Message from the Reading Whisperer

It is my firm belief is that brain structure and function will change if a child (or adult) is taught to read and spell using SSP. An approach that starts with speech -not print. I do not want to change the child – or ‘cure’ them – I simply want to prevent difficulties for them. This means re-wiring their brain.

Research regarding brain plasticity shows that ,although areas of the brain are designated for specific functions, brain cells and cortical maps do actually change in response to learning experiences. For example, even the simple act of learning to juggle 3 balls increases the size of your brain.

One of the most interesting studies in recent years could be Shaywitz et al. (2004) and their investigation of brain activation changes before and after an intervention. They studied 78 second and third graders with reading disabilities who were randomly assigned to three groups:-the experimental intervention-school-based remedial programs-control

A detailed description of the intervention can be found in Blachman et al. (2004).

• Duration

The individual tutoring intervention occurred daily for 50 minutes from September to June, which yielded an average of 126 sessions or 105 tutoring hours per student.

Instruction

Each session consisted of a framework of five steps that the tutors followed with each student. This framework was not scripted, but was individualized based on the student's progress.

Step 1: Brief and quick-paced review of sound-symbol relationships from previous lessons and introduction of new correspondences.

Step 2: Word work practice of phonemic segmentation and blending with letter cards or tiles, which occurred in a very systematic and explicit fashion.

Step 3: Fluency building with sight words and phonetically regular words made up of previously taught sound-symbol correspondences.

Step 4: Oral reading practice in phonetically controlled text, uncontrolled trade books, and nonfiction texts.

Step 5: Writing words with previously taught patterns from dictation.

Content

The intervention consisted of six levels that began with simple closed syllable words (e.g., cat) and ended with multisyllabic words consisting of all six syllable types.Before the intervention, all groups looked similar in their brain activity, but immediately after the intervention the experimental and control groups had increased activation in the left hemispheric regions important for reading.One year after intervention, the experimental group showed increased activity in the occipito-temporal region important for automatic, fluent reading, while at both time points the level of compensatory activation in the right hemisphere decreased.

Notice any similarities between the Speedy SSP Sessions and intervention used in this study?

Exciting stuff!

As Shaywitz et al. concluded. "These findings indicate that … the use of an evidence-based phonologic reading

intervention facilitates the development of those fast-paced neural systems that underlie skilled reading" (p.

931).

A decade has passed- let's really work hard to use findings from neurocience research into the classroom. As we also know that an early intervention is by far the

best approach for a society, I am planning to raise awareness about using SSP within Australian Kindyprogrammes, as well as to keep plugging away at

schools regarding the importance of SSP within Prep and Year 1.

Em

Why Speedy SSP Sessions bring about rapid results for all children.

These sessions include all of the necessary skills to develop phonemic awareness and to help EVERY child understand the speech sound to speech

sound pic link (phonics).

The teacher adapts the session to the child's skill level, keeps them 'fast and fun' to increase motivation and engagement, and offers

immediate feedback.

This approach is based on the latest in neuroscience research, and can be used within classrooms quickly, easily and with no financial outlay.

Everything you need is available for free, although I am creating 'starter packs' so those who want everything just sending to them have this option,

and of course schools can book PD training.

Videos of Speedy SSP sessions uploaded over the next few

weeks- showing children aged 4 - 6, working within all

SSP Levels.

This does not mean that they simply recognise the

speech sound pics (pictures of speech sounds) shown

here, it means that they are using them effectively within

decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) activities,

and understanding what they are reading.

This ‘scaffolding’ approach means that children can select readers from their level, that they can actually read. They follow the SSP order in which the phonemes are being taught. Children are able to develop fluency at their level, and their brain can comprehend what they are reading. If they keep getting words with sound pics in them that they dont know (as within PM readers) then it slows the brain down trying to work out the word- or they have to memorise or guess. Only a tiny percentage will work out the speech sound to speech sound pic link themselves using books with lots of sound pics they don’t already know. Most brains just aren’t ‘wired’ that way.This also enables children to read books independently within around week 3 of Prep.

However you can use any readers that

follow a specific order of teaching

thephonemes. Just slot them into the right SSP Reading Book

Tier!

Dandelion Readers

compliment SSP

Speedy SSP supported by parents and carers through home folders

These include their sound pics, sound pic words, helpful words and reader.

Every child can progress through the levels at their own pace.

• Speedy SSP Sessions last no more than 15 minutes, and only one is needed per day for every child.Conduct these in small groups or on a 1:1.

Every class teacher should see every child each week, within at least one session. Teaching Assistants and parents (with minimal training) can take the other groups every day. If you have a class of 25 students then this means that there will be around 5 sessions per day – 15 minutes each. A TA can see 20 of the 25 children within an hour- and the teacher works with the other 5, for 15 minutes. This 15 minute session each day actually changes the brain, wiring it for reading and spelling.

You can do this at other times of the day as well, at school or at home!

Wiring brains so that ALL children can learn to read and to spell with

confidence.

This means starting at the very beginning with a focus on phonemic

awareness (not phonics)

Key Research Findings About Phonemic Awareness:

Research has identified phonemic awareness as the most potent predictor of success in learning to read. It is more highly related to reading than tests of

general intelligence, reading readiness, and listening comprehension (Stanovich, 1986,1994).

The lack of phonemic awareness is the most powerful determinant of the likelihood of failure to learn to read because of its importance in learning the English alphabetic system or how print represents spoken words. If children

cannot hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken words, they have an extremely difficult time learning how to map those sounds to letters and

letter patterns - the essence of decoding. (Adams, 1990).It is the most important core and causal factor separating normal and

disabled readers (Adams, 1990).It is central in learning to read and spell (Ehri, 1984).

Phonemic awareness can be developed in children by providing them with rich language experiences that encourage active exploration and manipulation of sounds.

These activities lead to significant gains in subsequent reading and spelling performance. Most children will learn basic phonemic awareness from these activities.

Some children need more extensive assistance. Children should be diagnosed mid-kindergarten to see if they are adequately progressing, and if not, given more

intensive phonemic awareness experiences. For all children, the more complex phonemic awareness abilities are learned in the context of learning letter/sound

correspondences.

A close relationship exists between a child's control over sounds and his reading ability. Some quick test instruments that reliably assess development of phonemic awareness in about five minutes include the Rosner, the Yopp-Singer tests, and the

Roswell-Chall.

In numerous studies, correlations between a kindergarten test of phonemic awareness and performance in reading years later are extremely high. Thus, phonemic awareness

has been identified by researchers in replicated studies in many countries as a very potent predictor of success in reading and spelling achievement. In fact, Professor

Yopp indicates that such high correlations remain even after controlling for intelligence and socio-economic status.

In case you were wondering why SSP assessments, and monitoring tasks have been created in this way (see

slideshare.net/readingwhisperer to download)

Hallie Kay Yopp, Ph.D, Professor, Dept. of Elementary and Bilingual Education,CSUFullertonProfessor Yopp addresses the critical role of phonemic awareness in the

early stages of reading acquisition. She defines phonemic awareness as "the awareness that phonemes exist as abstractable and manipulable components of

spoken language. It is the ability to reflect on speech and experiment (play) with its smallest components (phonemes). Phonemic awareness is not phonics and not

auditory discrimination.“

The research outlines a progression of phonemic awareness development in pre-school, kindergarten, and early first grade that includes the ability:

to hear rhymes or alliteration to blend sounds to make a word (e.g., /a/-/t/ = at)

to count phonemes in words ( how many sounds do you hear in "is"?)to identify the beginning, middle, and final sounds in words

to substitute one phoneme for another (e.g., change the /h/ in "hot" to /p/)to delete phonemes from words (e.g., omit the /c/ from "cat")

Activities to do at home, and in the classroom are available on the RTT site.

Use 1:1 and small group Speedy SSP sessions. Ask about TA training in PA.

Videos to watch with childrencurrently being developed.

These are daily 5-7 minute sessions !

This approach has been created by Emma Hartnell-Baker, a former UK Early Years Education Inspector for OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education)

She has a Bachelor of Education with Honours (Early Years Specialism) and a Masters Degree in Special Educational Needs. Emma is currently completing a Doctorate at Griffith University,

with a focus on early literacy interventions and has a special interest in education and neuroscience research, as it relates to reading and spelling difficulties.

The SSP Approach is being developed to help teachers wire all brains for reading and spelling.

Join a growing number of people interested in using fresh, exciting, 'outside the box'

teaching strategies. New strategies, new results !