reading: cracking the code
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Reading: cracking the code. Reading: cracking the code. Written words are a code: Visual symbols = elements of speech 人 = ‘man’ in Chinese Σ = the sound ‘s’ in Greek Reading is about cracking the code. Reading: cracking the code. Two ways of coding words: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Reading: cracking the code
Reading: cracking the code
Written words are a code:
Visual symbols = elements of speech
人 = ‘man’ in Chinese Σ = the sound ‘s’ in Greek
Reading is about cracking the code
Reading: cracking the code
Two ways of coding words: Logographic (symbol =
word/syllable) Eg Ancient Egyptian, modern Chinese
Alphabetic (symbol = sound) Eg: Ancient Phoenician, Arabic, modern
European language
Reading: cracking the code
Two ways to decode text: By
Used more for logographic scripts
Harder to learn but easier to read once you know what each logogram means
You read by sounding out the symbol
Used more for alphabetic scripts
By
木 = ‘tree’ 山 = mountain
How do we read?
Reading involves three areas on the left side of the brain
All three areas of the brain should be working together at the same time when we read
How do we read?
Green area (inferior frontal gyrus)
Starts process of recognising individual letters or groups of letters that represent different sounds (phonemes)
eg T stands for the sound ‘t
This is where we sound out words
in our head or out loud
How do we read?
Pink area(parieto-temporal region)
Word analyser Pulls the words apart even
more Breaks words down into
syllables and individual sounds
Eg Ti – ger T - i – g - er
How do we read?
Yellow area(occipito-temporal area) Automatic word detector
Recognises word forms without having to sound them out
If this is working well, we can glide through print without hesitation
Reading difficulties Dyslexia means difficulty with words:
Dys comes from the Greek word for difficulty Lexia comes from the Greek word for word
Dyslexia is an information processing difference probably hard-wired into brain from birth.
5 – 10% of the school population are dyslexic There are two types of dyslexia:
Visual dyslexia Sound (auditory) dyslexia
Visual dyslexics
Find it difficult to read groups of words may see only half a word at a time unable to skim or scan well
Find it difficult to judge distances Poor at ball sports or driving
Suffer from tiredness, headaches, irritability Cells in mid-brain region are not processing
visual information from eyes correctly
Words blur, move or disappear . . .. . . . like
this
Visual dyslexia Visual dyslexics are highly sensitive to certain light
frequencies: Glare from white paper, bright lights, computer screens
Special coloured lenses can help the problem
Boy copying sentence without lenses
Boy copying sentence with coloured lenses
Different coloured paper can sometimes help too
Auditory (sound) dyslexia
Most dyslexic people: Have difficulty activating:
pink (word analysis) area yellow (automatic word recognition)
area Rely more on:
green(sounding out) area and right side of brain
shape of word context – making imaginative guesses picture clues
Famous people with dyslexia
Dyslexia is not related to intelligenceDyslexic people are not lazy Albert Einstein Michael Faraday Leonardo da Vinci Richard Branson Henry Ford Ann Bancroft
(Polar explorer)
Bill Gates Hans Christian Anderson Walt Disney Pablo Picasso Jackie Stewart Jamie Oliver
Improving decoding skills English uses over 1 million words
Remembering each whole word by how it looks is very difficult
Modern English has just over 40 different sound elements (phonemes): 25 consonants 15+ vowel sound
Improving decoding skills
Practise these skills:1. Breaking spoken words down into their
different sounds Recent brain research shows you need to be able to sound out words to read alphabetical languages
Say tongue-twisters Talk to each other in Pig Latin
alktay otay eachyay otheryay inyay igpay atinlay
cat
Play Hink PinkWhat is a plate for tuna? A fish dish!
Name a small, stinging insect. A wee bee!
Sing songs and rhymes with younger children to tune your ear to the different sounds of spoken language
Improving decoding skills
Practise these skills:2. Recognising letters and blends
used to code each sound (phonics)
Help younger children learn to readGoing back to basic phonics will improve your own ability to recognise the different letters and blends that make up each sound
3. Using knowledge of phonics to break down words into elements of sound
Play word games:
Boggle, Pass the Bomb, Scrabble, Wordsearches, Hangman