By Guest Writer, Jamie Menard, M.A. Reading

Where does cursive fit into the Common Core State Standards?

A total of forty-five states across the country have chosen to adopt the Common Core State Standards in order to give the nation a shared curriculum. The Common Core State Standards does not require children to learn how to write in cursive. The Common Core Standard for writing (W.4.6) states that by the end of fourth grade, students should demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting. However, the benefits for teaching our students how to write in cursive may have teachers considering continuing to include this skill in their lesson plans.

What does research say about the cursive?

Researchers state that learning to write in cursive improves students’ motor and visual skills. They express that practicing cursive handwriting improves and develops dexterity in our hands and fingers. These are the same skills that that are required of a surgeon, dentist, computer technicians, and artist. It also improves our hand-eye coordination and the connection between our hand and brain. Even more impressive is that fact that learning to write in cursive positively affects brain development.

How does cursive affect reading and writing skills?

Researchers also express that learning to write in cursive can make students better readers and writers. The continuity of letters in cursive writing help guide students eyes from left to right. This reinforces the same pattern used while reading. The ability to write in cursive also helps with spatial skills because one automatically leaves spaces between words while writing in cursive. Writing in cursive also eliminates common letter reversals because the movement and flow required by ones hand to write these letters in cursive makes it impossible to write the letters backwards.

Students that write in cursive write faster because they do not have to lift their pencil or pen as much. As a result, their thoughts flow, they are able to focus on the subject of their writing instead of their letter formation. Their hands do not become cramped and are therefore able to write better notes, or longer more detailed essays.

So, before heading down to the computer lab and tossing those handwriting practice books aside, teachers may just want to consider sharpening those pencils. The long term benefits may be worth the effort.

BIO:

Jamie Menard has her Masters in Reading, has taught kindergarten for 2 years, second grade for 2 years, and has worked as a reading specialist for 4 years in grades K-4.

References:

Fitzgerald, Elizabeth. “Cursive First: An Introduction to Cursive Penmanship.” swrtraing.com n.p., n.d Web 11 Jul. 2012

Hatfield, Iris. “New American Cursive.” Newamericancursive.com n.p., n.d. Web 11 Jul. 2012

Wilm, Marion. “Why Cursive Writing is Still Important.” Blog.childandfamilydevelopment.com n.p., n.d. Web 11 Jul. 2012

A reading publisher has been contacting you for weeks looking for an appointment so that he can demo his reading program. Before you get swept away by the hype and hyperbole of used “everywhere,” ask the account rep these five questions:

1)    What does the post-purchase professional development and training look like? It’s critical that teachers not only understand how to implement the reading program with fidelity but they also need to know how to actually teach reading. You might be surprised by how many teachers don’t know how to teach basic decoding and encoding skills. You will want a reading software publisher to provide affordable and sustainable training for your teachers.

2)    Does the reading software come with non-consumable direct instruction materials? The right reading program offers a complement of direct instruction and individual computer aided programs. Why spend money purchasing new books and instructional materials every year when you should be able to access materials that can copied and re-copied at will? 

3)    Does the reading program align with Common Core State Standards? As budgets get tighter and the scrutiny becomes more acute, administrators are saying no to the quick fix reading programs. 

4)    Is there any kind of guarantee if the reading program does not help students show a significant improvement in their reading skills during the school year? This should be true of both programs that supplement emerging readers and reading software for remediation like RTI and learning disabilities. 

5)    Is the program research based? A proven reading software program should be able to demonstrate how their methodology and rationale is current and effective. Ask for the publisher's research packets to get an idea of whether or not the results are fact or folly.

EdWeek published an article last October about Finding the Right Reading Program. I was drawn to the section that spoke to Clarifying What You Mean by Reading Problem. In essence educators need to be certain that teachers understand why students are struggling readers. Is it fluency, phonemic awareness, comprehension, or combination of these issues that have stymied the students' progress? 

This means that an educator needs to find a reading program that also includes an assessment-guided approach. Whatever decision you make, don’t forget to get input from your teachers. They are at the frontline of education and their opinions and ideas matter more than ever.

What criteria do you use when selecting reading software and programs for your schools?

With the vast majority of states adopting a uniform set of standards for their students to achieve, how does this effect students with special needs? What are the standards for ELL students and students with learning disabilities?

Here is what the official Common Core State Standards say regarding students with special needs in regards to the language arts:

It is beyond the scope of the Standards to define the full range of supports appropriate for English language learners and for students with special needs. At the same time, all students must have the opportunity to learn and meet the same high standards if they are to access the knowledge and skills necessary in their post–high school lives.

Each grade will include students who are still acquiring English. For those students, it is possible to meet the standards in reading, writing, speaking, and listening without displaying native-like control of conventions and vocabulary.

The Standards should also be read as allowing for the widest possible range of students to participate fully from the outset and as permitting appropriate accommodations to ensure maximum participation of students with special education needs. For example, for students with disabilities reading should allow for the use of Braille, screen-reader technology, or other assistive devices, while writing should include the use of a scribe, computer, or speech-to text technology. In a similar vein, speaking and listening should be interpreted broadly to include sign language.

Since the standards don't go into much depth on how to help these students, here are some articles discussing what researchers have found to be most effective for...

English Language Learners:

The Essential, But Often Forgotten Aspect of Effective ESL Reading Instruction

Supporting ESL Students: 10 Tips For Mainstream Teachers

5 Reasons to Teach Phonics to ESL Students

Classroom Practices That Accelerate Language Acquisition for ESL Students

5 Easy Steps to Reach Reluctant Readers and ESL Students

Students with Learning Disabilities:

Dyslexia Research: Is There a Treatment for Dyslexia?

8 Classroom Accommodations for Dyslexic Students (That Benefit ALL Students)

What is the Best Way to Help Dyslexic Students Improve Reading?

Support for Explicit Systematic Phonics for Struggling Readers

How Can Teachers Improve the Memory of Children with Reading Disabilities?

Teachers depend on assessment tools to help them determine the reading abilities of students in their classrooms. Administrators depend on assessment tools for making decisions about literacy education in their schools. Progress assessments and progress monitoring are critical to understanding reading level placement.

Add to the mix that recent Common Core State mandates and federal initiatives, like No Child Left Behind, require ongoing assessments and early reading instruction and intervention. These education initiatives are placing the spotlight on the need for more comprehensive and accurate data from reading assessment tools.

Word Recognition, Most Common Words, and Word Segmentation tests are effective assessment tools used to determine student placement and reading progress.

1. Word Recognition (reading-grade level)
This assessment provides a fast, accurate calculation of a student’s reading-grade level. The assessment uses lists of 20 words each - words that students should be able to recognize at grade level. The content words are based on phonetic structure and were selected based on similar words used in the San Diego Quick Assessment, Border Test of Reading-Spelling Patterns, Rapid Test, Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), and the Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT).

2. Most Common Words
The Most Common Words Assessment measures a student’s ability to rapidly recognize sight words. The list is derived from the many common words in English that do not conform to rules of phonetic decoding – words like said, would, was, were, etc.

3. Word Segmentation
A typical assessment is divided into two portions of 40 words each. The first 40 words test for recognition of individual phonemes. The second 40 continue that process and also record mispronunciation based on the phonetic pattern of the word, such as Silent E or adjacent vowel patterns. A report will be generated to show detailed information on those phonemes as well as the decoding patterns most-often misread.

These three reading assessments and other progress monitoring tools are included in the Reading Horizons software products. Online reading assessments are available for a nominal annual fee.

Note: It is a good idea to combine teacher observations with these more formal and objective assessments -- the two complement each other, and give the teacher a more informed picture of each student's reading-related skills.

What reading placement assessments do you use in your school?

Agree or disagree. Dr. Tony Bennett is passionate about education reform.

Yesterday, Parents for Choice in Education hosted the 2nd Annual Education Symposium and invited Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, and winner of Fordham’s 2011 “Education Reform Idol” competition to be their keynote speaker.

This event was held in Utah so naturally I was interested.

In a separate interview with KNRS 107.5, Dr. Bennett, said that he believed that teacher unions have pushed their agenda too far, resulting in teaching professionals who have become comfortable in their jobs with little, to no, accountability.

Bennett said that the cost of making it harder to reward good teachers and dismiss bad teachers is that we’ve forgotten about the children.
He went on to say, in part, “This fundamental shift is mirrored in Indiana’s third-grade reading legislation, which requires third graders to master third-grade reading content before moving on to fourth-grade instruction.”

“In one year, Indiana has dramatically transformed its education landscape. We did this because we could no longer accept a system that didn’t prepare our children to compete with their national and global peers. So we set high expectations for student performance. And we set high expectations for the teachers and leaders responsible for educating them.”

This train of thought is gaining traction. Time will tell if these, and other, state-mandated reforms will make a difference.

It always does.

“If knowledge is the greatest source of wealth, then individuals, companies, and nations should invest in the assets that produce and process knowledge.”
-- Thomas Stewart, editor of Harvard Business Review, in his book, “Intellectual Capital: the New Wealth of Organizations.”

We’ve always struggled with the fact that most teachers are not properly prepared in college to go into a classroom and teach reading. We have the answer for that.