Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j3DEtDG18257; Wed, 13 Apr 2005 10:55:13 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 10:55:13 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <LOBBICLOAFKBEPDBHIAJGEMOFNAA.l.cuttler@comcast.net> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Lucille Cuttler" <l.cuttler@comcast.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4695] Re: Synthetic phonics a silver bullet? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.6604 (9.0.2911.0) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 7425 Lines: 245 Hi Bruce, Precisely so. Good analogy. O-G lays the foundation, sequential direct instruction one sound - one letter - at a time. Learn part A, review it, add Part B, and so on. Lucille Cuttler -----Original Message----- From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Bruce Carmel Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 7:48 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-LD:4691] Re: Synthetic phonics a silver bullet? I know John's music analogy is just an analogy, but I would like to use it to talk a little more about phonics: If I were a music teacher, I think I don't think I would start with teaching someone to produce a few notes. I would start with asking "why are you here?" and "what do you want to learn?" I would find out what he/she already knew. Maybe she already knew how to make the notes or to read music or maybe not. I might play the instrument for her and ask her to watch and listen. And then, during this first lesson (assuming she was a total beginner), I would help her to play a few notes, but not notes that didn't mean anything. We would learn how to play the first few notes of a song like "Mary Had a Little Lamb." (That's the part John suggested) That way the notes would mean something and be connected to the final goal of being a musician. There is some music "phonics" in there, but it's not just the phonics. I prefer a balanced literacy/music approach. The "phonics first" approach leaves out some very important steps that I have found to be very useful in working with beginning readers. >From Bruce Carmel Turning Point Brooklyn NY Applying that to reading is maybe he/she played another instrument. Two points: one--I am struck by my own response to John's synthetic phonics post. It made me defensive. I am trying to be open to the possibility that there is something interesting in this study and to not just have a knee-jerk defensive reaction. The teaching music analogy is an interesting one. --- John Nissen <jn@cloudworld.co.uk> wrote: > > Hello Lucille, > > "Synthetic phonics" is not an invention, or even a > tool. It is more a > realisation that it is important to start with the > fundamentals. > > Consider the music analogy. In teaching how to play > a musical instrument, > it is usual to start with producing a few individual > notes, and then to show > how these notes can be used to make up a simple > tune. This can be done > without written music. But the written music can > actually help in showing > how tunes are made up of notes. If you play the > notes together, out pops > the tune. > > Thus in synthetic phonics you start with a few > phoneme sounds and > corresponding letter shapes, including a mixture of > vowels and consonants. > Then when the learner sees these letters together in > a word, and blends the > sounds of the letters together (which is the > difficult bit for some people), > out pops the sound of the word. > > You can read a good article about it on > http://www.syntheticphonics.com/: > > http://www.syntheticphonics.com/word%20documents/Debbie%20Hepplewhites%20adv ice%20on%20synthetic%20phonics%20teaching.doc > > Cheers, > > John > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lucille Cuttler" <l.cuttler@comcast.net> > To: "Multiple recipients of list" > <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> > Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 4:50 AM > Subject: [NIFL-LD:4688] Re: Synthetic phonics a > silver bullet? > > > > Why reinvent the wheel? We know that direct, > explicit, multisensory > > instruction is the answer for struggling students. > This Orton-Gillingham > > approach is being practiced by professionals since > the early 20th century. > > It conforms to the criteria of The No Child Left > Behind law that asks for > > teaching methods based on scientific research. > The struggling student, > > whether child or adult, needs this approach to > understand how 44 phonemes > > can be expressed by 26 letters of the alphabet. > All languages have a > > structure, English included. Professionals using > the Orton method > > understand > > that you go as slow as you must and as fast as you > can. Consider one more > > good tool to use along with others to accommodate > the very many learning > > differences students exhibit. > > > > Lucille Cuttler > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov]On > Behalf Of Anita > > Landoll > > Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 8:37 AM > > To: Multiple recipients of list > > Subject: [NIFL-LD:4683] Re: Synthetic phonics a > silver bullet? > > > > > > I would rather teach students to multi-sensorily > > decode the words they need to learn in order to > read > > the material they need to read. > > Scientists theorize that in the brain of a natural > > reader, the words move through the decoding area > of > > the brain into the auto recognition area. Once the > > reader gets enough useful words into the auto > > recognition area, then meaningful connections are > made > > and can increase. > > So, I think that it is important to teach the > student > > to "do the decoding" of meaningful words for > > her/himself, to see the "sound spelling." Then the > > written spelling makes sense, and can be added to > the > > student's auto recognition. > > > > Anita > > --- John Nissen <jn@cloudworld.co.uk> wrote: > >> > >> Hi all, > >> > >> Please excuse the cross posting. > >> > >> A remarkable study in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, > >> showed that 300 children, > >> taught synthetic phonics from the start, were > over > >> three years ahead of > >> their peers by age 11. The boys were as advanced > >> with their reading as the > >> girls. The Commons Select Committee on Education > >> and Skills reported on the > >> study on Wednesday, April 6, and the report was > >> mentioned on BBC news and in > >> The Times (on the front page and in the Leader) > the > >> following day. This > >> report said that the government should review the > >> National Literacy Strategy > >> in the light of the Clackmannanshire study, since > >> currently around 17% of > >> pupils cannot not read by age 11 and this was a > >> national disgrace. > >> > >> The Leader in the Times said that synthetic > phonics > >> was unlikely to be a > >> silver bullet; however the synthetic phonics > method > >> had everybody reading > >> within a short time, which is a silver bullet by > my > >> book. > >> > >> A few weeks ago, having read about the > >> Clackmannanshire study which prompted > >> the report, I wrote about the implications for > >> dyslexia, and how technology > >> can help, see: > >> > http://www.cloudworld.co.uk/synthetic-phonics.htm. > >> Now, in the light of the committee report, I've > just > >> posted some notes on > >> our web site, see: > >> > > > http://www.cloudworld.co.uk/teaching-synthetic-phonics.htm. > >> > >> Cheers from Chiswick, > >> > >> John Nissen, > >> director, Cloudworld Ltd > >> > >> > >> Cloudworld Ltd - http://www.cloudworld.co.uk > >> maker of the assistive reader, WordAloud. > >> Tel: +44 208 742 3170 Fax: +44 208 742 0202 > >> Email: info@cloudworld.co.uk > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Make Yahoo! your home page > > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > > > > > > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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