Reading Difficulties
A tremendous amount of research over the past 20 years has been aimed at understanding reading difficulties, and scientific and educational communities have made an important and very useful discovery:

Studies show that up to 85% of all reading, spelling and writing difficulties are the result of a common cause called a phonological deficit.

Because our written language is based upon oral language, a person’s ability to hear, identify and manipulate the individual sounds within words (phonemic awareness) is vital to becoming a proficient reader. In fact, phonemic awareness is the best indicator for how proficient a reader a person will become; a far better indicator than a person’s intelligence, socio-economic status or where they attend school. When a person over the age of 4 or 5 has difficulties with phonemic awareness, they are said to suffer from a phonological weakness or phonological deficit.

Phonological Deficit:

- Students with a phonological deficit have particular difficulty identifying the sounds that make up individual words, matching the sounds of spoken words with written language and sounding out written words.

- A phonological deficit is neurological in origin. Using brain-imaging techniques, we can see that when a good reader is in the process of reading, a specific part of the brain is active. When someone with a phonological deficit is in the process of reading, different parts of the brain are active – parts of the brain that are far less efficient for reading.

- A phonological deficit doesn’t resolve itself. It also can’t be resolved through traditional classroom instruction or tutoring.

Dyslexia:

- As defined by the National Institutes of Health, dyslexia is simply an unexpected difficulty with reading. “Unexpected” is the key word in this definition: when a student is of average or above-average intelligence, has received appropriate reading instruction, is sufficiently motivated to read and still has difficulty with reading, the student can be diagnosed with dyslexia.

- This unexpected difficulty is almost always the result of a phonological deficit.

The good news is that there is a way to help students who struggle with reading because of a phonological deficit or dyslexia.

We’re proud to provide SpellRead to transform students into confident, successful readers. Parents tell us that SpellRead is a life-changing program for their children – as one of our parents said, “My son Mark was struggling in reading. He is now up to his grade level in reading and wants to read on his own – a huge feat in itself.”

SpellRead – a reading intervention program that is ranked #1 by the U.S. Department of Education for improving reading fluency (US DoE 2007 WWC Intervention Report) – uses a series of intensive, focused, multi-sensory activities to re-train a student’s brain and remediate phonological difficulties. You can learn more about SpellRead on our website: www.lakeside-learning.com.

The Trouble With Bright Girls

Successful women know only too well that in any male-dominated profession, we often find ourselves at a distinct disadvantage. We are routinely underestimated, underutilized and even underpaid. Studies show that women need to perform at extraordinarily high levels, just to appear moderately competent compared to our male coworkers.

But in my experience, smart and talented women rarely realize that one of the toughest hurdles they'll have to overcome to be successful lies within. Compared with our male colleagues, we judge our own abilities not only more harshly but fundamentally differently. Understanding why we do it is the first step to righting a terrible wrong. And to do that, we need to take a step back in time.

Chances are good that if you are a successful professional today, you were a pretty bright fifth grade girl. My graduate advisor, psychologist Carol Dweck (author of "Mindset") conducted a series of studies in the 1980s, looking at how Bright Girls and boys in the fifth grade handled new, difficult and confusing material.



She found that Bright Girls, when given something to learn that was particularly foreign or complex, were quick to give up; the higher the girls' IQ, the more likely they were to throw in the towel. In fact, the straight-A girls showed the most helpless responses. Bright boys, on the other hand, saw the difficult material as a challenge, and found it energizing. They were more likely to redouble their efforts rather than give up.

Why does this happen? What makes smart girls more vulnerable and less confident when they should be the most confident kids in the room? At the 5th grade level, girls routinely outperform boys in every subject, including math and science. So there were no differences between these boys and girls in ability, nor in past history of success. The only difference was how bright boys and girls interpreted difficulty -- what it meant to them when material seemed hard to learn. Bright Girls were much quicker to doubt their ability, to lose confidence and to become less effective learners as a result.

Researchers have uncovered the reason for this difference in how difficulty is interpreted, and it is simply this: More often than not, Bright Girls believe that their abilities are innate and unchangeable, while bright boys believe that they can develop ability through effort and practice.



How do girls and boys develop these different views? Most likely, it has to do with the kinds of feedback we get from parents and teachers as young children. Girls, who develop self-control earlier and are better able to follow instructions, are often praised for their "goodness." When we do well in school, we are told that we are "so smart," "so clever, " or "such a good student." This kind of praise implies that traits like smartness, cleverness and goodness are qualities you either have or you don't.

Boys, on the other hand, are a handful. Just trying to get boys to sit still and pay attention is a real challenge for any parent or teacher. As a result, boys are given a lot more feedback that emphasizes effort (e.g., "If you would just pay attention you could learn this," "If you would just try a little harder you could get it right.") The net result: When learning something new is truly difficult, girls take it as sign that they aren't "good" and "smart," and boys take it as a sign to pay attention and try harder.

We continue to carry these beliefs, often unconsciously, around with us throughout our lives. And because Bright Girls are particularly likely to see their abilities as innate and unchangeable, they grow up to be women who are far too hard on themselves -- women who will prematurely conclude that they don't have what it takes to succeed in a particular arena, and give up way too soon.



Even if every external disadvantage to a woman's rising to the top of an organization is removed -- every inequality of opportunity, every chauvinistic stereotype, all the challenges we face balancing work and family -- we would still have to deal with the fact that through our mistaken beliefs about our abilities, we may be our own worst enemy.

How often have you found yourself avoiding challenges and playing it safe, sticking to goals you knew would be easy for you to reach? Are there things you decided long ago that you could never be good at? Skills you believed you would never possess? If the list is a long one, you were probably one of the Bright Girls -- and your belief that you are "stuck" being exactly as you are has done more to determine the course of your life than you probably ever imagined. This would be fine, if your abilities were innate and unchangeable. Only they're not.

No matter the ability -- whether it's intelligence, creativity, self-control, charm or athleticism -- studies show them to be profoundly malleable. When it comes to mastering any skill, your experience, effort and persistence matter a lot. So if you were a Bright Girl, it's time to toss out your (mistaken) belief about how ability works, embrace the fact that you can always improve and reclaim the confidence to tackle any challenge that you lost so long ago.



Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D..Motivational psychologist and author
Posted: March 1, 2011 07:36 AM

Repeat After Me, "Phonological Awareness"

To understand phonological awareness, we must first know what a phoneme is. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in our language that makes a difference in a word’s meaning. For example, the word cat has three phonemes, /k/ /a/ /t/. By changing the first phoneme, we can produce the word rat. Changing the second phoneme creates the word cut, and we can create the word cab by altering the final phoneme. Words in the English language are composed of strings of phonemes. This is fortunate because it allows us to create all the words we will ever need by using various combinations of just 44 different speech sounds.

Speech scientists have discovered that the human brain is specifically adapted for processing many different kinds of linguistic information, and one part of our biological endowment allows us to process the complex phonological information in speech without actually being aware of the individual phonemes themselves. This is one of the human abilities that makes acquiring speech a natural process, so that almost everyone in the world learns to speak a language with very little direct instruction. However, because phonemes are represented by letters in print, learning to read requires that children become consciously aware of phonemes as individual segments in words. In fact, phonological awareness is most commonly defined as one’s sensitivity to, or explicit awareness of, the phonological structure of words in one’s language. In short, it involves the ability to notice, think about, or manipulate the individual sounds in words.

One of the early signs of emerging sensitivity to the phonological structure of words is the ability to play rhyming games. In order to tell whether two words rhyme, the child must attend to the sounds in the words rather than to the meaning of the words. In addition, the child must focus attention on only one part of a word rather than on the way it sounds as a whole. As children grow in awareness of the phonemes in words, they become better able to judge whether words have the same first or last sounds; with further development, they become able to isolate and pronounce the first, last, or middle sounds in words. At its highest levels of development, awareness of individual phonemes in words is evidenced by the ability to separately pronounce the sounds in even multi-syllable words or to tell exactly how two words like task and tacks are different.

Acquiring phonological awareness involves two things: learning that words can be divided into segments of sound smaller than a syllable, and learning about individual phonemes themselves. As children acquire more and more conscious knowledge of the distinctive features of phonemes (how they sound when they occur in words, or how they feel when they are pronounced), they become more adept at noticing their identity and order when they occur in words. For example, while children in the first semester of first grade might be able to isolate and identify the first or last sound of a word like man, by the end of first grade, most children can easily, and relatively automatically, segment all the sounds in a more complex word like clap.

Overcoming Dyslexia

Dr. Sally Shaywitz offers new facts — and new hope — about how every young child can become a better reader.

Kids who struggle with reading need extra help and lots of practice.

At a Glance:

• Reading problems often go undiagnosed until elementary school.
• When young children get prompt, intensive help, they can master reading.
• Kids with reading problems need to practice often; the brain learns from practice.
• If your child is struggling, encourage him to do something he is good at, such as soccer or art.

When a child struggles with reading, life can be hard: The ability, or inability, to read directly affects every aspect of her life, including her self-esteem. Unfortunately, almost 40 percent of 4th grade students in the United States read below grade level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The large number of struggling readers is due in part to the fact that reading problems — namely dyslexia, which affects 10 million children nationwide — often go undiagnosed until children are well into elementary school, when it's much more difficult to address them.

However, we now know that reading problems can be identified in early childhood and, with the appropriate support, there is a good chance struggling readers will go on to become good readers. A groundbreaking study by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine revealed that when children are taught solid decoding skills (connecting sounds with letters) early on, and get prompt, intensive help in learning spelling, vocabulary and comprehension skills, they can indeed master necessary reading skills. In fact, researchers discovered — through comparing brain scans of struggling readers with those who received intense help — that the intervention helped "turn on" and stimulate the brain's reading systems.

To find out what it really means to have dyslexia and what you can do to help your child build stronger literacy skills, the editors at Scholastic's Parent & Child turned to Sally Shaywitz, M.D., a co-author of the Yale study and the author of the widely acclaimed book Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. "Teaching matters," says Shaywitz. "You can change a child's brain when it comes to reading."

Parent & Child: What is the leading reading problem among young children?

Dr. Shaywitz: Dyslexia. People think it's a rare problem, but it's not. It's simply not true that reading comes naturally and easily to everyone. In fact, many boys and girls — including very bright ones — have a hard time learning to read. This problem is called dyslexia.

P&C: What challenges does a child with dyslexia face?

Dr. Shaywitz: For beginning readers, dyslexia involves an inability to notice and manipulate the sounds in spoken words. This deficit affects reading accuracy, and later, reading rate and spelling. Once a child develops an awareness of the sounds of spoken words, he can then link the letters to these sounds and go on to sound out new words. That's the key to breaking the reading code — and we have to help children who struggle to do it.

Very often, children who are dyslexic also have terrible handwriting. Their mouths have trouble forming sounds and their hands have trouble forming letters.

P&C: Do dyslexic children also see letters and words backward?

Dr. Shaywitz: No, that's a myth. And it's also a myth that dyslexia will be outgrown, that it's just a lag in a child's reading skills. Dyslexia is not outgrown; this means that children need to get help as soon as a problem is noticed.

P&C: What are the signs that might signal a young child is struggling?
Dr. Shaywitz: Children around age 3 and older may have trouble enjoying or learning common nursery rhymes, like Jack and Jill, or recognizing that in the "Cat in the Hat" rhyme, the common link is "at." A little later, they may have trouble recognizing the names or sounds of letters in the alphabet. I'm not talking about singing the ABC song, but about identifying a letter and knowing its name and then its sound. They may be unable to read or write their own names.

The good news is that this is a time of great hope. Until now, we didn't know why children were slow readers. Now we know, and we can help. We know we can prevent a child from developing a reading problem in the first place — or solve the problem early by helping at the first sign of a struggle.

P&C: You recommend "intensive intervention" to help. What exactly do you mean?

Dr. Shaywitz: A reading problem is very serious. Kids with reading problems need reading programs that are scientifically proven to work; they also need to have intensive intervention — not just 15 minutes or a half-hour a week. They need to practice often; the brain learns from practice. If we want a child to be a good baseball player, we say, "Go out there and throw that ball." Reading is not natural; speaking is. Reading needs to be taught, and it needs to be taught in ways that are proven to be effective.

P&C: What kind of support can a parent provide?

Dr. Shaywitz: Reading to your child is important, and especially reading books that rhyme, such as Dr. Seuss books. You can also make up your own jingles and stories that highlight a certain sound, like "sss."

From the time a child starts talking, you can help him break words into syllables. You can teach him to clap the number of sounds in his name, or the syllables in each day of the week. The idea is to pull apart spoken words.

If your child is struggling, it's equally important to encourage him to do something he loves and is good at, whether it's playing soccer or painting. Even though it takes a lot of time to help children learn to read, there has to be time for fun too.

P&C: What should a parent do if she thinks her child has a reading problem?

Dr. Shaywitz: The first step is to see your child's pediatrician, who can make a referral for further evaluation. For young children, the best expert is usually a speech and language pathologist.

P&C: In your book, you write about the special strengths of children with dyslexia. Please explain.

Dr. Shaywitz: A lot of successful people are dyslexic, including the author John Irving, the playwright Wendy Wasserstein, the financial expert Charles Schwab, and the noted heart surgeon, Delos Cosgrove, M.D. My husband [Dr. Bennett Shaywitz, M.D.] and I have developed a model: A dyslexic child has a weakness in decoding surrounded by a "sea of strengths." These higher-level strengths apply to comprehension, knowledge, problem-solving, and more. Children who struggle with dyslexia often see the big picture when others don't, and they often excel in life.

Reflective Journal

The curriculum map I created for ED 532, clearly demonstrates an improvement in my teaching practices, my mastery of program competencies, and a positive impact on student learning. Prior to creating a curriculum map, much of my teaching was trial and error, based on a predetermined curriculum that was largely teacher focused instead of student focused. This naturally resulted in behavior problems and curriculum that needed on-the-spot adjusting.



Mastery of Program Competencies

My work on the curriculum map has greatly improved the subjects I teach and how to teach those subjects to students, which is course competency number 2. The focus of my mapping on early reading skills was better targeted in the areas of linguistic foundation and the reading activities out of books. By switching the focus from a teacher-focused approach to the curriculum to a student-focused approach, I was able to make proper adjustments based on the student's response. This was also made possible through more careful planning prior to instruction each day. By having several activities to pull from to teach the early reading skills, I was able to use the most appropriate ones for that particular student. My greatest learning in this course competency is to learn from my students. This carries over into course competency number 3, which is think systematically about your practice and learn from experiences. It's expected that there will still continue to be some trial and error that occurs through learning from my experiences. However, through better reflection and collaboration better implementation of the practice will improve the way the learnings get applied.



Impact on Learning

Clearly what I am most proud of is the impact that my curriculum mapping is having on my students. I have seen a huge improvement in my learner's linguistic foundation, resulting in improved reading fluency. My students are more engaged because their instructional hour is better planned out and more targeted to what they need. Not only have I seen a huge improvement in their learning outcomes, but also in their level of focus and behavior. I spend very little time refocusing my students, which has resulted in more concepts being covered within the hour. In addition to that, my student's parents have commented on how much more their kids want to come to the program. In measuring student progress since I started using the curriculum mapping, I have seen an increase in skill level of one month more per each month in the program. While the results are still far from scientific, I am confident that the positive results will continue to improve as my ability to plan and implement improves.