CHAPTER 3. WHAT IS THE SKILL OF READING?
Background information for parents
You can teach your child to read now. Just turn to the weekly sessions in Chapter 5 and follow the simple instructions carefully.
This chapter is for you if you want to understand what you are actually doing and why. It should help you to do a better job and also enable you to modify the program to better suit your child if necessary.
Teaching a child to read is NOT DIFFICULT, nor very time consuming, nor complicated. That is the first thing to remember.
Re-teaching a child who is eight or ten years old and has failed to learn in the previous three or four years because of inadequate teaching or no teaching at all because of changing schools at the crucial time, or other problems, is not easy at all.
How soon can they learn?
A normally intelligent child of about two is quite able to differentiate between the visual patterns of words, and if highly motivated by his parents, quite able to learn to read. Doman proved this with his kit and program - “Teach your baby to read” which sold well, and is still selling.
But a child of two does not use words in proper sentences very confidently and does not have the ability to really grasp a story if he could read it to himself.
Therefore I believe it is a waste of time to do more than introduce your child to words in their written form at this stage, because there is no real use to which he could put this skill.
How does a child read? How do we read?
When I have a line of print in front of me I glance along it stopping three or four times and through this I understand what it is saying.
A mature reader doesn't look at each word individually.
If you do not believe this ask your partner to read half a page of print and watch his eyes. You can see the eyes move along the line of print with two to five brief pauses, then switch back to the beginning of the next line.
An efficient and fast reader has a minimum of pauses, each taking in several words with no regressions. Even a fast reader does not need to go back to any word to check it was read correctly.
This means that every time our eyes stop for a brief fraction of a second, if we are efficient readers, we take in a long word or group of words.
It is possible to train our eyes to increase their effectiveness at this task and move more quickly with less pauses taking in larger groups of words Training to achieve this is included as part of rapid reading courses through which mature readers can increase the speed and efficiency of reading.
Recognizing words by their shape
What happens when my eyes stop and focus on that group of words for a fraction of a second? I recognize the words within my field of view basically by their shape, helped by familiarity and meaning and in the context of what I am reading.
Therefore if a word is left out, or there is a typing error, or a word you do not expect to see; I am not likely to notice it. For example if I see the sentence:
“ A bird is singing in the three.” - I would be likely to read it as “A bird is singing in the tree.”
I have dozens of typing errors while typing this that only the “spell check” finds.
Watch a young reader reading
If you watch even a young reader, you will find that he or she makes more pauses than you do, initially on individual words, but the amount of time is only a fraction of a second. What is happening when this young reader glances at each word?
He is recognizing it by its shape, familiarity and the context in which it is found.
Teaching a child to recognize a word by shape.
When we teach a child to read, the first thing we need to do is to teach him that he can recognize written words just as easily by their shape as he can spoken words by their sound.
It is important to start with words that are easily differentiated. For many years the first three words I taught my Prep grade children were “aeroplane”, “doll” and “truck”.
These three words have very different visual patterns and I can’t remember a child ever having difficulty differentiating them. But if I had tried to include “ball” and “brick” as well, many children at this stage would immediately confuse “ball” with “doll” and “truck” with “brick”. Although you might say that “aeroplane” is a long complicated word, it is a very easy word to recognize because it is quite a distinctive visual pattern - and you could even imagine that the pattern looks like an aeroplane with a long body and two wings.
Using letter clues
In differentiating and recognizing the shape of a word, children will very soon begin to use the visual clues provided by the particular letters within the words (even if they do not know what sound these letters make). For instance a child will remember “Jane” easily by recognizing the initial capital letter. But if a beginner reader is shown the word “James”, it would almost certainly be identified as “Jane” also.
Upper letters are used most
In Britain in the 80’s someone designed a new phonetic alphabet, including a new series of symbols for all the sounds like “th”, to make our English language more logical and able to be sounded out. The new alphabet was called the Initial Teaching Alphabet and it was widely used to teach reading for a few years.
However to simplify the learner’s inevitable return to the normal alphabet, the designers of the new alphabet endeavored to make changes, which would not interfere with the pattern of words as we know them.
They were able to demonstrate very clearly that it is the upper projections of a word that is most noticeable, and so long as this is not changed we can recognize a word even though it includes considerable changes such as additional letters.
Covering up the top and then the bottom of the sentence below demonstrates this.
This is an umbrella.
First and last letters
It can be claimed that it is the first and last letter only that matter in recognizing a word - not only in English but in other languages.
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisiiy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprrmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat lteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tiihs is bcusaea tahe huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
or rather...
According to a researcher(sic) at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letters be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole
(This is an internet joke - not real research - but it makes a good point.)
First stage is recognising words by their shape
When we are teaching a child to read, the first thing we must teach is that reading words is just recognizing them by their shape.
As all different words are in fact different in shape, this is really all one needs to know about reading. Once a child really understands this, it may be possible just to tell him what a new word says, providing each word as needed, and a child with a good visual memory will remember each word and will soon be reading efficiently, even working out new words from the pattern of words he knows.
“Sight word” method of teaching reading
There is considerable criticism of teaching by the “sight word” method suggesting that it is much less effective than the old fashioned phonic or alphabet method.
But you need to realize that the “look- say method” or “sight word method” is rarely used as sole method of teaching reading, but rather as an introductory method to be followed by much phonic and alphabet work.
It makes it possible for an early reader to read sentences and books from an early stage. And the only way to teach many irregular words is by this method.
Words make up sentences
A child must soon become aware that words make sentences, or that sentences are made up of individual words. Most children by the age of three or four or even two understand that they use verbal names for things, and it is easy to teach a child that things can have a written name. But before a child can read a sentence he must know that, for instance the statement “Gimmeadrink” is really “Give me a drink”. It is relatively easy to hear the verbs and nouns in a sentence, but much more difficult to hear such small words as “and”, “a” or “the” which children often don’t even realize are in a sentence. These words are therefore very difficult for a child to remember and recognize.
Teach words in phrases and sentences
A child can now be introduced to the written sentences and phrases.
For instance the words “this” and “is” are two very difficult words to teach in isolation. But it is very easy indeed to make up a book of illustrations and label each page - “This is daddy.” “This is my baby brother.” And teach the child to recognize the pattern of the two words “This is”. Later they can learn these two words individually.
Remembering new words
When you are teaching a very new learner a new word, you can just tell him “That word says “aeroplane” and expect he will remember it. But after some time - if it is not used a great deal - he would tend to forget it.
So you have to teach him a method of learning new words very early.
Basically the simplest method is matching the new word with a reference word.
To teach the words “aeroplane” and “doll” I would have two or more cards with each word printed very large and clearly. I would tell a child what the words said, then I would pin one copy on a real (toy) aeroplane and he other on a doll - that is at the very early stages of teaching words, later I would just use pictures with the word written underneath it.
We would then play games with the other copies of the word. (See Chapter 5 activities 1-6 for the types of games)
If a child could not remember which card he was looking at he could carry it over and compare it with the card pinned to the toy and find out by matching it against the label. Later I would give him smaller copies of the word to identify, again by matching it and comparing it with the card he already knows. He would have something to refer to if ever he forgot the word or hesitated about it.
In the early stages of the program, we also use books with sentences and pictures as reference points.
Words must be interesting and familiar
Children learn to read words that are interesting to them, easily. The words “doll” and “aeroplane” were not only easily recognized by shape but are of considerable interest to my Preps and are very familiar. It is easier to teach “helicopter” than “dishwasher” or “hippopotamus” than “hen” for example.
Sam had no trouble recognizing all of his Thomas the Tank Engines by sight and name - I have trouble even recognizing they are different! Make real use of such interests or obsessions?
Words must be familiar
If you were trying to teach the word “refrigerator” as a very early word, your child would recognize it easily by the shape, but many children would forget it’s full name and call it “fridge”, the word they use more frequently. For example if you are trying to teach the word “kitten” be sure that this is the word your child normally uses for your cat - not “cat” or “puss”.
Innumerable times I have been going through a pile of word cards with a child to see how many he can remember and we would come to a difficult one and he would say “That’s the one I can’t remember”. He would recognize it by its shape but would not be able to put a name to it.
So, to teach a word firstly try to make sure it is a familiar word; if not, prepare for it by reading a story where it is used frequently for instance. Then let the child say the word clearly many times to impress its meaning on his mind while he is looking at the word meaningfully - for example matching it with similar words or comparing it with different ones.
You will find that words that are really meaningful are those he remembers most easily.
A New Zealand teacher of Mauri children has developed a very successful reading scheme, using words with highly emotional overtones and what might be called “gut words” from her young Mauri children’s vocabulary, to combat their lack of interest in learning to read.
If your four year old has a new pet rabbit/ lizard/ guinea pig/ bantam, the word “rabbit” or “lizard” etc and/or the pet’s name would be of real interest and there would never be any trouble remembering that word because of the powerful association it would have. But if you introduced the word very casually (in the early stages) and it is never really reinforced or tied to an experience or object, that will be a word that always causes trouble.
How fast can you go?
Not too fast at first!!! Don’t be too impatient or overestimate your child’s progress.
For the first few words I think it is best for a beginner to learn just one word a day, well reinforced by experiences, such as drawing pictures about the new word or doing activities. When you work together to bake a cake, “cake” would be a good word. This can be increased to two or three words a day after some time with most children as they grasp the method of learning new words.
Sentences
The second stage of reading is to use the words your child has learned in some meaningful way - that is in a sentence.
The words selected soon need to include some verbs (doing words- can, jump, see) and articles (the, a) and prepositions (with, from, to) so it is possible to construct sentences as soon as possible.
You may be very impatient with the writers of very early readers for children, for the lack of interest in their stories, “Nip runs up” “Nip runs down”. You may think surely the story could have more interest. But try it yourself. Try to make up an interesting story that gives your child an opportunity to read words that he knows and that are repeated frequently for practice when he only knows a very few words and you are only teaching one a day! If you find it easy you should get a job writing readers!
Try to write an interesting story using only 20 or 30 words, no more, particularly not prepositions or pronouns or even plurals, or even 50 or 100 words and see how far you get.
Really reading a real book all by himself!
You may be asking, why don’t you just give a child a book straight away and let him learn the words from the book. With a beginner reader I think that this is not the best way.
It is much more exciting for the child to teach him all the words he will need to know to read a “real” book, then give him the book to read. He then finds that he can read all by himself, he can really read! He is then very eager to try his next book. He finds out the difference between actually reading the words and reading the pictures.
You may believe your child can already read simple books. You only have to read it once or twice to him and he can read it back to you.
In the days when we had one first reader in use in all Victorian schools, I had many parents come to me and tell me that their child could already read his first “John and Betty” reader, he had read his sister’s old one.
Now in a few cases this may have been real reading, but in may cases his sister had read her reader so frequently to her small brother, showing him the pictures, that in no time at all he could remember every word, particularly assisted by the pictures. But if you watched Johnny’s eyes, he was look looking only at the pictures. This is a valuable part of pre-reading, but it is not reading. Reading is when a child can see those words and sentences away from the picture, and in fact in a completely different context, but still can recognize each word and read them to make a meaningful sentence.
Lindy wrote: It was a real challenge to get my daughter to look at the words. She was so good at guessing and remembering that it wasn’t until I wrote some unpredictable things that I realized she wasn’t reading.
She had no problems with “Mummy is a girl or “The giraffe is in the boat”. But to read “Mummy is a boy” or Daddy is a giraffe” took about fifteen tries, because she kept guessing what it ought to have read.
Next stage - using a book
Once a bright child has learned how to recognize words and learned what reading is all about, and a read a few books with all the vocabulary taught to him before he starts, I believe he can be given a book with quite a few new words, but plenty of ones he knows, where these words are repeated frequently with good picture clues, with lots of guessing, and the help of a cooperative adult, he can teach himself by reading and re-reading that book.
But that comes after the first reader or readers.
Where does phonics come in?
Some of you may have been thinking while you waded through all these pages “But I’m sure the best way to learn to read is to learn how to spell out the letters or sound the letters.”
But this is best taught after a child understands what reading a word means. I f whole words are not introduced first a child does not really know what a written word is. He does not know that it is something that has meaning so he why should he work at it to get the meaning.
Few children find sounding out words as easy as recognizing whole words, but they are very happy to learn how to find out words by themselves without having to ask an adult. The real weakness of teaching children by word recognition is that a child is almost totally dependent on being taught new words before they can read them. Learning the alphabet or phonics as it is called means that they can gradually become independent.
One does not become independent immediately because there are so many different letter combinations to learn and so many words are irregular.
I can actually remember trying to read my first real book. I had been at school for just a few weeks when I had my tonsils out, as all children did in those days. I had to spend the night in hospital, and can remember that very lonely night in the hospital balcony ward alone with a new quite grown up story book I had been given, as my only comfort. I was being taught by a pure phonic method and I can still remember puzzling over that book, trying to sound the words out to get the story, word by word till I got to the bottom of the first page and halfway down he next, in tremendous frustration because of the number of words I couldn’t figure out, before I gave up. I can still see those pages!
Young reader must move to recognizing phonic words
The main reason for teaching by both methods is the vagaries of the English language and the fact that many words cannot be sounded out logically - they must be recognized. But also, although sounding out words is a method of discovering new words, once a word is sounded out several times it is important that the readers learns to recognize it again when he meets it again.
I have worked with children with very poor visual memories in remedial groups, and for them a phonics approach is essential. However even when you are reading a reader that is purely phonic, it is almost most impossible to get any meaning from it if you need to sound the word out every time you meet it. The eventual aim is to become sufficiently familiar with the word to remember and recognize it as a word.
Using phonic skill to provide clues
In the early stages of learning to read, the knowledge of what sound the letters most commonly make provide many clues to guessing a barely remembered word, to differentiate between similar words, and to identify changes of tense, plurals, the addition of the possessive and such like. (“s” is a very valuable letter/sound to teach early as it comes in handy so often!)
“Look say” versus “phonics” debate
I remember reading about an experiment to try and resolve the old debate about which method was preferable. One group of children was taught phonetically only and the other by word recognition methods.
It was found that those children who were taught through carefully selected phonic material which they could logically sound out, were at a complete disadvantage when they later had to attempt reading more difficult material, compared with the children who had learned to recognize words. And the reason suggested for this was that they had developed an expectation that the words in our language would be logical, that they could work them out, where as the other children learned that reading was a mixture of memory and figuring it out plus a large amount of guesswork.
And this is something that you always must remember. When you see “read” you don’t know whether it is pronounced “red” or “reed” until you see it in context. When a child sees “knob” or “lamb” in a sentence, the word recognition student guesses that you leave out the unnecessary letter, because it makes much more sense.
So although “just guessing” may be frowned on in mathematics, it is an essential aspect of the skill of reading.