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Teaching the Structure of Language through Seeing, Hearing and Doing

by Suzanne Carreker

 

Reprinted with permission from the International Dyslexia Association quarterly newsletter, Perspectives, Fall 2006 vol. 32, No. 3. It's worth joining IDA just to get Perspectives - each issue has many articles like this; that issue has much more information about multisensory instruction. Their website is http://www.interdys.org.)

 

Note from the webmaster: I hope that reading about these activities will give the reader a few more tools for your toolbox and a sense of what multisensory teaching is all about. However, there is *so* much more benefit to live, in-person training, watching an experienced teacher use these methods and getting professional feedback on your teaching! And I've *tried* to catch all the little scanning errors ...

Many teachers and practitioners have long believed in multisensory instruction even though research has yet to validate this kind of teaching. These same teachers and practitioners firmly believe in directly teaching the structure of language, which research has confirmed to be efficacious (National Reading Panel, 2000). The fundamental question is whether it is the engagement of multiple senses, or the teaching of the structure of language, or the combination of the two that makes the instruction effective. In view of the research, and in deference to the time-honored practices of Multisensory Structured Language Education, this article presents activities that explicitly teach the structure of language and engage multiple senses.

The activities are divided into three categories - the phonology of language, the orthography of language, and the semantics of language. The activities in the first category promote the understanding of the phonology or sound structure of language. These activities aid emergent and struggling readers in learning that spoken words are made up of sounds, which are mapped onto letters in printed words. The second category of activities promotes the understanding of the orthography or letter patterns of the language. Once students understand that spoken words are made up of sounds, they need to know exactly how those sounds are represented in printed words, so they can read unfamiliar words. They also need to learn how to deal with words that have more than one syllable. The activities in this category develop rapid word recognition, which enables students to read words quickly and maintain their attention to the meaning of the text they are reading. Activities in the final category promote the semantics or the meaning of language, so students can understand what they are reading. Even before students are able to read text independently, these activities can be used as listening comprehension activities. The activities in all three categories promote reading success.

 

THE PHONOLOGY OF LANGUAGE

 

A student's success with reading is dependent upon his or her knowledge of the sound structure of language. Ultimately, the student must be able to segment words into their constituent phonemes or sounds. Before teaching a student to segment words into sounds, it is helpful if he or she understands that spoken sentences are made up of words, and that spoken words can be made up of syllables.

Word Awareness

To build a student's sense of "word ness," an understanding of where one word ends and the next word begins in a spoken sentence, the teacher sits

The fundamental question is whether it is the engagement of multiple senses, or the teaching of the structure of language or the combination of the two that makes the instruction effective.

beside the student and lays out four blocks or counting tokens in a row. The teacher dictates a four-word sentence (e.g., The brown dog ran) and touches a counter for each word in the sentence, starting with the counter on the far left of the row. The student repeats the sentence as he or she touches a counter for each word in the sentence. The teacher removes the counter in the row that represents the last word in the sentence. The teacher says, "Now you will say part of the sentence. Say the sentence again and touch a counter as you say each word. One word will be left off." The student says the sentence again, touching a counter for each word, and leaves off the last word (e.g., The brown dog). The activity continues until only one counter is left. The student says, "The," as he or she touches the remaining counter.

 

The teacher dictates other sentences and uses the same sequence. The number of words in the sentences can vary from two to six. Initially, the teacher uses sentences with only one-syllable words and gradually includes two- and three-syllable words in the sentences. The student moves only one counter for a word with more than one syllable such as children, number, and hamburger.

Awareness of Syllables

Awareness of syllables at an oral level later helps the reader perceive the division of words in print and can be developed with this activity. The student makes fists with both hands and places them at the shoulders. The teacher dictates a compound word (e.g., sidewalk). The student repeats the word. The student says the word again in syllables. He or she drops the left. fist to waist-level as he or she says the first syllable (e.g., side) and drops the right fist to waist-level as he or she says the second syllable (e.g., walk). The teacher dictates another compound word. When the student is comfortable with compound words (e.g., flashlight, inside, baseball, football, airplane, cupcake, driveway), the teacher dictates two-syllable words (e.g., magnet, basket, market, number, monster, dentist, winter). This activity can be done in whole group instruction.

Segmenting Words into Sounds

The teacher lays out three one-inch blocks in a row in front of the student. The teacher dictates a word with two or three sounds (e.g., at, is, mat, set, lip, shop, luck). The student repeats the word. The student says the word again slowly and moves one block for each sound in the word. When the student is finished, he or she sweeps a pointer finger under the blocks and says the word quickly. The teacher asks, "How many blocks did you move?" The student touches and counts the blocks that were moved. The teacher then asks, "How many sounds are in the word?" The student answers. When the student is comfortable segmenting words with two and three sounds, the teacher adds more blocks and dictates words with more sounds (e.g., last, sent, slip, drop, plant, split).

In whole group instruction, students can count the number of sounds in a word using their fingers. They make a fist. Beginning with the thumb, they hold up finger for each sound in a word. When

students have segmented the word, they sweep the pointer finger of the other hand across the raised fingertips and say the word quickly. The teacher asks how many fingers they are holding up and how many sounds are in the word.

The Orthography of Language

The word orthography comes from the Greek language and means correct (ortho) writing (graphy). In short, orthography deals with how spoken words are represented in print. Individual sounds in spoken words can be represented with one letter or a group of letters in printed words. Explicit, systematic instruction of sound-symbol correspondence provides students with the means of sounding out an unfamiliar word and helps students establish letter patterns and words in memory, which provides the foundation for rapid word recognition. Knowledge of syllable types, spelling patterns, and morphemes (i.e., prefixes, suffixes, roots) further supports rapid word recognition; this frees students' attention from the word level to the meaning of the text.

Syllable Types

Most words in English can be categorized as one syllable type or as a combination of different syllable types ­closed, open, vowel-consonant-e, vowel pair or team, vowel-r or r-controlled, and consonant-Ie. These six syllable types have distinctive patterns that cue students to the vowel sound within a syllable. For example, a closed syllable ends in one vowel and at least one consonant (e.g., at, bet, fist, stop, crunch). The vowel is short and is coded with a breve, a curved diacritical mark that is placed over the vowel.

Introduction of a Syllable Type

Each syllable type is introduced with an auditory and a visual discovery as illustrated with the introduction of a closed syllable.

Auditory Discovery: The teacher dictates five to seven words that are closed syllables (e.g., at, add, pet, list, drop, brunch). The teacher dictates the words one at a time. Students repeat each word after the teacher. When all the words have been dictated, the teacher asks, "What sounds the same about all the words? Think about the vowel sounds." Students discover that all the words have short vowel sounds.

Visual Discovery: The teacher writes the discovery words on the board and asks, "What looks the same in all these words? How do they end?" Students discover that all the words end in one vowel and at least one consonant. The teacher and students formulate a definition of a closed syllable such as the one mentioned above.

Definitions and Hand Movements for Syllable Types

After the introduction of each syllable type, students periodically review the syllable types by stating the definitions with hand movements.

Closed Syllable

" A closed syllable ends in one vowel. .. " [Students hold up the pointer finger of the left hand and then make a v with the pointer and· middle fingers of the left hand.] " ... and at least one consonant. " [Students hold up the pointer finger of the left hand and then cup the left hand to make it look like a c.] "The vowel. .. " [Students make a v with the pointer and middle fingers of the left hand.] " ... is short ." [Students pull the v straight down vertically about six inches.] "Code it with a breve ." [With the right hand, students draw a breve over the v.]

Open Syllable

An open syllable ends in only one vowel (e.g., he, she, hi, go, no). The vowel is long and is coded with a macron, a flat diacritical marking ( - ) that is placed over the vowel. The definition of this syllable type can be reinforced with the follOwing hand movements.

"An open syllable ends in only one... " [Students hold up the pointer finger the left hand.] " ... vowel. " [Students make a v with the left hand.] "The vowel is long ." [Students slide the v horizontally to the right about six inches.] "Code it with a macron ." [With the right hand, studerits draw a macron from left to right over the v.]

Vowel-consonant-e Syllable

A vowel-consonant-e syllable ends in one vowel, one consonant, and 'a final e (e.g., name, these, five, rope, cube). The e is silent and is crossed out. The vowel is long and is coded with a macron. The definition and hand movements for this syllable type are as follows.

"A vowel-consonant-e syllable ends in one vowel. .. " [Students hold up the pointer finger of the left hand and then make a v with the left hand.] " ... one consonant. .. " [Students hold up the pointer finger of the left hand and then make a c by cupping the left hand.] " ... and a final e ." [Students hold up the pointer finger of the left hand and then make an American Sign Language e (Humphries, Padden, & O'Rourke, 1994) by placing the left thumb across the palm of the left hand and the tips of the four fingers along the thumb.] "The e is silent. " [Students place the pointer finger of the left hand on their lips.] " Cross it out." [With the right hand, students draw a diagonal "cross out" line from left to right.] "The vowel is long ." [Students make a v with the left hand and slide it to the right about six inches.] "Code it with a macron ." [With the right hand, students draw a macron from left to right over the v.]

Vowel Pair (Team) Syllable

A vowel pair or team syllable has two adjacent vowels (e.g., paint, see, boat, head, out, pause, zoo). Because the familiar adage, "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking," is reliable only about 45% of the time ( Adams , 1990), students need to learn each vowel pair individually. Students can review the syllable type with this definition and these hand movements.

"A vowel pair syllable has two ... " [Students make a v with the pointer and middle fingers of both hands and hold up the v's shoulder's width apart.] " ... adiacent vowels." [Students move the v's together in front of them.] "Treat each pair: ... " [Students cup their hands, with palms up.] " ... with loving care ." [Students gently rock their hands back and forth.]

Vowel-r (r-controlled) Syllable

A vowel-r or r-controlled syllable has a single vowel that is followed by an r (e.g., car; her; stir; short, church). The vowel sound in this syllable type is unexpected; the syllable looks like a closed syllable, but the vowel in the syllable is not short. Students must learn each vowel-r combination individually. The good news is that er; ir, and ur are pronounced |er| in accented and unaccented syllables. The combination ar is pronounced |ar|in an accented syllable (e.g., art, park, market, sparkle) and |er|in an unaccented syllable (e.g., mustard, dollar). The combination or is pronounced |or|in an accented syllable (e.g., for, short, border, portrait) and |er|in an unaccented syllable (e.g., doctor, odor). Students can remember this syllable type with this definition and these movements.

.. A vowel-r syllable has an r ..... [Students cross the middle and the pointer fingers of the left hand to make an American Sign Language r (Humphries et aI., 1994).] ..... after the vowel. " [Students make a v with the left hand.] "The vowel makes an ..... [Students pause and then snap their fingers.] ..... unexpected sound."

Consonant-le Syllable

A consonant-Ie syllable appears in the final position of a word (e.g., bumble, candle, table, maple). This combination of letters constitutes a syllable even though there is no sounded vowel. The identification of the consonant-Ie syllable helps students perceive the syllables within the word and where the word will divide. It also helps students determine the placement of the accent as the accent usually falls on the syllable before the consonant-le syllable. These are movements for the consonant-le syllable.

.. A consonant-le syllable is coded with a half-bracket. " [With the right hand, students draw a half-bracket ( ] ). "The accent ..... [With the right hand, students draw an accent mark from right to left.] ..... falls on the syllable before ...

Syllable Type Cards

The teacher prepares a deck of index cards that contains words or syllables that represent the syllable types that have been previously introduced. In addition to word lists, sentences, and connected text that contain the previously introduced syllable types, the deck of cards can be used to review the syllable types.

Syllable Sort - Students sort the deck of cards by syllable type. When the cards have been sorted into separate stacks, students take turns reading the syllables in each stack of cards.

Concentration - The teacher provides students with a stack of cards that contains equal numbers of different syllable types. Students shuffle the cards. They lay the cards face down in rows. Player One turns over two cards and identifies and reads the syllables on the cards. If there is a match

of syllable types (e.g., lip, fast), the player keeps the cards and another player takes a turn. If there is not a match (e.g., no, need), the player replaces the cards and another player takes a turn. The player with the most cards wins.

Quick 1.0. - The teacher shuffles the deck of cards and designates a syllable type for students to identify, for example, an open syllable. The teacher quickly flashes the cards. Students say "yes" and clap if a card contains an open syllable and say "no" if it does not contain an open syllable.

Spelling

English orthography has rules about what letters can appear in certain positions, what letter combinations can occur, and what letters can double. Teaching and calling attention to the patterns and rules of orthography helps students spell words correctly and increases their rapid recognition of words.

Cheer for Seven Brave Letters

There are seven letters in English orthography that never or rarely double. Students can learn this cheer for these brave letters that are not afraid to stand alone (Carreker, 2005):

h,k y,J

v,w,x

Never or rarely double in real

English words.

Arm movements such as these can be added to the cheer.

•  Students make a fist with the right hand and raise it over the head as they say, "h." They do it again as they say, .. k." The raised fist connotes the tallness of these two letters.

•  Students make a fist with the left hand and thrust it toward the ground as they say, "y." They do it again as they say, "j." The downward motion of the fist connotes the tails of these two letters.

•  Students make fists with both hands and place them knuckles to knuckles at chest level, with elbows bent and forearms parallel to the floor. Students pull the fists apart horizontally as they say, .. v." They place their fists together and pull them apart again as they say, "W." They do it one more time as they say, "X." The level forearms connote the baseline that these letters rest upon.

•  Students make fists with both hands.

They cross their arms and place them on the chest as they say, .. Never or

rarely ....... They then uncross their

arms and hold them parallel with elbow bent as they say, ..... double in real English words ...

The Doubling Rule and the Four-leaf Gover

A useful rule for students to learn is the Doubling Rule, which states that when a base word ends in one vowel, one consonant, one accent, the final consonant of the base word is doubled before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel (i.e., a vowel suffix). There are four checkpoints to the Doubling Rule: 1) one vowel, 2) consonant, 3) one accent, and 4) a vowel suffix. If all the checkpoints are present, students know to double the final consonant before adding the suffix. If any checkpoint is missing, students know to just add the suffix.

To remember the checkpoints, students use a manipulative four-leaf clover (Carreker, 2002; see Figure 1). Each leaf of

 

Figure I - Four-leaf clover for reviewing the checkpoints of the Doubling Rule.

 

the clover has a checkpoint for the Doubling Rule, and the stem has the word double written on it. A clover is printed for each student. Students cut the pieces apart and line them up in random order at the top of their desks. The teacher writes a base word, a plus sign, and a suffix on the board (e.g., shop + ing, run + er, hop + ed, red + ish, begin + er, omit + ed). Students look at the base word and begin to build the four-leaf clover. If the base word ends in one vowel, one consonant, and one accent, they move the leaves with 1 V, 1 C, and l' to the middle of their desks and

 

arrange them into a clover. Students look at the suffix. If the suffix begins with a vowel, they move the last leaf. Because all the checkpoints are present, students place the stem at the base of the clover. Students write the derivative on a piece of paper, doubling the final consonant of the base word before adding the suffix. If any of the leaves had been missing (e.g., cup + ful, camp + ed, wait + ing, open + er), students would know not to double the final consonant of the base word. As students think about the Doubling Rule, they will also need to think about letters that never or rarely double. For example, what will students do with fax + ing?

Morphology

With knowledge of morphemes (prefixes, roots and suffixes) or meaningful word parts, students can unlock the meanings of unfamiliar words, and they can read and spell multi-syllabic words that contain these word parts.

Derivative Web

A derivative web is used to introduce the definitions of derivatives with useful word parts as well as the word parts that constitute the derivatives (Carreker, 2004; see Figure 2). Students write a derivative (e.g., portability) at the top of an unlined, landscaped piece of paper. They draw a circle with about a four-inch diameter in the center of the paper. They draw six smaller circles that radiate from the large center circle. In the center circle, students write the origin, the word parts and their meanings, and the definition of the word. For example, portability is from Latin and contains three word parts: port meaning carry, able meaning capable of, and ity, meaning state of. The definition of portability is the state of being capable of being carried. Students connect the word parts in the derivative to words they already know. In two of the smaller circles, students write two derivatives that contain port (e.g., tran sport. import) . In two other circles, students write two derivatives that contain able (e.g., brea kable. manag eable) . In the remaining two circles, students write two derivatives with ity (e.g., creativity, sensitivity). Students write a sentence with the word portability at the bottom of the paper.

Figure 2: A derivative web: One c0mmon characteristic of money is its portability

Word Part Bingo

The teacher provides each student with a grid that contains 25 squares, 15 counters, and a list of 12 roots, 12 prefixes, and 12 suffixes. Students write FREE in the center square. Students choose eight of each kind of word part and write them in the remaining 24 squares in random order. The teacher prepares slips of paper with the definitions of all the word parts and places them in a container (e.g., pre means before).

To play, the teacher draws a slip of paper from the container and reads the definition. If students have the word part that matches the definition in one of the squares on their grid, they cover the square with a counter. The goal is to cover five squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

THE SEMANTICS OF LANGUAGE

Comprehension is the main goal of reading. Accurate and fluent reading facilitates students' comprehension but does not guarantee it. Just as with decoding, students need explicit instruction in comprehension. One important skill that needs to be taught is summarization. Listed below are two activities that teach students how to summarize narrative text (Carreker, 2004). Wh-Question Cards

After students have read a short story (see Figure 3), they prepare five cards with the questions: Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why? They write one question on each card. They line the cards up along the left-hand side of their desks in the order listed below. With a partner, students answer each question orally:

Who? - Students name the characters (e.g., a lion and a mouse).

What? - Students state all the events of the story in order and then determine the most important event, the one event that allows the story to end as it does (e.g., the mouse saves the lion).

When? - Students state the time(s) in which the events take place (e.g., one afternoon).

Where? - Students state the place(s) in which the events take place (e.g., on the savanna).

Why? - Students state the reason why the most important event happens (e.g., the mouse is returning a favor).

As students answer each question, they move the card from the left-hand side of their desks to the right-hand side of their desks. When all the cards have migrated to the right-hand side of their desks, students rearrange their cards in this order: Who?, When?, Where?, What?, Why? This order will aid the summarization of the passage in three sentences: 1) The story is about [Who 7J. 2) It takes place [When?] [Where?]. and 3) [What happens?] because [Why?] (e.g., the story is about a lion and a mouse; it takes place one afternoon on the

 

Figure 3 - A narrative text From Carreker, S. (2004). Developing metacognitive skills: Vocabulary and comprehension (p. 37). Bellaire, TX: Neuhaus Education Center; adapted by permission. The Lion and the Mouse The tall savanna grass fluttered in the slight breeze as a great lion slept. While he slept, something ran across his paw. The lion awoke to see a small mouse nibbling on a seed of grass. The lion scooped up the mouse in his paw and opened his fierce-looking mouth. Before the lion could eat it, the mouse cried, "Please, let me go. I will be glad to return the favor someday." The lion roared with laughter at this thought. But because he was stilI sleepy and not very hungry, the lion let the mouse go. Later that afternoon, the lion awoke and felt hungry. He went to look for food. Soon, he was caught in a net. He tried to get free, but the lion could not break the ropes. The lion roared. The mouse heard him and ran to see what the matter was. Seeing the great lion caught helplessly in the net, the small mouse said, "I am glad that 1 can now return the favor." Then the mouse gnawed the ropes and the lion was soon free. "I may be meek, but even I can be of help to the mighty," said the mouse. The lion and the mouse were forever friends.

 

savanna; the mouse saves the lion because he is returning a favor.)

Summary with a Piece of Rope

Instead of using the Wh-Question Cards or in addition to the cards, students can summarize a narrative text (see Figure 2) by using a piece of rope that is about three feet long to identify the five parts of the plot.

•  Exposition - The exposition of a plot lays out the initial facts of the story ­the characters, settings, what the characters are doing, and the complication that ignites the conflict that will fuel the action of the story. Students hold the rope straight and state the exposition (e.g., the characters are the lion and the mouse, the setting is one afternoon on the savanna, the lion is sleeping and the mouse is nibbling on a seed of grass, the complication is that the mouse runs across the lion's paw).

•  Rising Action - Once the complication is introduced, the action in the story becomes more intense. This is called the rising action. Students tie a loose knot and begin to recount the events. With each event, they pull the knot tighter and tighter (e.g., the lion captures the mouse; the mouse pleads with the lion to let him go; the lion lets the mouse go; the lion takes a nap; the lion awakes and goes to find food; the lion gets caught in a net, the lion roars).

•  Climax - At the climax, the action is most intense, and the knot is pulled as tightly as possible. At this point, fate intervenes or a character acts (e.g., the mouse comes to save the lion), makes a decision, changes, or realizes the conflict.

•  Denouement - After the climax, the tension eases. This is the denouement, which means to separate the knot. The conflict that fueled the action is heading toward resolution. Students slowly loosen the knot as they recount the events after the climax (e.g., the mouse gnaws the ropes; the lion is freed).

•  Resolution - The resolution is the point in the story where the conflict is solved. Students hold the rope straight and state the ending of the story (e.g., the mouse and the lion are forever friends).

SUMMARY

It may be some time before research definitively corroborates the value or the role of multisensory instruction. In the meantime, teachers and practitioners can use activities such as the ones presented in this article that explicitly teach the structure of language, engage multiple senses, and promote reading success by making sure that all bases are covered!

REFERENCES

Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read:

Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Carreker, S. (2002). Scientific spelling. Bellaire, TX: Neuhaus Education Center.

Carreker, S. (2004). Developing meta­cognitive skills: Vocabulary and comprehension. Bellaire, TX: Neuhaus Education Center.

Carreker, S. (2005). Teaching spelling. In J.R. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Humphries, 1, Padden, c., & O'Rourke, T.J. (1994). Basic course in American sign language. Carrollton, TX: T.J. Publishers, Inc.

National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence based assessment of scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Suzanne Carreker, CALT, is director of program development at Neuhaus Education Center in Houston, Texas. She is a Certified Academic Language Therapist and Qualified Instructor and has authored several multisensory, structured language curricula. She is a frequent speaker at IDA and other conferences and is a past president of The Houston Branch of IDA.