SYNTHESIS PAPER: PUT READING FIRST 1

Synthesis Paper: Put Reading First

Alberto Hadad

University of Alabama

CRD 511: Beginning Reading

Instructor: Dr. Carol Donovan

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Synthesis Paper: Put Reading First

Before I start with the synthesis of this important publication, I would like to point out

the relevance of the conclusions exposed throughout the document. As a school leader I can say

that if these five readings components are correctly delivered to students in a school environment

they will thrive not only in their academic achievement during the early grades but also

throughout their lives. I am totally convinced that a proficient and engaged reader is a lifelong

learner who has an essential tool for successful learning.

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness “is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual

sounds in spoken words” (Armbruster, 2009). It is essential for children, before they learn to read

print, to be aware of the way sounds in words work. They need to understand that words are

composed of speech sound which are called phonemes. A phoneme is the smallest part of sound

in a spoken word that differentiates the meaning of that specific word. Phonemic awareness is a

subcategory of phonological awareness which focuses in identifying and manipulating larger

parts of spoken language like words, syllables, rhymes and alliteration.

Children who have phonemic awareness are more capable of learning to read that those

who haven´t developed these skills. This is a reason why it is so important to have explicit

instruction of phonemic instruction in a school setting. Through this type of instruction, children

learn to notice, think about, and manipulate sounds in spoken language. Some effective ways to

teach this skill is using exercises of phoneme isolation, identity, categorization, blending,

segmentation, deletion, addition and substitution. One example of an exercise of phoneme

deletion is to ask students to delete the letter /s/ in the word smile and pronounce the word

remaining: in this case, mile.

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Something important to point out is that phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonemic

awareness “is the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make

words” (Armbruster, 2009) while phonics is the understanding of the predictable relationship

between phonemes and graphemes which are the letters that represent the sounds in written

language. This is why, in order for children to benefit from phonics instructions, they need to

have phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness not only helps children to read words but it also

promotes their reading comprehension that comes as a result of more fluent reading which leaves

space for children to focus on understanding a text.

Research suggests that phonemic awareness is more efficiently taught in small groups

because children often benefit from listening to their classmates and respond to the teacher and

receive feedback. During the last 30 years there has been considerable research around phonemic

awareness which has been effectively communicated to reading specialists but not to young

children´s teachers. This is an important topic to address since these teachers need to promote a

solid foundation for children that are starting their reading process in the early school years

without assuming that phonemic awareness is phonics and that it is not appropriate for young

children (Wasik, 2012).

In my case, as a school principal, this situation makes me aware of the importance of

making sure students the early grades are developing phonemic awareness. In school we use the

TCRWP (Teachers College Reading and Writing Program) which includes a phonics program

for the initial years. I suppose this has a phonemic awareness included in the instruction but I

definitely have to make sure we have this in place. This is an important to do I have on my list

when engaging in conversations with teachers and the literacy specialists in my school.
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Phonics

Phonics instruction “teaches children the relationships between the letters (graphemes) of

written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language” (Armbruster, 2009).

Through phonics instruction children learn to use these relationships to read and write words.

There are different labels for this process but, in essence, the goal of this type of instruction is to

help children to learn and use the alphabetic principle, in other words, to understand the

relationships between written letters and spoken words. Another way to understand phonics is to

contrast it with phonemic awareness: in the case phonics the written word is involved while

phonemic awareness could be understood as a previous stage of the learning process in which the

sound components of a word are studied and manipulated without necessarily making the

connections between written and spoken language.

Scientific research has proven systematic and explicit phonics instruction is more

effective that non-systematic instruction. This type of instruction should be delivered from

kinder to first or second grade. It can be relevant in third grade for students who struggle during

their reading process. Guided by phonics instruction, children improve their word recognition

and spelling. It also helps children improve their reading comprehension, and it is especially

effective in those students who have difficulty learning to read or those who are at risk of

developing future reading problems.

It is important to point out that phonics instruction is not a reading program in itself but a

component of a broader program that should include the knowledge of the alphabet, phonemic

awareness activities and read-alouds of stories and informational texts. It is also important to

include ample reading and writing activities that allow students to practice their language skills.
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Phonics instruction has proven to be effective with the whole class, in small groups or

taught individually. The way instruction is delivered depends on how many adults are in the

classroom and the specific needs of children. Finally, two years of phonics instruction is

normally enough for students to have the necessary skills to continue their reading development.

A recent study found out that phonics instruction can be very engaging for children but

that teachers need to be trained to deliver effective instruction. The use of sound sheets, sound

books, flash card sheets, word box sheets, songs, games and storybooks has proven to help

student engagement in the classroom during reading instruction (Naning, 2016).

At the school I lead we incorporated systematic and explicit phonics instruction a little

more than a year ago and the fruits in student learning outcomes is amazing. Our ELL´s are

taking advantage of this opportunity of having a solid program and a native speaking teacher that

really engages them in the process of learning and helps them develop the necessary foundations

to be successful in the initial stages of their reading process both in English and Spanish which is

their native language. Something to consider is that, in our case, part of the success in the

learning outcomes has been the interaction, team planning and professional development of

teachers of both languages.

Fluency

Fluency is “the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. A sign of a fluent reader is

when he is able to read silently and recognizing words automatically” (Armbruster, 2009). A

fluent reader is able to group words quickly to help them gain meaning of what they read. They

are also able to read aloud effortlessly and with expression sounding natural, as if they were

speaking. On the other hand, readers who are not fluent read slowly, word by word, and their

oral reading is choppy.

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Fluency is very important in reading because it provides a bridge between word

recognition and comprehension. Since fluent readers do not have to focus on decoding the words

in a text, they are able to concentrate on what the text means. They are able to make connections

among the ideas in the text and also between the text and their background knowledge. In other

words, fluent readers recognize words and comprehend them at the same time. On the other

hand, less fluent readers must focus their attention in figuring out the words, leaving them little

space to focus on the meaning of the broader text. Fluency develops gradually over considerable

time and through substantial practice. This is why it is so important for students in the earlier

grades to practice reading continuously and to have access to large amounts of texts both in

school and at home.

Scientifically-based research tells us that repeated and monitored oral reading is a very

effective way of developing fluency in readers while there is very little scientific evidence that

proves the effectiveness of independent silent reading. This evidence suggests that it is important

to use classroom time for read-alouds with the whole group and also in small groups. Other

evidence also suggests that repeated readings are more effective when they are used in

combination with the strategies of self-monitoring, goal-setting and model reading (Padeliadu,

2018). It is also very important to encourage parents and other family members to read aloud to

children at home. In the classroom, time shouldn’t be wasted in independent silent reading that

should be done at home. Classroom time is better used to give direct instruction to children and

also provide relevant feedback. Some specific methods of read aloud are: student adult reading,

coral reading, tape assisted reading, partner reading and reading theater. All these strategies are

effective ways of developing fluency in children.

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There are different ways to assess reading. For example, one minute of read aloud where

the teacher checks the total number of words read and also contrasts between the correct and

incorrect words. Other ways of assessing fluency growth like reading inventories, miscue

analysis, and running records are also effective but are more time-consuming for the teacher. All

these efforts of teachers are worth while since reading fluency is a predictor of future school

outcomes (Bigozzi, 2017).

Something I have to focus on as a school leader is to hire fluent teachers that can help

students be fluent in their second language. Being a bilingual school where most of the teachers

are not native English speakers has the challenge of not having the necessary English-speaking

environment that supports what students are learning in the classroom. Added to this challenge, a

downside is that at home most of our students’ don´t have the necessary support in their second

language which makes it difficult to develop confidence in children to be able to engage in

conversations using their second language which helps them with vocabulary development and

other skills that are reflected in their reading skills improvement. This reality points out on the

necessity of continually promoting a stronger English immersion at school to promote better

second language acquisition through relevant interactions.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary “refers to the words we must not to communicate effectively” (Armbruster,

2009). There is reading vocabulary which are the words we recognize or use in print and there is

also oral vocabulary which refers to the words we use in speaking or recognize in listening.

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read and also in reading comprehension.

Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words

mean. As children tackle more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of no words that
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support their reading comprehension. Researchers often refer to four types of vocabulary:

listening vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary, and writing vocabulary.

According to scientifically-based research, most vocabulary is learned indirectly and

some vocabulary must be taught directly. The most effective ways in which children develop

their vocabulary is by engaging in daily oral language, especially in conversation with adults.

Another effective strategy is when they listen to adults read to them. An effective way to broaden

children’s vocabulary is when they read extensively on their own. Teachers should teach students

difficult words that they need to be able to understand challenging concepts included in the

curriculum. In other words, students need to learn important vocabulary that they need to

understand specific content. There are different word learning strategies that children should be

taught, for example, how to use dictionaries and other reference materials, how to use

information about word parts, and how to use context clues to determine word meanings. Other

findings suggest strategies like using computer technology supports and vocabulary instruction

that promotes student engagement (Butler, 2010).

As I mentioned in the past section of this paper, in my school context a big challenge is to

promote every day conversations in English to help students develop vocabulary. Another way to

take advantage of the social context is to promote explicit connection between Spanish and

English instruction to help students transfer their knowledge of one language to the other. When

this happens, bilingualism is enhanced in students because they learn to move from language to

the other seamlessly while developing stronger tools to develop reading comprehension.

Comprehension

Comprehension “is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not

understand what they are reading, they are not really reading” (Armbruster, 2009). Good readers
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have a purpose for reading, for example, they read for pleasure or to obtain knowledge. Good

readers think actively as they read because they continually make connections between their life

experiences, knowledge of the world, knowledge of vocabulary, language structure, and their

knowledge of reading strategies.

Over 30 years of research has shown that instruction in comprehension can help students

understand what they read, remember what they read, and communicate with others about what

they read. This is a reason to give very big importance to teaching comprehension strategies in

the school context.

Scientific research has proven that the following six strategies are effective in improving

text comprehension: monitoring comprehension, using graphic and semantic organizers,

answering questions, generating questions, recognizing story structure, and summarizing. Apart

from these six strategies, there are other two that have also some scientific support: making use

of prior knowledge, and using mental imagery. Anyway, it is important to understand that

comprehension strategies are not ends in themselves, they are a means of helping students

understand what they are reading.

It is important that teachers along all grades focus in text comprehension, even since the

beginning of the school years. Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive

activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research (Elleman,

2019). This is why schools have to focus on developing effective ways to assess student reading

comprehension and also to promote effective reading instruction that helps students develop this

essential learning tools that will either help them thrive as life-long learners or struggles all along

their learning process.

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Personally, I believe reading comprehension is the most important goal of the reading

learning process. Once a student is able to comprehend what he reads, he will enjoy reading and

will be engaged in the different learning processes that involve reading along the school years

and throughout life. Hopefully, I will be able to promote a culture of reading in the school I lead

where not only students but also their families enjoy reading and find this activity as a way of

encountering both human experiences and relevant knowledge for life.

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References

Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., Osborn, J., & Adler, C. R. (2009). Put reading first: The research

building blocks of reading instruction: kindergarten through grade 3 (3rd ed.).

[Washington, D.C.?]: National Institute for Literacy. Retrieved from:

https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbooklet.pdf

Bigozzi, L., Tarchi, C., Vagnoli L., Valente, E., Pinto, G., (2017). Reading Fluency as a

Predictor of School Outcomes across Grades 4–9. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00200.

Butler, S., Urrutia, K., Buenger, A., Gonzalez, N., Hunt, M., Eisenhart, C. (2010). A Review of

the Current Research on Vocabulary Instruction. National Reading Technical Assistance

Center. Retrieved from:

https://www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/support/rmcfinal1.pdf.

Elleman, A., Oslund E. (2019). Reading Comprehension Research: Implications for Practice and

Policy. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2019;6(1):3-11.

doi:10.1177/2372732218816339

Naning Tri, Wahyuni & Fauziati, Endang & Hikmat, Mauly. (2016). The Effectiveness of Using

Phonics Instruction and Storybooks in English Reading Classes to Improve Student

Participation. Jurnal Penelitian Humaniora.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23917/humaniora.v17i1.2351

Padeliadu, S., Giazitzidou, S. (2018). A Synthesis of Research on Reading Fluency

Development: Study of Eight Meta-Analyses. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1477123.

Wasik, B. (2012). Phonemic Awareness and Young Children. Childhood Education. 77. 128-

133. DOI: 10.1080/00094056.2001.10522146