Richard Sinatra

Creating a culture of vocabulary acquisition for children living in poverty

This paper presents a compelling case for early and sustained vocabulary development for children reared in poverty. Research findings indicate that vocabulary knowledge is a critical factor in literacy and academic success for low-income children from preschool to higher levels of schooling. Vocabulary proficiency is strongly related to language and reading understanding and to success in academic subjects, particularly when topics are presented with semantically laden words related to conceptual knowledge. Practitioners learn which words to emphasize in the continuum range of high frequency/high utility to rare words and why conversation, discussion, book readings, morpheme and root word play, and writing become so important in the learning of new words. Presented are four broad suggestions relating to (1) using enhanced talk in the classroom, (2) capitalizing on the rich vocabulary of childrens book authors, (3) manipulating morphemes with word roots, and (4) developing the vocabulary of informational topics. Practitioners can readily implement these suggestions in their own classroom contexts, thereby creating positive climates of vocabulary acquisition for children with low and meager receptive and productive vocabularies.

The Effects of Read-Alouds of Expository Text on First Graders' Listening Comprehension and Book Choice.

The researchers investigated the effects of listening to expository text on the listening comprehension and book choice of 77 first-grade students. Two intact classes of experimental children heard expository read-alouds over four weeks while two intact classes of 40 controls received no intervention and followed their teachers normal read-aloud schedule. Results indicated that both groups significantly preferred expository text compared to narrative before as well as after the intervention even though participants in the control groups heard narration almost exclusively during routine classroom read-alouds. Additionally, a MANOVA revealed a significant increase in expository listening comprehension of the experimental groups although they scored significantly higher on narration during pretesting. This suggests that exposure to expository texts in the early grades helps prepare young children for the informational, expository reading required in later grades.

Preventing a Vocabulary Lag: What Lessons Are Learned From Research

This article discusses why early and sustained vocabulary development is important for listening and reading comprehension development and presents findings from 8 studies implemented with children of mostly low socioeconomic status in settings from day care to first grade. Program interventions were based on learning new vocabulary developed out of storybook read-alouds and not with word-reading approaches. Practitioners and researchers may find it quite useful to implement the vocabulary-learning procedures with low-vocabulary children or English language learners in their own settings. We offer a number of suggestions and implications for future research based on conversational interactions and the findings of the 8 investigations.

STYLES OF THINKING AND LITERACY PROFICIENCY FOR MALES DISABLED IN PRINT ACQUISITION

ABSTRACT A difficulty for educators regards the balancing of literacy skills with styles of thinking for students with severe disabilities in print acquisition. These educators who deal with severely disabled readers and writers wish to promote the attainment of concept and content acquisition for their students in light of their poor ability to read content texts and to restructure ideas through writing. The problem becomes more acute as these students advance into high school and are faced with an environment that demands more and more from them in the way of written assignments. The present paper discusses the literacy levels and styles of thinking of such a group of youths and attempts to document their thinking behavior and literacy proficiency in a case study approach conducted over time

Relationship of Cognitive Style and Word Type for Beginning Readers.

Abstract This research investigation sought to determine whether a beginning readers preferred cognitive construct would influence the type of reading words first learned. Field independent/field dependent kindergartners were presented with maximal and minimal contrast words. A 2x2 repeated measures design with 21 subjects per cell showed that field‐independent kindergartners learned significantly more words than field dependents. Moreover, all kindergartners learned significantly more words with maximal feature contrast than words in the same CVC spelling pattern, suggesting that early readers would profit from maximal contrast, high frequency words as first reading experiences.

A Comprehensive Partnership Approach Increasing High School Graduation Rates and College Enrollment of Urban Economically Disadvantaged Youth

Described is a 4-year model of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) offered to 294 academically and economically disadvantaged students and their parents during in- and out-of-school time activities through partnerships forged with school personnel and community-based agencies. In an urban high school where the annual graduation rate was below 60%, the graduation rate of the GEAR UP students of whom 60% were Hispanic and African American was 95%, while 58% enrolled in a postsecondary institution soon after graduation. Regardless of the time spent in three participatory conditions in the out-of-school time activities, 12th graders commonly believed that the program significantly helped them complete high school, prepared them for college, and showed them that adults cared about their future. A five-item survey completed by parents also revealed a number of highly significant findings. Quantitative, focus group, and interview findings corroborated and supported each other.

READING, LEARNING STYLES, AND COMPUTERS

Many people describe computer literacy as an answer to students’ difficulties with reading or mathematics. In this article, however, the various ways in which learning style differences impact on the ease with which individuals gain computer mastery are explained. Specific programs which respond better or less well to selected cognitive styles are also cited.

Learning Style and Intelligence of Reading Disabled Students

This study examined the relationship between elements of the Learning Style Inventory and various scales of the WISC—R for reading disabled students. Previous research generally suggests that reading disabled students have preferences that tap the visual-spatial domain and have higher WISC—R Performance Scale and subtest scores than Verbal Scale and subtest scores. Subjects with IQs of 90 or better on either the Verbal or Performance Scales of the WISC—R and a consistency score of 75 or better on the inventory were selected. Contrary to what might be expected, data generally showed a nonmeaningful pattern of correlations between scales of the Learning Style Inventory and WISC—R Performance-type functioning. However, as an important part of the validation of the inventory, lack of association between the two can be interpreted as support for its construct validity.

A Visual Approach to Improved Literacy Skills for Special Education Adolescents: An Exploratory Study

Abstract Seventy adolescents attending a special education secondary school and categorized into three IQ groupings participated in a visual literacy approach to writing and reading development. Dependent measures included narrative and descriptive writing samples and Metropolitan Achievement Testreading comprehension scores obtained at the beginning and end of the school year. Learning disabled students (IQ >90) significantly improved in reading comprehension and in narrative and descriptive writing (p .05); students with IQ <70 scored at significantly higher level (p< .05) on post‐test narrative compositions transcribed verbatim by their teachers. Finally, multiple regression analysis revealed that Verbal and Performance IQ or gender did not significantly influence post‐treatment na...

USE OF THREE WRITING TASKS AT AN ADOLESCENT TREATMENT CENTER

Adolescent residents placed in a state youth facility for crimes, misdemeanors, and anti-social behavior were presented with three writing modes during their language arts instruction. The modes required that they write a composition based on viewing a slide arrangement (Visual Composition), on imagery generated while the teacher provided sensual impressions (Imagery Composition), and on embellishing and rearranging a list of sentence fragments (Report Writing). The mean of a composition holistically scored prior to the writing treatment was significantly lower than the means of Report, Imagery, and Visual Composition writing for 14 subjects present for all writing tasks. While no significant differences emerged among the writing modes the percent gain over baseline was highest for Visual Composition (50%), a technique in which no printed language cues were available to the writer. Perhaps for problem adolescents with low literacy skills, direct emphasis on traditional and non-traditional, nonverbal approaches to composition may increase writing proficiency.