Week 4: Waiting Rarely Works: Late Boomers Usually Just Wait

          

             Developmental lag theory insists that children who are not performing at a typical reading level for their age are behind their peers. With this theory, children are thought to eventually catch up with their peers naturally; they do not necessarily need early or emergency instruction. On the other hand, early reading weakness as a skill deficit theory has a different viewpoint. Because children who have reading difficulties do not catch up to their peers according to research, they really need to receive support for their challenges. The theory claims that just waiting is not going to help the children to improve their reading skills. Rather, help is needed early on to ensure the student does not fall farther behind than they already are.

            Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. Separating the spoken word "cat" into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/, requires phonemic awareness (Wikipedia).

            If I have a student in my class who is struggling, I think I wouldn’t agree with my colleague based on my knowledge from this assignment. If my student is a late bloomer, I should approach the child with the “developmental lag” theory. However, a child that is a late bloomer is very rare. If I do that, it will most likely increase the risk of the student having problems later and it will be too late and much harder for them to catch up. I should first understand his/her reading problem and observe what s/he needs. Then, I can make lesson plans for improving his/her phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. For my lesson plans, the child may be required to read books aloud. Dividing words using phonics like “ra/in/bo/w” will be helpful. Also, I will repeat any difficult or long words. If they have a problem with distinguishing some similar sounds, I would show them how the sound is different. For example, “ttttt-train” and “dddd-drain.” Finally, I would consider about whether there is anything I missed or if I should change my instruction depending on how well the child responds.  With this information, I will be able to vary the method and intensity to bring them up to a typically performing level.

References:

Phonemic Awareness. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 24, 2011, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Phonemic_awareness