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- By Benjamin and Seth
There are a variety of techniques that can be used in student-centered reading approaches, but not all methods out there are equally effective, nor are they all evidence based. Here we will discuss the evidence for and against different approaches to student centered reading and we will dispel some of the myths.
Multi-Modal Learning, Learning Styles and Neuromyths:
A popular way of personalizing learning is to use the VARK questionnaire to determine the learning style of an individual. VARK breaks learners into visual, aural, read/write and Kinesthetic learners. The VARK website shows many testimonials from teachers who have found it useful. However, a recent letter to The Guardian by thirty eminent academics from the worlds of neuroscience, education, linguistics and psychology and other fields, pushed a strong message that there is little to no evidence for learning styles (Hood et al., 2017, Weale, 2017). Hood and colleagues stated that “systematic studies of the effectiveness of learning styles that have consistently found either no evidence or very weak evidence to support the hypothesis that matching or “meshing” material in the appropriate format to an individual’s learning style is selectively more effective for educational attainment”. Instead, research shows that multimodal learning benefits all students without taking into account “personal learning styles” (Nouri, 2018, Ward et al., 2017). According to Hood et al., educators should not break down students into learning styles such as “left v right brain,” “holistic v serialists,” “verbalisers v visualisers”. Hood et al. explain that this can lead to the assumption of a fixed or rigid learning style and it can impair motivation to apply oneself or adapt.
However, despite all this, multi-modal presentation of materials is beneficial to all students (Lau, Yen, Yi et al., 2014). These modalities act as scaffolding to aid the reader in their learning and it also promotes cross There are many ways to present reading materials to students enriched with multiple modalities, either with the use of technology or without. With technology the computer can do most of the hard work, without technology, the teacher becomes an actor, a puppeteer and a sound effects artist in place of the technology. We will outline how this can be achieved for each modality with reference to Cat's Bath, an educational Read Along app developed for beginner readers by teacher, illustrator and psychologist Benjamin Mathews via Cat Mat Android Apps. We will also explain how this can be achieved with regular books.
Visual:
Cat’s bath is a read along story app that teaches adjectives of color and other basic adjectives. Books for beginner readers often rely on pictures to help children understand the meaning of the story, but there are many other visual techniques that can also be used. In addition to using clear images the text is also formatted to convey meaning. Grammar structures are repeated with only a change in the target words. In the sentence “Cat has a yellow duck”, the word yellow is formatted so that the word yellow is colored yellow. Similarly, for the line “Cat has a red duck”, the word red is formatted red. For a word such as big, the word is twice the size of other words. The word slow has increased kerning, the increased space reflects the speed at which the word should be read. Italics are used for the word fast. There are also word banks that present words with pictures and quizzes that make use of visual aids.
Of course, many printed children's picture books use some of the same techniques to illustrate meaning with typography and visuals, though they do not always have the dynamic nature of an app.
Aural:
In Cat's bath children have the option to turn narration on or of. This means that they can essentially have the story read to them. For many such books, such as Cat's Bath or Famous Fables: read, learn and play, as the text is read, it is also highlighted, so students can follow along with the story. This also helps young students learn about the flow of text from left to right, and it encourages children to follow the text with their fingers and their eyes. The change in color naturally draws their attention to the words, creating strong associations with the words that they hear. It also creates associations with graphemes and phonetic sounds, helping readers to understand what written words sound like (Gibson, 2008). This is combined with the visual aid which helps the child understand the meaning of the text. Struggling students may find that this helps them build the foundations that they need, but more confident readers can just as easily turn off the narration, and should they wish to check what they just read, they can turn the audio on at any stage and easily repeat the sentence that they just read.
Rhyme, Rhythm, Repetition and Music:
Rhythm, repetition rhyme and music can be used in reading exercises to assist learning. In fact, in Cat's bath, words are often repeated 10 times or more, as most pages repeat similar grammar patterns, creating a system of repetition that makes reading more manageable for beginner learners. Mordsley (2017) explains how simple repetitive songs are often the first steps in learning language and how it can help babies, children and adults too. Research has also shown how repetitive exposure to words leads to neural response increases (Kimppa, 2017). It is no wonder that musicians have been shown to acquire a language more easily (Chobert and Besson, 2013). Since Ebbinghaus' pioneering research on repeated exposure and forgetting curves, it has long been known that spaced repetition is the key ingredient for long term retention. Rhythm, rhyme and music can also add an extra dimension to learning and involve different areas of the brain and this may create additional neural connections as a result of Hebbian learning. Poetry is a medium that can appeal to readers of all ages and help to improve learning by utilizing rhyme, rhythm and repetition. As a final note, you can harness the power of spaced repetition with any book by simply revisiting books that have already been read. As mentioned earlier, Ebbinghaus' forgetting curves show that revising content with appropriate spacing is necessary for long term retention of learning, this is as true for reading as it is for anything else.
Movement:
The human brain is hardwired for motion, and motion onset has been shown to attract attention (Abrams and Christ, 2003). In an otherwise still scene, people naturally follow the moving object with their eyes. When used in the form of animation of pictures, it also helps to convey the story in a more concrete way. By using a finger to point at the words as they are read, you draw attention to the words and also the rhythm with which the are read. Furthermore, even with a printed book, you can use various motions to animate the pictures in a book, for example, a shaking motion illustrates a crash, an up and down motion can convey movement such as walking as the head rises and falls with each step, left to right motions convey an object leaving or entering. Movement helps to convey meaning and a deeper understanding of a scene in a story.
Oxford University Press’s Approach to Reading Strategy
This method teachers should prepare students for the text by discussing topics and overarching themes beforehand. Students should be asked to think about key vocabulary in the text and then discuss in pairs. Teacher then should read the story to the class, as the children follow along. Students should then read the text again silently. Class should then discuss and complete follow-up questions, teacher provides answers.
In the approach students read aloud is not encouraged. They point to 3 main flaws, reading is normally a silent activity, reading aloud can be scary, and students can read out loud without understanding.
(OUPIndia, 2013)
However, research published by Oxford University Press also points to advantages for reading aloud, especially with ESL students (Gibson, 2008). Gibson's research showed that at least two of the supposed 'disadvantages' of reading are not only false, but actually contrary to research findings for ESL students. Gibson (2008) found that: it can help reading by reinforcing graphemic-phonemic correspondences, it can aid the acquisition of prosodic features of English and help to develop writing skills by using it as oral proofreading and reading aloud can also be used as a technique for autonomous learning and may help some anxious students to feel more able to speak. This can be especially true for group reading where students will not feel singled out. This paints a more complex picture of reading that emphasizes the importance of a student centered approach. Some students, such as ESL students, benefit from reading aloud, but proficient readers who have mastered phonics and can speak confidently may be ready to practice reading silently. This also goes to show that you cannot necessarily trust publishers to paint a complete picture of the advantages and disadvantages of a certain method with reference to evidence based research, even when it has been published by their own institution.
Student-Centered Classroom Techniques for Reading:
Student choice combined with multi-modal learning is key in student centered reading. Students can be given a choice in reading texts, the ways it is presented and the types of activities that accompany the reading exercise.
The Tennessee Department of Education (2018) published a handbook on differentiated strategies for learning with over 25 strategies and examples of differentiation techniques and activities in the classroom. Here is one example from the handbook:
Super Stars Activity: students have to get five stars' worth of points from completing a choice of activities. Students must choose at least one one-star and one two-star task. Two star tasks are more challenging that one star tasks. This can be used for reading to provide students with a choice of texts to read. For instance, students could choose to do a small number of difficult/longer texts, or they can they can choice a larger number of easier texts and one difficult text. Alternatively, the students can all be presented with the same text, but they can choose from questions of ranked difficulty. This allows differentiation by level, while still allowing all the students to complete at least one difficult task.
YouTube Stories: Students search for one narrated story on YouTube or TV. They must then provide a summary of the story. After they must they create a similar story where they change one key part of the story to give it a different ending, change the narrator's point of view, or some key difference (Department of Education, 2015).
What’s in the News?: Student find a newspaper clipping or print an online article, the article should include a picture. Have them read the article underlining the facts in green and the opinions in orange. Then they can discuss their ideas in pairs. They should write a few sentences describing the photograph. Articles give themes such as food articles, cartoons, or travel articles (Department of Education, 2015)
Reading Work Stations: The room is configured into workstations based on a specific learning purpose. Stations can be comprised of independent, pair, or collaborative assignments. The station can include guided reading, listening, computer activities, or writing. Teacher should continuously assess the student participation at each station. Each station should have a clear set of instructions, and it is good to give these stations structure which can build into a larger routine. Assessments should have meaning and usefulness behind them, this can be used together with informal monitoring of progress (Literacy Center, 2017)
The Drawbacks of Work Stations Large class sizes can create not only a logistical problem but also increase the amount of preparation time. Guided reading may not be enough for upper elementary students and may not target struggling students enough. Classrooms should have a well-structured management system to keep the stations focused. Also, having so many different activities required extreme amounts of planning, and execution time. Sometimes it is hard to keep the children accountable for their goals. Lastly, this method can only teach things the students can do independently, for subjects such as math can be a challenge (5 Ugly Truths, 2017)
Sourcing ideas for activities:
Ideas for teaching can be sourced from a variety of places. One key difference to be aware of is the difference between material based on evidence and research and material created by teachers based on their own personal experience. Evidence based research tend to be harder to find, but they can often be found on government websites or in research articles (which may be accessible with https://scholar.google.com), while teacher created materials may be found on lesson plan sharing websites or blogs and tend to be more accessible. Teacher created material can at times be more current and authentic, while research based methods tend to be less pragmatic but based on solid principals and theory and on average they may be more effective if implemented as intended.
References for Section 6:
5 Ugly Truths About Workstations in the Urban Classroom. (2017, January 14). Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://fuelgreatminds.com/5-ugly-truths-workstations-urban-classroom
Abrams, R. A., & Christ, S. E. (2003). Motion Onset Captures Attention. Psychological Science, 14(5), 427–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.01458
Chobert, J.; Besson, M. Musical Expertise and Second Language Learning. Brain Sci.2013, 3, 923-940.
Department of Education, U. (2015, August 17). 25 Activities for Reading and Writing Fun. Retrieved April 13, 2019, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/25-activities-reading-and-writing-fun
Doubet, K.J., & Hockett, J.A. (2017). Differentiation in Elementary Schools: Strategies to Engage and Equip All Learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Gibson, S. (2008) Reading aloud: a useful learning tool?, ELT Journal, Volume 62, Issue 1, 29–36, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm075
Hood, B., Howard-Jones, P., Laurillard, D., Bishop, D., Coffield, F., Uta Frith, D., Pinker, S., Blakemore, C., Pashler, H., Etchells, P. Gjersoe, S., Baker, S., Wall, M., Simons, J., Ellefson, M., Jansari, A., Crockett, M., Nation, K., Thomas, M., Sharma, N., Whitebread, D., Sabbagh, M., Legare, C., Devlin, J.T., Gordon, P., Poeppel, D., Butterworth, B., Seth, A., & Foulsham, T. (2017) No evidence to back idea of learning styles. The Guardian, Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/12/no-evidence-to-back-idea-of-learning-styles
Kimppa, L. (2017) Rapid formation and activation of lexical memory traces in human neocortex. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Helsinki, Helskini, Finland.
Lau, R.W.H., Yen, N.Y., Li, F. et al. (2014) Recent development in multimedia e-learning technologies In World Wide Web 17: 189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11280-013-0206-8
Literacy Centers. (2017, December 20). Retrieved April 13, 2019, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-centers
Mordles, J. (2017) Why use rhythm, rhyme and repetition in language class? The British Council. Retrieved from https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/why-use-rhythm-rhyme-and-repetition-language-class
Nouri, J. (2018) Students Multimodal Literacy and Design of Learning During Self-Studies in Higher Education. Tech Know Learn, Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10758-018-9360-5
OUPIndia. (2013, January 06). Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MS-5k-yj2w
Tennessee Department of Education (2018) Differentiated Strategies and Examples: Grades K-2 A.C.C.E.S.S.: All Children Challenged and Equipped for Success in School. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/training/access_differentiation_handbook_k-2.pdf
Tomlinson, C.A., & Sousa, D. (2011). Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the LearnerFriendly Classroom. Solution Tree.
Tomlinson C.A. (2014). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. (2nd ed). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Ward, N., Paul, E., Watson, P., Cooke, G. E., Hillman, C. H., Cohen, N. J., Kramer, A.F., & Barbey, A. K. (2017). Enhanced Learning through Multimodal Training: Evidence from a Comprehensive Cognitive, Physical Fitness, and Neuroscience Intervention. Scientific reports, 7(1), 5808. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5517605/
Weale, S. (2017) Teachers must ditch 'neuromyth' of learning styles, say scientists.The Guardian, Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-scientists-neuroscience-education