# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We have a literacy crisis in this country. Last year's NAEP scores found that more than one third of fourth grade students can't read at a basic level, and that rate climbs even higher for students of color, those with learning differences, and those who grow up in low-income households. This dismal data has nothing to do with the students and families, and everything to do with inequities in access to effective literacy instruction. But there is good news: Decades of research has resulted in a rich, robust understanding of how children learn to read. So what does this research say? Inspired by a conversation at a recent Barksdale Reading Institute Lunch & Literacy forum, researcher Dr. Reid Lyon developed a clear, concise summary of the research on how children learn to read. Here we share Dr. Lyon's "Ten Maxims," originally published by - Dr. Heather Peske Reading Universe. These maxims underlie NCTQ's own work to advocate for the science of reading in teacher preparation. By increasing understanding and adoption of scientifically based reading instruction, together we can address the literacy crisis head-on, reversing historical patterns of inequity and changing the lives of millions of our children.

Ten maxims: What we've learned so far about how children learn to read

By Dr. Reid Lyon

Over the last 50 years, there's been a vast outpouring of research about reading development, drawing on insights from neuroscientists, psychologists, linguists, speech pathologists, educators and other experts. I'm sometimes asked to summarize, in plain language, what we've learned so far. These ten maxims represent my best attempt at doing that.

This may seem like a fool's errand, because no set of maxims can fully convey the scope or the nuance of thousands of studies. I hope nevertheless that these maxims might be useful in crystallizing some of the most essential findings. In collaboration with some outstanding researchers and practitioners, I've compiled here a selective list of studies that underlie each of the ten maxims. The research behind the maxims addresses a wide range of individual differences in reading development, reading difficulties and reading instruction. Taken as a whole, the studies encompass children identified as having dyslexia and other learning disabilities as well as children who struggle with reading as a result of inadequate instruction. Many of the studies also include proficient readers.

Because these maxims are very broad, there is of course more to say about specific subpopulations of students with distinct strengths and needs. I encourage advocates for these students to formulate additional maxims that are not adequately covered by these first ten. Any additions should be in clear, consumer-friendly language and supported by cited studies that report relevant empirical findings.

The overarching message is that learning to read is a complex process involving multiple abilities, skills, and knowledge. Each is essential but none is sufficient on its own.

With that as prologue, here are my ten maxims:

1. Almost all children learn to speak naturally; reading and writing must be taught.

2. Literacy begins at birth. It is rooted in early social interactions and experiences that include regular exposure to oral language and print. Strong roots tend to produce stronger readers.

3. All good readers are good decoders. Decoding should be taught until children can accurately and independently read new words. Decoding depends on phonemic awareness: a child's ability to identify individual speech sounds. Decoding is the on-ramp for word recognition.

4. Fluent readers can instantly and accurately recognize most words in a text. They can read with expression and at an appropriate rate for their age. Reading fluency requires comprehension AND it supports comprehension.

5. Comprehension-the goal of reading-draws on multiple skills and strengths, including a solid foundation of vocabulary and background knowledge.

6. One size does not fit all: use student data to differentiate your instruction.

7. Direct, systematic instruction helps students develop the skills they need to become strong readers. Indirect, three-cueing instruction is unpredictable in its impact on word reading and leaves too much to chance.

8. These maxims apply to English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals, who often need extra support to bolster their oral language as they learn to read and write in a new language.

9. We should support students who speak languages or dialects other than General American English at home, by honoring their home language and by giving them expanded opportunities to engage with General American English text.

10. To become good readers and writers, students need to integrate many skills that are built over time.

This piece originated with the Barksdale Reading Institute's Lunch & Literacy forum and originally appeared on the Reading Universe website. Reading Universe is a joint project of the Barksdale Reading Institute, WETA/Reading Rockets, and First Book that provides free resources for educators and families.

About the guest author:

Dr. Reid Lyon, a neuroscientist and specialist in learning disorders, joined the faculty of Communication Science and Disorders at Northwestern University in 1980 where he also directed the neuropsychology laboratory. In 1983 Dr. Lyon was recruited by the Stern Center for Language and Learning in Burlington, Vermont where he served as the director of research. He also served as a clinical associate professor of neurology at the University of Vermont Medical School. From 1992 to 2005, Dr. Lyon served as a research neuropsychologist and the chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the NICHD at the National Institutes of Health; in this role he developed and oversaw research programs in cognitive neuroscience, learning and reading development and disorders, behavioral pediatrics, cognitive and affective development, School Readiness, and the Spanish to English Reading Research program. He designed, developed and directed the 44-site NICHD Reading Research Network. After leaving the NIH, Dr. Lyon held distinguished scientist and distinguished professorships at the University of Texas, Dallas (neuroscience) and Southern Methodist University (educational leadership).

Dr. Lyon is the author and co-author of over 130 peer reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters addressing developmental neuroscience, learning and reading disorders/dyslexia, and the translation of science into practice and policy. He also co-authored the definition of dyslexia used at the NIH and worldwide. Dr. Lyon received the NIH Director's Award twice. Once for his contributions to the neuroscience of learning and learning disorders. He also received the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in The Sciences Award for contributions to educating veterans about the neuroscience of Combat PTSD in 2013. Dr. Lyon, a former paratrooper and combat veteran, received the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge among other combat awards during his 15th month tour in Vietnam including the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Additional contributors to this piece include: Jane Ashby, Louise Dechovitz, Linda Diamond, Jan Hasbrouck, Kari Kurto, and Julie Washington. With appreciation to Kelly Butler, Claude Goldenberg, and Noel Gunther.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ten maxims: What we've learned so far about how children learn to read by Dr. Reid Lyon

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Together we can address the literacy crisis head-on, reversing historical patterns of inequity and changing the lives of millions of our children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Admin. Planning forward - Lincoln Argentina, August 2023

# data[].attributes.body
40 pg Presentation--user friendly!

# data[].attributes.headline
Ten Important Research Findings from Wiley Blevins

# data[].attributes.subject
Ten Important Research Findings from Wiley Blevins

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Phonics: Ten Important Research Findings

Countless research studies have been conducted on phonics instruction. Much of this research has focused on the usefulness of phonics instruction and the best ways to teach children about sound-spelling relationships. Below is a list of ten of the top research findings regarding phonics.
#1: Phonics Instruction Can Help All Children Learn to Read
All children can benefit from instruction in the most common sound-spelling relationships and syllable patterns in English. This instruction helps children decode words that follow these predictable sound-spelling relationships and syllable spelling patterns.

Phonics instruction is particularly beneficial for children at risk for learning difficulties - those children who come to school with limited exposures to books, have had few opportunities to develop their oral languages, are from low socio-economic families, have below-average intelligence, are learning English as a second language, or are suspected of having a learning disability. However, even children from language rich backgrounds benefit from phonics instruction (Chall, 1967). As Chall states "By learning phonics, students make faster progress in acquiring literary skills - reading and writing. By the age of six, most children already have about 6,000 words in their listening and speaking vocabularies. With phonics they learn to read and write these and more words at a faster rate than they would without phonics."

Phonics instruction is therefore an essential ingredient in reading instruction. The purpose of this instruction is to teach children how to read with accuracy, comprehension, fluency, and pleasure. The early ability to sound out words successfully is a strong predictor of future growth in decoding (Lundberg, 1984) and comprehension (Lesgold and Resnick, 1982). Weak decoding skills are characteristic of poor readers (Carnine, Carnine, and Gertsen, 1984; Lesgold and Curtis, 1981). Readers who are skilled at decoding usually comprehend text better than those who are poor decoders. Why this is so can be gleaned from the work of cognitive psychologists. They contend that we have a set amount of mental energy that we can devote to any task (Kahneman, 1973). Since decoding requires so much of this mental energy, little is left over for higher-level comprehension. As decoding skills improve and more and more words are recognized by sight, less mental energy is required to decode words and more mental energy can be devoted to making meaning from the text (Freedman and Calfee, 1984; LaBerge and Samuels, 1974).

In addition, successful early decoding ability is related to the number of words a reader encounters. That is, children who are good decoders read many more words than children who are poor decoders (Juel, 1988). This wide reading subsequently results in greater reading growth. Children not only learn more words, but they become more familiar with the common spelling patterns of English which, in turn, helps them decode longer words.

Phonics instruction also helps to get across the alphabetic principle (that the letters of the alphabet stand for sounds) by teaching the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent. Beginning readers learn better when their teachers emphasize these relationships (Chall, 1996).
#2: Explicit Phonics Instruction Is More Beneficial Than Implicit Instruction
According to Chall (1996), "systematic and early instruction in phonics leads to better reading: better accuracy of word recognition, decoding, spelling, and oral and silent reading comprehension." The most effective type of instruction, especially for children at risk for reading difficulties, is explicit (direct) instruction (Adams, 1990; Chall, 1996; Honig, 1995; Evans and Carr, 1985; Stahl and Miller, 1989; Anderson et al, 1985.). Implicit instruction relies on readers "discovering" clues about sound-spelling relationships. Good readers can do this; poor readers aren't likely to. Good readers can generalize their knowledge of sound-spelling relationships and syllable patterns to read new words in which these and other sound-spellings and patterns occur. Poor readers must rely on explicit instruction.

Although explicit instruction has proved more effective than implicit instruction, the key element in the success of explicit phonics instruction is the provision of multiple opportunities to read decodable words (that is, words containing previously taught sound-spellings) in context (Stahl, Osborn, and Pearson, 1992; Juel and Roper-Schneider, 1985; Adams, 1990) and ample modeling of the application of these skills to real reading. In fact, students who receive phonics instruction achieve best in both decoding and comprehension if the text they read contains high percentages of decodable words. In addition, by around second or third grade, children who've been taught with explicit phonics instruction generally surpass the reading abilities of their peers who've been taught with implicit phonics instruction (Chall, 1996).
#3: Most Poor Readers Have Weak Phonics Skills and a Strategy Imbalance
Most poor readers have a strategy imbalance. They tend to overrely on one reading strategy, such as the use of context clues, to the exclusion of other strategies that might be more appropriate (Sulzby, 1985). To become skilled fluent readers, children need to have a repertoire of strategies to figure out unfamiliar words (Cunningham, 1990). These strategies include using a knowledge of sound-spelling relationships, using context clues, and using structural clues and syllabication strategies. Younger and less skilled readers rely more on context than other, often more effective, strategies (Stanovich, 1980). This is partly due to their inability to use sound-spelling relationships to decode words. Stronger readers don't need to rely on context clues because they can quickly and accurately decode words by sounding them out.

Unfortunately, children who get off to a slow start in reading rarely catch up to their peers and seldom develop into strong readers (Stanovich, 1986; Juel, 1988). Those who experience difficulties decoding early on tend to read less and thereby grow less in terms of word recognition skills and vocabulary.

A longitudinal study conducted by Juel (1988), revealed an 88% probability that a child who is a poor reader at the end of first grade would still be a poor reader at the end of fourth grade. Stanovich (1986) refers to this as the "Matthew Effect" in which the "rich get richer" (children who are successful decoders early on read more and therefore improve in reading), and the "poor get poorer" (children who have difficulties decoding become increasingly distanced from the good decoders in terms of reading ability).
#4: Phonics Knowledge Has a Powerful Effect on Decoding Ability
Phonics knowledge affects decoding ability positively (Stanovich and West, 1989). Early attainment of decoding skill is important because this accurately predicts later skill in reading comprehension (Beck and Juel, 1995).

One way to help children achieve the ultimate goal of reading instruction, to make meaning of text, is to help them achieve automaticity in decoding words (Gaskins et al, 1988). Skilled readers recognize the majority of words they encounter in text quickly and accurately, independent of context (Cunningham, 1975-76; Stanovich, 1984). The use of graphophonic cues (knowledge of sound-spelling relationships) facilitates word recognition abilities. In fact, a child's word recognition speed in first grade was found to be a strong predictor of reading comprehension ability in second grade (Lesgold and Resnick, 1982; Beck and Juel, 1992).

However, the inability to automatically recognize frequently encountered words affects reading in the following ways (Royer and Sinatra, 1994):

1. Since words can be stored in working memory for only a limited amount of time (approximately 10-15 seconds), slow decoding can result in some words "decaying" before a meaningful chunk of text can be processed.

2. Devoting large amounts of mental energy to decoding words leaves less mental energy available for higher-level comprehension. This can result in comprehension breakdowns.

#5: Good Decoders Rely Less on Context Clues Than Poor Decoders
Good readers rely less on context clues than poor readers do because their decoding skills are so strong (Gough and Juel, 1991). It's only when good readers can't use their knowledge of sound-spelling relationships to figure out an unfamiliar word that they rely on context clues. In contrast, poor readers, who often have weak decoding skills, overrely on context clues to try to make meaning of text (Nicholson, 1992; Stanovich, 1986). Any reader, strong or weak, can use context clues only up to a certain point. It has been estimated that only one out of every four words (25%) can be predicted using context (Gough, Alford, and Holley-Wilcox, 1981). The words that are the easiest to predict are function words such as the and an. Content words - the words that carry the bulk of the meaning in a text - are the most difficult to predict. Researchers estimate that content words can be predicted only about 10% of the time (Gough, 1983). A reader needs to use his or her knowledge of phonics (sound-spelling relationships) to decode these words.

"The whole word method (meaning emphasis) may serve a student adequately up to about second grade. But failure to acquire and use efficient decoding skills will begin to take a toll on reading comprehension by grade 3." Jeanne Chall, 1996

#6: The Reading Process Relies on a Reader's Attention to Each Letter in a Word
Eye-movement studies have revealed that skilled readers attend to almost every word in a sentence and process the letters that compose each word (McConkie and Zola, 1987). Therefore, reading is a "letter-mediated" rather than a "whole-word-mediated" process (Just and Carpenter, 1987). Prior to these findings, it was assumed that readers did not process each letter in a word, rather recognized the word based on shape, a few letters, and context.

Research has also revealed that poor readers do not fully analyze words; for example, some poor readers tend to rely on initial consonant cues only (Stanovich, 1992, Vellutino and Scanlon, 1987). Therefore, phonics instruction should help to focus children's attention on all the letters or spellings that make up words and the sounds each represents by emphasizing the full analysis of words. In addition, phonics instruction must teach children strategies to use this information to decode words. This attention to the spelling patterns in words is necessary for the reader to store the word in his or her memory. It also helps the reader to become a better speller because the common spelling patterns of English are attended to to a greater degree and thereby more fully learned (Ehri, 1987).
#7: Phonemic Awareness Is Necessary for Phonics Instruction to Be Effective
Before children can use a knowledge of sound-spelling relationships to decode words, they must understand that words are made up of sounds (Adams, 1990). Many children come to school thinking of words as whole units - cat, dog, run. Before they can learn to read, children must realize that these words can be broken into smaller units - and sounded out. Phonemic awareness is the understanding, or insight, that a word is made up of a series of discrete sounds. Without this insight, phonics instruction will not make sense to children. Some students with weak phonemic awareness skills are able to make it through the first couple years of reading instruction by memorizing words. This strategy breaks down when the number of unique words in text increases in grades three and up. Therefore, if weak phonemic awareness skills are not detected and corrected, these students may enter the intermediate grades with a very serious reading deficit.
#8: Phonics Instruction Improves Spelling Ability
Reading and writing are interrelated and complementary processes (Pinnell, 1994). Whereas phonics is characterized by putting together sounds to form words that are printed, spelling involves breaking down spoken words into sounds in order to write them. To spell, or encode, a word a child must map a spelling onto each sound heard in the word.

Spelling development lags behind reading development. A word can generally be read before it can be spelled. The visual attention a child needs to recognize words is stored in his or her memory. This information - the knowledge of the spelling patterns of English, also known as orthographic knowledge - is used to spell. Spelling, however, requires greater visual recall than reading and places higher demands on memory.

Good spellers are generally good readers because spelling and reading share an underlying knowledge base. Poor readers, however, are rarely good spellers. Phonics is a particularly powerful tool in improving spelling because it emphasizes spelling patterns, which become familiar from reading. Studies show that half of all English words can be spelled with phonics rules that relate one letter to one sound. Thirty-seven percent of words can be spelled with phonics rules that relate groups of letters to one sound. The other thirteen percent must be learned by memorization. Good spellers have not memorized the dictionary; they apply the phonics rules they know and have a large store of sight words.

Writing, in turn, supports a child's reading development because it slows the process by focusing the child's attention on how print works. Poor spellers experience difficulties in both writing and reading. Poorly developed spelling ability also hinders vocabulary development (Adams, Treiman, and Pressley, 1996; Read, 1986).
#9: A Teacher's Knowledge of Phonics Affects His or Her Ability to Teach Phonics
A teacher's knowledge of phonics has a strong effect on his or her ability to teach phonics (Carroll, 1990; Moats, 1995). This knowledge of the English language enables the teacher to choose the best examples for instruction, to provide focused instruction, and to better understand students' reading and writing errors in relationship to their developing language skills. I highly recommend that all teachers take a basic course in phonics or linguistics to gain further insights into our language that can be used in the classroom in productive and purposeful ways.
#10: Knowledge of common syllable patterns and structural analysis (affixes, roots) improves students' ability to read, spell, and learn the meanings of multisyllablic words.
For many children, reading long words is an arduous task. Explicit instruction in the six common spelling patterns, the most common syllable types (e.g., VCe, VCCV,), prefixes, suffixes, roots, and word origins helps students recognize larger word chunks that makes decoding easier and aids in figuring out a word's meaning. For example, it may be efficient for a student to decode text containing simple CVC words such as cat and ran sound by sound, it is not efficient to decode text containing words such as transportation and unhappy sound by sound. Rather, it is more efficient to recognize common word parts such as trans, port, tion, un, and happy and blend these larger chunks to sound out the word.
Here are some helpful articles and videos about phonics . . .
http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/phonics/questionstranscripts.htm
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/teaching-phonics-wiley-blevins
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/frequently-asked-questions-about-phonics
http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/resfound.htm
Here are some of my favorite web sites . . .
Scholastic (for Parents): www.scholastic.com/parents/
Scholastic (for Teachers): http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/
Reading Rockets (for Parents and Teachers): http://www.readingrockets.org/
The Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI): http://www.scbwi.org/
Disney's Family Fun: http://familyfun.go.com/
Q & A
Do you have a question for me about teaching your child to read? If so, email me and I will post your question and answer.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching phonics and word study in the intermediate grades

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
phonemic awareness activities for early reading success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Wiley Blevins Author " Page Not Found " Phonics: Ten Important Research Findings

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Countless research studies have been conducted on phonics instruction. Much of this research has focused on the usefulness of phonics instruction and the best ways to teach children about sound-spelling relationships. Below is a list of ten of the top research findings regarding phonics.

# data[].attributes.headline
What Should Morphology Instruction Look Like?

# data[].attributes.subject
What Should Morphology Instruction Look Like?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Are there any resources that provide a list of morphemes to teach at each K-5 grade level? I have been looking for a definitive list of morphemes that is organized by grade level like the Fry sight word list. I often come across research about how L1 and L2 students acquire morphemes, but I am looking for a list that represents the morphemes that students will most likely see in print at each K-5 grade level. Does anything like that exist? Thank you for your time. Shanahan response:
The short answer to this question is, "No, I don't know of such a list."

But when have I ever been satisfied with the short answer to anything?

Let's make sure we're all in agreement as to what constitutes a morpheme? Basically, a morpheme is the "smallest grammatical unit." It isn't the same thing as a word, and yet many words are morphemes. The distinction turns on whether the unit (the morpheme or word) can stand on its own. Words have to have that kind of independence, while morphemes don't require it.

Thus, bags, trucked, running, and redirect are all words in the English language while bag, s, truck, ed, run, ing, re, and direct are all morphemes. Each morphemic unit carries meaning, but sometimes morphemes can do that independently (bag, truck, run, direct), and sometimes they need to be combined with other morphemes to be considered a word (s, ed, ing, re).

I admitted ignorance on this issue, and I've tried to turn that ignorance to your advantage. I contacted Jeffrey and Peter Bowers. Both are outstanding scholars (Jeff at the University of Bristol in the UK, and Peter at WordWorks Literacy Centre, in Ontario) who are particularly knowledgeable about teaching morphology to improve literacy. They've both published widely on the issue, and both have chided me when they felt I wasn't paying sufficient attention to how words work morphologically. These days I know no one better able to provide you with a thoughtful answer to your question, and boy was I right! I apologize for the poor renditions of the Word Matrix and the Word Sums. I'll be working with my webmaster to get the real graphics in, but in the meantime you can go to the Word Works website to see them in their full glory. http://www.wordworkskingston.com/WordWorks/Home.html
Word Matrix:
A map of a word family Here is Peter Bower's response (with my light editing):
Word Sums: reveal underlying structure of any complex word (a word with more than just a base)

"I have no knowledge of such a list, but I wouldn't recommend one anyway.

"My recommendation based on theory not direct research evidence - is that the main value comes from teaching all or many members of a morphological family at one time with the matrix and word sums (see the attached figure illustrating a matrix and word sum). In the younger grades I start with free bases [those morphemes that stand alone as words], but once that is established, I have no trouble introducing bound bases [the units that can't stand alone]. This relates to the research we cite about the value of studying meaningfully related items at one time rather than disconnected items.

"Instead of a "scope and sequence" of morphemes to teach, what I recommend is starting with words in the children's vocabulary, analyzing such words to find their bases, then looking for other members of that family.

"The point is not that there is a "scope and sequence" of morphemes to teach. Rather there is a kind of a "scope" of orthographic concepts that we want students to learn, and teachers can address those concepts based on whatever words are central to the readings they are introducing to the students.

"A brief list of those concepts that should be taught would include:

Every word is a base or a base with something else (another base or affix)

Bases and affixes (morphemes) are the meaningful building blocks that construct words.

We can analyze complex words into constituent morphemes with word sums and show their interrelationship with a matrix.

English spelling prioritizes consistent spelling of morphemes over consistent pronunciation of morphemes. (This is why we refer to morphemes by their spelling not their pronunciation. The base of the word action is not referred to by the pronunciation of the wordact. Instead it is referred to by its spelling. The base "a - c - t". This is the same as the fact that we don't refer to the <-ed> suffix by one or all of its three pronunciation, we call it by it's spelling "e-d suffix.")

Thus, we need to understand grapheme-phoneme correspondences from within the context of morphological families. (e.g. we learn the phonology of the grapheme by studying morphological families).

There are reliable conventions for the three suffixing conventions.

Studying and understanding the suffixing conventions is not primarily about improving spelling accuracy, it is about being able to analyze hypotheses about connections between words. We can test the hypothesis that "imagine" has a base "image" only if we know vowel suffixes replace final, non-syllabic "e" (image/ + ine -> imagine).

The "structure and meaning test": To determine that two words share a base, we need evidence from both structure (word sum) and meaning (etymology). So with the earlier example of words related to "play" (play, playing, playful, replay, playhouse), we can prove all of those words can be analyzed with word sums with coherent affixes and bases. But we can also show that they all go back to an Old English rootplegan, plegian for "frolic, move rapidly". However, the word "display" which can be analyzed structurally turns outnot to be related. It does not belong in the morphological family with the others because it goes back to a Latin rootplic(ere) for "fold". So to "display" is to "unfold".

"If we are going to teach children how their writing system works, we need to teach them the interrelation of morphology, phonology, and etymology. As we have pointed out, this is why Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) is not about "adding" morphological instruction to phonics instruction - its about teaching how the system works. This is why I argue that SWI teaches grapheme-phoneme correspondences more explicitly and accurately than phonics. Phonics instruction (under the definition of associations of pronunciations and letters without reference to morphology or etymology) cannot explain the grapheme-phoneme correspondences in countless words like does or rough or every or homophones, and so on. So many people miss the absolute detail into orthographic phonology that comes with SWI.

"Here are some videos to illustrate my point:

Gr. 2 teacher showing investigations from his class Grade 2 morphology video

Investigating grapheme-phoneme correspondences in a Gr. 1 class - with the context of morphological word sums Grade 1 morphology video

A kindergarten lesson I taught introducing the word sum and matrix that touches on grapheme-phoneme correspondences like the pronunciation of the <-s> suffix for /z/ and /s/ Kindergarten morphology video

"It's as simple as starting with the "known" and then expanding from that. Even if kids know all the words in a morphological family (e.g. play, playing, playful, replay, playhouse) the lesson is not about new vocabulary, but learning how word structure links words. That concept can then be applied anywhere.

"The other thing I keep in mind when choosing morphological families to investigate is the orthographic concepts a family has to offer. If I've established the fact that words that share a base share a spelling and a meaning connection, then I can introduce a base like with words like actor, acting, react, and action as a way to introduce the fact that the pronunciation of morpheme might change but keep the spelling. In that way we learn the phonology of t is not the "t sound", but that the grapheme can write/t/ when that is the appropriate sound. I've attached an example of a lesson I've used for that before.

"I also draw on the <-ed> suffix from early on to highlight this same concept that morphemes do not have pronunciations until they are in a word. The pronunciation of a word like is another useful one to get rid of this idea of a "t sound" since this very common pronunciation of a very common suffix is what is typically thought of the "t sound," but their ain't no /t/!

"And then you also encounter words that give rise to the need to teach all the suffixing changes.
Shanahan again:
"These are concepts teachers need to learn and they can bring into work with their class as they investigate words."

I don't disagree with Peter on any of this, except I'm not as dismissive of the kind of list that you are requesting. I don't see it as mutually exclusive from the curriculum goals that he specified or contradictory of the kind of instruction he described.

Many teachers, when referring to morphology or "structural analysis", actually are talking about affixes alone, and not the bases. If that is the case here, there are some lists like that which present the most common prefixes and suffixes from textbooks in grades 3-9 (White, Sowell, & Yanagihara, 1989). You can easily find those lists on line and you could definitely make use of those lists to make sure that you are hitting all the notes if you do the word sums and matrixes that Peter recommends.

Otherwise, I haven't been able to come up with a graded list of bases for you to use. But I have passed your letter along to my friends at MetaMetrics (the Lexile people) and have asked if they could produce such a list from their language corpus of more than 1 billion words. Stay tuned!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Morphology Instruction in Reading | Shanahan on Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are there any resources that provide a list of morphemes to teach at each K-5 grade level? I have been looking for a definitive list of morphemes that is organized by grade level like the Fry sight word list.

# data[].attributes.headline
Missing Foundations in Teacher Education

# data[].attributes.subject
Missing Foundations in Teacher Education

# data[].attributes.body
Moats, L.C.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore reading basics as well as the key role of background knowledge and motivation in becoming a lifelong reader and learner. Watch our PBS Launching Young Readers series and try our self-paced Reading 101 course to deepen your understanding.

# data[].attributes.body
Many, many articles and resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Blog

The senior year for high school students and their parents can be an exciting time and a time of anxiety. For many, much anxiety focuses on the college application process. Some believe it is imperative to enroll in one of those colleges considered elite or "one of the best." Often this thinking is that an elite school will provide a better education than a non-elite one. This thinking is misguided....Read More

Thanks to a great kindergarten teacher, my mom, and my dad, I learned how to read before starting first grade. My journey illustrates that the path literacy is not always straight and narrow, children can come into literacy in a variety of different ways....Read More

Read this email from 7th grade teacher Kelly Beggs and learn how she used phonics and fluency instruction with her struggling readers in the 7th grade to increase her students' Lexile scores in just one school year....Read More

Freedom and independence are never free. They are won by those willing to stand up and work for these bedrock human values. Twice in the 20th century the people of the United States rose up to defend their freedom and independence. Among these people were hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States to gain these human rights and who then often found themselves fighting their own countrymen to keep these rights....Read More

I was first introduced to a Rapid Recognition Chart (RRC) during my initial-level Orton-Gillingham training. It is a tool that can be used during the fluency portion of a lesson; a way to add variety. During my advanced-level training, I used RRCs to improve my student's oral reading fluency and words read correct in their decodable texts. As I started to see the benefits of the RRC when working one on one with students, I began to use them in my reading intervention groups with exciting results....Read More

When phonics instruction is done with high-leverage instructional practices, using interactive writing, and decodable texts, the impact is palpable and leaves plenty of time for other types of reading and writing experiences, imaginative play, and knowledge-building across the curriculum. Learn why this type of deliberate practice is essential in getting all of our children to decode and encode with automaticity....Read More

Because of the kindness and support with which my dad inspired me, I have gained the confidence to invest in others while creating a synergy of positive goodness in my students and my colleagues. The pride that I take in my students' accomplishments is similar to that which my dad always took in my accomplishments. I am proud to say that even though this journey still has many more steps for me to take, I am finally becoming you, Dad....Read More

The "reading wars" have been around for longer than you might think. In the last century and now again, we have gone in and out of debates about the best way to teach reading - as if there was a single best way for all children - with the arguments focusing on phonics, whole language and balanced literacy. This post - written by David Reinking, Peter Smagorinsky, and David B. Yaden - looks at the debate on phonics in a different way than is most often voiced these days....Read More

I'm an elementary music teacher and I am going to describe a process for teaching songs that I frequently employ in my music lessons. I believe that it is a unique approach to song instruction and that it can be used for strengthening fluent reading in students...Read More

Read Two Impress is a synergistic reading intervention that combines the Neurological Impress Method (NIM), Repeated Readings, and Echo Reading. Essentially, read chunks of text with a student using NIM and stop frequently and have the student read each section aloud. Here are the steps in more detail....Read More

I'd spent my life teaching little ones to read and write with a clear focus on the struggler, and in a moment, I was one of them. Unable to even speak my own name, I started my journey unable to read a kindergarten-level book, had no recognition of the alphabet, and many preschoolers could surely write better than I could. I feel impassioned to share my deepened understanding of the process with teachers, especially those who struggle with becoming literate....Read More

In this media-driven world of fast messages and even faster decisions, we educators must create optimal learning environments that encourage mindfulness, playfulness, exploration, careful thought, and a sense of wonder and joy. These traits constitute the artistic nature of teaching. As my seventh-grade integrated language arts students would say, "You're making sure that your lessons are 'lit' (by placing the emphasis on literacy)."...Read More

This study evaluated a 12 week intervention delivered by regular teaching staff as a whole class, to assess whether it could make a difference for 8-9 year old children. The study included 103 students from two Local Authority schools and five teaching staff. ...Read More

In my kindergarten classroom, it turns out I do work on fluency more than I realized. Songs and poems are a key component of my reading instruction. Every morning we begin with a "morning dance party." This is a wonderful way to start any day for many reasons, but it is actually important to my instruction as well. ...Read More

I have always enjoyed challenging and enriching my second grade students with word work since becoming a teacher in 2003. During my second year of teaching 2005 Daily Word Ladders were brand new and I instantly fell in love with them. The routine became part of my bell ringer work. I always knew the transfer into daily writing was evident and continued to make this important daily work a priority. I bragged about this transfer to my peers and told them they were missing out on a daily 8-10 minute activity, one that would profoundly impact writing outcome....Read More

This project presents results of whole class Fluency Development Lessons (FDL) in four upper elementary classrooms on fluency and reading comprehension. Findings provide insight into the ways in which the various components of FDL (repeated reading, prosodic reading, teacher modeling, explicit instruction of comprehension strategies and time with texts of age-appropriate complexity) can be effectively and flexibly integrated into whole class instruction....Read More

As we gratefully transition to the summer of 2021, our eyes are opened but our nerves are frayed. It's a time of change, but change brings opportunity. We need to choose to act courageously to reconsider relationships with parents. We have a new opportunity to learn from the pandemic experience and reconstruct our relationship with the 'first and forever' teachers in our students' lives. We need to change the paradigm of the passive parent role to a true teaching partnership. Summer Reading is the logical place to start...Read More

Abbey Galeza, conducted an action research project on the role of repeated singing/reading in her class of preschoolers. Findings from her study are quite promising. In addition to singing/reading being an enjoyable and community building experience, the children learned concepts of print, so important for early literacy development....Read More

We can all celebrate the creative and innovative work of teachers, parents, grandparents, caretakers and others in keeping our kids engaged and learning during the most challenging school year in recent history....Read More

Building students' knowledge of word meanings is essential to their success in reading, writing, and content area learning. The Building Vocabulary series is a groundbreaking structured approach to developing your students' general and academic vocabularies for the present and future. ......Read More

Long before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s in which certain Americans demanded that all citizens, regardless of the color of their skin, be treated fairly and with respect. Read this Readers Theater Script to celebrate Sojourner Truth and the fight for equal rights for women...Read More

Singing and Music-Making is Essential for Brain Development. Neuroscientific research has found that early music-making is highly correlated with reading achievement...Read More

Fluency: A Central Component of Effective Literacy Instruction........Read More

David L. Harrison writes poems for young readers and partners with authorities on early language and literacy development to create books to support classroom teachers. In this blog he gives six reasons why poetry is a powerful teaching tool...Read More

Herts for Learning (HfL) is an award-winning provider of products and services to schools and educational settings within and outside Hertfordshire...Read More

"Fast Start has been an amazing journey for our students, parents, and teachers...Read More

"My granddaughter, Helena has a rare syndrome......Read More

"The process of determining the base of a Latin verb is systematic and consistent....Read More

"Alan Becker's journey with using Greek and Latin roots as an educator began in 2011...Read More

"Tammy Noska learns about the Fluency Development Lesson during her work as a reading clinician at the Kent State University Reading Clinic....Read More

"What do solo and sole (as in "sole survivor") have in common?...Read More

"Activities and a special video from Tim Rasinski. Video link: https://go.tcmpub.com/rasinski-video ...Read More

"It's Poetry Month! Grab a favorite poem and immerse your students in it with these ideas to integrate repeated readings in an engaging way! ...Read More

"Start with "Winter", a season of cold and snow. ...Read More

"Start with "boy" another name for a young man. ...Read More

"Start with "pop" another name for a fizzy soda drink. ...Read More

"Veteran - Take away 4 letters to make the past tense of "run." ...Read More

"Start with "Quarter" - One fourth of an object; a coin worth 25 cents. ...Read More

"Start with "Touch" - To come into contact with someone or something. ...Read More

"Start with the word "Summer" - a time for sun, swimming and play. ...Read More

"Start with the word "Sham" - a word that means something that is fake or false. ...Read More

"Start with the word "Love" - the emotion celebrated on Valentine's Day. ...Read More

"Start with the word "King" - a ruler of a country....Read More

"Start with the word "Harbor" - a place of safety, usually for ships and boats...Read More

"Most of us can remember the traditional way of teaching vocabulary"...Read More

"Start with Foot - the part of our body we use for standing and walking."...Read More

"Here's a Halloween word ladder. Enjoy! Start with the word "trick"...Read More

"I recently visited the National Art Museum and Portrait Gallery in Washington DC."...Read More

"Start with Hurricane - a large and sever tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean."...Read More

"Let's start with sun, our star that gives us warmth"...Read More

"With vacation time rapidly approaching, here's a quick lesson to help your students expand their vocabulary and learn a bit more about the English language."...Read More

"Start with Spring, the season where April showers bring May flowers"...Read More

"Let's start with May, the fifth month of the year"...Read More

"Let's start with April, the fourth month of the year"...Read More

"Let's start with a word that describes our Earth and all the large bodies in the solar system"...Read More

"Let's start with a word the famous spring Holiday"...Read More

"April Showers bring May Flowers." One of the meanings for shower is a type of rain."...Read More

"Hello Everyone - here's a word ladder that you can do with your students on the first day of April. Word study can be fun!..."...Read More

"Besides being the name of month, the word "March" refers to a particular way of walking (in unison as a group)..."...Read More

"Let's start with a word that describes an animal that roars..."...Read More

"Let's start with a word that describes the man who can leap tall buildings and is faster than a locomotive..."...Read More

"Start with the top word and guide your students to make a series of new words..."...Read More

"Now that it's October, the days are getting shorter (in the northern hemisphere) and the temperature is starting to dip"...Read More

"In the U.S. Sept 5th is a holiday - Labor Day; a day to celebrate the working person"...Read More

"Here's a Word Ladder to share with your students on the first day of school! Feel free to add to or change the clues. Go from top to bottom"...Read More

"I am a self-proclaimed and unapologetic lexophile, word nerd, or vocabulary zealot! I love words! I love to learn about how words came to be; I love the fact that some words have the same spelling but varied pronunciations and meanings while other words may have the same pronunciation but different spellings; and I love how words can be used to convey facts, tell a story, or elicit emotion"...Read More

"A few years ago several colleagues and I were engaged in a study of reading fluency in high school students. Our study involved having ninth-grade students from a local urban high school read orally a relatively short informational text. Our intent was to check their reading rate (words read correctly per minute) to see if fluency may be an issue that is causing students difficulty in their reading. Our findings confirmed our hypothesis. Many 9th graders experienced difficulty in fluency and this appeared to be a contributor to their reading difficulties..." Read More

"November is one of my favorite times of year. Despite the weather getting increasingly colder and the threat of winter weather on the horizon, I view November as a time for nesting, when family and friends often come for visits. During these visits it is not unusual to bring out a board or card game...Read More

"Teaching Is Joyous Work: It's early September and school has begun or will begin soon for teachers, principals, and other educators. I certainly believe that teaching is a joyous profession; however, it is also a profession that requires lots of work. Thankfully, Labor Day rolls around on the first Monday in September and gives teachers a chance to take a quick breather. Here's a word ladder I did that connects work to labor..." Read More

The resources on this page require Adobe Acrobat to view, Get Adobe Acrobat Reader now

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University. He has written over 150 articles and has authored, co-authored or edited over 15 books or curriculum programs on reading education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How the Brain Learns to Read - Prof. Stanislas Dehaene

# data[].attributes.headline
Cortex in the Classroom: Advancing the Science of Reading in the Early Years

# data[].attributes.subject
Cortex in the Classroom: Advancing the Science of Reading in the Early Years

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Advancing Science of Reading in the Early Years - K–5 Literacy Program & Curriculum | Amplify CKLA

# data[].attributes.body
How do we rethink guiding reading to support word recognition?

# data[].attributes.body
Testing Manual/Test Directions (should read first!)
Printable Texting Booklets/Student Materials

# data[].attributes.body
Phonics Concepts Progression

# data[].attributes.body
Review pgs 14-23 especially

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Word Recognition (GENERAL): Formative Boxes

# data[].attributes.headline
Matt Burns Video about problems with Levels...

# data[].attributes.subject
Matt Burns Video about problems with Levels...

# data[].attributes.headline
Flowchart for ORF Screener and decisions with Results

# data[].attributes.subject
Flowchart for ORF Screener and decisions with Results

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.