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Introduction to the Four Blocks

This document provides an introduction to the Four Blocks approach to literacy instruction in special needs classrooms. It discusses emergent literacy and the traditional views of literacy learning. The Four Blocks approach provides a balanced literacy instruction incorporating phonics, whole language, guided reading and other strategies. It emphasizes meeting the diverse needs of students and ensuring all students can learn to read and write.

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Special Education Overview•
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Introduction to the Four Blocks Approach to Literacy in Special Needs Classrooms
“No student is too anything to be able to read and write” David Yoder, DJI-AbleNet Literacy Lecture, ISAAC 2000
Our National Literacy Plan “Ensuring all students gain at least a minimum acceptable standard in literacy and numeracy is critical in overcoming educational disadvantage. This means that gaining literacy and numeracy skills is a central equity issue in education today.” (DEST, 2005)
Accommodating Struggles physical demands cognitive demands sensory demands communication demands experience demands affect demands
So how do we teach literacy for all our diverse students?
Emergent Literacy
Traditional view of Literacy • Emphasises “readiness”; • Literacy is learned in a predetermined sequential manner that is linear, additive, and unitary; • Literacy learning is school-based; • Literacy learning requires mastery of certain prerequisite skills; • Some children will never learn to read.
Traditional Model of Literacy Learning (Erickson, 1999) Readiness SpeakingSkills Listening
Current/Emergent View of Literacy • Literacy development is constructive, interactive, recursive, and emergent; • Literacy development is a process that begins at birth and perhaps before; • Emergent literacy is “…the reading and writing behaviours that precede and develop into conventional literacy”; • Emergent literacy is appropriate for all children.
Oral and Written Language Development (Koppenhaver, Coleman, Kalman & Yoder, 1991. Adapted from Teale and Sulzby, 1989) AAC/Speaking Reading Literacy Writing Listening
Emergent Literacy • Emergent literacy behaviours are fleeting and variable depending on text, task and environment; • The functions of print are as integral to literacy as the forms.
Emergent Literacy
Kade and Georgia
Emergent Literacy Intervention • Happens in the pre-school years for most children; • Incidental learning and teaching about letters, words, literacy concepts; • Children with phonological awareness at the beginning of school may not have had good emergent literacy input.
Emergent Literacy and Children with Disabilities • Light et al (1994), Frame (2000); • Passive interaction pattern; • Larger number of new books; • Fewer repeated readings; • Less time spent on literacy activities.
Emergent Literacy Intervention • Some school aged children need emergent literacy experiences before they can develop conventional literacy; • Lots of simple books being read to them; • Chances to scribble with the alphabet; • Good literacy environment and models; • Need to make sure student gets exposed to reading AND writing AND word intervention.
Emergent Literacy • Give every student a “pencil”! • Provide a literacy rich environment; • Ensure links between environment and print are constantly reinforced; • Alphabet books; • Phonological awareness activities, particularly for students with Complex Communication Needs (CCN).
Emergent Literacy “Written language activities and experiences should not be withheld while speech, language, motor or other skill(s) develop to arbitrary, prerequisite levels.” Koppenhaver and Erickson (2000)
Conventional Literacy
Silent Reading Comprehension Word Language Identification Comprehension Print Processing Beyond Word Identification (Slide from Erickson and Koppenhaver, 2010)
Beginning To Read Phonological awareness, letter recognition facility, familiarity with spelling patterns, spelling-sound relations, and individual words must be developed in concert with read reading and real writing and with deliberate reflection on the forms, functions, and meanings of texts. (Adams, 1990)
Literacy Instruction Phonics Balanced Literacy Instruction Whole Language
Balanced Literacy Instruction • Uses all valid parts of literacy instruction – not one approach; • Works for students all along the literacy continuum – from emergent to formal; • Four Blocks is balanced literacy instruction.
Four Blocks
Four Blocks • Created by Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy Hall; • www.fourblocks.com; • Four Blocks in Special Ed wiki https://fourblock.wikispaces.com/.
Four Blocks • Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies, North Carolina http://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds; • Big thank-you to them for teaching me about Four Blocks, sharing their resources and being awesome! • Have a good look at their resources section.
If All Children Are To Learn, All Teachers Must Teach Everything (Koppenhaver, Erickson & Clendon, 2008)
Technology To Support the Four Blocks
But remember..... ICT = It Can’t Teach
Guided Reading
Guided Reading • Primary purposes are to assist students to: – Understand that reading involves thinking and meaning-making; – Become more strategic in their own reading. • Must use a wide variety of books and other print materials. • NOT listening comprehension.
Purposes for Reading • Need to set a purpose every time you do guided reading; • If you don’t set a purpose students think they have to remember everything – or become passive; • Purpose needs to be broad enough to motivate processing of entire text.
Guided Reading • 1 book per week; • Different purpose each day; • Build confidence; • Some students will participate in the repeated readings or in setting purposes as they become more skilled; • Help students become independent.
5 part Guided Reading • Before reading: 1. Build or activate background knowledge 2. Purpose “Read so that you can” • During reading: 3. Read/listen • After reading: 4. Task directly related to the purpose 5. Feedback/Discussion (typically woven into follow-up) • What makes you say that? How do you know? Why do you think so? • Help students gain cognitive clarity so they can be successful again or next time
Cock-A-Moo-Moo 1. Read to learn which animal in the book is your favourite (before reading, list the animals in the book)
#1 - Read to learn which animal in the book is your favourite
Participation for students with CCN • If they have a comprehensive communication system (egg PODD) then they can use that to participate across the day; • If they don’t then we need to provide ways for them to participate; • AND we need to work towards getting them a comprehensive communication system.
Cock-A-Moo-Moo Purposes 1. Read to learn which animal in the book is your favourite (before reading, list the animals in the book) 2. Read to see what is the funniest sound the rooster makes (before reading, list the sounds the rooster makes) 3. Read to decide which feelings the rooster has (before reading, list some feelings you know) 4. Read to discuss why the fox was sneaking in (before reading discuss reasons he might sneak into a barn) 5. Read to see which farm animals aren’t in the book (before reading list the farm animals you know)
#2 - Read to see what is the funniest sound the rooster makes
#3 - Read to decide which feelings the rooster has
#4 - Read to discuss why the fox was sneaking in
#5 - Read to see which farm animals aren’t in the book
Repetition with Variety To learn a skill and generalise it across contexts, instruction must provide repetition of the skills in a variety of ways
Variety • Variety of purposes; • Variety of approaches; • Variety of texts;
Variety of texts • Commercial books; • Fiction and non-fiction; • Language Experience/custom texts; • Created texts about class/individual experiences; • Personal alphabet books; • TarHeel Reader books.
What does Emma do? by Mr Clark
Guided Reading Books • Those you already have (class and library); • Information from the www; • Created books on topics of interest in PowerPoint, Clicker 5, Boardmaker Studio; • TarHeel Reader; • Start-to-Finish books. • Guided Reading packs at http://www.janefarrall.com/html/guided.html
Picture, Symbols and Text • Symbols appear to improve access to literacy..... But do they really?
Why no picture-supported text when teaching reading? • Pictographs can be distracting for developing readers who may pay more attention to the pictures than the text they are learning to read/decode • After a review of literature Hatch (2009) found “the outcomes of several research studies that investigated the use of pictures to support the development of word identification in readers with and without disabilities indicated that children learned more words in fewer trials when words were presented alone than when paired with pictures (Pufpaff, Blischak & Lloyd, 2000; Samuels, 1967; Samuels et al, 1974)
Why are pictographs distracting? • Symbols representing function words are typically opaque and unrelated to the meaning of the text. • The lack of consistency of symbols and symbol-sets used to represent words across AAC user’s learning environments, and; • The multiple symbolic representations and meanings for single written words e.g. play.
When should we use symbols? • To support COMMUNICATION – All day, every day – During reading instruction – During writing instruction • To support behaviour and self-regulation – Visual supports – Visual schedules
Self-Selected Reading
Self-Selected Reading • Primary purposes are to assist students to: – Understand why they might want to learn; – Become automatic in skill application; – Choose to read after they learn how. • It isn’t self-directed if you don’t choose it yourself; • You can’t get good at it if it is too difficult.
Self-Selected Reading • How do we create in our classrooms the conditions that lead students to a love of reading? • How do we provide our students with successful practice that will make them fluent readers?
Self-Selected Reading • Most receptive vocabulary growth occurs through exposure to written language rather than direct instruction • Reading volume is the prime contributor to vocabulary growth – True for poor readers and good readers
Self-Selected Reading • Help students to: – Understand why they might want to learn to read – Become automatic in skill application – Choose to read after they learn how • It isn’t self directed if you don’t chose it yourself • You can’t get good at it if it is too difficult
Self-Selected Reading for Students with Disabilities • Need to make books accessible to ALL students • Many children with disabilities have fewer opportunities to practice than their peers and when they do they are often passive participants (Koppenhaver and Yoder, 1992)
Electronic Accessible Books • Accessible books allow students to do independent reading • Talking books also give them the option for support from the computer if needed
Encourage Repeated Reading • Easy texts • Read the same passage in guided reading for several days for a different purpose each day • Pair older readers up with young reading buddies to validate reading of “baby books”
Self-Selected Reading Resources • Commercial books • Custom books • TarHeel Reader books • Other digital storybook website e.g. Starfall, MeeGenius • Digital storybook apps on iPads
Re-Creating Picture Books • One of the most common Accessible Books are re-created standard picture books • These let students of all abilities read these books independently • Also lets us modify the books to suit individual students – make the text bigger for students with vision difficulties, simplify the presentation style for students who are visually distractible, etc
Picture book in Clicker 6
Creating Custom Books • Books with familiar photos can be more meaningful and motivating for many children • You can make older content with simple text • Students can get involved in book creation
Created Book in Clicker 6
Tar Heel Reader • www.tarheelreader.org • Lots of simple books on a wide variety of topics suitable for older students (and students of all ages)
Writing
Writing • Students who write become better readers, writers and thinkers • Writing without standards • Learn in classroom writing communities: – Write for real reasons – See others do so – Interact with peers and teachers about written content, use and form
Writing • Writing consists of a large number of sub-skills • These include: – Ideas, language, spelling, sensory motor skills, word identification, word generation, etc • Many of these skills, especially operational skills, need to be automatic before a writer becomes fluent • Need to address both: – The development of skills for writing – Meeting current requirements for writing (record school work, demonstrate knowledge, write to friends, etc.) From Erickson and Koppenhaver, 2000
Writing and Reading • Without a pencil writing doesn’t improve • Without writing, reading development will be limited • If a student doesn’t have a pencil, you need to find one!
“Pencils” • Without a pencil writing doesn’t improve • Without writing, reading development will be limited • If a student doesn’t have a pencil, you need to find one
Writing and Emergent Literacy • The function of literacy is as important as the form • Students need to understand why writing is important
Function Versus Form
Emergent Writing
Emergent Writing Malakye’s name
Emergent Writing Malakye’s picture
Developmental Spelling Stages • Print has meaning (emergent writing) – scribble, numbers, letter-like strings, letters • Visual Cue – read/spell in environmental context, tuned to distinctive visual features • Phonetic Cue – sound it out, “glue to print” (initial sound, initial + final, initial, medial + final) • Transitional – rule based e.g. putting past tense on every verb • Conventional
Print Has Meaning Stage
Print Has Meaning Intervention • Must learn that print has communicative function – Point out environmental print – Create language experience texts – Use Big Books and point to text as you read – Use predictable books and pattern books • Provide daily opportunities to write for real reasons
Visual Cue Stage
Visual Cue Intervention • Must learning that letters and sounds are systematically related – Use patterned, rhymed text to foster phonological awareness – Encourage invented spelling – Informal phonics instruction (there’s a B like in your name Bob) – Use voice output during writing activities
Phonetic Cue Stage
Phonetic Cue Stage • Tyrone – typed his name perfectly • Brum Tyrone Nan baefg – then typed this • Tyrone told me that this says that Brum, Tyrone and Nan are friends, using his page set on Proloquo2Go.
Phonetic Cue Intervention • Must learn automatic application of decoding strategies and develop large sight vocabulary – Read, write, listen across tasks and texts – Use words on the wall – Begin using word prediction as soon as student can pick first letter or the word represented
Transitional Stage
Conventional
Conventional Three rabbits went to Canberra
Personal Connection The power of starting from the things children love the most!
Writing Intervention • Inherently multilevel and individualised • Typically chaotic in classroom context • Goals: creating skills, experiences and interest to help children write well and use writing to accomplish their own purposes • Plan volume of writing versus quality of writing, number of pieces versus length of pieces
Models • Present the form to teach the form
Sentence Combining • Direct instruction in producing more complex syntactic structures • Give students sets of two or more sentences to combine into one – E.g. The box is heavy – The box is big – The box is full
Scales • Also called rubrics – providing example of good writing on a specific area e.g. here’s a piece of writing with good action verbs. Now you write one.
Inquiry • Pose a problem • Compile data as a group • Write about it as individuals
Free Writing • Also called “Can’t stop writing” • Writing without standards (ie not even teaching) • Big Paper Writing
Writing Intervention • Focused mini-lessons on various aspects of the writing process e.g. brainstorming • These happen daily for the majority of the writing time
Writing Mini-Lessons • Examples are: – Using a spell checker – Capitalising the first word of every sentence – Brainstorming – Revision (thinking like your audience) – Poetry forms – Using mind mapping
Writing for Students with Disabilities • ALL students must be provided with a pencil before they can start writing
Writing With Alternative Pencils CD
Some Options for Production Difficulties • Talking Word Processor • Word Prediction – On computer – In communication software