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Features of Known and Unknown Words for First Graders of Different Proficiency Levels in Winter and Spring
January 13, 2021
This study describes the features of words known and unknown by first graders of different proficiency levels in six instances of an oral reading fluency assessment: three in winter and three in spring. A sample of 411 students was placed into four groups (very high, high, middle, and low) based on their median correct words per minute in spring. Each word in the assessment was coded on 11 features: numbers of phonemes, letters, syllables, blends, morphemes, percentages of multisyllabic and of morphologically complex words, concreteness, age of acquisition, decodability, and U function. Words were classified as known if more than 50% of the students within a group were able to correctly read those words. Features of known and unknown words were contrasted for all but the highest group, which made no errors, at each point in time. An analysis of the patterns of known words across groups from winter to spring shows that students followed a similar general progression in the number and type of words recognized. The most prominent feature of unknown words in winter and spring for the middle group of students was the presence of multiple syllables. The lowest-performing group of students continued to be limited by word length and frequency in their recognition of words, but on both features, their proficiency increased from winter to spring. The discussion addresses several critical issues, most notably the relationship of words in oral reading assessments to the word recognition curriculum of many beginning reading programs. Keywords: word recognition development; assessment texts
Unforeseen Ripples of Text Complexity and CCSS
November 12, 2020
The Endpoint of the Staircase of Text Complexity: Revisiting Text Complexity at the Secondary Level: John Strong, SUNY-Buffalo & Elfrieda H. Hiebert, TextProject Download the presentation here. CCSS authors argued that high-school students were unpRead More »Unforeseen Ripples of Text Complexity and CCSS
Changing Readers, Changing Texts: Beginning Reading Texts from 1960 to 2010
March 11, 2020
Freddy summarizes the changes in readers and text given to beginning readers.
Knowledge at the Center of English/ Language Arts Instruction
August 17, 2018
Building students’ knowledge is an important way to support their future reading. This article offers five practices for creating a knowledge-building classroom.
A Comparison of the Effects of Two Phonetically Regular Text Types on Young English Learners’ Literacy
October 24, 2016
Long after Chall (1967/1983) described the choice of reading pedagogy for beginning reading as “the great debate,” the topic of the kinds of texts that best support beginning readers continues to generate controversy (Allington, 1997; Beck, 1997). RhetRead More »A Comparison of the Effects of Two Phonetically Regular Text Types on Young English Learners’ Literacy
Beginning Reading: Changing Conceptions of Kindergarten Literacy Learning
December 22, 2014
Dr. Hiebert presents at the Helen Kelley Symposium at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln on November 11, 2014.
The State of the Field: Qualitative Analyses of Text Complexity
July 11, 2014
The purpose of this review is to examine the function, logic, and impact of qualitative systems, with a focus on understanding their benefits and imperfections.
An Analysis of Two Reading Intervention Programs
June 6, 2014
In this study, the student texts and teacher guides of two reading intervention programs for at-risk, first-grade students were analyzed and compared: Fountas and Pinnell’s Leveled Literacy Intervention My Sidewalks
Growing Capacity with the Vocabulary of English Language Arts Programs: Vocabulary Megaclusters
July 11, 2012
The typical approach to teaching vocabulary in English/Language Arts programs has been to focus on six to eight words per text. Even though these words may add meaning to a particular story, the target words are often rare and their generalizability is limited. The Vocabulary Megaclusters provides a framework for selecting and teaching words according to their shared meaning and function in stories.
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