Katie Dahl's Blog

What does it mean to know a word? When you know a word, what do you know of that word?

            To know a word is to understand the meaning of that word. You know what object or idea is represented by that word but you may not know the correct spelling of it until you have perhaps seen that word a few times. Knowing the spelling is not necessary in knowing the meaning of a word.

Think of a time when you had a similar experience. Think of a word that you came across while you were reading a particular text online or in print. What strategies did you use to figure out its meaning? Did you decode the word? Did you use the surrounding context to cling a meaning to it? Or did you look it up in a dictionary?

            I would first continue reading to see if I picked up on the meaning through context clues and if I did not understand it after reading I would then resort to looking it up in the dictionary. I do not think I have ever picked up the meaning of a word by decoding or breaking it apart.

Do you think you learned the word’s meaning? Can you identify its meaning if you were presented its spelling?

            I definitely learned the meaning of it by looking it up in the dictionary and using context clues however I am not sure if I would be able to grasp the meaning by just seeing the spelling. Now that I know how it is spelled yes, but before no.

1. What was the hypothesis tested by the researchers?

            The hypothesis tested was that students will learn the pronunciations and meanings of new words better when they see spellings of the words during study periods than when they do not.

2. Who were the subjects?

            The subjects were 20 second graders, mean age was 7 years, 7 months.

3. What were the experimental conditions?

            They were enrolled in an urban school with a large minority population. On average, students were reading at the second grade level. However, their vocabulary level was below average.

4. What did the treatment involve?

            Each student was taught the pronunciations and meanings of two sets of six concrete nouns. Spellings were shown as students learned one set. Spellings were not shown as students learned the other set. The particular word set was counterbalanced across conditions. The order that students completed the conditions was counterbalanced across students.

5. Which group (spelling-present vs. spelling-absent) gained more in vocabulary learning? How were the groups’ recall of pronunciations affected by the treatment?

            From this study we conclude that second graders learned the pronunciations and meanings of vocabulary words better when they were exposed to spellings of the words than when they only practiced speaking the words. In addition, as soon as they were shown, the experimenter pronounced the words, so children had neither time nor need to decode the words. The explanation is that when spellings were seen, heard, and repeated by the child, grapho-phonemic connections were spontaneously activated to secure the pronunciations in memory.

6. Why do you think that fifth graders who were high on a word reading task benefited more from the spelling aids than their peers with less orthographic experience and knowledge, even though the two groups did not differ on receptive vocabulary knowledge?

            One reason for the difference might be that the higher readers had better knowledge not only of grapho-phonemic units but also of larger syllabic spelling units than lower readers, and this gave the higher readers an advantage in forming connections to store multisyllabic words in memory. Specifically, those with rich orthographic knowledge acquire richer and richer vocabularies over time compared to those with poorer orthographic knowledge.

7. What general conclusions were derived from the study findings by the authors? What implications were offered for vocabulary learning and instruction?

            Our explanation for findings is that when students are exposed to the spellings of new vocabulary words, grapho-phonemic connections are activated. This better secures pronunciations of words in memory.

The article identifies two purposes of word study.  What are they, and how are they different? 

The purpose is to examine words in order to reveal consistencies within the written language system and to help students master the recognition, spelling, and meaning of specific words. These two things are different because the first is just the child learning the spelling and the rules that are involved in spelling while the second is when the child is actually learning the meaning of the word.

Briefly describe the three layers of English orthography.

                Alphabet: It is the learning of the relationship between letters and sounds and it is usually read from left to right.

                Pattern: The English language does not have a single sound for each letter so it is important to learn the different patterns. In the English language there are all kinds of patterns that cause words to sounds differently. For example the ape in cape, the “e” at the end cause a long “a” sound, so it is important to learn the different ones we have.

                Meaning: It is when the letters that are grouped together actually begin to represent objects or ideas. Once children understand this they become much less confused by the spelling.

The authors emphasize the fact that word study should be differentiated according to the student’s level of word knowledge.  “Knowledgeable educators have come to know that word study instruction must match the needs of the child” (p. 7).  How do we determine a child’s word knowledge?

                By looking at the way they spell words. Their spelling is a direct window into how they think the system works. So by looking at it the educator can then determine where the child needs the most help and can then form a lesson around those areas that need help.

Briefly describe the stages of word knowledge.

                Emergent Reader: Where reading and writing may be undertaken in earnest by the child but it will be recognized by adults as pretend. The child may write with scribbles, letter-like forms, or random letters that have no phonetic relationship with the words they believe they are writing.

                Beginning Reader: The child has moved from pretend reading to real reading. They identify words by phonetic cues but still have limited knowledge of letter-sounds.

                Transitional Reader: When the child moves into the within word pattern spelling stage where single letter-sound units are consolidated into patterns or larger chunks, and other spelling regularities are internalized.

                Intermediate Reader and Advanced Reader: These independent readers will struggle with issues such as how to pronounce the name of the main character or the meanings of words that they have no trouble decoding.

1. Is it a good idea to have young, beginning readers use their fingers to point to words as they read? Why or why not?

Yes, because that way you can help guide them along as you say each word. They can begin to gain an understanding of what that word symbolizes and where it begins and ends.

2. Do most kindergarten students know what a word is?

I think many do. They understand that it can be oral or written and that it has a meaning to it. And when you put several words together then you begin to talk and make sense.

3. Do most kindergarten students know what a phoneme is?

Not by definition but yes I think they understand the sounds that words create and that each word can have several sounds to it.

4. How do children become aware of words and phonemes?

By reading aloud and listening to stories that are read aloud to them.

5. What happened with Jack’s finger pointing?

Jack was following along with the phonemes of the words rather than the actual words themselves.

6. What differences are there between speaking and reading?

With speaking there are no pauses until you reach a new thought. There are no written words, no periods, and no such thing as sentences. It is just continuous oral thought. Whereas reading has all of those structures and rules that have to be followed in order to make sense of the writing.

7. What is phoneme awareness?

It is the ability to consciously attend to and manipulate the sound structure of spoken language.

8. Describe the 4-stage model of early literacy.

Stage 1: Beginning consonant knowledge – in this first stage, readers begin to use letter-sound knowledge to begin sounding out the beginning consonant of a word and how it matches with the word.

Stage 2: Concept of word in text – in this stage the reader begins to understand the last sound of a word and with that comes the understanding of the whole word and where it begins and ends in the text. Essentially, the beginning reader stabilizes the match between spoken and printed words.

Stage 3: Phoneme segmentation ability – once the reader has grasped the concept of the beginning and ending consonants of a word they can then begin to focus on the interior of the word in this stage. Here the reader is able to break up each sound in the word and sound out the entire word.

Stage 4: Word recognition – in this stage the reader the phoneme segmentation ability allows complete processing of all letter-sounds which allows the reader to completely store words to memory

9. Describe what this means: “It is not in the telling, but it is in the very act of reading that Jack will actually learn how to read.”

It means that you cannot just tell someone how to read, they have to actually read and practice reading in order to learn how.

10. What instruction helps develop beginning readers’ awareness of words and phonemes?

The two main instructional goals are to develop the student’s beginning sound awareness and guide them toward stabilizing their concept of word in text. With the ability to attend to beginning sounds in words will aid as they attempt to match spoken words to written words while reading.

11. What questions do you have from the article?

What if a student continues to struggle with phoneme awareness?

Do reading problems show-up this early? Or do they develop over time?

How long does it take a child to recognize a word?

Main Points

⋲        Children need books with challenging content but do not receive that through the books they read on their own due to the fact of their still limited abilities

⋲        Children’s oral vocabulary is much more developed and so by reading more difficult content to them children can expand their vocabularies through listening

⋲        Read-aloud activities give children experience with decontextualized language which requires them to make sense of ideas that are about something beyond the here and now

⋲        Children form their own opinion of the story based on pictures a lot of the time rather than by the actual written story. So by performing a text talk lesson children are forced to pay attention to the story and develop their comprehension skills

Steps to planning and performing a lesson

⋲        First a book needs to be chosen that will help expand the students’ vocabulary. The content should be rich and challenging with words that will actually need an explanation and are preferably something the children are more likely to use on a day to day basis. Make sure that the pictures in the story are not necessary to the understanding of the book.

⋲        Second you must develop questions that they can ask the students as the reading is taking place. It might be beneficial to have the questions on a small post it note on the corner of the page you just finished reading. The questions need to be ones that will actually provoke thought rather than simple knowledge questions that can be answered in one word.

⋲        It is important that while you are reading the story you are not showing the pictures to the children. First read and then show the pictures. That way the students have to listen to the story and will not base what they see in the pictures on what is going on in the book.

⋲        Lastly, it is important to follow-up the reading with a vocabulary lesson that includes the new words that were in the story. Provide several little activities which require them to repeat the word so that they can get a better understanding of it.

How do children increase their vocabularies?

            Children learn new vocabulary words under two conditions. They learn by direct definition, which involves a parent or adult saying a new word and then giving the child a direct explanation as to what the word means. Or they learn by indirect definition which would include context clues. When an adult reads a book to a child that contains a new word, children can guess what the word means by way of understanding the rest of the sentence.

What evidence is there that reading aloud to children can increase their vocabularies?

            Studies have shown that if an unfamiliar word is read in a story at least two or more times children can pick up on the meaning of the word. Therefore, the study proves by reading a new vocabulary word without giving a direct definition children can learn on their own.

Does it matter what teachers read to students? What kinds of books are best to read aloud to students if we want to build their vocabularies?

            It matters significantly. Teachers should read children’s books that are rich in vocabulary and continue the practice daily so that the students are exposed to new and challenging words every day. The best books are ones that have good context clues so that the student can actually grasp the meaning of the word without being confused as to what the point of the book is.

Why do you think you should focus on emphasizing vocabulary in your lessons with students? Does this apply to read aloud activities?

            It is important to emphasize vocabulary with students because if you don’t their vocabularies will not expand as much they could run the risk of falling behind their peers in reading and then other subjects will follow. This applies to reading aloud as well. The teacher should not only be reading aloud to their students but the students should also be reading aloud. The more we challenge our students with new words the more they will learn.

What role will reading to students play in your teaching?

            It will play a very large role in my teaching. As a child I despised reading and was a very poor reader because no one ever read to me but in third grade my teacher made a point to sit us all down before or after lunch and read to us chapter books. Through her doing that I began to increase my knowledge of words and I began to love reading. I want to help my students in much the same way. I hope that by reading to them I will help increase their knowledge and love of reading.