Starting young-what kinds of picture books facilitate young children's learning?

Exposing children to books at a young age has been promoted for some time now as a means of helping children learn to read. Most American parents believe that reading to their children is important for their development, and children's reading achievement has been linked with the quantity and quality of early interactions with books. When children are first exposed to books, the books we most often picture are those durable board books with few words and many pictures. Some of the first books children explore are alphabet and number books, as learning the alphabet is an important step before learning to read. But how do we know which books are going to help children learn the best? There are thousands of these beginner books: where do we begin to look, and what are the qualities to look for? Cynthia Chiong and Judy DeLoache explore some of the beneficial and disadvantageous aspects in children's books in their article, "Learning the ABCs: What kind of picture books facilitate young children's learning?"

In their article, Chiong and DeLoache explore the results of two studies they conducted dealing with manipulative books and standard books. Manipulative books are those that have pop ups, flaps, pull tabs, and other items to feel and explore, and standard books are the typically flat pages made for looking at rather than feeling. Prior studies by Ganea et al. and Simcock and DeLoache indicated that children who interacted with pictures books that contained realistic images or photographs were better able to associate the images with objects in the real world than children who interacted with picture books that used cartoons. Chiong and DeLoache wanted to observe if there were other aspects of books that affected young children's learning. 

The first study they conducted compared letter learning and recognition for children 30-36 months old using three different types of books: a standard book, a manipulative book, and a book that contained all the content and images of the manipulative book but without the manipulatives. As children were read to, students who were interacting with the manipulative book were encouraged to touch and explore the book whereas students interacting with the other two types were just read to and had the letters pointed to. When the children were tested in letter naming and recognition, the results were all about the same for letter naming-low, but letter recognition was much higher for children who did not interact with the manipulative book. The theory for this result is that the focus on the manipulative features detracts from the child's focus on the actual information presented (the letters), so even though the child's interest may be piqued using a manipulative book, their learning may be suppressed. On the other hand, during the testing, children who interacted with manipulative books were more social than those who listened to standard books, asking more questions and speaking more overall, so interactive books may have different benefits. 

The second study wanted to determine if manipulative books suppressed learning in general or if the way the manipulatives were used made a difference. In this study, two types of books were used: a manipulative book as described above and a manipulative book that attracted the children specifically to the letters in the form of sandpaper letters that children could touch and trace. After reading to the children and performing similar tests to those above, no differences in children's letter recognition was found. This indicates that using manipulatives to attract children's attention to the letters neither helps nor hinders their learning which could be beneficial for shy students (because manipulative books appeared to increase socialization) as well as tactile learners whose attraction to reading might be increased by the opportunity to touch letters as they read. 

While this study was performed with children between 2 and 3 years of age, kindergarten and first grade teachers receive students at various reading levels. Knowing the types of book interactions that young children have had and should have is important for their development. If parents are specifically trying to teach their children to read and recognize numbers, typical books or manipulative books that direct attention toward letters, numbers, and words specifically should probably be used more often. Typical manipulative books might be better used if parents are trying to spark interest in books in general or help their children increase their social interactions. The frequency of use should be determined by parents and teachers depending on the necessary goals for the child in question. These concepts can be applied when teaching young primary students when trying to select appropriate book choices. 

Source: Chiong, C., & DeLoache, J.S. (2012). Learning the ABCs: What kinds of picture books facilitate young children's learning? Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13(2), 225-241.

Playing with non-fiction

"Playing with non-fiction." It sounds so unlike non-fiction. Many of us likely remember having to read dull textbooks about historical people and, probably, do not recall much of what we read. María Paula Ghiso challenges the boring use of non-fiction texts in her article "Playing with/through non-fiction texts: Young children authoring their relationships with history." When I came across the article, I was curious as to what she had to say. I am passionate about history, having had the opportunity to visit many historical landmarks and having heard many stories from family members as I grew up. Hearing that "history is boring" or "I only like fiction" is difficult for me because history is so fascinating to me and there is so much to be learned from it.

The study was conducted with a first grade classroom in an urban setting and explored the use of "writing time", specifically with regard to non-fiction. From the description of classroom activities, I could tell that the manner was that of constructivism. The "writerly life" was explored "to see the world as a source of inspiration for writing and to immerse oneself in the ongoing process of gathering ideas and drafting, revising and editing pieces." It was under these conditions that Blanche was teaching and introduced genres to her students. Through play, genres were co-constructed between students and teacher and were something to be discovered rather than rules to follow.

Using non-fiction in the classroom has recently become a concern because of a growing lack of informational reading that is being observed in adults. As a result, Ghiso decided to observe the use of non-fiction writing in this first grade class. The classroom was diverse, consisting of students who were of African-American, African, Native American, and European American descent. The first 15 minutes of class time was a time for students to spend writing stories because, as Blanche related, her students always came to class full of stories and this provided them a way to get the stories out. After this free-writing time, genres or "types of writing" were discussed and explored. 

Memoir, biographies, and persuasive arguments were among the considered genres and were worked on for six week periods, ending with writing celebrations where friends and family could come listen to the young authors' work. When it came to using non-fiction in the class, whether reading or writing it, students had an excitement for their genre explorations. In addition to reading about Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, Jr., students learned about the non-fiction genre and developed ideas on how to change the world. Read-alouds acquainted students with historical figures and made them part of their everyday lives. 

This familiarity with historical figures was strengthened when students were given the opportunity to write biographies on people they found important. Some students chose to write about historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman, and Helen Keller while others chose to write about personal heroes such as family members or famous athletes. The freedom to choose about whom to write opened up questions about the non-fiction genre including: reliability of sources, how someone's life impacted world, what are topics worth noting, and, in general, that genres such as non-fiction/biographies are writing tools or methods to express a point rather than the way to write. 

What Ghiso found was that students began incorporating the historical figures into their play (after the class shared their published writing pieces), even students who had not written on the figures themselves. Several of the students who had not published their initial piece on a historical figure decided to do their own research on some of the individuals later on and wrote about them. Figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin seemed to become old friends as the children were observed drawing friendly pictures of the individuals. 

 

Writing included factual information but also parts of the individuals lives that the children found important. For example, when writing about Benjamin Franklin, Franklin's children were important to note:

Through this playful use of non-fiction in the classroom, Ghiso points out that students not only learned about genres and historical fiction but also discovered a delight in learning about the past, allowed their imaginations to play with the figures of the past, and learned to see non-fiction texts and writing as another useful tool in their writing journey. 

I believe that this sort of introduction to non-fiction texts can be very beneficial to students. Introducing history and historical figures to young students in an engaging way will help develop a love for the material as they grow. Having a positive first interaction with non-fiction texts may help promote further reading of non-fiction and help bring out the explorer and detective in students as they begin to research and discover information on their own. 

Source: Ghiso, Maria Paula. (2011). Playing with/through non-fiction texts: Young children authoring their relationships with history. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13, 26-51.

Educational Technology in the Classroom

With the rapid increase of technology and its availability in schools, many teachers have begun to wonder what place technology has in the classroom. In a recent review, Alan Cheung and Robert Slavin looked at the effectiveness of educational technology on improving reading ability in struggling readers. In this particular review, educational technology is not just the use of iPads or computers but specific "applications that help deliver learning and content and support the learning process." The article "Effects of Educational Technology Applications on Reading Outcomes for Struggling Readers: A Best-Evidence Synthesis" reviewed 20 studies on elementary students grade 1-6 to determine the effects of educational technology including: RWT, LIPS, READ 180, ReadAbout, Fast ForWord, Josten's (Compass Learning), Lexia, Captain's Log, Destination Reading, Thinking Reader, and Failure Free Reading. These programs were categorized into small-group integrated applications, various types of supplementary models, and comprehensive models. While this study looked at all elementary grades (1-6), the findings reaffirmed the importance of helping struggling readers early on.

Of all the studies, only the studies performed in primary elementary grades (1-3), but most specifically in first grade, showed any significant effect on reading improvement. The review also indicated that small-group integrated applications, such as RWT and LIPS, had the greatest effect. Cheung and Slavin cautioned interpretation of these results, though, because of the small sample size. Working with small groups or in one-on-one scenarios produced the best effects, but, due to lack of resources and staff, are often not possible throughout entire schools, so the authors were unsure of how realistic these outcomes were. Studies performed in upper elementary (4-6) essentially had no effect on the experimental students compared to the control students, whether or not the sample size was large or small. The RWT and LIPS programs that benefitted first graders the most were not used with upper elementary, though, so the effects on those students are unknown.

Even though some educational technology benefitted lower elementary students, the impacts were only small improvements. Additionally, the programs that most benefitted the students, LIPS and RWT, combined the use and technology and nontechnology components, indicating that technology itself won't just do the trick when it comes to assisting struggling readers. When compared to the improvements of struggling readers using similar small-group interventions that do not use technology, the effects were very similar. One-on-one models, regardless of technology use, produced greater impacts than those of small-group technology interventions.

I believe that this review simply supports what many teachers have known for a while: one-on-one and small group, early intervention is critical for helping struggling readers. While technology can be motivating for students because of its interactive and engaging elements, it is not necessarily the key to helping students improve. Technology itself (computers, iPads, etc.) may be beneficial in the classroom by allowing students to do various projects and assignments in class, but when it comes to reading, will likely only be helpful if using a well-designed program under the designated conditions of their use.

For more information on the educational technology that helped improve primary elementary students' reading ability, please look at the following links:

http://www.lindamoodbell.com/programs/lips.html 
http://www.readwritethink.org/ 
https://www.compasslearning.com/ 
http://www.lexialearning.com/

Source for the above review:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/store/10.1002/rrq.50/asset/rrq50.pdf?v=1&t=hrhx7g05&s=2ded045899d26230b3abba0230df0a61c95f8027

In the beginning

The progression of writing. I'm sure that at some point in our lives we have seen or heard of a parent panicking over their 5 or 6-year-old's inability to write "the" or "park" or some other word which ends up looking more like: 

"What's wrong with my child? Why can't she spell 'what'?" 

While I am no parent, I recall responding similarly in a field experience with a K-2 class. 

"Why won't this student write real words? Why is she pretending to read? He just wrote his entire story backward!" 

After reading Kate Foley Cusumano's article "Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and Community Members about Young Children's Writing," my eyes were opened to so many of the questions I had been asking. As it turns out, these are simply stages in a child's growth as a writer. When students are first asked to write, it is natural for them to write with invented spelling. "Wus," "wavd," "vary," these are all examples that Cusumano provides for the writing of a 5-year-old girl who spoke English, was read to daily, and attended two years of part-time preschool prior to entering kindergarten. In fact, for a 5-year-old, this student had mastered many writing feats for such a young student. She had a beginning, middle, and end to her story, mastered writing from left to right, included spaces between her words, and spelled "a," "the," "it," and "for" with ease. When we consider the strengths that students bring with them to the classroom, we are better able to see them as beginning writers than as children who have a long way to go in their ability to write. I believe that informing parents and the community about the natural progression of writing is important. Students should not have to be punished for misspelling a word or incorrectly punctuating a sentence when they first dive into the writing world. If children become so worried about mechanics, they may become too fearful to even get their wonderful ideas onto the paper. Mechanics will come with time, practice, examples, mini-lessons, and incredible patience and support from parents and teachers.

General reading instruction for early readers is explored by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier in Catching Readers Before They Fall. I have come to love the idea of looking at students' abilities rather than the deficits in their learning. Johnson and Keier do the same as they strongly recommend "finding a starting point" for students and discovering how much reading and writing they bring with them to class. No matter where students are at, the authors provide an excellent reminder: "Blaming previous teachers or the child's home situation serves no purpose, so let those thoughts go." I imagine it must be so tempting at times when a student is significantly behind curriculum standards, but the goal as a teacher is then to provide for that child in the classroom what has been previously been neglected in his or her literacy skills. If a student missed out in the previous year, he or she should not miss out again in our own class. Being behind, or even right on target, should not mean that letter and word identification activities are the primary source of teaching students to read. All that tells students is that you get to pass if you get the right answer. It says nothing about comprehension or enjoyment of reading, which I believe are what reading is truly about. 

When students are just beginning to read and write, they should be filled with the joy and excitement of learning to do both as well as the thrill of learning from reading and expressing themselves through writing. As teachers, we should meet our students where they are at and help them to see the great rewards of dedication and improvement in both areas. Most of all, we need to help show our students that reading and writing are truly wonderful things to love. 

Teaching tips (as promised):

-Use students' names in mini-lessons, books, everywhere, to help excite them and provide them with a frequently recognizable word. 
-Help students learn to self-monitor their reading early on, especially to help with confidence in their reading ability. 
-Reinforce students' positive reading and writing behaviors rather than focusing on their mistakes.