ILA Makes It Clear: Students Need Systematic, Explicit Phonics via EdWeek

Meeting the Challenges of 

Early Literacy Phonics Instruction

Influential Reading Group Makes It Clear: Students Need Systematic, Explicit Phonics

EdWeek: 7.18.2019 by Stephen Sawchuk

The International Literacy Association has put out a new brief endorsing "systematic and explicit" phonics in all early reading instruction.

"English is an alphabetic language. We have 26 letters. These letters, in various combinations, represent the 44 sounds in our language," the ILA brief released last week reads. "Teaching students the basic letter-sound combinations gives them access to sounding out approximately 84% of the words in English print." 

It's a strong statement from an influential, big-tent organization whose members, which include teachers, researchers, and parents, have traditionally held a wide range of views on reading approaches.

"

It's kind of a refreshing piece," said Timothy Shanahan, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "A lot of people think ILA is an anti-phonics group, but it's a large group."

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This may seem like common sense: Of course students need to be taught letters and sounds. But for any of you who have spent any time in the early-reading space, it gets right to the heart of the decades-old reading wars.

Almost all reading researchers agree that factors like motivation, access to a print-rich environment, and good books matter in a reading program. The reading wars are really a debate on a small—but critical—piece: The relative importance of phonics, sometimes called "decoding."

The pro-phonics folks tend to view phonics as a bridge to meaning, reasoning that they're a necessary step toward being able to read any word. Proponents of whole language or its successor "balanced literacy," which is a common approach used in U.S. schools today, generally emphasize meaning first, mixing small-group reading of literature with lots of student choice of reading materials. Those approaches tend to subordinate phonics, emphasizing learning words through memorization, context clues, and pictures.  READ MORE >>

Reading Fluently Does Not Mean Reading Fast via ILA

Reading Fluently Does Not Mean Reading Fast

Literacy Leadership Brief 2: 2018 ILA

Reading can be an effortless pleasure and a life changing gift, and for many lucky people, this is exactly their personal experience with the act of reading. Unfortunately, for millions of others, reading is not a positive experience.

What we have learned from decades of research is that reading is a highly complex task that involves many interconnected and codependent linguistic processes that draw upon a variety of separate skills. When these various mechanics are well established, reading happens automatically and effortlessly. One of the essential skills that must be in place for efficient reading to occur is fluency. Unfortunately, many students struggle with fluency. In addition, there is a widespread misunderstanding about both what fluency is and the role it plays in skillful reading.

Defining Fluency

What is reading fluency? Many questions surround the definition of fluency as a concept, in part because fluency has many subtle mechanics that are interdependent and therefore difficult to separate. These mechanics, or skills, work together to enable fluent reading. Most definitions of reading fluency include three observable and measurable components: accuracy, rate, and expression (sometimes referred to as prosody).

Fluency may be defined as “reasonably accurate reading, at an appropriate rate, with suitable expression, that leads to accurate and deep comprehension and motivation to read” (Hasbrouck & Glaser, 2012, p. 13). In this definition, three elements are critical: accuracy, rate, and expression. Each of these elements, therefore, must be understood in turn.

Accuracy

Accuracy is the essential foundation of reading fluency.

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For a truly fluent reader, accurate word identification and meaning happen simultaneously and instantaneously. Reading has become automatic.

Rate

Rate is often used mistakenly as a synonym for fluency. However, rate technically refers only to the speed with which students read text.

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However, reading fast is not the same as reading fluently.

Expression

Expression is a component of oral reading that includes the pitch, tone, volume, emphasis, and rhythm in speech or oral reading. Another aspect of expression is a skillful reader’s ability to “chunk” words together into appropriate phrases.

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MOVING FORWARD

• Set reasonable expectations for students’ reading accuracy, rate, and expression, taking reading level, words correct per minute, and type of text (e.g., expository, narrative, poetry) into consideration.

• Aim for students to read grade-level text aloud at around the 50th–75th percentiles, with accuracy and expression.

• Move toward having students be able to read aloud in a manner that mirrors spoken language.

• Practice reading text—carefully selected for at least 95% accuracy—through multiple reads. Pose a specific comprehension-focused purpose for each reading.

• Preview vocabulary through explicit decoding and discuss meaning. Model the reading of several sentences that use the vocabulary terms as a preview for the text, then have students practice reading the same sentences.

• Use partner reading or teacher-monitored oral reading in small groups.

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