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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| Jul 25 2006, 1:50 PM EDT (current) | ku622200 | 23 words added |
| Jul 24 2006, 2:40 PM EDT | ku622200 | 5 words added, 3 words deleted |
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Reading Readiness
Reading Readiness is described and defined as the following:
· A student’s readiness to benefit from beginning reading instruction.
- The teachable moment for reading: a point in time when the pupil is ready to learn how to read. (Dechant 1991)
- “A transition extending over several months during which time the child (student) gradually changes from a non-reader to a beginning reader. In this case the readiness program couples the (student's) past learning with new learning and brings the (student), gradually, through the transition." (Clay 1991)
- Most recently, a newly created software program to help children prepare themselves to learn to read.
Regardless of the preferred term, reading readiness can be referred to as an innovation, tool, and practice, which is essential to literacy education. An innovation and practice because for years teachers have been gauging and developing reading readiness via simple techniques such as reading to children, play rhyming and word games, supporting invented spelling, offering writing opportunities, and identifying appropriate expectations for reading readiness.
A tool because Knowledge Adventure®, the leading publisher of educational software products for schools and homes, has created a new software program called, Reading Readiness.
It is described by the publisher as “a robust, content-rich, early reading system that gives teachers the adaptive learning tools needed to build phonemic awareness and phonics skills for children in primary classes.”
Who is using it?
Teachers and parents of children from Pre-K through 2nd grade who are trying to prepare and teach their children to read.
“As a child's experience with literacy related activities is highly correlated to a child's success with reading, it is important to consider a child's developmental level when choosing appropriate activities and goals. Early enjoyable reading experiences set the stage for a child's desire to learn later in life. By creating developmentally appropriate activities (activities that are fun and challenging but not frustrating), the child will gain knowledge that will serve as the foundation for further learning as he or she enters the school system.”
According to Knowledge Adventure®, Reading Readiness could not have come at a better time. “According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), approximately 40 percent of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level.” The Reading Readiness tool will hopefully lower the percentage of students who cannot read by acting as a teacher’s helper. The software reinforces “what’s being taught in the classroom in a fun and interactive way.”
The appeal of this program is that it addresses many of the curriculum goals for language and early literacy identified in the federal Reading First program. Knowledge Adventure Reading Readiness also includes more than 70 lessons addressing 30 early reading skills, including letter and sound identification, word building, spelling, and decoding.
How are they using it?
Teachers are using Reading Readiness in their classrooms to create lesson plans that fit all reading readiness levels. Lessons in Knowledge Adventure Reading Readiness include auto-leveling, and the software focuses on a mastery learning approach to instruction. Students are measured systematically throughout their use of the product, so that complete mastery is attained and demonstrated by each student. This, Knowledge Adventure hopes will be more appealing than many drill-and-practice programs. Knowledge Adventure Reading Readiness also offers a set of classroom management tools to help teachers’ track and guide student progress, communicate with parents, and more. One feature is the Teacher Control Panel, which allows teachers to organize the classroom and assign lessons in ways that are most appropriate for students' individual needs. Other classroom management tools include detailed progress reports, pre- and post-lesson analyses, multi-sensory lesson plans, and suggested classroom projects.
“Knowledge Adventure Reading Readiness combines standards-based lessons, classroom management tools, and school-to-home materials that give teachers adaptive learning tools needed to build phonemic awareness and phonics skills for children in primary classes, according to the announcement.”
Regardless of the amazing propensity to help teachers teach, there are some negative feelings regarding new software coming out to help with reading readiness. Educational psychologist and longtime teacher and administrator Jane M. Healy, once an advocate of technology in the schools, sees many problems with the way educational technology is used today. "Take note," Healy concludes, "several responsible educators I interviewed deem up to 85 percent of current software not only 'worthless' but possibly damaging. For example, one study of children using a popular reading-readiness program showed a 50-percent drop in their creativity scores." Since developing educational software does not pay that well, top software developers tend to go into other areas, not education. (See "Tots at the Computer: Educators Debate Value of Use at Young Age," Christian Science Monitor, February 2, 1995.)
References
Chaika, Glori (1997). Technology in Schools: Some Say It Doesn't Compute! . Education World, Retrieved July 12, 2006, from http://education-world.com
Clay, M. M. 1992.Becoming literate: The construction of inner control. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 366 pages.
Dechant, Emerald. 1991. Understanding and teaching reading: An interactive model. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 522 pages.
Healy, Jane M. (1995) "Tots at the Computer: Educators Debate Value of Use at Young Age," Christian Science Monitor, February 2, 1995.)
Matthews, Klassen & Walter(1999). What is Reading Readiness? Retrieved November 4, 2004 from LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999.
Neuman, Susan B. (2005).Readiness for Reading and Writing--What Does It Mean?. Scholastic Early Childhood Today. 20, 8.
Internet Resources
http://nces.ed.gov/search/
Link to National Center for Education Statistics, this website gives you some amazing statistics on how well the current school population is reading.
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/whatsnew/ka/readingreadiness.htm
Link directs you to an excellent press release sent out my Knowledge Adventure outlining the Reading Readiness software.
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/referencematerials/glossaryofliteracyterms/WhatIsReadingReadiness.htm
Site which gives definitions of reading readiness.
http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/company.aspx
Great website which contains all background and information on Knowledge Adventure, the creator of Reading Readiness software, as well as the products they carry.
http://education-world.com
Chock-full site which gives you an overall look at technology in the classroom as well as different views on technology boosting reading scores.
http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=10834
Gives a great compact overview of how the Reading Readiness program works.
http://www.knowledgeadventureschool.com/teacher/pdf/ReadingReadiness_White_Paper.pdf
A letter to educators from Knowledge Adventure explaining their Reading Readiness program.
http://www.beginningwithbooks.org/index.html
Discusses how we as parents and educators can start teaching children at an early age to love books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_readiness
Offers a great definition of Reading Readiness
