Tma_5_Ed841

TMA 05 Henry is 8 years old. He has fallen behind the progress of the rest of his class in reading. Henry finds it difficult to sound out new words and, when talking, he sometimes mispronounces a word. He also often seems to have difficulty remembering what someone has just said to him. Henry is making good progress in other areas of the curriculum. Part 1 From reading the information giving in the above text it would appear that some of the DSM-iv criteria for dyslexia are met. The criteria that Henry meets are poor progress in academic subjects compared with classmates, difficulty pronouncing/sounding out new words, difficulties remembering instructions. There are other diagnostic criteria for dyslexia so to determine whether or not Henry does have dyslexia it will be important for him to be assessed by an educational psychologist. If the school have not yet picked the problems up then Henry’s parents should speak to the teacher and also speak to the SENCO teacher at the school. It may be recommended by the LEA that henry first goes through a screening test to establish an individual learning plan before being referred to the educational psychologist for a full diagnostic assessment (Gates 2003). Things that the assessor will be looking for when assessing Henry to get a clear picture of his difficulties, will be how he processes things, if he can tell his right from left easily (www.bdadylexia.org.uk 2010). Henry may also be assessed on his single word reading skills, prose reading ability, reading comprehension, reading speed and fluency and spelling abilities (Mutner and Snowling 2008). Please see appendix a for more of the diagnostic criteria that Henry will be assessed for. Part 2 Part 3 Poor Reading Comprehension an overview for parents and carers Introduction What is reading comprehension' Reading comprehension is What is poor reading comprehension' I am sure that many of you will have heard of dyslexia' Where children (and adults), have difficulties with reading accurately and fluently (Hulme and Snowling 2009). Poor reading comprehension can be seen as being the ‘mirror image’ of this description (Hulme and Snowling 2009) it is also not as well known as dyslexia. Those with poor reading comprehension will have good understanding of phonology and phonics, phonology and phonics cover a large range of understandings, which relate to the sounds of words and word parts, including identifying and manipulating larger parts of spoken language such as words, syllables, and onsets and rhymes. It also includes other aspects of spoken language such as rhymes and syllabication (Learning First Alliance 2000). Non verbal skills in children with poor reading comprehension will be within the normal age range for their age group. On the flip side they may show weaknesses in the following areas Language or vocabulary Grammatical/ language development Verbal working memory- how much of what they have heard can they recall Inferencing- the ability to understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word from the meaning of familiar words occurring with it in context with words that are already known. Comprehension monitoring- the ability to understand the meaning of what has been written in context. (York reading for meaning) It is thought that a number of children with poor comprehension go unnoticed in the educational system due to them having good decoding abilities (York reading for meaning). Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words (Learning first alliance). Theories The main theories on reading comprehension are Getting assessed for diagnosis The most commonly used assessment tool used in the UK to assess poor reading comprehension is the Neale analysis of reading ability (Neale 1989, 1997, Hulme and Snowling 2009). In this test children are asked to read passages of text, they are then asked open ended questions about each text piece. In the UK this is according to many researchers () the best test for reading comprehension. The Neale test gives measures of reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension and it has parallel passages that can be used to assess listening comprehension as well. The comprehension measure however has several problems. Some of these are that the child is given assistance with words that he/she cannot decode so to some extent listening comprehension is being assessed as well as reading comprehension; the child is asked to answer questions without looking back over the text, so it places a great strain on the working memory. In addition older children often feel uncomfortable with reading aloud. Interventions A number of small-scale training studies provide evidence that reading comprehension can be improved in those with poor reading comprehension. Strategies may include giving the child extra help in: Inferencing and monitoring skills Lexical inference resolution, question generation and prediction Mental imagery encouraging children to make representational and transformational pictures in their minds Visualizing and Verbalising Conclusion/summery References Azmita, M. (1988) ‘Peer Interaction and problem solving: when are two heads better than one'’, Child Development, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 87-96. Bales, R. F. (1950) Interaction Process Analysis: A method for the study of small groups, Cambridge MA: Addison Wesley Burke, L. A. and Williams, J. M. (1998) Developing young thinkers: An intervention aimed to enhance children’s thinking skills, Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3, 104-124 Da Silva, and Winnykaymen (1998) cited in Garton, A. (2004) Exploring cognitive development: the child as problem solver, Oxford, Blackwell publishing De la Ossa, J., & Gauvain, M. (2001). Joint attention by mothers and children while using plans. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 176-183. Elbers, E. and Haan, M. D. (2005) The construction of word meaning in a multicultural classroom: meditational tools during a mathematics lesson, European Journal of the Psychology of Education, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 43-59. Faulkner, D. and Burkitt, E. (Eds) (2009) Understanding children’s thinking and learning :Peer collaboration and problem solving: ED841 understanding children’s development and learning: Study Guide Masters in Education pp. 186- 203, Milton Keynes Open University Press Gabrielle, A. J., and Montecious, C. (2001) ‘Collaborating with a skilled Peer: the influence of achievement goals and perceptions of partners’ competence on participation and learning of low achieving students’ Journal of Experimental Education, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 152-78. Garton, A. (2004) Exploring cognitive development: the child as problem solver, Oxford, Blackwell publishing Gottman, J. M. (1983) How Children Become Friends, Monographs of the Society for research in Child development, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 1-86. Gotman, J.M. and Parker, J.G. (eds) (1986) Conversations of Friends: Speculations on Affective Development, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Gorse, C. A. and Emmitt, S. (2004) Management and Design Team Communication, Leeds Metropoliton University, Leeds Cobra Press UK. Peter J. Hatcher 1 , Charles Hulme 1 , Jeremy N.V. Miles 1 , Julia Carroll 2 , Janet Hatcher 3 , Simon Gibbs 4 , Glynnis Smith 4 , Claudine Bowyer-Crane 1 , and Margaret J. Snowling 1 Ironstock, T., Klee, A., Mckay, S., and Minera, J. (2005) How do Peer Groups affect Learning' www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/.../EDP60sm05-group-paper.doc accessed 30/05/2010. Rubin,K. H. (1993) ‘The Waterloo longitudinal project: correlates and consequences of social withdrawal from childhood to adolescents’ in Rubin, K.H and Asendorpf, J. B. (eds) Social withdrawal, inhibition and shyness in childhood, Hillside, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum. Rubin, K., Bowker, J., & Kennedy, A. (2009). Avoiding and withdrawing from the peer group in middle childhood and early adolescence. In K.H. Rubin, W. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 303-321). New York: Guilford. Stough, J., Berg, C. A. and Meegan, S.P. (2001) ‘ Friendship and gender Differences in task and social interpretations of peer collaborative problem solving’ , Social Development, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-22. Vandermass- Peeler, M., Way, M. and Umbleby, J. (2003) Parental guidance in a cooking activity with preschoolers, Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 75-89 Vass, E. (2007) ‘ Exploring processes of collaborative creativity: the role of emotions in children’s joint creative writing’, Thinking Skills and Creativity, vol. 2, no.2, pp. 107-17. Wiktionary http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/friend accessed 12/05/2010. Other Reading. Azmita, M. and Montgomery, R. (1993) ‘ Friendships, transitive dialogues, and the development of scientific reasoning, Social Development, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 202-21 Doise, W., Mugny, G. and Perret-Clermont, (1975) Social interaction and the development of cognitive operations, European Journal of Social Psychology, 5(3), 367-383 Gabrielle, A.J. (2007) ‘The influence of achievement goals on the constructive activity of low achievers during collaborative problem solving’, British Journal of Eduacational Psychology, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 121-41. Masters Programme in Education Research Methods in Education Handbook 2nd Ed (2003) The Open University Milton Keynes Reynolds, F. J. and Reeve, R. A. (2001) Gesture in collaborative mathematics problem-solving, Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 20, 447 – 460 Whitbread, D., Coltman, P., Pasternak, D., Sangster, C., Grau, V., Bingham, S., Almeqdad, Q. and Demetriou, D. (2009) Metacognition Learning, 4, 63-85. Appendix a A list of some of the things Henry may be assessed on to diagnose Dyslexia. Do you confuse visually similar words such as cat and cot' Do you lose your place or miss out lines when reading Do you confuse the names of objects, for example table for chair' Do you have trouble telling left from right' Is map reading or finding your way to a strange place confusing' Do you re-read paragraphs to understand them' Do you get confused when given several instructions at once' Do you find it difficult to find the right word to say' How easy do you find it to sound out words such as e-le-phant' How often do you think of creative solutions to problems' When writing, do you find it difficult to organise thoughts on paper' Did you learn your multiplication tables easily' How easy do you find it to recite the alphabet' How hard do you find it to read aloud' (taken from Ian Smythe and John Everatt, 2001) Has difficulty with tying shoe laces, tie, dressing Has difficulty telling left from right, order of days of the week, months of the year etc Lacks confidence and has a poor self image. Has particular difficulty with reading and spelling. Puts letters and figures the wrong way round. Has difficulty remembering tables, alphabet, formulae etc. Leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order. Still occasionally confuses 'b' and 'd' and words such as 'no/on'. Still needs to use fingers or marks on paper to make simple calculations. Poor concentration. Has problems understanding what he/she has read. Takes longer than average to do written work. Problems processing language at speed. (www.bdadyslexia.org.uk 2010) It is likely that Henry will not struggle with all of the items highlighted above the assessor will also test his hearing, vision, neurological development, coordination, visual perception, auditory perception, intelligence, and academic achievement. All this information will be used to find out his strengths and weaknesses and write an in depth report for the school to enable them to provide adequate support.