—neither too cluttered nor too austere—produced the best academic outcomes. A 2022 study reached similar conclusions.

7. For young children, the power of play-based learning.

Children aren’t miniature adults, but a bias toward adult perspectives of childhood, with its attendant schedules and routines, has gradually exerted a stranglehold on our educational system nonetheless, suggests the author and early childhood educator Erika Christakis.

How can we let little kids be little while meeting the academic expectations of typical schools? A new analysis of 39 studies spanning several decades plots a middle path for educators, highlighting the way that play gently guided by adults, often called play-based learning, can satisfy both objectives.

8. A better way to learn your ABCs

A new study suggests that sound-letter pairs are learned much more effectively when whole-body movements are integrated into lessons. Five- and 6-year-olds in the study spent eight weeks practicing movements for each letter of the alphabet, slithering like a snake as they hissed the sibilant “sss” sound, for example. The researchers found that whole-body movement improved students’ ability to recall letter-sound pairings and doubled their ability to recognize hard-to-learn sounds—such as the difference between the sounds that c makes in cat and sauce—when compared with students who simply wrote and spoke letter-sound pairings at their desks.

9. Why learners push the pause button

Some of the benefits of videotaped lessons are so self-evident that they hide in plain sight.

When teaching students foundational concepts, a video lesson equipped with a simple pause button, for example, may allow students to reset cognitively as they reach their attentional limits, a 2022 study concluded. Pause buttons, like rewind buttons, are also crucial for learners who encounter “complex learning materials,” have “low prior knowledge,” or exhibit “low working memory capacities.” To modernize their classrooms, teachers might record their most important lessons and make them available to students as study aids so they can pause, rewind, and review to their hearts’ content.

10. An authoritative study of two high-impact learning strategies.

Spacing and retrieval practices are two of the most effective ways to drive long-term retention, confirms an authoritative 2022 review spanning hundreds of studies on the topic--and students should know how and why the strategies are effective. The effect sizes are hard to ignore. In a 2015 study, for example, third-grade students who studied a lesson about the sun and then reread the same material scored 53 percent on a follow-up test, the equivalent of a failing grade, while their peers who studied it once and then answered practice questions breezed by with an 87 percent score. And in a 2021 study, middle school students who solved a dozen math problems spread out across three weeks scored 21 percentage points higher on a follow-up math test than students who solved all 12 problems on the same day.

Introduction

Recently there have been many discussions among academics about the “Science of Reading.” Such discussions advance science which is constantly evolving over time, but in the meantime, what’s a practitioner on the front lines to do?

Teachers need clarity, not confusion, about how to deliver the evidence-based and meaningful instruction that we know can bring 90-95% of students to grade-level reading.

While reading is a complex endeavor, one area of confusion seems to be in how to teach the foundational skills usually occurring from pre-K to Grade 1 or 2.

As concerned researchers and practitioners, we offer a brief summary of what we consider most important in early instruction to reach this critically important goal for our children and for our society.

Literacy begins with oral language

The new mastering of literacy is built upon the continuing mastery of spoken language that children develop while listening to others and expressing their own ideas and feelings. As they listen to interesting books being read, as they carry on conversations and discuss topics of interest, children are strengthening spoken language pathways in the brain. Effective literacy instruction gradually maps new neural networks intimately interlocked with these speech networks.

Understanding the alphabet code

Children cannot become skilled readers by memorizing the visual appearance of words or by using cues like pictures to guess at written words. They need to understand that the alphabet is a code, to learn to use it to make their own spoken words visible (en-code), and to figure out words that someone else has written (de-code).

Segmenting and encoding spoken words

When children are told that the letter ‘m’ stands for the sound /mm/, they understand that a letter stands for a sound that they say and hear. However, to read and spell a word like mat, children also must recognize that they are saying three different sounds when they say the word mat. Spelling words requires focusing on the pronunciation of each sound as the word is segmented. The crucial and most difficult step is becoming aware of the full sequence of sounds as a word is spoken so that those speech sounds can be linked to letters and used to spell out a meaningful word.

Introducing speech-to-print and print-to-speech together

Children do not need to learn the names, shapes, and sounds of all 26 upper- and lower-case letters before they tackle the construction of real words. Children as young as four can develop PA and practice a few phoneme–letter pairs as they learn to encode simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Using letters to spell meaningful words is physically engaging and constructive. For example, children might begin by listening to a sentence with the word cat in it. Then they can be shown how to segment cat into its sounds and use movable alphabet tiles to spell cat — C-A-T. They can point to the letters as they blend them back into the word cat.

Recognizing repeated patterns

It is possible for children to “discover” on their own some of the rules involved in how spoken words are made visible. A few children seem to learn to read with little or no systematic instruction. They have learned to master the code through other source — a helpful adult, software, or television — and generalize the patterns they recognize to figure out how letters stand for the sounds they say and hear. However, for many children this implicit learning that involves recognizing patterns does not come easily, and they will need more intensive and explicit instruction, and time for practice. Patterns are recognized when they are repeated over and over. Introducing too many words that are not regularly spelled, like said or was, can interrupt the process of noticing the regular patterns of spelling. As children learn to encode and decode, it is helpful to work with regularly spelled words as much as possible.

Spelling words phonetically

Once children grasp the concept that letters stand for sounds that they say, whether in English or other European languages, they begin to figure out that they can write any word they can say. As they learn to express their own ideas on paper, they will spell words phonetically for a while, practicing PA and phonics as they write.Spelling corrections can be made as they write to dictation, and orthographic patterns can be introduced gradually, so that a child’s early pleasure in writing is not dampened by too many “mistakes.” Time for encoding/writing should be scheduled daily.

Developing automatic word recognition

Brain research shows that early reading requires development of neural pathways linking speech to new learning about print. Memorizing the visual appearance of words does not require the same participation of speech. More efficient brain pathways develop as children master PA, phonics, the alphabet code, and word knowledge in order to encode and decode meaningful text.These networks will be elaborated over time as new words, (their pronunciations, spellings, usage, and sometimes multiple meanings) are mapped and stored. When these neural maps are created and repeated, familiar words are no longer decoded intentionally, but are recognized automatically. Introducing morphemes to change words like play into plays, player, played, and playing can dramatically increase the number of words that are recognized automatically.

Mastering the early foundation skills of letter recognition, PA, word knowledge, decoding, and encoding, requires conscious attention and effort at first. Like learning to ride a bicycle, with practice these skills become automatic and unconscious for most children. Automaticity with a code requires both encoding and decoding. When both become proficient and automatic, reading and writing enable a lifetime of enjoyment and learning.

In summary, it is our view that early literacy, like breathing, requires equal measures of in and out: both print-to-speech and speech-to-print instruction.

Coming Soon: A Science of Reading Online Learning Community

The science of reading has become a hot topic among educators, literacy researchers, and caregivers, gaining in popularity over the past ten years. Much of this conversation has been taking place through social media, where people share resources, ask questions, and express their thoughts. In an attempt to help facilitate some of this online activity, we will be introducing an online learning community in which participants can learn about topics related to the science of reading and have discussions in a space moderated by our staff. This learning community will be offered through our eLearning platform. There will be a number of features, including the sharing of science of reading resources for teachers, question and conversation threads, and professional development opportunities in the form of webinars and potentially other online formats.

We are planning to launch the online learning community in early 2023. It will be open for anyone to join by using their free IRRC eLearning account. Stay tuned to this Monthly Email Update as well as our Twitter and Facebook feeds where we will announce when the learning community is ready for users to join.

Production of an IRRC Science of Reading Podcast Underway

That’s right! The IRRC’s first-ever podcast is currently in development! The limited series being written and produced by IRRC Lead Writer and Communications Assistant Meg Mechelke and others will seek to explain how the science of reading grew from a phrase to a movement. You will hear about the history of literacy education in the United States as it relates to the science of reading. We will explore topics including the early popularity of phonics in American literacy instruction, the rise of the whole-word approach under Horace Mann, and the shift to more empirically sound literacy research in the 1960s and 70s.

Whether you are an educator, researcher, or caregiver, deeply familiar with the science of reading or just beginning to learn about it, or somewhere in between, this podcast will be for you. It will also appeal to anyone who has ever wondered whether there is a connection between the Reading Wars and Dr. Seuss.

We have created a separate email list for the podcast where subscribers will be the first to receive announcements about when the podcast will launch, any trailer episodes, and an email each time an episode is released. Subscribe to Our Podcast, Blog, and Email Update

All middle and high school students can become proficient readers across all content areas if, in all classes:

1. Students are explicitly taught the meanings of several new words every day and provided with opportunities to review words previously taught.

2. Students are taught and encouraged to apply word-learning practices (e.g., identifying prefixes, roots, and suffixes; context clues; synonyms) for new words encountered in texts.

3. Students’ background knowledge is built through exposure to rich content in print and multimedia formats.

4. Students are taught to monitor their comprehension while reading a variety of texts by asking and answering questions, organizing text information with graphic organizers, generating main ideas and summaries, and discussing their developing understanding with the teacher and their peers.

5. Students have opportunities to work purposefully in collaborative formats with peers as they read, write, and talk about content area texts.

6. Students are taught to analyze an author’s use of words, syntactical elements, and organization of ideas to establish the purpose of the text and convey its meaning.

7. Students read a variety of texts daily, compare and evaluate the texts, discuss them in relation to the specific discipline (e.g., history, science), and receive feedback on their responses.

8. Students are taught to cite textual evidence when writing, answering questions, and talking about different texts.

9. Student learning is monitored periodically to inform instructional decisions, such as collaborative group formation, lesson pacing, content for reviewing or reteaching, and supplemental intervention needs.

10. Students who are behind in reading are provided daily, supplemental intervention, including instruction in reading and spelling unknown words.

Each month the Iowa Reading Research Center has a blog. These blogs provide great information to educators. Here is one from October.

The Intersection of Dyslexia, Struggles With Reading, and Mental Health

By:

Sam McVancel, Ph.D.

School Psychologist, Scanlan Center for School Mental Health

Posted on: October 25, 2022

Imagine you are in first grade and learning to read. You go to school every day and participate in all the reading and writing activities. You are excited to learn to read and raise your hand enthusiastically any time the teacher asks a question. You try your very best every day.

However, while most of the kids in your class are starting to blend the sounds in words together, you are struggling to break words into their individual sounds. You feel discouraged, but you keep trying. Soon, most of the kids in your class are reading short books on their own. They are fluently reading most of the words in the book without sounding out each word one by one. You notice it takes you quite a bit longer to read the same books as your peers because it is harder for you to blend the sounds in the words together. You often need help from your teacher, and you can tell reading is easier for most of the other kids in your class. No matter how hard you try, you still cannot read, and you do not understand why. You feel frustrated, discouraged, and embarrassed. You begin to dread going to school, and you wake up with a stomachache most days. When it is time to read aloud in class, you do not raise your hand to answer the teacher’s questions. Instead, you put your head on your desk.

How do you think this experience would impact your self-esteem and your mental health? The research indicates that it would most likely have a negative effect.

Impact of Dyslexia on Mental Health

Recently, there has been an increased focus on mental health in schools, and with good reason. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of children diagnosed with depression increased by 27%, and the number of children diagnosed with anxiety increased by 29% (Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022). Students with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, are at a higher risk of developing depression (Hendren et al., 2018; Maag & Reid, 2006; Mammarella et al., 2016) and anxiety (Hendren et al., 2018; Mammarella et al., 2016; Nelson & Harwood, 2011). Low self-esteem also occurs at higher rates among individuals with learning disabilities (Alesi et al., 2014; Ihbour et al., 2021).

Many children with dyslexia say that they have had negative experiences in school. In one study, 50% of students with dyslexia reported being bullied or teased, 30% reported feeling lazy or stupid, 30% reported feeling less intelligent than their peers, and 50% reported that they wanted to swap places with someone else (Humphrey & Mullins, 2002). Many researchers suggest that these low rates of self-esteem are related to the negative classroom experiences. When children with dyslexia are tasked with completing reading or writing activities without the appropriate instructional supports, they have a difficult time with them due to their disability. Children who are struggling to read frequently experience failure; this can lead them to feel unsuccessful at school (Ihbour et al., 2021; Olivardia, 2021). Additionally, children are often very aware of what these classmates are doing. Children who are struggling to learn to read may notice that they are progressing at a slower rate than their peers. This can result in feelings of stress, sadness, anger, disappointment, despair, shame, and guilt (Ihbour et al., 2021).

Strategies to Support Children with Dyslexia

Feelings of competence contribute to both children’s psychological development and their view of themselves as students (Ihbour et al., 2021). As mentioned above, the experiences children with dyslexia have in school may negatively impact their self-esteem. There are some strategies that can be implemented at home and at school to support the social and emotional well-being of children with dyslexia. Please note, the strategies discussed below are not a substitute for mental health services provided by a licensed clinician.

Support Children in Developing a Positive Sense of Identity

Children with dyslexia may feel less intelligent than their peers (Humphrey & Mullins, 2002). Helping children develop a positive sense of identity may build their confidence and boost their self-esteem (Bigler et al., 2001). Here are a few approaches Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer of Psychology at Harvard Medical School Dr. Roberto Olivardia recommends to help children develop a positive sense of identity (2021):

• Help children understand that everyone learns differently, and that the goal is for them to understand how they learn the best: This may help children focus on what they need as a learner instead of comparing themselves to peers. You can talk with kids about different learning styles (e.g., visual, auditory) and have them identify which way(s) they learn best.
• Work with children to accept mistakes and failure: Everyone makes mistakes. Making mistakes and failing is part of learning. Helping children to accept this as part of their learning may promote resiliency. One strategy for doing this is to help kids develop a growth mindset, which is the belief that abilities are not fixed traits, but can be developed (Dweck, 2015).
• Support children in developing their strengths: Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Only focusing on weaknesses can have a negative effect on children’s self-esteem (Neff, 2011). Providing children with opportunities to engage in activities where they will experience success can boost their confidence and have a positive effect on their self-esteem (Rutter, 1985).

Teach Children Strategies to Support Emotional Control While Reading

Emotional control is the ability to manage one’s emotions without losing control of them (Nordman, 2020). When children experience negative emotions while reading, that influences their success. Similarly, when children experience difficulties with reading, that effects their emotions (Zambo & Brem, 2004). This establishes a cyclical relationship. Teaching children with dyslexia strategies to increase emotional control may help them navigate any negative emotions that arise when they struggle to read. Here are some strategies from Associate Professor of Reading and Literacy Dr. Jenny K. Nordman that children can use to increase emotional control (2020):

• Relaxation techniques: If you observe children getting frustrated when they are reading, prompt them to take a relaxation break. You can also teach them to independently request a relaxation break when they notice themselves feeling frustrated. Relaxation breaks can include deep breathing exercises, gentle gross motor movements (e.g., yoga), or guided meditations. Deep breathing can be as simple as instructing children to put their hands on their belly and breathe in for a count of 5 seconds and out for a count of 7 seconds. There are many short yoga and guided meditation videos for children available online.
• Positive affirmations: When children appear upset or frustrated while reading, you can ask them to stop reading and prompt them to say a positive affirmation (e.g., “I’ve got this”). You can provide them with a list of affirmations to choose from or you can work with them to create custom lists of positive affirmations. Children can repeat the affirmation they chose to themselves several times.

Mental health is a concern for children with dyslexia and something teachers and caregivers should be aware of. Supports for children with dyslexia like individualized instruction, explicit instruction aligned with the science of reading, and assistive technology, are important. However, mental health should not be overlooked in the process. Using a wholistic approach will support children with dyslexia and other reading disabilities in making gains in their ability to read and write.

References

Alesi, M., Rappo, G., & Pepi, A. (2014). Depression, anxiety at school and self-esteem in children with learning disabilities. Journal of Psychological Abnormalities, 3(3), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4172/2329-9525.1000125

Bigler, M., Neimeyer, G. J., & Brown, E. (2001). The divided self revisited: Effects of self-concept clarity and self-concept differentiation on psychological adjustment. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 20, 396. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.20.3.396.22302

Dweck, C. (2015, September 22). Carol Dweck revisits the ‘growth mindset.’ Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-carol-dweck-revisits-the-growt...

Hendren, R. L., Haft, S. L., Black, J. M., White, N. C., & Hoeft, F. (2018). Recognizing psychiatric comorbidity with reading disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00101

Humphrey, N., & Mullins, P. M. (2002). Research section: Personal constructs and attribution for academic success and failure in dyslexia. British Journal of Special Education, 29(4), 196–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8527.00269

Ihbour, S., Anarghou, H., Boulhana, A., Najimi, M., & Chigr, F. (2021). Mental health among students with neurodevelopment disorders: case of dyslexic children and adolescents. Dementia & Neuropsychologia, 15, 533–540. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9018082/

Lebrun-Harris, L. A., Ghandour, R. M., Kogan, M. D., & Warren, M. D. (2022). Five-Year Trends in US Children’s Health and Well-being, 2016–2020. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(7), e220056–e220056. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8922203/

Maag, J. W., & Reid, R. (2006). Depression among students with learning disabilities: Assessing the risk. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194060390010201

Mammarella, I. C., Ghisi, M., Bomba, M., Bottesi, G., Caviola, S., Broggi, F., & Nacinovich, R. (2016). Anxiety and depression in children with nonverbal learning disabilities, reading disabilities, or typical development. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(2), 130–139. https://boa.unimib.it/retrieve/e39773b9-7cdd-35a3-e053-3a05fe0aac26/manu...

Neff, K. D. (2011). Self‐compassion, self‐esteem, and well‐being. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 1–12. https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/SC.SE_.Well-being...

Nordman, J. (2020, November). Strategies to address task persistence and emotional control in struggling readers [Conference session]. 71st Annual International Dyslexia Association Annual Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference, Virtual.

Nelson, J. M., & Harwood, H. (2011). Learning disabilities and anxiety: A meta-analysis. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44, 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219409359939

Olivardia, R. (2021, October). Promoting positive identity and self-esteem in dyslexic youth [Conference presentation]. 72nd Annual International Dyslexia Association Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference, Charlotte, NC, United States.

Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.147.6.598

Zambo, D., & Brem, S. K. (2004). Emotion and cognition in students who struggle to read: New insights and ideas. Reading Psychology, 25, 189–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702710490489881

https://iowareadingresearch.org/blog/dyslexia-reading-mental-health

The science of reading is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing.

This research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world, and it is derived from thousands of studies conducted in multiple languages. The science of reading has culminated in a preponderance of evidence to inform how proficient reading and writing develop; why some have difficulty; and how we can most effectively assess and teach and, therefore, improve student outcomes through prevention of and intervention for reading difficulties. -What is the science of reading? The Reading League. (2022, April 8).

Science of Reading 101 will be offered starting in April 5 by Janelle Thompson. This is a blended course.

Science of Reading 201: Applying the Science of Reading to the K-3 Literacy Block will be offered starting February 2 by Becky Hinze and Janelle Thompson. This is a blended course.

Adolescent Science of Reading will offered starting January 10th by Robin Koskovich. This is a blended course.

Here is a link to register for these courses:

Science of Reading Courses for 2022-23