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- To understand written material, one must be able to decode words and effectively use comprehension strategies and must have the relevant vocabulary and background knowledge.
- The greatest impact from phonological awareness activities takes place when students begin to incorporate letters into sound analysis and sound synthesis activities.
- The Letter-Sound Alternating Drill helps students develop automaticity.
- When using the Sound Alternating Drill, the teacher points randomly to each letter, allows thinking time, then signals students to say the sound.
- During the Sound Alternating Drill, students may make an error because there was not enough thinking time, the student wasn't paying attention, or s/he did not know the sound for the letter.
- When a student makes an error during the Sound Alternating Drill, the steps of the correction procedure should be followed carefully.
- The target letter should appear in different positions within example words chosen for "Say It, Move It, Say It" activities.
- Beginning word reading is easiest when words begin with continuous sounds, the number of phonemes equals the number of letters, and each letter represents its most common sound.
- VC words ('am', 'at') and CVC words ('him', 'not') are good ones for beginning sounding out activities. As students become more proficient, consonant blends and clusters can be added to the activities.
- By "pre-correcting" or having students pay attention to a possibly troublesome part of the word before they begin to sound it out, the teacher increases student success.
- "Say It, Move It, Read It" activities teach students segmenting and blending, which have been shown to be the most important aspects of phonological awareness for increasing student reading and spelling achievement.
- "Say It, Move It, Read It" activities teach students to analyze spoken words and to pay attention to all letters in the corresponding printed words.
- Word families, with the same rimes but different onsets, can be used for sound manipulation activities.
- Although the ultimate goal is for students to use standard spellings, beginning readers and writers should be encouraged to use invented spellings.
- Students' phonological awareness should be assessed to establish a baseline of what students already know, monitor students' progress, and determine which students may be at risk for or may have a reading disability.
- Phonological awareness assessments are similar to many of the activities used to strengthen phonological awareness and might include sound comparison, sound synthesis, sound analysis, letter-name and letter sound knowledge, rhymes, and initial sounds.
- Identifying and helping students at risk for reading disabilities involves careful evaluation and re-evaluation, appropriate consultation with professionals and involvement with parents, co-ordination, and conscientious planning.
- Difficulty in learning to read is linked to higher rates of dropping out of school, poorer job prospects, poorer health, and lower incomes.
- Effective reading intervention programs provide the right intensity and duration to the right children at the right time.
- Goals for beginning readers and spellers include the development of an appreciation for literature, larger vocabularies, and greater oral comprehension, as well as accuracy and fluency with spoken and written words, continued use of skills, and increased enjoyment of reading and writing.
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