Joint storybook reading and joint writing interventions among low SES preschoolers: differential contributions to early literacy

This study compared two interventions: one focusing on language and storybook reading and the other on alphabetic skills and writing. Seventy-one preschoolers aged 3–5 from a low SES township in central Israel (35 in the reading program and 36 in the writing program) participated in evaluation of the interventions. Twenty-four untreated preschoolers served as a control group. The children were tested twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year, in: phonological awareness, word writing, letter knowledge, orthographic awareness, listening comprehension, receptive vocabulary, and general knowledge. Both programs involved games and creative activities. The writing program encouraged letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and functional writing activities. The reading program utilized 11 children's books for focusing on language and exploring major concepts raised by these books. Results indicated that children in the two literacy programs progressed significantly more than the control group on phonological awareness and orthographic awareness. However, the joint writing group significantly outperformed both the joint reading group and the control group on phonological awareness, word writing, orthographic awareness, and letter knowledge. We also found that children as young as 3–4 years gained from literacy programs as much as did older children, aged 4–5, on all the measures assessed in our program.     

La naturaleza del conocimiento práctico y sus implicaciones en la formación de docentes

Resumen

The article utilised data from two intervention studies carried out in low SES preschools in order to address issues in the realm of literacy interventions: Which components are more productive in promoting literacy skills (storybook reading or alphabetic training); at what age should these components be introduced (three or four years old); and who should implement the interventions (MA students or preschool teachers). The studies describe preplanned intensive interventions. The results demonstrated that storybook reading is productive in promoting vocabulary and that alphabetic training is productive in promoting a scope of alphabetic skills. Interestingly enough, a combined programme that encompasses both components, though to a lesser extent, bears the widest range of influence on both alphabetic and language skills. Three year old children benefit as much as or possibly even more from storybook reading and alphabetic skills training than their four year old peers. Both MA students and preschool teachers are efficient implementers. MA students promoted the children's skills more than preschool teachers. Yet, we recommend and discuss the benefits of preschool teachers as implementers.     

Mother–child joint writing and storybook reading and their effects on kindergartners’ literacy: an intervention study

This study assessed the effects of three different intervention programs on low-SES mother?Cchild joint activities and on their kindergarten-age children??s progress in early literacy and language. Parents in three groups (119 mothers, 5 fathers) were coached to mediate child learning, respectively, in: interactive storybook reading, writing, or visuomotor skills. A group-specific workshop was followed by 7?weeks of tri-weekly structured dyadic interactions and weekly tutorial home visits. A fourth group (control) received no intervention. Results showed implementation success: Mothers coached in interactive storybook reading or writing mediation improved in the coached activity from pretest to immediate posttest and to delayed posttest. Interactive storybook reading improved less for older than younger children, whereas writing mediation improved more for older than younger children. No transfer emerged from one activity to the other: Coaching on reading had no effect on writing or visuomotor skills, and coaching of writing had an effect only on writing. Children??s alphabetic skills were enhanced in the writing mediation-coached group, whereas linguistic competencies, unexpectedly, were not enhanced in the interactive storybook reading-coached group. The significance of writing mediation as a dyadic activity promoting literacy is emphasized.     

Cognitive and environmental predictors of early literacy skills

Not all young children benefit from book exposure in preschool age. It is claimed that the ability to hold information in mind (short-term memory), to ignore distraction (inhibition), and to focus attention and stay focused (sustained attention) may have a moderating effect on children’s reactions to the home literacy environment. In a group of 228 junior kindergarten children with a native Dutch background, with a mean age of 54.29 months (SD = 2.12 months), we explored therefore the relationship between book exposure, cognitive control and early literacy skills. Parents filled in a HLE questionnaire (book sharing frequency and an author recognition checklist as indicator of parental leisure reading habits), and children completed several tests in individual sessions with the researcher (a book-cover recognition test, PPVT, letter knowledge test, the subtests categories and patterns of the SON, and cognitive control measures namely digit span of the KABC, a peg tapping task and sustained attention of the ANT). Main findings were: (1) Children’s storybook knowledge mediated the relationship between home literacy environment and literacy skills. (2) Both vocabulary and letter knowledge were predicted by book exposure. (3) Short-term memory predicted vocabulary over and above book exposure. (4) None of the cognitive control mechanisms moderated the beneficial effects of book exposure.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Read Well Kindergarten

Abstract

This article reports the outcomes of an experimental evaluation of Read Well Kindergarten (RWK), a program that focuses on the development of vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and decoding. Kindergarten teachers in 24 elementary schools in New Mexico and Oregon were randomly assigned, by school, to teach RWK or their own program. Treatment teachers received 2 days of training and taught daily lessons. Project staff assessed 1,520 students at pretest and 1,428 at posttest with measures of vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and decoding. Follow-up testing was conducted in fall and spring of first grade. Analyses of final outcomes revealed a statistically significant difference favoring intervention students on curriculum-based measures of sight words and decodable words. Although these results did not generalize to standardized measures, follow-up analyses indicated that the impact of RWK rested on the rate of opportunities for independent student practice for letter names, letter sounds, sight words, and oral reading fluency, collected at the end of kindergarten. The findings suggest the potential efficacy of RWK in conjunction with frequent opportunities for independent practice for developing beginning reading skills.     

Comparing Effects of Instruction on Word Meaning and Word Form on Early Literacy Abilities in Kindergarten

Research Findings: The present study compared effects of explicit instruction on and practice with the phonological form of words (form-focused instruction) versus explicit instruction on and practice with the meaning of words (meaning-focused instruction). Instruction was given via interactive storybook reading in the kindergarten classroom of children learning Dutch. We asked whether the 2 types of instruction had different effects on vocabulary development and 2 precursors of reading ability—phonological awareness and letter knowledge—and we examined effects on these measures of the ability to learn new words with minimal acoustic-phonetic differences. Learners showed similar receptive target-word vocabulary gain after both types of instruction, but learners who received form-focused vocabulary instruction showed more gain in semantic knowledge of target vocabulary, phonological awareness, and letter knowledge than learners who received meaning-focused vocabulary instruction. Level of ability to learn pairs of words with minimal acoustic-phonetic differences predicted gain in semantic knowledge of target vocabulary and in letter knowledge in the form-focused instruction group only. Practice or Policy: A focus on the form of words during instruction appears to have benefits for young children learning vocabulary.     

Developing phonological awareness and word recognition skills: A two-year intervention with low-income,inner-city children

Low-income, inner-city children were involved in a two-year intervention delivered in the regular classroom by regular classroom teachers to develop phonological awareness and word recognition skills. For the treatment children, an 11-week phoneme awareness program in kindergarten was followed by a first grade reading program (extended to grade 2 for some children) that emphasized explicit, systematic instruction in the alphabetic code. Control children participated in the school district's regular basal reading program. Both groups participated in a phonetically-based spelling program mandated by the district. At the end of grade 1, treatment children (n = 66) significantly outperformed control children (n = 62) on measures of phonological awareness, letter name and letter sound knowledge, and three measures of word recognition, and reached marginal significance (0.056) on a fourth. They also significantly outperformed the control children on two measures of spelling. One year later, at the end of grade 2, the treatment children (n = 58) significantly outperformed the control children (n = 48) on all four measures of word recognition. For the groups as a whole, there were no differences on the one measure of spelling readministered at the end of grade 2. However, there were significant differences in spelling between the treatment (n = 16) and control children (n = 13) who remained in the bottom quartile of spellers at the end of grade 2 when partial credit was given for phonetically correct spelling, and significant differences in reading favoring these treatment children on all four measures of word recognition.     

The effects of CD-ROM storybook reading on Israeli children’s early literacy as a function of age group and repeated reading

The effects of reading a CD-ROM storybook on children’s early literacy were examined as a function of their age group and the number of times they used the software. The investigation was carried out on 214 children: 108 pre-kindergarten children (aged 4:2 to 5:3) and 106 kindergarten children (aged 5:3–6:4). This population included 107 girls and 107 boys. The children in each group were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first intervention group was afforded three CD-ROM storybook reading sessions. The second group was afforded five reading sessions and the third group served as a control and was afforded the regular kindergarten program. Pre- and post-intervention early literacy measures included vocabulary, word recognition and phonological awareness. No age group differences were found between the children’s early literacy progress after using the software and no interaction was found between age group and the number of reading sessions. Children from both age groups exhibited a similar level of story comprehension. Children who used the software five times exhibited greater progress in word meaning than those who used it three times and children in both of these groups did better than the control group. Children who used the software five times exhibited greater progress in word reading and phonological awareness than children in the control group. Implications for future research and education are discussed.     

Letter names, letter sounds and phonological awareness: an examination of kindergarten children across letters and of letters across children

In this study 149 kindergarten children were assessed for knowledge of letter names and letter sounds, phonological awareness, and cognitive abilities. Through this it examined child and letter characteristics influencing the acquisition of alphabetic knowledge in a naturalistic context, the relationship between letter-sound knowledge and letter-name knowledge, and the prediction of Grade 1 phonological awareness and word identification from these variables. Knowledge of letter sounds was better for vowels and for letters with consonant–vowel names than for those with vowel–consonant names or names bearing little relationship to their sounds. However, there were anomalies within each category reflecting characteristics of the individual letters. Structural equation modelling showed that cognitive ability, comprising receptive vocabulary, non-verbal reasoning, rapid automatized naming of colours, and phonological memory significantly contributed to alphabetic knowledge and phonological awareness. In turn, letter-name knowledge but not phonological awareness predicted letter-sound knowledge and subsequent reading skill.This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the first author. Thank you is extended to the participating schools and children and to Ian Newby-Clark for his orientation to AMOS. Michelle Bell, Shelly Moretti and Jodi Page have since graduated from the University of Guelph     

Stimulating breadth and depth of vocabulary via repeated storybook readings or tests

We investigated effects of listening to single or multiple storybook readings versus testing with and without feedback on children’s breadth (i.e., the number of words) and depth (i.e., the quality of word knowledge) of vocabulary learning. Kindergartners (n = 125) were divided into 3 intervention and 1 control conditions. Children in the control condition listened once to a storybook reading. In the experimental conditions, the initial storybook reading was followed by (a) repeated storybook reading, (b) repeated testing, or (c) repeated testing with feedback. For breadth of vocabulary, all 3 conditions showed learning gains compared to a single storybook reading, and no “testing effect” was found. For depth of vocabulary, repeated storybook reading and repeated testing with feedback were more effective than the control condition with the former seemingly most effective. Both for breadth and depth of vocabulary, the effects of testing were found to be conditional upon the provision of feedback.     

Changing Minds With the Story of Adaptation: Strategies for Teaching Young Children About Natural Selection

Research Findings: Educational guidelines recommend a delayed, piecemeal approach to instruction on adaptation by natural selection. This approach is questionable given suggestions that older students’ pervasive misunderstandings about adaptation are rooted in cognitive biases that develop early. In response to this, Kelemen et al. (2014) recently showed that young children can learn a basic yet comprehensive explanation of adaptation by natural selection from a picture storybook intervention. However, this research was conducted in a laboratory-based setting with children from middle and higher socioeconomic backgrounds. To further explore the intervention’s efficacy, this investigation examined whether Kelemen et al.’s (2014, Experiment 2) findings extend to a more diverse sample of children tested in a more naturalistic setting, namely, after-school programs. After a 10-min picture storybook reading that described adaptation within a fictitious but realistic mammal species, 5- to 6- and 7- to 8-year-old children’s learning of adaptation was examined. Results revealed that younger and older children benefitted from the intervention; however, older children displayed pronounced learning and generalization. Practice or Policy: Findings confirm that children are capable of learning complex biological ideas and that comprehensive storybook interventions are simple but powerful teaching tools. Implications for instruction on natural selection are discussed.     

Fostering alphabet knowledge development: a comparison of two instructional approaches

Preschool-aged children (n = 58) were randomly assigned to receive small group instruction in letter names and/or sounds or numbers (treated control). Alphabet instruction followed one of two approaches currently utilized in early childhood classrooms: combined letter name and sound instruction or letter sound only instruction. Thirty-four 15 minute lessons were provided, with children pre- and post-tested on alphabet, phonological awareness, letter–word identification, emergent reading, and developmental spelling measures. Results suggest benefits of combined letter name and sound instruction in promoting children’s letter sound acquisition. Benefits did not generalize to other emergent literacy skills.     

Revisiting the home literacy model of reading development in an orthographically consistent language

We examined the applicability of the Home Literacy Model in an orthographically transparent language (Greek). Seventy Greek children were followed from kindergarten until grade 4. In kindergarten they were tested in non-verbal intelligence, vocabulary, phonological sensitivity, rapid naming, and letter knowledge. The parents of the children also responded on a questionnaire regarding the frequency of storybook reading, the number of books at home, and the frequency of teaching letter names, sounds, and words. Reading fluency and comprehension were measured in grade 4. The results indicated that the early home literacy experience variables were related to the emergent literacy skills but did not directly predict future reading skills. Thus, the Home Literacy Model applies to consistent orthographies before any formal reading instruction takes place.     

Reading vocabulary influences in phonological recoding during the development of reading skill: a re-examination of theory and practice

Children’s skill at recoding graphemes to phonemes is widely understood as the driver of their progress in acquiring reading vocabulary. This recoding skill is usually assessed by children’s reading of pseudowords (e.g., yeep) that represent “new words.” This study re-examined the extent to which pseudoword reading is, itself, influenced by orthographic rimes (e.g., eep) of words of the child’s reading vocabulary, during the development of reading skill. In Study 1, children with word reading levels of 6–10 years read matched pseudowords that do and do not share an orthographic rime with words of their reading vocabularies. Study 2 was conducted to further examine such a comparison for children of the 6- to 8-year word reading levels. There was a small and constant advantage of shared lexical orthographic rimes for children with reading levels 6–8 years but from 8 to 10 years that advantage increased significantly, as expected by Ehri’s phase account of word reading development. The pseudoword reading of children learning to read English involves use of lexical orthographic components as well as context-free recoding of graphemes to phonemes. This implies a qualification to the common interpretation of pseudoword reading as a measure of context-free grapheme–phoneme recoding. Such a measure should use selected pseudowords that do not share orthographic rime units or other multigrapheme components with words of the children’s reading vocabularies.     

Understanding the Active Ingredients in an Effective Preschool Vocabulary Intervention: An Exploratory Study of Teacher and Child Talk During Book Reading

Research Findings: In order to identify the active ingredients in an effective professional development intervention focused on enhancing preschool vocabulary instruction, this study examines the frequency with which teachers and children discussed theme-related vocabulary words during shared book reading. Head Start teachers received 1 year of training focused upon early vocabulary development. Children's vocabulary skills were assessed in the fall and spring of the school year. In spring, teachers read a storybook to their classroom, and teachers’ and children's remarks about theme-related vocabulary during the reading—including contextualized and decontextualized statements as well as verbatim repetitions of one another's statements—were coded. Practice or Policy: Results of multilevel models showed that more frequent references to thematic vocabulary by teachers were linked to stronger child vocabulary development. Although children's vocabulary references were not uniquely predictive of vocabulary learning, teachers’ repetition of children's remarks contributed to children's vocabulary gains.     

Cognitive profiles of poor readers of Kannada

The alphasyllabary of Kannada comprises more than 400 symbols called akshara; each symbol is visuo-spatially complex with a consistent representation at the dual levels of the syllable and the phoneme. We investigated reading difficulties in Kannada among 8–12 year old children by conducting a between-groups followed by a case series analysis. We compared the children with reading difficulties with same age competent readers and younger readers who were similar in language level, matched on measures of vocabulary, syntactic processing, and morphological processing. Reading difficulties were characterized by poor akshara knowledge. Concomitant impairments were in syllable and phoneme level phonological skills, in rapid naming and in oral language skills. The case series analysis highlighted the variability of profiles among poor readers with the most common impairments being in akshara knowledge and phonological processing. Sub-groups of poor readers showed additional deficits in oral language, rapid naming, and visual processing skills. Together our findings indicate that the core deficit associated with reading difficulty in the alphasyllabary of Kannada is in the phonological domain. However, accompanying deficits in related skills, including visual processing, can further inhibit reading attainment. The findings from this study support a multifactorial model of reading development.     

A randomized experiment of a mixed-methods literacy intervention for struggling readers in grades 4–6: effects on word reading efficiency, reading comprehension and vocabulary, and oral reading fluency

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the causal effects of READ 180, a mixed-methods literacy intervention, on measures of word reading efficiency, reading comprehension and vocabulary, and oral reading fluency and (2) to examine whether print exposure among children in the experimental condition explained variance in posttest reading scores. A total of 294 children in Grades 4–6 were randomly assigned to READ 180 or a district after-school program. Both programs were implemented 4 days per week over 23 weeks. Children in the READ 180 intervention participated in three 20-min literacy activities, including (1) individualized computer-assisted reading instruction with videos, leveled text, and word study activities, (2) independent and modeled reading practice with leveled books, and (3) teacher-directed reading lessons tailored to the reading level of children in small groups. Children in the district after-school program participated in a 60-min program in which teachers were able to select from 16 different enrichment activities that were designed to improve student attendance. There was no significant difference between children in READ 180 and the district after-school program on norm-referenced measures of word reading efficiency, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Although READ 180 had a positive impact on oral reading fluency and attendance, these effects were restricted to children in Grade 4. Print exposure, as measured by the number of words children read on the READ 180 computer lessons, explained 4% of the variance in vocabulary and 2% of the variance in word reading efficiency after all pretest reading scores were partialed out.     

The Relations Between Children’s Reading Comprehension, Working Memory, Language Skills and Components of Reading Decoding in a Normal Sample

The primary aim of the current study was to identify the strongest independent predictors of reading comprehension using word reading, language and memory variables in a normal sample of 180 children in grades 3–5, with a range of word reading skills. It was hypothesized that orthographic processing, receptive vocabulary and verbal working memory would all make independent contributions to reading comprehension. The contributions of reading speed, receptive grammatical skills, exposure to print, visuospatial working memory and verbal learning and retrieval (a measure of longer-term retention) were also investigated. Working memory tasks that required the processing and storage of numerical and spatial material were used. One of the numerical working memory tasks was based on the number span task developed by Yuill, Oakhill, and Parkin British Journal of Psychology, 1989, 80, 351–361. A visuospatial equivalent of that task was developed from the forward Corsi block task [Corsi, Abstracts International, 1973, 34, 891]. The results revealed that, after controlling for age and general intellectual ability, the word reading and the language variables had a much stronger relation with reading comprehension than the memory variables. The strongest independent predictor of reading comprehension was orthographic processing since it captured variance in both word reading, language skills and verbal working memory. The forward Corsi task and performance on a measure of verbal learning and retrieval each made small independent contributions to reading comprehension but the contribution of verbal working memory was not significant. It was concluded that tasks measuring the interplay between short-term and long-term memory, in which new information is combined with information already stored in long-term memory, may better predict reading comprehension measured with the text available than working memory tasks which only have a short-term memory component.