Potent Factors in Oral Reading and Oral Language: II. Story-Telling and the Poem

Literature on deficiencies of poor readers is reviewed and criticized. Based on studies of oral reading errors and instructional effects, the major problem for beginning readers is learning to decode printed words to oral language accurately. Low decoding accuracy persists into secondary school and is derived mainly from inadequate early development of auditory and phonological skills. Poor readers older than about 8 were found to be inferior to good readers in: 1) decoding accuracy, 2) decoding speed, 3) perception of orthographic regularity, 4) segmenting sentences and paragraphs sematically, and 5) constructing meaning at sentence and paragraph levels. Optimal teaching for poor readers should include a substantial commitment of time to directed, well-integrated instruction aimed toward improving all cognitive deficiencies related to reading. Instructional principles should be adapted differently to poor readers at primary and intermediate levels.

Download Full-text

Story Telling is Not Fibbing!

Teaching and Learning ◽

10.26522/tl.v2i1.119 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cecil Hamilton

Keyword(s):

Fairy Tales ◽

Oral Language ◽

Building Block ◽

Reading Process ◽

Story Telling ◽

Smoldering Fire

We all have a favourite story or stories that we have filed away in our memory banks. These may be fables, fairy tales, stories of family origins as told by an elderly relative or be even a naughty tale picked up from one of our friends and retold to a few of our buddies. When one shares one's favourite story one becomes a storyteller. This art of passing on information orally dates back to a much earlier time. The purpose of this article is not to deal with the development of oral language and the sharing of information around a smoldering fire but rather to deal with storytelling as an essential building block in the reading process.

Download Full-text

Sleep-Related Breathing Problem Trajectories Across Early Childhood and Academic Achievement-Related Performance at Age Eight

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661156 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Harding ◽

Elizabeth Schaughency ◽

Jillian J. Haszard ◽

Amelia I. Gill ◽

Rebekah Luo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Academic Performance ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Oral Reading ◽

Oral Language ◽

Academic Outcomes ◽

Sleep Problems ◽

Academic Skills ◽

Children’S Sleep ◽

Sleep Difficulties

Background: Childhood sleep disordered breathing (SDB) has been linked to poorer academic performance; however, research has not investigated the extent improvement in SDB may alter outcomes across key academic skills. This study aimed to investigate if children's early SDB status could predict later academic outcomes, and if an improvement in SDB status across the early childhood years would coincide with better, later performance in key academic skills related to reading, numeracy, and listening comprehension.Methods: Eighty five case children with an SDB symptom score >25 (maximum 77) were matched to 85 control children (score <12) at recruitment (age 3). SDB severity (symptom history and clinical assessment) was evaluated at ages 3, 4, 6, and 8 years and performance on individually-administered academic skills assessed at age 8 (91% retention from age 3). Case children were categorized into “improved” or “not-improved” groups based on SDB trajectories over the 5 years. Contributions of SDB status and trajectory group to academic performance were determined using regression analysis adjusted for demographic variables.Results: History of SDB from age 3 predicted significantly poorer performance on some key academic skills (oral reading and listening skills) at age 8. Children whose SDB improved (45%) performed better in oral reading fluency than those whose SDB did not improve, but difficulties with specific tasks involving oral language (listening retell) remained when compared to controls.Conclusion: Findings support links between early SDB and worse academic outcomes and suggest key academic areas of concern around oral language. Findings highlight the need for child mental health professionals to be aware of children's sleep problems, particularly SDB (past and present), when assessing potential barriers to children's achievement, to assist with appropriate and timely referrals for evaluation of children's sleep difficulties and collaborative evaluation of response to intervention for sleep difficulties.

Download Full-text