The science of reading tells us that teaching phonics is the best way to develop good readers

Many poor readers have been given phonics instructions. Why are they still bad readers – The author answers.

CLOVERDALE, CALIFORNIA, USA, Oct. 21, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The science of reading tells us that the phonological pathway develops faster in beginning readers and that teaching phonics is the best way to develop this path. Poor readers have more difficulty decoding words because their phonetic skills are weak, so they rely more on word guessing when reading. This raises the question: why did some children who were given phonics instructions not respond? Is there something deeper about poor readers that the science of reading is missing?

The goal here is not to diminish the importance of phonology, but to review new neurological research on the brain’s auditory processing system and its implication for phonetics and reading. The author’s research into interventions for children who failed to respond to phonics led to the role of prosody, the melody of language, and its importance for phonics and reading.

The author has found a way to include prosody to improve the teaching of phonics. It was through songs. While prosody in songs helps with flow, meaning, and interest, adding songs has even greater benefits, especially for children from challenging learning environments.

Neuroscientists who have studied sound, the auditory processing system, say something extraordinary; listening to and singing to music has the potential to positively benefit all aspects of a child’s development, including reading.

Children, especially children from difficult backgrounds, have been found to have underdeveloped or delayed language development and poor auditory discrimination for sounds. Distinguishing sounds is fundamental to learning to read. The rhythm of the songs is slower than that of speech and there is more separation of sounds. This helps children develop letter sounds and improves auditory discrimination of sounds. The melody of the songs can help develop meaning and fluent reading skills and the words of the songs help with language development. The brain processes words differently when they are sung.

Music is in almost every part of the brain. If one path is weak, music can help open others. With practice, songs build stronger connections between the right and left sides of the brain and can lead many to read. Learning to read takes attention, commitment and repetition, it’s all part of the songs.

The author has published an article available on his website listed below “They Sing Their Way to Reading” which outlines how teachers can use their favorite songs to enhance phonics instruction. The article can be printed.
One difficulty with using songs for reading is that children often memorize the songs and the words are in sequential memory. The author uses a finger-reading activity with each song that allows students to quickly identify words by putting the words in long-term memory and available for reading. One difficulty with songs on a computer screen is that many children cannot follow the bouncing ball. Children must point to each word.

The author’s program PHONICS SONGS plus levels one and two is based on original instructional song lyrics written by the author with music and songs by Donny and Marie Osmond. PHONICS SONGS plus has important phonics skills built into each song and hundreds of high-frequency reading words appropriate for first and second graders. The thirty-three songs cover key phonics skills for first and second graders. The program is based on a grade one study using only songs and chants that showed significant improvement in reading and attitude compared to traditional phonics instruction.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/280/content

PHONICS SONGS plus is for all students, including students with reading difficulties and English as a second language. The program is easy to use by parents and teachers and can be used as a phonics program or to supplement a phonics program, and for those of us who go back a few years, Donny and Marie bring back fond memories. The program is available on the author’s website: StrugglingReaders.com. and Amazon for 7.95 for the songs and instruction book and 14.95 for the song CD for each grade level.

Matthew Glavach
Glavach & Associates, StrugglingReaders.com
+1 707-894-5047
write to us here

Matthew Glavach
Glavach & Associates, StrugglingReaders.com
+1 707-894-5047
write to us here