The Reading Wars continue...

                                                         

Below is a post by Dyann Powell whose profile says she is a Dyslexia Specialist and expert in dyslexia.

I tried to comment on the post but only connections were allowed to comment.

I asked a simple question: If either methods, Phonics or Whole Word/Balanced Literature can reduce illiteracy why has the graph showing the non-proficiency of children remained flat since 1972?

Somewhere in those 50-odd years, we must have had Whole Language/ Balanced Language and phonics.

Another question I asked was: What is it with peer-reviewed research?

What do we do when there are no research reports? Dyann Powell, your comment is awaited.

Memorisation goes on in the right brain – Rod Everson

                                                      

The following is another misleading Tweet I read yesterday.

Rod Everson @OnTrackReading

The problem with sight word teaching is that the memorization goes on in the right brain whereas the left brain is used for efficient reading. 6-year-olds construct their own right-brain mnemonics to recall the words. Needless to say, they're not always the most reliable mnemonics.

 

This is the kind of disinformation spread by many teachers which is believed by parents and teachers without thinking.

Sell whatever products you want to sell but surely not by spreading misinformation which will prevent kids from learning to read.

Right to read - Movie Review – Part 2

 

At minute 10.24: Let’s see what happens when we take away the pictures.

There has been a lot of opinion about how children learn to read.

The above part of the movie shows a girl reading with pictures and the same words being read (wrongly) by the same girl when the pictures were removed.

What does it prove? It only proves that the teacher did not know how to teach that kid and nothing more. 

Facts don't change minds

 

The clip above says:

It is simply not true that there are hundreds of ways to learn to read... when it comes to reading we all have roughly the same brain that imposes the same constraints and the same learning sequence. (Dehaene)

I saw the clip above on Twitter by anna rz-karwowska   Her profile says she is a translator//ESL_teacher/CELTA/TESOL/MEd/literacy for all researcher.

This is another case of so-called educators who mislead other readers. They copy-paste what they see without thinking. 

Is there only one way to learn to read? NO! Of course not.

I then Twitted as follows:

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel May 4

Does anyone know how children learn to read?

anna rz-karwowska @annarzepeckaka1 Replying to @luqmanmichel and @Tiff_Seaman

Yes. There is a plethora of cognitive science, you can see it at MRI. What I cannot understand is why America and Canada are so invested in balanced literacy. You don’t learn how to play tennis by watching Wimbledon.

Luqman Michel

Wow! Do you have MRI that shows you how children learn to read? I would appreciate it if you show me one.

AND are there no students who can read under Balanced Literacy?

Are 100% of kids using phonics able to read after a year of learning phonics?

anna rz-karwowska

Sigh, around 35 % of students will learn to read regardless of the instruction. Look up Dehaene’s Books or any of his research papers

My comment now:

Anna’s response is evasive and does not answer my question.

Have we determined how 35% learn to read regardless of the instruction?

If 35% learn to read under BL and phonics, then why condemn BL?

If 35% learn to read regardless of the instruction then it means that there is more than one way to learn to read.

Teach kids in any way as long as they learn to read.

Luqman Michel

Anna, I don't know about the % but I do know that many kids learn to read regardless of the instruction. Thank goodness for that. A majority of kids are confused and learn to read in later grades by using patterns and analogies.

You have not answered any one of the 3 questions asked. Are there MRI scans showing how kids read? NO.

Read my post at https://dyslexiafriend.com/2022/03/dehaene-how-brain-learns-to-read.html on 'How the brain reads' by Dehaene and please comment on my post for the benefit of other readers.

anna rz-karwowska

I told you to read Dehaene’s book.

Luqman Michel

I have listened to many of his videos and articles.

You made a statement and I am asking you for a response. It is very irresponsible to Tweet anything you yourself cannot substantiate.

anna rz-karwowska

I did. I Will not spoon-free it to you.

        Do your research, do not expect the knowledge to be handed on a silver plate.

Luqman Michel

This is another example of 'Facts do not change minds'.

Read my post on the backfire effect here.

I also believe in 'First do no harm'. Link.

Thoughts on Phonemic Awareness and more

 

Here are some extracts from an article by Five from five found here and my comments.

Five from five:

‘Word study will have limited success if the learner has weak letter-sound associations and/or weak phonemic awareness.’

Despicable behavior of some British and Australians

 

Many ‘educators’ from the US have blocked me but I can’t recollect any from the US who have blocked me and said things behind my back. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for some Australians and the British.

Recently I created a second account on Twitter and saw the following tweets from Peter Blenkinsop from the UK.

This guy is a secondary school teacher and has never taught kids to learn to read and yet argues with me about how to teach kids to learn to read. 

How to say sorry and move on - argument on sight words

 

I have always found it easy to say sorry when I have made a mistake and move on. Once I say sorry the matter will not be dwelt on.

Here is a recent example of a mistake I made on Twitter and when was informed by an education consultant, Peter Blenkinsop, I apologised and moved on.

Right to Read Project

This article is by the Science of Reading advocates.

You may read the whole article here.