Literacy Blogs

The Role of Letter Names in Learning to Read is Still Curious The original blog entry included a misinterpretation of a study by Byrne and Fielding-Barnsley. I assumed that when they introduced letters into their PA intervention that they named the letters. I was incorrect in that assumption as Christopher Such a vigilant reader of this blog noticed. That means that there is no evidence that teaching letter names improves reading achievement (though including plastic letters in PA instruction was positive). There is also no evidence that students are benefited by not teaching letter names or that it is better to ...

Blast from the Past: This entry first posted on March 14, 2016, and was reposted on December 16, 2023. The original entry had 5 comments which you can see if you click on this link. This question about what would be the best instructional sequence continues to come up regarding teaching the alphabet or teaching phonics. As this blog makes clear (I hope), sequences of these skills are more determined by some rather general, commonsensical guidelines that have emerged from empirical study, but there is no “science of reading” approved sequence that is most beneficial for learning. Teacher’s Question:   Is there ...

Teacher question: I teach kindergarten. We are trying to follow the science of reading. We believe that is the best way to go. However, my colleague and I are disagreeing over one aspect of our program. Should we teach the letters first, the sounds first, or should we teach them together? Shanahan response: This is such a practical question and often research fails to answer such questions. That shouldn’t be too surprising since researchers approach reading a bit differently than the classroom teacher. A good deal of psychological study of letters and words over the past century hasn’t been so much about how ...

Teachers’ question: I’m confused. I’ve heard you say that we should teach phonemic awareness and letters simultaneously. Other “experts” say that phonemic awareness is strictly an auditory skill and that including letters slows children’s learning. Help! I have some children who, no matter what, don’t seem to be making any progress with phonemic awareness. These three are the only ones who have not progressed to phonics instruction. What should I do? Shanahan’s response: This is one of those, “Do we follow theory or data” questions. I’m a data man, myself. Many educators tout the idea that phonemic awareness (PA) is an auditory skill and that ...

Teachers' questions: Can you point us to any research regarding the practice of Book In a Bag - sending leveled readers home with students each night? What do you think of “Books on the Bus?” Shanahan response: I know of no research on either of these methods for increasing kids’ access to books. I checked both PscyInfo and Google for sources, and nada! I’m not surprised, both of these schemes were local school district ideas that captured media attention—and then spread from one district to another. I must admit I like both ideas. Generally. In both cases, kids are encouraged to read. Can’t fault that. In both, books are made available for kids to ...

Summer is almost upon us. The days are growing longer, the sun is higher in the sky, and soon school will be over for the year. Our children’s thoughts now turn to swimming, skateboards, baseball, and bike riding. Unfortunately, for far too many of kids, summer vacation is a time for forgetting. You’ve probably heard that “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” That’s certainly true about reading. Kids who don’t read over the summer regress. Their hard-earned reading skills decline. Boys and girls who manage to keep the rust off their reading, don’t suffer a summer reading drop.  By reading and writing throughout the summer, they may ...

Last week I answered a teacher’s question about free reading time during the school day and its relationship to reading motivation (e.g., making kids like reading). I pointed out that such reading time has a rather weak relationship with learning (various kinds of instruction exert about an 800% greater influence on learning than on having kids reading on their own during the school day) and that the connection with motivation appears to be even more tenuous. I then compared the DEAR/SSR practice unfavorably with theories and research on what motivates human beings. Not surprisingly that generated much comment. Although the following ...

Blast from the Past: This entry was first published on October 4, 2016 and was reissued on February 29, 2016. The reason for revisiting this one is the steady accumulation of new research data supporting my original contentions. The latest studies are reporting that independent reading can have positive impacts on learning, but that these payoffs take a very long time to manifest and are quite small (Eklund & Torpa, in press). Studies are also showing that reading achievement has a decidedly bigger impact on motivation than the other way around (Hebbecker, Förster, & Souvignier, 2019). Teacher question: You have attacked DEAR ...

Putting on Your Underwear First: Why Instructional Sequence Doesn’t Always Matter Teacher’s Question:   Is there a particular order in which teachers should teach the letter sounds?  Shanahan’s response: It makes sense to put your underwear on before you put on a skirt, shirt, blouse, or pants. Unless you’re Madonna. Then the usual ordering of things doesn’t necessarily get the job done. Madonna changed the sequence from bra/blouse to blouse/bra and became a star. (That she is wildly talented may have also had something to do with that). Many teachers, principals, parents, and policymakers expect the proper ordering of letters and letter sounds in a curriculum to ...

Teacher question: I am confused. You claim that independent reading has almost no benefit, but another article I just read says, "In one of the most extensive studies of independent reading yet conducted, Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) investigated a broad array of activities and their relationship to reading achievement and growth in reading. They found that the amount of time students spent in independent reading was the best predictor of reading achievement and also the best predictor of the amount of gain in reading achievement made by students between second and fifth grade." Which is correct? Shanahan's snappy response"  Oh, that's an ...