DOCSLIB.ORG

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Ar:Ts In

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Ar:Ts In CALIF'ORNIA STA'l'E UNIVERSITY 1 NORTHRIDGE THE EFFECTS OF TWO METHODS OF SIGHT VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION ON RElilliNG ACHIEVENENT IN FIRST GRADE A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Ar:ts in Education by Janice Marie Osborn August, 1974 (l • The project of Janice Marie Osborn is approved: California State University, Northridge August, 1974 ii To my loving nami!y iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Fehl Shirley, committee chairman, for her intelligent counseling, expert advice, and her dedication and kindness in construc­ tive criticism in the execution of this thesis. To Dr. Vicki Sharp, I express my sincere gratitude for her htman understanding, assurance and expert statistical advice and assistance. Thanks, also, to Dr. Raymond Jung, for his thoughtfulness, time and aid in ·the completion of this study. My sincere appreciation to Dr. Grayce Ransom, founder of the Ransom Reading Program, whose multi-media and multi­ modal reading program was the stimulus for this thesis. My heartfelt thanks goes to both the reading resource teachers--Edna Read, Violet Savoie, Dorothy Benson, Cheryl Elm, Lettie Page, and to the cooperating first grade teachers--Barbara Campbell, Alene Fortune, Sarita Boyd, Ardel Calvert and Diana Grier. To Peggy McDonald, Elementary Supervisor, my apprecia­ tion for her cooperation in getting this study where it is today. For the assurance and understanding of my family and friends during the preparation and completion of this thesis, my deepest gratitude. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION • • • • . iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS •• . •. iv LIST OF TABLES • . vii ABSTRACT • • • • • • . • • viii Chapter I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM • . 1 Introduction. 1 Rationale for the Study • . 2 Statement of the Problem. 4 Limitation of the Study • . 5 Research Hypotheses • . 6 Definition of Terms . 6 Summary ••• . 9 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . 10 Introduction. .. 10 Controversial Views Concerning Sight Words. • • • • • • • • . 10 Methodologies in Teaching Sight Vocabulary • • • • • • • • • . 19 Studies on Growth in Sight Vocabulary ~ 20 Studies on the Use of the Language Master • 22 Use of Games in Reading • . 24 v Page The Combined Use of "Wordo" and the Language Master to Present Sight Vocabulary • • • • • • . 26 Summary • • • • . 27 III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURES • 28 Introduction. • • • . 28 Teaching Procedures Employed. 28 The Experimental Group. • . 29 The Contr9l Group • • • . 31 Design of the Investigation • • . 32 Characteristics of the Sample • . 36 Equating of Groups. 41 Summary • . 45 IV. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA. 47 Introduction. 47 Treatment of the Data . 47 Presentation of the Data. 48 V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS • 53 Summary • • • • . 53 Conclusions • . 55 Recommendations • . 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY . • • • . 58 APPENDIX A WORDS USED IN THIS STUDY • • • . 64 GAMES USED BY CONTROL GROUP. 70 vi LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 1. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Ethnic Background. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 37 2. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Aid to Families with Dependent Children. • • • • 39 3. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Persons in Families Living Below Poverty IJevel • 40 4. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Mean IQ Scores • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 42 5. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Mean Raw Reading Scores. • • • • • • • • • • 43 6. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Pre·treatement Mean Scores on Word Recognition and Comprehension. • • • • • • • • • • • • • 44 7. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Posttreatment Mean Scores of the WRAT Reading Subtest. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 49 8. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Posttreatment Vocabulary !-·lean Scores of Gates MacGinitie Primary Reading Test •••••••• ~ 50 9. Comparison of Experimental and Control Groups: Posttreatment Comprehension Mean Scores of Gates MacGinitie Reading Test. • • • • • • • • • 52 vii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two different teaching methodologies on the sight vocab­ ulary and reading comprehension of first grade children. The subjects in the experimental group learned sight vocabulary through the use of the Bell and Howell I.anguage Master and a game, "Wordo." The instructors of the control group taught sight vocabulary directly to the children through the use of the chalkboard, chart stories, flash cards, and games. The groups were randomized and equated through pre­ testing. There were no significant t ratios attained on the pretest when the experimental and control groups were compared on the reading subtest of the Wide Range Achieve­ ment Test and both the word recognition and comprehension sections of the Gates MacGinitie Primary Reading Test. The experimental and control groups experienced their respective treatments for six months. The differences in the posttest mean scores were analyzed through the use of the t test. The criterion measures were the reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test and the Gates MacGinitie Primary Reading Test. viii Q ' When the experimental group and the control group were compared on the posttest. of the reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test, the experimental group significantly out performed the control group at the .05 levele The comparison of the control group and the experi­ mental group on the posttest of the word recognition section of the Gates MacGinitie Primary Reading Test revealed that the experimental group established signifi­ cant growth at the .05 level. When the experimental group and the control group were compared on the posttest of the comprehension section of the Gates MacGinitie Primary Reading Test, the experimental group gained significantly more growth at the .05 level. It would appear from the results of this study that the Language Master and "Wordo" are valuable tools in the presentation and learning of sight vocabulary for first graders. ix CHAPTER I STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Introduction Although the importance of children learning to read has never been questioned, it is only in recent years that teachers have been fqced with a multitude of theories, tech- niques and audiovisual aids by which the skill of reading is said to be acquired and developed. New reading schemes have appeared on the market, theories of whether reading is caught or taught have been expounded and a mass of audio- visual aids such as the Language Master, Talking Page, and the Audio Page have emerged. Schools and local education authorities are constantly faced with publicity concerning thes,e new methods for which the claims usually made are that they are the answer to all the teachers' problems. The schools and authorities, however, have to decide whether they should provide the money to purchase such equipment. If purchased, they need to decide for which children it is 0 likely to be must suitable. Schools, therefore, need to evaluate the equipment from two standpoints: first, the . primary importance of the acquisition of reading skills by all children, and second the misuse of techniques or the use of the wrong techniques may not only fail to help the 1 children but may in fact harm them. In addition, the cost of equipment is high and the scarcity of resources neces- si·tates that optimum use be made of the available resources. Ration~le for the Study In an attempt to facilitate and direct the course of learning a teacher utilizes various materials as teach- ing aids. These teaching aids provide the physical stimuli which indicate to a student that certain responses are appropriate. But for learning to take place, a student has to make the appropriate responses. The use of "Wordo" and the Language Master incorporates learning theory in accordance with Lumsdaine's (1960:518) three conditions of stimulus response nature which are conducive to learning. 1. Active participation. Through the game "Wordo" the learner is actively interacting with the curriculum materials by responding and practic­ ing with the vocabulary words. 2. Prompt feedback. After little delay the learner finds out if his response was correct thus per­ mitting immediate correction of an error. This is also an opportunity for reinforcement. 3. Individualization of instruction. The learner can move ahead at his own rate. The advantages of teaching machines stem from the effective application of the principles of reinforcement. When an organism behaves, it acts upon the environment. This changes the environment in some way. In turn, changes brought about in the environment feedback to the organism and affect its future behavior. h"hen environmental feedback strengthens the behavior which brought it about, the organism has been reinforced (Lumsdaine & Glaser, 1960:207). The importance of this immediate feedback was formu- lated years ago by Thorndike (1932) as the "law of effect." According to this law of learning, an action which leads to a satisfactory result tends to be repeated~ Also B. F. Skinner (1968) suggests that immediate reinforcement is important in the learning process and that mechanical devices fulfill the need for this immediate reinforcement. Continuing in the same line of thought, Bush and Huebner (1970:56-57) suggest that "words may be reinforced by games and tachistoscopic exercises or by other audio- visual aidso The important point is to get meaning, sight, and sound together so that the child is launched on the road to
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Combining Multiple Corpora for Readability Assessment for People with Cognitive Disabilities
    Combining Multiple Corpora for Readability Assessment for People with Cognitive Disabilities Victoria Yaneva, Constantin Orasan,˘ Richard Evans, and Omid Rohanian Research Institute in Information and Language Processing, University of Wolverhampton, UK v.yaneva, c.orasan, r.j.evans, omid.rohanian @wlv.ac.uk { } Abstract the task of text evaluation is challenging for target users because of their cognitive disability. Given the lack of large user-evaluated cor- Following from the first difficulty, user- pora in disability-related NLP research evaluated data is scarce and the majority of NLP (e.g. text simplification or readability as- research for disabled groups is done by exploit- sessment for people with cognitive dis- ing ratings or simplification provided by teachers abilities), the question of choosing suit- and experts (Inui et al., 2001; Dell’Orletta et al., able training data for NLP models is not 2011; Jordanova et al., 2013). Examples of such straightforward. The use of large generic a corpora are the FIRST corpus (Jordanova et al., corpora may be problematic because such 2013), which contains 31 original articles and ver- data may not reflect the needs of the target sions of the articles that had been manually simpli- population. At the same time, the avail- fied for people with autism, and a corpus of man- able user-evaluated corpora are not large ually simplified sentences for congenitally deaf enough to be used as training data. In Japanese readers (Inui et al., 2001). Henceforth this paper we explore a third approach, in in this paper, we refer to such manually simpli- which a large generic corpus is combined fied corpora as population-specific corpora.
    [Show full text]
  • University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor
    INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of die original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • Fifth Grade Core Competencies
    Fifth Grade Core Competencies Language Arts Reading Read at Fountas and Pinnell Level V Read fluently at grade level Comprehend grade level text Read fictional and informational text Summarize main idea of text Make connection with self, other text, and world Read independently and silently Writing Construct essays that are clear and focused and enrich the central theme Demonstrate an understanding of the standard writing conventions to enhance readability Organize essays with a strong beginning, middle, and end Select vocabulary that is potent and complements the purpose Write for different purposes, including narrative, expository, persuasive, and response to literature Spell the Dolch word list in context correctly Integrate Wordly Wise vocabulary in speech and writing Respond to questions using complete sentences Take notes from text, lecture, and discussions Write legibly in cursive and print Keyboard at a minimum of 10 words per minute Uses technology to research and present data Oral Expression and Listening Deliver message clearly and self-assuredly Ask relevant questions Present oral reports confidently in front of audience Participate in discussions Follow oral and written directions Math Recall multiplication and division facts automatically Compute with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and negative numbers Identify numbers according to place value Estimate to determine if answers are reasonable Demonstrate how to solve problems Measure length, degrees, area, and volume Calculate (mentally) the correct change for customers at Snack Shack Create graphs and charts from data Interpret graphs and charts 1 Fifth Grade Core Competencies Work Habits/Social Skills Read and follow directions independently Contribute positively to group work Complete and hand work in on time Use time wisely Apply skills to daily work Maintain organization of materials Demonstrate ability to focus on task Study for a variety of tests and quizzes Accept responsibility for own behavior Show consideration and respect through actions and words 2 Fifth Grade Core Competencies .
    [Show full text]
  • Software and Hardware Resource Catalog
    Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization Assistive and Instructional Technology SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE RESOURCE CATALOG Software Assessment Titles Company Subject / Skill Description Stages Assessment Software Cambium Learning Technologies Assessment Software Stages software provides all the by Itellitools Intellitools tools you need to effectively assess the seven developmental http://www.intellitools.com/files/st stages of cognitive language ages-20121031.pdf development in special needs learners. Early Learning Titles Company Subject / Skill Description Classroom Suite Cambium Learning Technologies Math, Reading and Writing Classroom Suite is a unique Intellitools software intervention tool developed based upon the http://www.intellitools.com/classro principles of Universal Design for om-suite.html Learning (UDL) that combines two educational paradigms— systematic, explicit instruction and flexible creativity tools— Teachers have control over specific learning objectives, 2 | Page allowing differentiated instruction for individuals or groups to help students in grades PreK-5 achieve mastery in reading, writing, and mathematics. Choose and Tell: Inclusive TLC Cause and Effect This is a great way to get 2206 Legacy Oak Drive Waxhaw, children using their imagination Fairy Tales NC 28173 and taking control of the story by Legends Toll Free: 1-800-462-0930 making their own decisions. The Nursery Rhymes Fax: 1-704-243-3623 results are beautifully illustrated, always entertaining and http://www.inclusivetlc.com delightfully comical! Switch accessible and configurable to suit the needs of different learners. Also features auditory scanning. Magic of Mother Goose, The Reading Each of the 14 complete units contains ready-to-print activities as PDF files. All materials have been made with Picture It and include Literacy Support Pictures.
    [Show full text]
  • A Taped-Words Reading Intervention for Non-Native English Speakers
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2008 A Taped-Words Reading Intervention for Non-Native English Speakers Kai A. Richards University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Richards, Kai A., "A Taped-Words Reading Intervention for Non-Native English Speakers. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2008. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/502 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kai A. Richards entitled "A Taped-Words Reading Intervention for Non-Native English Speakers." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education. Sherry K. Bain, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Christopher Skinner, Robert Williams, Mark Hector Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kai Arian Richards entitled “A Taped- Words Reading Intervention for Non-Native English-Speakers.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education.
    [Show full text]
  • GRADE 1 SCOPE & SEQUENCE THEME 1: I Am Your Friend STORY
    POCONO MOUNTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICT READING – GRADE 1 SCOPE & SEQUENCE THEME 1: I Am Your Friend STORY: The Hat TIMEFRAME: Based upon the Harcourt Five Day Plan PA STANDARDS FOCUS POINT CLASSROOM RESOURCES 1.1.1 Reading Independently: Students apply a Teaching Tools wide range of strategies. Decoding/Phonics Teacher‟s Edition – Volume 1-1 Short vowel /ă/ ( -at, -ap) Student anthology A. Identify the author‟s purpose and type of Vocabulary flashcards: down, got, up text. Phonemic Awareness Audio text 1 B. Demonstrate: Rhyming words Intervention Kits Phonological awareness through Blending sounds Intervention Stations phoneme manipulation. Identify phonemes Transparencies: #1, 2, 109, 3 Knowledge of letter sound Oo-pples and Boo-noo-noos: Song: “I correspondence (alphabetic principle) Spelling Make Myself Welcome” to decode and encode words. Words with short vowel /ă/ Word builder/letter cards C. Use increasingly robust vocabulary in oral a, at, hat, cat, can, cap, tap, map, Harcourt website and written language. mad, the www.harcourtschool.com D. Demonstrate listening and reading www.eharcourt.com comprehension/understanding before Vocabulary Literacy Stations reading, during reading, and after reading Story words: down, got, up Fluency Builder Cards through strategies such as think aloud, Introduce words from the attached Big Book of Rhymes retelling, summarizing, connecting to prior Dolch Word list (First Grade list) as knowledge, and non-linguistic appropriate to correlate with Books for All Learners representations. Independent Readers, Decodable Below-Level: A Hat E. Demonstrate accuracy and automaticity Books, as well as the anthology. On – Level: Max in decoding and oral reading of grade Advanced: A Hat for Sam level text.
    [Show full text]
  • TN Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement Kindergarten Unit 5
    TN Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement Kindergarten Unit 5 TN Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement Under the following conditions: • Attribution — You must attribute the work in the following manner: This work is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge© Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses the work. • Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. • Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thank you to the Core Knowledge Foundation, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Linda Bevilacqua, and David and Meredith Liben. We are beyond grateful for your shared time, expertise, and resources that greatly contributed to the exceptional quality of this TN Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement. CONTRIBUTORS TO THESE MATERIALS TN Department of Education TN Educators Dr. Lisa Coons Kathy Daugherty, Rutherford County Schools Dr. Darlene Estes-Del Re Angie Manor, Hickman County Schools Rachel Bradshaw Marianne Gilbert, Williamson County Schools Melanie Kosko Joyce Harrison, Shelby County Schools Ashley Kelley Carissa Comer, Putnam County Schools Cindy Ables Janet Sexton, Knox County Schools Tabatha Siddiqi Christina Meeks Aliyah Washington Smith, Metro Nashville Public Schools Grace Jones Melody Collier, Dyersburg City Schools Matt Holt Laura Hardy, Lawrence County Pre-K Coach Lisa Montgomery Jan Gillum, Murfreesboro Pre-K Coach Rachel Darnell, Elizabethton City Schools Kelley Key, Cleveland City Schools Sarah Kosak, Knox County Schools Table of Contents Unit 5 Teacher Guide Introduction to Unit 5...........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • And Others TITLE the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary Investigation: a Replication and Validation
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 094 329 CS 001 219 AUTHOR Johns, Jerry L.; And Others TITLE The Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary Investigation: A Replication and Validation. PUB DATE 74 NOTE 30p.; Research study done at the Reading Clinic, Northern Illinois University EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$1.85 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS Basic Reading; *Beginning Reading; Readability; Reading; Reading Materials; *Reading Research; Reading Skills; *Sight Vocabulary; *Word Lists IDENTIFIERS *Dolch Word List ABSTRACT This study replicated and validated the Dolch basic sight vocabulary investigation. Dolch's method of compiling his list of 95 nouns was also replicated. Some discrepancies were found between the replication study and Dolch's investigations--a few words were left off the lists, although they apparently met all ..he criteria for inclusion, and a lack of consistency was noted in Dolch's choices for including words or his lists. It was concluded that pseudo-empirical is a correct description of Dolch's method in compiling his basic sight vocabulary. It was also determined that this list is still viable since it accounts for over 50 percent of the words currently used in reading materials for both children and adults. (Author) Y U.S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION A WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BFEN REPRO DUCE[' E"ACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OP ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSPION OR POLICY BEST COPY AVAILABLE The Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary Investigation: A Replication and Validation Jerry L. Johns, Rose M.
    [Show full text]
  • Vocabulary 32 Language and Conventions 34 Writing Workshop 36 Inquiry 38 Book Club
    RESEARCH BASE | GRADES K-5 Create Your Story! ★ ★ ★ 2 Outline 04 Authorship 06 Overview 08 Theme and Essential Question 11 Assessments 15 Reading Workshop 17 Phonemic Awareness 19 Phonics 23 Word Study 25 Spelling 26 Handwriting 27 High-Frequency Words 29 Vocabulary 32 Language and Conventions 34 Writing Workshop 36 Inquiry 38 Book Club 3 Literacy Experts and Researchers myView Literacy and miVisión Lectura Authors Built on collaborative research and best practices to prepare students to become lifelong readers, writers, and thinkers. María Guadalupe R ichard Gómez Jr., Ph.D. Arreguín-Anderson, Ed.D. CEO, Gómez and Gómez Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Dual Language Consultants Learning and Teaching, Contributions: English Language University of Texas at San Antonio Learners and Dual Contributions: Elementary Bilingual/ Language Instruction Bicultural Education, Diff erentiation, and Cultural/Linguistic Factors in Bilingual Classrooms Julie Coiro, Ph.D. Elfrieda “Freddy” H. Hiebert, Ph.D. Associate Professor, CEO/President, School of Education, TextProject University of Rhode Island Contributions: Generative Contributions: Week 6 Vocabulary, Text Leveling/Text Project-Based Inquiry, Research, Complexity, and Fluency and Digital Literacies Jim Cummins, Ph.D. Pamela A. Mason, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus, Senior Lecturer on Education, University of Toronto Harvard University Contributions: ELL Diff erentiation, Graduate School of Education and Second Language Literacy Contributions: Formative/Summative Assessment, and Comprehension Pat Cunningham, Ph.D. Ernest Morrell, Ph.D. Professor Coyle Professor of Literacy Education and Wake Forest University Director of the Center for Literacy Contributions: Foundational Skills/ Education at the University of Notre Phonics, and Spelling Dame Contributions: Engagement, and Connections Between Adolescent and School Literacies 4 P.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparing the Dolch and Fry High Frequency Word Lists by Linda Farrell, Tina Osenga, and Michael Hunter Founding Partners, Readsters
    Comparing the Dolch and Fry High Frequency Word Lists by Linda Farrell, Tina Osenga, and Michael Hunter Founding Partners, Readsters Most elementary school teachers in the U.S. are familiar with the Dolch and Fry high frequency word lists. Much energy is put into teaching high frequency words to beginning and struggling readers. At some schools, a great deal of effort goes into determining which high frequency word list is best to use. Certainly, students need extensive practice reading and spelling high frequency words. However, which list of high frequency words used does not matter because the highest frequency words appear on both lists. It is our opinion that high frequency words should NOT be taught as a separate category of words to be memorized, but should be taught as part of phonics lessons (Farrell, Osenga, & Hunter, 2013). The Dolch list has 220 words (Dolch 220 List). We refer to the 100 most frequent Dolch Words as the “Dolch 100 List”. Fry calls his list of 1000 high frequency words “Instant Words” (Fry 1000 Instant Word List). Subsets of words from the Fry 1000 Instant Word List are often referred to as the “Fry 100 List”, the “Fry 300 List”, or the “Fry 600 List”, and we use those terms in this article. The Dolch and Fry lists are virtually synonymous with the terms “sight words” and “high frequency words”. Many schools use words from either the Dolch 220 List or the Fry 300 List as their source for high frequency words to teach. In almost every school, K–2 teachers assign these words for their students to study and learn because they are the most frequently occurring words in children’s texts.
    [Show full text]
  • A System for Teaching Word Recognition Skills To
    A SYSTEM FOR TEACHING WORD RECOGNITION SKILLS TO CHILDREN WITH SEVERE READING DISORDERS A Dissertation Presented to the Department of Elementary Education Brigham Young University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Maurine Robins Steed April 1984 Educators Publishing Service — www.epsbooks.com 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Educators Publishing Service — www.epsbooks.com 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Gratitude and sincere appreciation is expressed to the faculty members and staff in the Department of Elementary Education at Brigham Young University for the encouragement and help they have given toward the completion this dissertation. A special thanks to my chairman, Dr. James W. Dunn for allowing me the freedom to think, work, plan, and execute ideas, and for consistently helping when I could not do it by myself. The encouragement as well as the technical help given by Dr. Callis R. Harmes was gratefully received. Appreciation is given to Dr. Blaine H. Moore for his informative consultation sessions and his editing assistance. I appreciate the staff and children at Joaquin Elementary School and the special education teachers at Sunset View Elementary School, and Westridge Elementary School, for their support and help in the development and evaluation of the system designed for this project. I am especially grateful to the four children with whom I worked while developing the system, and for what they taught me. I am deeply grateful to my husband for his support, love, and consistent encouragement, and for understanding my need to search for truth and knowledge. A special tribute is given to my children, my mother and father, my brothers, and my extended family for their very significant contributions in this endeavor.
    [Show full text]
  • TN SIG Toolkit.Indd
    A LITERACY RESOURCE KIT FOR PARENTS Families Helping Children Become Better Readers Tennessee State Improvement Grant 2007 The University of Tennessee is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution in the provision of its education and employment programs and services. This Resource Kit is the result of collaboration among many individuals. We would like to thank parents and children from Inskip Elementary School for telling us what parents need to know to help their children in school, for taking the time to test the information during their summer vacation, and for telling us what worked and what didn’t work. Editor: Reggie Curran Center for Literacy Studies Tennessee State Improvement Grant Advancing the Skills of Tennessee Students Kathy Strunk, Project Director E-mail [email protected] Telephone 615-532-1659 http://sig.cls.utk.edu Department of Education Division of Special Education 7th Floor, Andrew Johnson Tower 710 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37243 I T E L R A R C Y O F S T R U E D T I N E E S C The University of Tennessee Center for Literacy Studies 600 Henley Street, Suite 312 Knoxville, TN 37996-4135 1-877-340-0546 or 865-974-4109 (fax) 865-974-3857 http://cls.coe.utk.edu/ The University of Tennessee is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section504/ADA/ADEA institution in the provision of its education and employment programs and services. UT Publication No.: R01-1704-058-010-07 A LITERACY RESOURCE KIT FOR PARENTS Table of Contents ach section of the kit addresses a different area of information that can help your children succeed in school.
    [Show full text]