Question
How can I help my students develop a functional sight vocabulary?
Background to Research
Many students placed in self-contained classes have very limited sight vocabularies. Despite having received phonic instruction, many students rely mainly on the initial sound in order to decode words, missing later cues which would change the word, for example, 'front' would be decoded as 'from', and the student does not usually realize that the word they have said is not the same as the word in the text. As well, phonics rules can change based on the word and its usage which can also become very confusing for students. I wanted to find a method that would encourage students to look at the whole word before attempting to pronounce it, as well as increasing their sight vocabulary.
In her book, Understanding the Nature of Autism, Janice E. Janzen commented on the gaps in learning of autistic people. " Being autistic does not mean being unable to learn.... It does mean there are difference in how learning happens.... But what .... I think is even more basic, and (most) frequently overlooked, is that autism involve differences in what is known without learning .... There are gaps between what is expected to be learned and what is assumed to be already understood" (Janzen, p. 37). It is these gaps between the phonetic instruction, and word decoding which existed within the students in my class which I wanted to address, and fill in if possible.
During the last school year I attended a workshop on a method of teaching sight vocabulary to students led by Leslie Braun of Mississauga. I wondered if the method presented by Leslie would be effective for teaching students who struggled with phonetic pronunciations and help them develop a functional sight vocabulary.
Research Process
The initial step was to read the manual presented by Leslie, titled Teaching Reading to Children with Down's Syndrome by Patricia Oelwein. Although this manual was written for children diagnosed with Down Syndrome, I believed that the method would be effective with other types of disability, including Autism. In order to develop a functional word list on which to base the instruction I referred to the Dolch words, particularly the pre-primer and primer lists. I also looked at a variety of recipes and package directions and developed a list of the most frequently appearing words and ingredients. I added words to each student's individual word list, based on language which was personally important to the student (specialized vocabulary, family names, special interests). As well, I decided to teach all of the students to recognize the first names of all the students in the classroom as well as the formal names of teachers and Educational Assistants (EA's) that they would be working with or come into contact with during the school day. In order to present the words I decided that I would present one word from the life skills list, up to four from the Dolch lists varied with words from their personal interest lists and one review word each week. The words would be introduced one at a time, beginning with the review word, followed by the "functional word" and then the words from the Dolch and interest lists.
I followed the method outlined in Oelwein's text, placing all six words on an eight by twelve "lotto" board and then individual words on separate two by four cards. I also placed each word on a flash card which was mounted on the black board at the front of the room, and added each word to the word wall at the side of the room. This gives each student the opportunity to review their words, as well as be exposed to a variety of other words, refer to spelling when writing independently, and keeps a permanent record of all words available for each student.
I introduce each word, following Oelwein's method of showing the student each word card, naming the word and then asking them to match the flash card to the word on the lotto board. I introduce the words one at a time, making sure that the student recognizes each word before moving on to the next word. ( I have found that some students are actually able to distinguish between all six words on the first day they are introduced, while others need to have one word stressed each day, and then subsequent word(s) added on future days.
Before beginning the program I talked with each student about how they read. I told them that I had discovered a method of learning whole words which I thought would help them learn more words, and become better readers.
I selected three students for this program. Two students displayed autistic tendencies, and the third student was a young boy with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
The first student, a ten year old boy with autistic tendencies, including echoalia and repetitive play, attended a regular kindergarten in the appropriate year. Following that he was placed in a self-contained class. He has been placed in self-contained classes ever since. When he entered my class in September of 2002 he had a limited sight vocabulary and managed to read only the first book of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) with accuracy. His printing ability was also limited, and all writing needed to be modelled.
The second student, is an eight year old boy with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He is a happy student who tries very hard to please his teacher. He can sometimes be very stubborn when he is working with an educational assistant, and his mother reports that he is also very stubborn at home. It is also reported that he displays extreme behaviour problems at home (biting, hitting, temper tantrums) although these have not been observed at school. In September of 2002, he needed all written materials modeled. He also had a very limited sight vocabulary, and had difficulty associating sounds with letters, which made it difficult for him to sound out words, or to spell words independently.
The third student was a twelve year old girl, who also displays autistic tendencies, including echoalia, and several self-stimulating behaviours, such as rocking and waving hands. She also had been placed in self-contained classrooms for the duration of her school career. She had a very limited sight vocabulary, and needed all written material, other than her name, to be modeled for her. Because of her age, I decided to focus on a functional reading vocabulary, based on words found mainly in directions and recipes, and on signs in the community and school.
Findings
In September of 2002 I assessed the first student, a ten year old with autistic tendencies, sight vocabulary using the Dolch Pre-Primer list. He recognized 63% of the list words. Since, according to the DRA instructions, mastery reading of a text is 95%, I did not assess the Primer list. Using the Oelwein method of teaching sight vocabulary, both previously known and unknown words were mixed on lotto cards and introduced at a rate of six per week. By mid-October he recognized 84% of the Pre- primer words, and 95% by the end of November. I then began introducing the primer list to him. In November he read 33% of the primer list, and by mid February he was reading 67% of the Primer list. He was also consistently recognizing these words in other contexts, including recipes, directions, experience stories and reading passages. When directed to read independently, he was beginning to select books from his personal reading folder, or books from the classroom library which are at or about his reading level.
The second student, an eight year old with spina bifida, results demonstrated some improvement as well. In the initial September he recognized 15% of the Primer list, 21% by the end of October 2002 and 56% by the beginning of March. At this time, he was able to read 30% of the Grade one words. He also was able to recognize these words in a wide variety of situations, including books leveled at a grade one level. During a visit to the classroom on April 15, our principal, Mrs. S. Fleguel watched Nick reading orally with me. She commented on how well Nick was reading. She repeated this comment on May 14th at the school Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) meeting, commenting on the progress he has made this year, and how impressed she was with the improvement in his reading ability. Mrs. L. Miller, an Educational Assistant placed in the class, also referred to the improvement in Nick's reading, as well as an improvement in his writing ability. He associated sounds with letters, and was beginning to spell and print words and phrases independently. A next step with him would be to concentrate on getting all letter sounds in words, in the correct order.
The third student, a beautiful twelve year old girl, with some autistic tendencies, also demonstrated similar results recognizing 40% of the words on the pre-primer list in September. By early November she was recognizing 88% of the list, in a variety of situations. On April 11, she was identifying 96% of the Pre-primer list, and 67% of the Primer list. She recognized 65% of the words on the Functional word list which I developed based on recipes and directions. She also was beginning to select books which she can read independently when directed to find a book during less structured moments.
Summary
I discovered that the Oelwein method was effective for students with disabilities, other than Down's Syndrome. Both students with Autistic tendencies improved their reading ability, as did the boy with Spina Bifida. All three students are now more comfortable with their reading abilities, and select books of appropriate difficulty level to read during independent reading time on a more frequent basis. The three students involved all have requested to work with their lotto boards, and will select these for independent activities, saying and matching the words on their own. It has become a comfortable activity for them. In addition, when I sit down with any of these students, they will frequently ask if they can start with their words.
In the coming school year I plan to extend my use of this technique to include students with other Developmental Disabilities in order to improve both their reading ability and their enjoyment of reading.
Oelwein also uses this method to help students develop math skills. I have begun to use this strategy to teach numerals and numbers, as well as measurement terms and the corresponding abbreviations. I plan to extend this strategy by introducing and teaching number facts and time concepts. Completing this Action Research Project has stimulated me to think about researching way in which I could develop a math program for Developmentally Disabled Students built around functional skills.
Reflections on my Learning:
When I first received an invitation to join this action research group I wondered why my name had been included, after all I did not have any student who were diagnosed with autism. After reflecting, I realized that two of my students did demonstrate several behaviours/tendencies which are usually associated with autism.
One of the first things I realized was that each of my students work at their own pace, which can be quickened if they are interested in the material they are learning. It was necessary for me to identify each student's learning interests, plan how to turn these interests into learning goals and objectives, and then maintain the student's interest during the learning process. Sequencing events, beginning with a moderately liked task, moving on to a familiar or tolerated activity, then doing a disliked activity, followed with a very popular activity (Janzen, p. 174) was a process which I hadn't really thought about, but which really helped maintain each student's attention until more mundane, but essential tasks (learning to print and/or write names) were accomplished.
As well, I realized how important it is for B., and especially D., to "buy into" their learning programs, becoming full partners in it.
Identifying gaps in student knowledge could be challenging. Sometimes I was amazed that a student could tie her shoes, yet had no concept of whether the shoe was on the correct foot! How to fill in these gaps was challenging (She still wears her shoes on the wrong feet, but they're still tied).
A strategy I have grown away from this year was keeping checklists for every student, either on their desk or in their achievement folder. One reason I had stopped this was that some students regarded it as a list to be accomplished as quickly as possible, resulting in more than a few power struggles over poorly done, rushed, incomplete work. One student needed this list as it gave him an order in which to do tasks and a goal to work toward (computer, lego, free time, recess) Also, he knew what was expected of him each day.
A direction I would like to go in the future with D. is to investigate ways in which to reduce his distractability. I have begun to keep more detailed, actually more consistent, in keeping anecdotal records for each child. I try to update these at least twice per week for each student. I would like to begin including in these a brief summary of , not only what the student learned or accomplished, but what I learned as well.
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