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Jan 1, 1440
The Invention of the Printing Press
Around 1440, Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith, invented the Printing Press. The Printing Press was a screw press that was specially designed to achieve an effective and even transfer of an image/letter to paper. The technology was life-changing because it allowed mass production of books, which allowed people to learn and gain knowledge through literature. Printing Press -
Jan 1, 1448
Effects of the Printing Press
The effect the printing press had on reading instruction was the invention of books. The printing press allowed books to be made available for everyone quicker and at a lower cost. It led to consistency in writing, grammar, and spelling (Arthur, 2004). -
Pascal's Invention of Synthetic Phonics
Synthetic Phonics teaches the phonemes (sounds) associated with the graphemes (letters) at the rate of about six sounds per week. The sounds are taught in isolation then blended together. Synthetic phonics develops phonemic awareness along with the corresponding letter shapes. It involves the children rehearsing the writing of letter shapes alongside learning the letter's sound. -
Effects Synthetic Phonics had on Literacy
Americans were able to gain knowledge and understanding for how letters and sounds relate in the English language. -
The New England Primer
The New England Primer was first published in 1687 by printer Benjamin Harris. It contained standard content for beginning reading instruction. The New England Primer included the alphabet, vowels, consonants, double letters and syllabariums of two letters to six letter syllables. The 90-page work contained religious maxims, woodcuts, alphabetical assistants, acronyms, catechism answers, and moral lessons. It was made with a thin sheet of horn or paper attached to a wooden board. -
The Hornbook
The hornbook was an ABC "book" with only one page and it looked like a wooden paddle. Paper was expensive and scarce so teachers had to be creative. A hornbook was carved with the ABCs, numbers from zero to nine, and The Lord's Prayer. -
Websters Blue-Backed Speller
Noah Webster was an American school teacher. Webster thought that Americans should learn from American books, so he wrote a three volume series, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language. The Speller was arranged so that it could be easily taught to students, and it progressed by age. Most people called it the "Blue-Backed Speller" because of its blue cover. For one-hundred years, Webster's book taught children how to read, spell, and pronounce words. -
The Effects of the 15th and 16th Century on Literature and Writing
The Alphabet Method was used from the 1640s till the 1840s.It was used to teach children to read using a 3 step approach. 1. Memorize the alaphabet 2. Memorize the sounds associated with the alphabet 3. Memorize word lists. The effects of the hornbook, Webster's Blue-Backed Speller, and the New England Primer were opportunities for children to read through a sequence of reading texts. They were not the best attemtps at instruction; however, they layed the foundation for literacy instruction. -
Teacher Training College ("Normal School")
Normal schools were established in order to train elementary school teachers for common schools (elementary schools). The first public normal school in the United States was founded in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1839. The normal school represented a forward step over the monitorial system, where they assignined teaching responsibilities to the most deserving eighth-grade students. -
McGuffey's Readers
In 1833,Truman and Smith, a small publishing company, were interested in the idea of school texts. They found Rev. William Holmes McGuffey who planned a series of readers. The first reader introduced children to his ethical code with 55 lessons. The 2nd reader contained reading and spelling with 85 lessons outlining history, biology, astronomy, zoology, and botany. The 3rd reader was much more formal. It contained rules for oral reading and had 57 lessons (for older students), -
Effects of the 1826-1876 Elocution Era
During the 19th century, reading and writing instruction was overhauled. Teachers were receiving formal training in "normal schools." Reading instruction was teacher directed. The teacher would pronunce the words to the students and the students were required to memorize and recite readings. Joseph Rice found that students had the best results in reading and spelling with phonics. -
Joseph Rice Phonics Data
In a survey of Public Schools throughout the United States in 1883, Joseph Rice found that phonics led to better results in reading than the whole word method. In 1895, he gave spelling tests to 33,000 children throughout the United States. He found that the best spelling results were obtained where the phonics method was taught because of how the brain decodes words. -
Thorndile's Teacher's Word Book
Edward Thorndike composed three different word books to assist teachers with word and reading instruction. The first book (The Teacher's Word Book) was published in 1921. He made an elaborate word count as a basis for determining which words, due to frequent use, deserved emphasis in the teaching of reading and spelling. His dictionaries were based upon the principle of meeting the child's needs. Words and meanings were included in his books. -
Dick and Jane Stories
Dick and Jane were popular basal readers written by William S. Gray and Zerna Sharp. They were used to teach children to read from the 1930s-1970s. They offered a balanced, integrated program of learning activities and learning materials. The primer and books one through three emphasized"learning to read". Books four-eight emphasized "reading to learn". -
The Effects of the 1900-1930 Whole Word Instrcution
During the 1900s-1930s, whole word instruction continued to be used. Whole word instruction was used along with phonics as supplemental instruction. Through both whole word instruction and phonics, students' skills excelled in spelling and reading. -
Rudolf Flesch "Why Johnny Can't Read and What You Can Do about it"
The book was a critique of the practice of teaching reading by sight, often called the "look-say" method. The flaw of this method, according to Flesch, was that it required brute force memorization with no theory behind it so that when confronted with an unknown word, the reader would become confused. As a solution, Flesch pushed for the use of the phonics method, the teaching of reading by teaching learners to sound out words using rules. The book inspired Dr. Seuss to write The Cat in the Hat. -
Jeanne Chall "Learning to read: The great debate"
Chall spent a few years visiting hundreds of classrooms, analyzing research studies, and examining textbooks and interviewing textbook authors, reading specialists, and teachers.
Chall found that studies of beginning readers over the decades clearly supported decoding. Early decoding, she found, not only produced better word recognition and spelling, but also made it easier for the child to eventually read with understanding. -
The Effects of the 1950s-1990s Return to Phonics
The mid to late 20th century brought support to phonics with the help of studies and published books such as Flesch's phonics instruction in "Why Johnny Can't Read and What You Can Do About It and Chall's support of decoding in "Learning to Read the Great Debate". They found that phonics was more effective in teaching children to read and spell than the whole word method. -
The 1990s Brain Research and Focus on Phonemic Awareness/Phonics and the effects
Dr. Reid Lyon, head of the NICHD branch that directs reading research, says the research shows that the key to overcoming most reading obstacles in all children is an early exposure to teaching methods that stress the relationships between the sounds of letters, letter combination and words (phonics).
During the 1990s many medical and brain research studies were conducted. They found that phonics and phenemic awareness made a positive impact on children learning to read. -
The Practices (NCLB, Common Core (CC), and RTI) and their Effects on the 2000s till Present Day
NCLB required teachers to measure student achievement in order to assess teacher quality. NCLB put aside funds to assist school districts in providing top programs for grades K-3. CC are academic standards in ELA and Math that outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. It helps create continuity. RTI helps with reading difficulties which are one of the most common reasons students need intervention support. Reading goals can develop reading self-concept. -
Response to Intervention (RTI)
RTI is an approach to academic and behavioral intervention used to provide early and systematic assistance to children who are underperforming. RTI seeks to prevent academic and behavioral failure through universal screening, early intervention, frequent progress monitoring, and increasing intensive instruction or interventions for children who continue to struggle. -
References
A Brief History of Reading website. (n.d.). http://liveink.com Graves, F.P. (1917). A Student's History of Education. New York: Macmillan. Klotz, M. B., & Canter, A. (2006). Response to intervention: A primer for parents. In National Association of School Psychologists. Smith, N.B. (1965). American Reading Instruction. Newark, DE: IRA. The McGuffey Readers website (n.d.).
http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/1836_theoriginal.htm The Phonics Page website. (n.d.). http://thephonicspage.org -
References Part II
Innovation, NCLB, and the Fear Factor: The Challenge of Leading 21st-Century Schools in an Era of Accountability
Educational Policy January 1, 2008 22: 181-203
