Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Use Their Senses
To Make Sense
of Literacy!
Struggling Readers Need
to Learn to Look…
Jacquie Hurwitz, Reading Recovery
teachtolook@
[email protected]
aol.com
Multi-sensory – respect learning styles – get comfy.
Move around if need to – peppermints – have fun…
Jacquie Hurwitz is a CCS Reading Recovery Teacher.
She came to education as a mom with questions. Her only
daughter has been her best teacher! 4th grade teacher -- “better
speller” -- no clue. By the end of the year, back in school getting
Masters’. Experience with challenged learners inspired the
presentation topic! Research focused on multi-sensory approach
to alternative learning. I have taught at St. Timothy School for
the last ten years.
Pleased to be involved with teacher training at both the
city and state level. May have met some of you when I did Guided
Reading and Running Record training for Columbus’ summer
school or when teaching the State Institute for Reading
2/3/2009
Instruction, Pre-K and First R – Reading.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't
mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng
is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at
the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
total mses and you can sitll raed it
wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae
the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod
as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
Take a minute and read this... How brain works...
Left Brain traditionally processes print. Decoding and encoding
text is very sequential -- like math. Most students who find
school easy are left brain. Most school teaches sequentially, so it
works well for them. Analytical, organized... Traditionally intuitive
about math and reading.
Right Brain is creative side. Thinking outside the box -- literally!
Tend to be more emotional, disorganized, global in their approach,
intuitive about the world -- missing details and often sequential
processing.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
You must reach the
child before you can
teach the child!
♦Must be affective before
effective
♦If they’re not laughing,
they’re not learning
♦Trust the process!
Dr. Carol Lyons 2002 book -- The Developing Mind:
The Role of Attention and Movement, stresses
emotional component of learning!
Emotion drives learning and opens door for cognitive
development
It’s a process -- not a quick fix.
Trust the process...
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Learning Styles
♦Aural
♦Visual
♦Kinesthetic
Learning Style Activity
Reflect for a moment…
Whole to part? Want to see the big picture
before getting to the details?
Part to whole? Build on details and facts?
Think in pictures?
Think in sounds?
Tactile approach to life – doodler, foot
wiggling?
Visual – easiest to read. Reading is visual.
Aural – uses structure and context well.
Kinesthetic – can’t stay in chair – makes reading and writing a bit
more challenging.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Confucius
♦I hear and I forget.
♦I see and I remember.
♦I do and I understand.
This is the way many of us have heard this bit of wisdom.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Benjamin Franklin
♦Tell me and I forget.
♦Teach me and I
remember.
♦Involve me and I learn.
Ben Franklin put it in teacher language.
Marie Clay is very multi-sensory! Her early research
included Dr. Orton and D.B. Elkonin. Movement and
manipulation of letters, words and sentences are
hallmarks of Reading Recovery.
Moving to learn is laced through-out Reading Recovery.
Having the child stand at the board and use the vertical
plane with large gross motor movements, generating
from the shoulder, is a crucial way in to directionality
and letter development.
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Pushing magnetic letters, again on a vertical plane,
carefully and thoughtfully to the left while saying letter
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Educational Kinestheology
♦Move to learn
♦Coordinate finger, eyes and
ears
♦Movement tied to cognition
♦Get senses involved - get
moving
Brain Gym -- theory extension of water aerobics.
Water aerobics / crossing medial line -- demo...
When eyes cross medial line in back and forth motion it engages both
sides of the brain and promotes cognitive development.
That’s a cornerstone in the foundation that you must read to become
a better reader! Have you ever noticed that students who read a lot
tend to do better in school, in general -- cognitive development!
Article for AEA magazine
Smart Moves/ Brain Gym / infinity circle...Hook-ups…
Boxing gloves on chalkboard – Cross medial line…
Balance with visual!!!!
Directionality Activity
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If not using spaces, have them share a chair...
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Make them all match!
♦Finger
♦Eye
♦Mouth
Have large check mark in my room – Constant reminder that this
is key – when reading or writing!
Activity - Dr.
Jean #5 Letter aerobics / Bewitched #1
“I’ll say a lower case letter. If it is tall – stand up. If all of it
sits on the line – sit. If it has a tail – touch the floor.”
Supports spatial intelligence and awareness of print.
Display an alphabet with lower case letters!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Phonological Awareness
Are we SURE they
understand?
a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s
t u v w x y z
Phonemic awareness is crucial to reading success. The National
Reading Panel lists that as #1 in their National Council Report.
Learning to hear and manipulate sounds!
S / L -- not always reciprocal with L / S
Notice kids who are better at one than the other? Discrepancy
between reading and writing is a key that phonological awareness
is not secure.
Writing, or encoding, is S / L – Hearing and Recording Sounds in
Words is a real tell. Reading, or decoding, is L / S. How many of
us say, “Get your mouth ready on the first letter?” How secure
are they in the L / S correspondence?
ACTIVITY - Steps #11 A, aa, B, bb, C, cc, D, dd, E, ee
Or Dr. Jean Feldman’s ‘Who Let the Letters Out?’
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Practice reading the alphabet by the sounds.
Try it! It’s not as easy as it sounds!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Stages of
Phonemic Awareness
Clearly the most difficult activity is to blend and segment
phonemes. This is also the ‘black hole’ of reading and writing.
Reflect: Just how do you teach for this very specific skill?
Share with your neighbor…
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Blending Phonemes
“Say each letter sound, in
order.
Don’t let one sound out of
your mouth till you get to
the very end!”
Peter Johnston – Choice Words. Hard to teach – could not blend.
All kids say – ‘Sound it out’
One Special Ed SIRI class assignment – how teach blending
phonemes. Just expect them to be able to do this!
Truly where reading breaks down!
Eg: said
/s/id
/s/a
/ and / sand
Explicitly clear – explain about brain…
Keep sounds together to the end to cross the bridge…
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Segmenting Phonemes
‘Elkonin boxes are an instructional method used in the early
elementary grades to build phonological awareness by segmenting
words into syllables or sounds. They are named after the Russian
psychologist who pioneered their use. The "boxes" are squares
drawn on a piece of paper or a chalkboard, with one box for each
syllable or phoneme, depending on what kind of segmentation is
being done. To use Elkonin boxes, a child listens to a word and
moves a token into a box for each syllable or phoneme. In some
cases different colored tokens may be used for consonants and
vowels or just for each phoneme in the word.’
Beauty of Elkonin boxes, framework for
thinking…
Another multi-sensory support for segmenting phonemes is using
fingers. Talking ‘whale’ like ‘Dory’ in Finding Nemo helps them
practice slowing their speech and begin hearing the phonemes.
Holding chin, mirror, etc. (especially for vowel differenctiation)…
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Game – throw a word – catch and segment
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Pictures for Digraphs
sh
sh
A picture is worth a thousand words. The top one is
obviously my drawing. I have a similar ‘sh’ drawing. They
are large and prominent and become constant cues for
some tough digraphs.
Children practice the movement with the sound, while
looking at the picture – say it, see it, hear it, feel it
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Giving a Visual to Vowels
Vowels are hardest – Explain why they are special –
they are the only letters that actually can say their
names and they have more than one sound.
Long / Short – Visual – in mouth a long time…long box.
in mouth a short
time…short box.
Physical toys with letters – tactile
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
From Noticer to Solver
♦ Print is the first place orientation
matters
bdpq tfrhnm sz vwxy
c o e lk ij un WM
♦ Learning is the
“changing participation in an
activity.”
Vygotsky
♦ The way they look at print must change!
What are you noticing?” Have children explain differences.
Have them put what they see in their own words (extension of letter
sorts -- plays to proficiency of writing math, etc. -- great cognitive
exercise.)
Lots of tricks for those directionally challenged kids.
bd with hands…
Baby b in the mommy B…
Dog – nose first…d
Tic Tac Toe with a twist – to win the letters have to be accurate!
ad bp ce ft gj hr io lk mn qu sz vw xy
Highest level in Bloom’s Taxonomy -- Metacognition -- thinking about
thinking -- ultimate goal.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Let’s get
physical…
♦Say
♦See
♦Do
Say, see and do ‘around up and down d’ for instance. ‘Stick way
down, up and around – p’. Sheet in handouts of lc letters with
vocal directions. This often corrects directionality issues.
Activity - Dr. Jean #5 Letter aerobics / Bewitched #1
I’ll say a lower case letter. If it is tall – stand up. If all of it
sits on the line – sit. If it has a tail – touch the floor.
Supports spatial intelligence and awareness of print.
Display an alphabet with lower case letters!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Distinguish the Salient Points
♦ Letter sorts - Eg.
Eg. All letters that go
around first or all letters that have a
stick first…
C
coadgqesf
l
lhrnmtbpk
\
vwxy
Multi-sensory way to look at print!
What you do depends on the learners needs. Observation is key -also difficult in the classroom -- but essential for moving them
forward.
Let student decide on how to sort -- then justify it. Make them
think! Eg. Array - L/S, S/L – FAST, Flexible. Go both ways –
need both ways.
Activity Have
them sort all but z lower case letters
by these shapes…
Match Me game…
Have students design for other students -- good center activity.
Creates discussion -- no absolutes, discuss why!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Make them look and
discover
how print works…
♦Word sorts –
Eg.
Eg. sort by patterns, blends,
number of syllables, rule breakers
♦ ABC,
ABC,DEF.
DEF.GHI!
GHI!JKL?
JKL?MNOP –
Q,R,S,TUV...
TUV...
“WXYZ!”
WXYZ!”
Word concept is taught by reading the spaces…Spaces determine
what a letter is – a family of letters that stand together. Think
about it from their standpoint. If they are writing with no spaces, are
they really seeing print as productively as they need? Ask them to
count the spaces – ‘a tell’ – ask how many words are on that page?
How many kids read right through large spaces indicating
paragraphs? Teach them to read the spaces and what those spaces
mean. They are there for a reason! Pause, change of thought, new
character talking…
Make sure you teach them to read the punctuation! They need to
know that everything they are looking at makes a difference – the
spaces and all the sticks and balls and lines and squiggles – and it is
up to us to teach them how.
We
2/3/2009
teach periods in writing, but do you in reading? How about
commas and talking marks. Teach them, model it, hold them
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
They need to notice
before can they can solve!
♦ Practice fast, visual recognition of words
and word parts -- Continual refinement
of visual processing
‘Mask and ask’
♦ “Practice being fast!”
After reading a book and talking about the story, go back and
mask with your fingers or a card everything but the word you
want them to focus on and have them quickly read the word.
Reinforce some sight words, saying… “This word helped you
read.”
What part of that word helped you?
Show yourself the chunk…
As the student is ready to look at parts, ask, “What part
helped you know that word?” “Do you see a chunk that
works like a word you know?”
Eg. Away – day – play
2/3/2009
town – cow shouted – out
That chunk will help you read and write other words that
work the same way. Can you think of a word that rhymes?
Let’s see if it works like that.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
The Spelling Test
One morning in a spelling test
The teacher said to Hugh:
I have a word for you to spell.
The word is 'kangaroo.'"
But Hugh was puzzled by the word
Which wasn't one he knew,
So, when he wrote it on the board,
He printed "hannagrue."
Read about Hugh -a particular favorite...
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
The Spelling Test con’t
...
con’t...
"No, No! Go take your seat,"
The teacher said to Hugh,
"And take along this copy card.
The card says 'kangaroo,'
Then get your pencil out," she said,
"And get your notebook, too.
And write the word a hundred times
And tell me when you're through."
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
The Spelling Test con’t
...
con’t...
So Hugh did just exactly what
The teacher told him to,
And, when he handed in his work,
The teacher said to Hugh:
"I hope you know your spelling now."
And Hugh said, "Yes, I do,"
Then - walking bravely to the board He printed "kannagrue."
How often is this the solution for those kids that cannot
learn their spelling words? Yes, we learn through our
hand -- that’s the basis for copying words.
Sarah used to list all first letters, then all
second letters -- often misspelled -- no clue how word
looked as a unit. Red flag even as a mom!
They must understand how words work. Don’t you think
they wonder, “how can I learn all these words?
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
How can I teach them
to learn?
♦ “Kangaroo - Clap it! Three parts...
♦ Kang - works like king with a for i
♦ a/ sounds like short u / panda
panda, pizza
pizza,
banana,
banana, santa
santa
♦ roo - like zoo
♦ Any surprise letters?
♦ Picture it in your head
♦ Write it and check it - are you right?”
Kangaroo example
Ask for examples, then demo...
Break it down into workable parts.
No clap without a vowel!
Activity: Clap Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Feel parts down arm – left with physical sensation of
number of parts…
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Link to something they know. Model how to think this
way -- a lot! Think out loud.
Yes ter day – e the only surprise letter!
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He
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Model ‘How to Learn’
♦ Teacher helps child attend to relevant
features – surprise letter, pattern,
analogy
♦ You show child – child shows you!
♦ Model – “Check it!” – over & over &
over...
♦ Push for ‘overlearning
‘overlearning’’
♦Point out reciprocity
Help child learn to look -- if they already knew, you
wouldn’t need to help them!
Have child tell you -- what helped you know that? The
more the child has to explain, the more he practices
thinking…metacognition!
Hears himself – multi-sensory!
Ask, “What can you do to help yourself?” Set them up
for independence.
Be the voice in their heads...
This will help you when you read / write.
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Point out reciprocity continually!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Make them manipulate
words…
♦ “Learning is experience. Everything
else is just information.”
Albert Einstein
♦ More experience organizes
information into larger chunks better links to memory.
Benjamin Bloom
Experience -- what are your students doing to learn?
Cut up words / sentences
Write on each others backs. Write in shaving cream
Tactile -- sandpaper, sidewalk chalk, trace on rug and
visualize, use brick walls -- it’s the drag that impacts the brain -“think how it feels to make that letter/word”
Brick wall…
Starting point important because it organizes the
information in the brain with some consistency -- ‘stick down with
a dot, tall stick down and across – ‘it’ - check it - does it look
right?’
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Story Puzzles
Cut-up words and/or sentences
Good center activity. Write sentence on strip and on
an envelope. Cut up the sentence word by word, or
perhaps with some onset/rime cuts, and place in
envelope. Hint: Use different color strips for each
story in the center. Teach them to leave a space
between the words.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Practice for visual acuity
♦ Scan texts for specific words –
visual discrimination of print
♦ ‘Word finds’
♦ Sort words by relationship of parts
pail, safe, train, like, here, fair, rope
♦ “Do you know a word that works like
that?”
♦ Teach by analogy how words work!
Make them look. Create visual acuity -- accuracy in looking.
“Find the word ____ on this page. What would you expect
to see at the beginning of that word?”
Teach them to think by analogy!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Reading is Visual
♦ Link from known to new - visual
patterns
got – not
dad – had it – hit
If you know is,
is, then you know his
his!!
♦ Guidelines, not rules - provide a place
to start solving the word
No matter how you cut the cake -- reading is a visual skill.
Auditory and kinesthetic learners need extra help in learning to
develop this skill.
Model thinking out loud about how one word will help you get to
another word. Get them looking at chunks as early as possible!
‘Rules are made to be broken’ -- but “rules” give us a place to
start solving -- mnemonic when possible...
Two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. (Make
sure they understand a vowel!) boat, read
Mean E hangs out at the end to kick vowel in the pants and make
it say its name.
(Make sure they understand ‘its name’). mad - made
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E only talks when it has a vowel friend. - Katie
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Orthography –
the visual sense of words
♦ Point out the regularities of words
♦ ‘Word pictures’ are the foundation for
print (my,
(my, to, of, one, there, could, what)
♦ Promotes cognitive development for
visual learning - essential for literacy!
♦ Provides strategy for taking on new
words in both reading and writing
Phonics begins the visual process of L-S
correspondence. It traditionally teaches the rules.
(Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension)
Missing link -- teach orthography -- visual sense of
words for those non-visual learners...
g j - share tail and sound
dad – all three letters go around up and down dog –
all around good – all around
Mr. – Mrs. is Mr. with curly hair
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Visualization is Key!
♦ Teach them to develop word pictures in
their heads
♦ Practice this skill
♦ Use this tool to write it and check it
♦ Bridge between phonics and whole
language
Perhaps most useful slide up here -- tremendous
difference for some students.
Traditionally right brain –
attention to detail somewhat lacking
-- often aural or kinesthetic learners -Teach them to visualize. It is a skill that
must be practiced.
Eg: my, the, of, one, are, there, her
Write it
look at it
close eyes and picture word
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write word with finger on table while seeing the word in
head
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Dew knot trussed
you’re spell chequer
two fined awl yore
mistakes.
Teach flexibility early!
Teach them to check.
Does that look right?
Technically correct
Teach flexibility early several ways words can work
Teach them to check Look at it!
Make the buck stop with them. All too often it’s the
teacher’s eyes that do the checking –
or ‘ask three before me’.
How about teaching them to reread and
CHECK IT THEMSELVES!
Does that look right?
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
You try it...
♦Do not trust
your spell checker
to find all your
mistakes.
Activity: Can you write this the way you just saw it -the ‘alternate’ version? You have the advantage over
print learners -- you know what the alternate spelling
patterns look like!
Important to help them develop orthographic awareness!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Print Pyramid –
What did they miss?
♦ Build a strong
foundation
♦ Monitoring
with known
words is
essential
♦ Insist on
accurate sight
words
Synda Slegeski inspiration for this!
for over-learning at foundation.
Don’t miss a step!
Teach
If older reader miscues on sight words it derails a
reader from the storyline and inhibits both syntactical as well as
contextual clues. They are left with strictly visual processing,
creating difficulty on bigger words -- can’t decode well -Suggest they reread and catch the word that tricked them.
Often context will help them -- increases fluency, ultimately!
Sight words are the mortar that holds reading
together. Insist on accurate sight words.
Observe your student -- what part of this are they
missing in their reading and writing?
These strategies are approximated according to
Reading Recovery book levels.
One to one match and monitoring with known words are keys
2/3/2009
to creating visual acuity. This is where they are literally learning
to look at print.
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Teach them to check!
♦Does it look right?
♦Does it sound right?
♦Does it make sense?
If I could have made you all posters of this, I would have.
Write this big and post in your rooms -- include
eyes, an ear and a light bulb for graphics and for those nonreaders.
This needs to be the reading mantra for every
student. It gives them a way to check for themselves. If it
doesn’t do all three, then something is tricking them and they
need to be word detectives and figure it out!!!
Fun foam stars to make them ‘Word Detectives’...
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Blessed are the
flexible
for they shall not
break!
Advice from my aunt when I started teaching -Words of wisdom not only for us,
but for our students.
Peter Johnston referred to this as ‘Resiliency’
We need to teach for this as well!
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Learning to look at print / Jacquie Hurwitz
Jacquie Hurwitz, Reading Recovery
teachtolook@
[email protected]
aol.com
What a difference another perspective makes.
I hope this provides a different perspective!
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