关于整本书阅读的思考与实践探索

通过班级读书会的形式开展整本书阅读教学,需要教师激发学生阅读兴趣。而以"主体参与、个性培养"为目标的阅读实践是激发阅读兴趣的有效做法,也是培养创新型人才的途径之一。武汉市常青树实验学校在整本书阅读实践中,将班级读书会活动以读物推荐课、阅读指导课、阅读赏析汇报课三种课型展开,并采取不同的阅读方式,有效地提升了学生的阅读素养。     

Voice Recognition for On-line Literacy: Continuous Voice Recognition Technology in Adult Literacy Training

This study explored whether over-the-counter continuous voice recognition software could be used to support the delivery of a standardized reading curriculum to adults with low-level literacy skills. Three primary questions were addressed in the study. First, how readily could mass-market continuous voice recognition software programs be adapted for use in adult literacy training? Second, what role(s) might the voice recognition technology play in facilitating the computer-based delivery of a standard text-based reading curriculum? And third, does the use of the voice recognition software positively affect the technological skills and computing comfort levels of adults with low-level literacy skills? Five adults with low-level literacy skills completed the computer-based curriculum, using the voice recognition software to practice and check their reading and writing efforts. A literacy tutor guided the participants through the curriculum, recorded and saved the participants' responses and videotaped the sessions for subsequent analysis. The findings reported here suggest that currently available over-the-counter continuous voice recognition technology, while essentially effective and accurate with fluent readers, is not yet ready, as a stand-alone system, to meet the needs of these adults with low-level literacy skills. The voice recognition software was most effective when it was used in the presence of a tutor. Having tutors provide on-going and immediate support to learners was a vital component of literacy training in this computer-based environment. In general the computer-based programs seemed to provide participants with a `motivational boost'. Specifically, the computer-based lessons helped develop participants' technological skills and confidence levels and promoted sustained focus on instructional tasks. Implications associated with these findings for future research with voice recognition software and adult literacy training are discussed.     

Parent question use during shared reading time: How does training affect question type and frequency?

This study was designed to examine whether participation in a shared reading workshop alters the frequency with which parents ask their children questions during book reading sessions, particularly questions designed to strengthen component reading skills that they may not have known about before training. Participants in the reading workshop series (N = 57) were taught strategies for asking questions about story content and word structure to build children's language and literacy skills. Findings suggest that parents may be somewhat familiar with traditional dialogic reading strategies focused on story content and utilize them without instruction, whereas parents may be less knowledgeable about sound or print‐focused skills and do not employ strategies focused on word structure until instructed to do so. It is also notable that parents do not use all story content prompts equally. This information can be used by school psychologists to refine the messages educators share with parents about how to best support their children's reading development.     

Differential effects of reading trainings on reading processes: a comparison in Grade 2

Phonics, fluency, and reading strategy trainings are evidence-based interventions that foster the reading skills of poor readers in primary school. The purpose of the present study was to compare differential effects of the three types of trainings on the efficiency of component processes on word, sentence, and text level immediately after the training and at a 3-month follow-up. The 235 poor readers were randomly allocated to one of the reading interventions or to a control condition. All interventions consisted of 25 sessions that were scheduled twice a week and lasted 45 min. Results indicated short-term effects of the phonics training and the strategy training on the efficiency of a broad range of word-level and sentence-level processes. None of the treatment effects persisted over the long term, indicating the need for instructional efforts to regularly practice the acquired skills after the actual training.     

Interventions in general education for students with disabilities: a systematic review

Implementing effective interventions in general education increases the chances of success for students with disabilities. Often the effectiveness of interventions is not known. The aim of this review was to investigate what interventions are used in general education and what is known about their effectiveness so that educational institutions can exchange best practices and students with disabilities have better opportunities for successful participation in general education. A systematic literature search was conducted in four databases. Three investigators assessed the relevance of the studies identified. In only half of the studies is information on the effectiveness of interventions reported. Due to enormous variety in the types of interventions, effect measures, disability groups, and focus on different types of education, we chose to focus on reading interventions for improving the reading skills of students with reading and/or learning disabilities. Other interventions are shortly mentioned. All of the eight reading interventions found seem to have positive influences on reading skills. However, the methodological quality in some studies was low. Still, recommendations for actual interventions in general education are made. Measuring the effectiveness of interventions systematically and publishing the information helps others to implement effective interventions without having to reinvent them.     

Teacher-Directed Decoding Practice with Manipulative Letters and Word Reading Skill Development of Struggling First Grade Students

We compared the effects of two approaches to decoding on the word reading skills of struggling first-grade students: decontextualized, teacher directed decoding practice with manipulative letters and embedded, incidental decoding practice. Participants were 98 students at risk for reading disability. We randomly assigned participants to three groups: (1) treatment, (2) comparison, and (3) control. The treatment group received 30 sessions of small-group instruction using manipulative letters to practice decoding skills. The comparison group received the same small-group reading instruction without the additional decoding practice. The control group did not receive supplemental small-group instruction. Analyses indicated that students who received the additional decoding practice with manipulative letters scored significantly better on phonological awareness, decoding, and word recognition skills than students who received incidental decoding practice.     

The Effects of Peer‐Assisted Literacy Strategies for First‐Grade Readers With and Without Additional Mini‐Skills Lessons

In this research, we sought to replicate findings of our previous research examining the efficacy of 1st‐Grade Peer‐Assisted Literacy Strategies (1st‐Grade PALS) with children of different achievement levels in naturally constituted general education classrooms. We also examined the impact of adding skills‐focused mini‐lessons conducted along with 1st‐Grade PALS with the 3 lowest‐achieving readers in some of these classrooms. First‐Grade PALS sessions were conducted for 30‐minutes session 3 times a week for 14 weeks. Mini‐lessons were also conducted 3 times per week for 15 to 20 minute sessions during the final 6 weeks of 1st‐Grade PALS implementation. During 1st‐Grade PALS, all students within a class were paired with other students from within the same class (1) to practice phonological awareness, phonological recoding, and reading of connected text built on previously mastered phonological elements, and (2) to make predictions about a book prior to reading it, share the experience of reading a story with a peer, have repeated exposure to text, and summarize the story through verbal retelling. The skills‐focused mini‐lessons mirrored the content of 1st‐Grade PALS and were designed to provide additional instruction and integrated practice of the orthophonemic elements of English text. Results indicate that 1st‐Grade PALS, on average, enhanced reading performance of students both in terms of statistical significance and in terms of educational relevance, although not equally for all learner types, closely replicating findings from our previous studies. Results also suggest that there was some benefit to students who participated in the small‐group mini‐lessons. However, conclusions about the true impact of the mini‐lessons are limited because teachers resisted implementing these lessons.     

Effects of three interventions on the reading skills of children with reading disabilities in grade 2

In a longitudinal intervention study, the effects of three intervention strategies on the reading skills of children with reading disabilities in Grade 2 were analyzed. The interventions consisted of computerized training programs: One bottom-up intervention aimed at improving word decoding skills and phonological abilities, the second intervention focused on top-down processing on the word and sentence levels, and the third was a combination of these two training programs (n = 25 in each group). In addition, there were two comparison groups, 25 children with reading disabilities who received ordinary special instruction and 30 age-matched typical readers. All reading disabled participants completed 25 training sessions with special education teachers. All groups improved their reading skills. The group who received combined training showed higher improvements than the ordinary special instruction group and the typical readers. Different cognitive variables were related to treatment gains for different groups. Thus, a treatment combining bottom-up and top-down aspects of reading was the most effective in general, but individual differences among children need to be considered.     

Using Restricted Latent Class Models to Map the Skill Structure of Achievement Items

This paper presents a new method for using certain restricted latent class models, referred to as binary skills models, to determine the skills required by a set o f test items. The method is applied to reading achievement data from a nationally representative sample o f fourth-grade students and offers useful perspectives on test structure and examinee ability, distinct from those provided by other methods o f analysis. Models fitted to small, overlapping sets o f items are integrated into a common skill map, and the nature o f each skill is then inferred from the characteristics o f the items for which it is required. The reading comprehension items examined conform closely to a unidimensional scale with six discrete skill levels that range from an inability to comprehend or match isolated words in a reading passage to the abilities required to integrate passage content with general knowledge and to recognize the main ideas o f the most difficult passages on the test.     

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECT OF DATE OF BIRTH ON SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL PERFORMANCE

Eleven basic skills involved in effective listening and reading were isolated for study. These skills were believed to underlie an effective understanding of oral and written communications. It was hypothesized that training could improve the learning of these basic listening skills. After controlling for socio‐economic status and sex differences, pupils in grades 2 and 5 were randomly assigned to a training and a non‐training condition. The training consisted of a number of sessions whereby the student listened to pre‐recorded tapes composed around the 11 basic listening skills. Following training, all students were administered a 33‐item test consisting of questions measuring comprehension of the basic skills. Using analysis of variance techniques, the effectiveness of training in listening was analysed. Whereas the training was found to be highly effective at grade 2, it was only moderately effective at grade 5.

     

Intensive remedial instruction for children with severe reading disabilities: immediate and long-term outcomes from two instructional approaches

Sixty children with severe reading disabilities were randomly assigned to two instructional programs that incorporated principles of effective instruction but differed in depth and extent of instruction in phonemic awareness and phonemic decoding skills. All children received 67.5 hours of one-to-one instruction in two 50-minute sessions per day for 8 weeks. Both instructional programs produced very large improvements in generalized reading skills that were stable over a 2-year follow-up period. When compared to the growth in broad reading ability that the participants made during their previous 16 months in learning disabilities resource rooms, their growth during the intervention produced effect sizes of 4.4 for one of the interventions and 3.9 for the other. Although the children's average scores on reading accuracy and comprehension were in the average range at the end of the follow-up period, measures of reading rate showed continued severe impairment for most of the children. Within 1 year following the intervention, 40% of the children were found to be no longer in need of special education services. The two methods of instruction were not differentially effective for children who entered the study with different levels of phonological ability, and the best overall predictors of long-term growth were resource room teacher ratings of attention/behavior, general verbal ability, and prior levels of component reading skills.     

Effective literacy teaching behaviours

There is much current interest in the identification of effective programmes for raising literacy standards. However, the effectiveness of such programmes might vary greatly according to implementation integrity and the preferred teaching styles or behaviours of teachers. This research explored whether highly effective teachers of literacy used teaching behaviours that were independent of any specific programme, whether these were consistent between teachers and different literacy teaching contexts, and whether teacher perceptions corresponded with observations of their behaviour. Five teachers were selected on the basis of high pupil literacy attainment and expert nomination, and observed during shared reading and general literacy teaching contexts. These highly effective literacy teachers tended to utilise similar teaching behaviours, but they did not utilise all behaviours thought to be associated with pupil achievement. Additionally, they utilised effective behaviours more in shared reading sessions than in general literacy sessions. Thus even these highly effective literacy teachers had room for improvement. To some extent the teachers were actually using more complex behaviours than they reported perceiving. They did not appear to perceive their behavioural variation between contexts, nor any under‐use of other effective teaching behaviours. The implications for professional practice, professional development and future research are explored.     

The Effect of Cooperative Teaching on the Development of Reading Skills among Students with Reading Disorders

Cooperative teaching is the result of efforts made by two educators for teaching a heterogeneous group of students, especially one including those with specific needs, due to reading disorders for instance. The present study serves as an experimental investigation focusing on the effect of cooperative teaching on the development of reading skills among students with a reading disorder. To achieve this, three female students were selected from a regular primary school in the 2nd education district of Tabriz, Iran. The research design was a multiple baseline single subject design with different children, in which we used the reading and dyslexia test (RDT) and the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale to diagnose reading disorders, and a researcher‐made hundred‐word test to measure the development of reading skills. The children received five cooperative teaching sessions during only the (experimental) intervention, i.e. in the baseline and the follow‐up stages, they were not exposed to any cooperative teaching. The comparisons of the students’ performance in experimental phases showed that cooperative teaching is an effective technique for developing reading skills and that the effectiveness of this technique was also maintained over time. This work is the first empirical demonstration of the effectiveness of co‐teaching in dealing with dyslexic reading disabilities. It additionally serves as the first instance of applying co‐teaching to any form of reading disability in Iran.     

Prekindergarten Interactive Book Reading Quality and Children’s Language and Literacy Development: Classroom Organization as a Moderator

Research Findings: This study examined the association between interactive book reading quality and prekindergarten children’s gains in language and literacy skills over the course of an academic year for 96 teachers and 417 children across multiple locations in the United States. Two moderators were examined, namely, children’s initial skill level and teachers’ classroom organization during an interactive read-aloud session. In keeping with prior research, interactive book reading quality, measured by examination of teachers’ extratextual talk, was positively and significantly related to children’s development of both language and literacy skills. Interactive book reading quality was not significantly moderated by children’s initial skills, with the exception that interactive book reading quality appeared most beneficial to children’s print knowledge for children entering prekindergarten with relatively low skill. The unique contribution of this study is that the association between interactive book reading quality and children’s expressive vocabulary was dependent on an organized classroom during the book reading session. Practice or Policy: The quality of teachers’ talk during interactive book reading may matter for children’s vocabulary development only when reading sessions are characterized by relatively high classroom organization. Classroom organization should be an important consideration while planning for interactive book reading sessions.     

Reading speed as a constraint of accuracy of self‐perception of reading skill

We hypothesised that college students take reading speed into consideration when evaluating their own reading skill, even if reading speed does not reliably predict actual reading skill. To test this hypothesis, we measured self‐perception of reading skill, self‐perception of reading speed, actual reading skill and actual reading speed to determine the relations that exist. The results supported our predictions. Primarily, self‐perceived reading speed strongly correlated with self‐perceived reading skill, whereas the correlation between actual reading speed and actual reading skill was low. Next, a multiple regression analysis showed that self‐perception of reading speed significantly predicted self‐perception of reading skill after controlling for actual reading skill. Lastly, how highly correlated reading skill was with self‐perceived reading speed was found to affect how accurately one perceived his or her reading skill. Consequently, the study results suggest a negative impact of self‐perceived reading speed on accuracy of self‐perceived reading skill, as hypothesised.     

Promise for Enhancing Children's Reading Attitudes Through Peer Reading: A Mixed Method Approach

ABSTRACT

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) was implemented for supplementary reading classes in a Korean elementary school. The treatment group children were exposed to PALS during 20 min sessions, 4 times a week, for 8 weeks. The impacts of PALS were investigated in 3 aspects using a mixed-methods approach: improvement in reading attitudes, reading skills, and student perceptions of the intervention. Data collection includes reading attitude measures, standardized reading comprehension test scores, student satisfaction survey, student interviews, and student journals. The PALS group students showed significantly enhanced reading attitudes and reading skills. Consistently, qualitative data analysis also revealed affirmative influence of PALS on students’ attitudes toward reading. Finally, the findings also suggested social benefits of PALS including developing cooperative skills and friendships.     

TEACHING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN SCIENCE STUDIES: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

This study explores the impact of ‘Scientific Communication’ (SC) skills instruction on students’ performances in scientific literacy assessment tasks. We present a general model for skills instruction, characterized by explicit and spiral instruction, integration into content learning, practice in several scientific topics, and application of performance tasks. The model was applied through an instructional program that focuses on the following learning skills: information retrieval, scientific reading and writing, listening and observing, data representation, and knowledge presentation. Throughout the 7th–8th grades, 160 students learned the whole program or one of its components: structured instruction (SI) of SC skills, or performance tasks (PT). A comparison group of 42 students did not receive instruction of SC skills. Students’ performances were assessed through a questionnaire and a complex task that measured students’ scientific content knowledge, SC skills, and the quality of the final products. Results indicated that students who learned the whole program or one of its components achieved higher scores in all categories than the comparison group students. High achievers can benefit from just one component of the program: either structured instruction (SI) or learning from practice (PT). However, they can hardly acquire SC skills spontaneously. Low and average achievers require both components of the SC program to improve their performances. Results show that without planned intervention, the spontaneous attainment of SC skills occurs only to a limited extent. Systematic teaching of skills can make a significant difference. The explicit instruction of skills integrated into scientific topics, the opportunities to implement the skills in different contexts, the role of performance tasks as ‘assessment for learning’—all these features are important and necessary for improving students’ scientific literacy. Our general model of skills instruction can be applied to the instruction of other high-order skills. Its application can lead to the realization of the central goal of science education: literate students possessing scientific knowledge.     

Early cognitive profiles predicting reading and arithmetic skills in grades 1 and 7

The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive profiles composed of skills predicting the overlap between reading and arithmetic in kindergarten (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming, and counting sequence knowledge) and the relation of these profiles to reading and arithmetic skills at Grades 1 and 7. A total of four distinct cognitive profiles were identified in an unselected sample of 1,710 children aged 5–6 years: (1) high linguistic and high counting skills (39.2%), (2) low linguistic and low counting skills (25.4%), (3) high counting skills in relation to linguistic skills (15.3%), and (4) low counting skills in relation to linguistic skills (20.1%). Among most of the children (about 65%), the linguistic and counting skills varied together. Children characterized by high or low overall performance levels across linguistic and counting skills also showed, predictably, high or low overall performance levels in subsequent reading and arithmetic skills in Grades 1 and 7. Children characterized by a discrepancy between linguistic and counting skills (about 35% of the children) in turn showed somewhat discrepant subsequent levels of reading and arithmetic skills. The results point towards individual variation (i.e., heterogeneity) in cognitive profiles that predict both reading and arithmetic skills in Grades 1 and 7. Based on these findings, the linguistic and basic number skills predict differently the overlap between reading and arithmetic in Grades 1 and 7 depending on cognitive profile. The weaknesses across linguistic and counting skills are a greater risk for persistent overlapping difficulties in reading and arithmetic than weaknesses in only one of the learning domains. For difficulties in arithmetic skill development, however, weaknesses in only counting skills present an equal risk compared to weaknesses evident across linguistic and counting skills.     

The effect of instructional quality on low‐ and high‐performing students

The study assessed the effects of the quality of reading and math instruction and classroom climate on the academic skills and engagement of 314 children in 245 classrooms at the end of third grade. All of the children in the study were from families with low incomes. On a classroom observation measure developed for the study, regression analyses revealed that relatively high ratings on the reading and math instruction subscales, which were scored after a half‐day observation, predicted better reading and math achievement test scores, respectively, for third graders who had previously had poor academic performance, but did not have a significant effect for relatively high‐performing students. High teacher ratings on the reading instruction and classroom climate observation scales predicted high levels of student engagement. The findings suggest the importance of high‐quality teaching for economically disadvantaged children who have poor academic skills.     

朗读表达技巧运用简论

高水平的郎读离不开朗读者对朗读表达技巧的恰当适用。这不仅要求朗读者握好朗读运用技巧的特点，而且要把自己对作品的感受、理解作为运用技巧的依据。并要充分语气语调在各种表达技巧运用中的核心作用。同时要不断加强朗读实践。努力促成朗读技巧到朗读技能的转化。