By Jennifer Doyle

Reading opens the world. There are, unfortunately, some students to whom the world remains largely on lockdown.

These struggling readers present unique challenges to the classroom teacher. The one-size-fits-all idea often succumbs to the one-size-fits-some reality as unique situations and struggles reveal themselves. Students are not perfect copies of one another, and neither are the challenges they face. As teachers, we know this, and yet, often, we apply and re-apply the same methods for “fixing” these problems.

Why? Because, sometimes, we’re stumped.

And sometimes, we’re not seeing the gaps that need to be filled.

I’m an early childhood educator. One of the most important early literacy components for me has always been phonological awareness. Why? Because I see the real-life connection that it presents for our youngest learners: the spoken word. Language acquisition begins here. Babies start with it. All of those cute dadadadada’s and mamamama’s are them putting words to concrete objects and, later, abstract thinking.

Because of this deep-seeded love for phonological awareness, I was elated to attend a state-sponsored seminar for helping struggling readers and to hear from the presenters just how important a foundation it truly is. In fact, it is an early indicator of reading success. Rhyming, onset/rime, syllables, alliteration, and phoneme isolation fall under its umbrella. Ever have a child who just cannot do that rhyming worksheet? That’s because there is a rip in that child’s umbrella. So then the question becomes how to repair it.

I’m a big believer in having children be as actively involved as possible. I’ve found throughout my 10+ years in the classroom that when I offer controlled moments of physical activity, I can maintain their attention longer, and give those students who find sitting still painful a chance to be successful. One of my kindergarteners’ favorite games was turkey hunter. Yes, I know, it’s got a very seasonal name, but it can be revamped to fit whatever season you’re in currently.

The students are kneeling on the rug with their heads down in their laps and eyes closed. I provide two words. If the words rhyme, then the “turkeys” are free to gobble. If the words don’t rhyme, and they gobble, I’ve caught them. I’m usually a hungry Pilgrim, by the way. Their goal is simple: don’t get caught! Mine is a little more academic: assessing rhyming skills. What’s great about an activity like this is that it’s versatile. Need to assess beginning sounds? BAM!

I once went to a teacher-led workshop where a veteran teacher was presenting. One of the things I took from her was that children should do some sort of rhyming activity daily. This could be as simple as the turkey game or as standard as a cut and glue worksheet. Remember, this is laying the foundation for those later skills of decoding and comprehension. We’re instilling in our students that they can manipulate sounds. Later, this idea will correspond with a symbol, and we’ll start teaching phonics and decoding.

Why such a concern over something as simple as sounds and rhyming? Because we are all inherently programmed for language. We are predisposed for the sounds of our spoken language. The same isn’t true for phonics. That was something that we created to help cross the gaps from speaking to reading and writing. It used to be that every word was a sight word. Then some incredibly insightful people said, “Hey, almost every time we see this letter, we hear this sound.” Genius. But not inherent.

That being said, we use our background knowledge about our language to help build that bridge with phonics. If we have gaps in our ability to play with the sounds of our language, couldn’t it stand to reason that we could have gaps in our ability to use phonics to decode and, later, read fluently?

More than 20 percent of students are struggling with one of those areas under the umbrella of phonological awareness. About half of those have a significant delay (Snow & Burns, 1998).

Phonological awareness alone isn’t going to help struggling readers. I know that; you know that. There needs to be a significant expansion of brain-based research opportunities, learning style considerations, and support from outside of the classroom to substantially open up the world for our struggling readers. But as an early childhood educator, this seems to me a great place to start unlocking the door.

Jennifer Doyle is a second grade teacher for Oklahoma’s Verdigris Public Schools. She has been teaching for 14 years, including three years with Head Start and 11 years in the public school system. Jennifer is in her fourth year at Verdigris and has presented education workshops for her colleagues.

For the latest early childhood research and expert insight, listen to this archived webinar by Lucy Hart Paulson, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, part of the Voyager Sopris Learning 2015 Spring Webinar Series.

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