I live and work in a poor rural state. Generational poverty is something that I encounter fairly often within the schools I visit. There have been studies that show that parents not raised in a language and literacy rich household, often repeat that specific form of poverty. Vermont is lucky to have a fairly robust early intervention program; however parents of children who often need the most intensive interventions, are often ones who cancel service visits the most often.
I in no way wish to blame the parents. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to have to engage with systems that have judged and excluded you. I cannot imagine the stress of raising a child with special needs on scant resources. These parents often are not able to create materials for their children, as there are multiple hurdles (transportation, childcare, money) before them. It would be disingenuous to say that class structure does not play a part. The people working in the helping professions who have degrees, are by and large products of the middle class. Parents depending upon social services are quite aware of this structure.
So yes, the emergent literacy outlined in the article is likely to be lost within the stresses and needs of such a family. However, there are always ways to find inroads, I believe. A good early intervention team must not judge the parents and must support what can be done, and give the family confidence in their ability to create meaningful experiences for their child. They must pay close attention to the ways that the parent reinforces the childâs language curiosity and encourage what is already there. They must model engagement in a manner that does not feel condescending; letting the parent know how valuable their input in is a good way to build a trusting relationship and support emergent literacy skills.
I too see the access to adapted books as a difficult hurdle for families who speak another language or have limited resources, so many forms to wade through and most digital. The daily tasks of caring for a special needs child do seem overwhelming and often take precedent. I love all of the things you encourage and support with your families. I also find its important for parents to be present for some of my sessions so I can model good literacy practices they may not be aware of. Book boxes or bags with just a few items I usually get from thrift or dollar stores seem to be another good way to bring books that arenât in braille into the childâs hands. But as you state, the importance of just talking/labeling things and giving as many hands on experiences as possible with things throughout their day is one big step everyone can take. Your encouragement of these practices are exactly what the family needs.
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Promoting Emergent Literacy Skills (JVIB, 2018, p. 542-550)
- How might the cultural background or socioeconomic status of families impact their ability to implement the suggested strategies for promoting emergent literacy in toddlers with visual impairments?
Families with a different cultural background or lower socioeconomic status could have trouble implementing the suggested strategies for promoting literacy because they have to have âbuy inâ. Then family needs to understand the strategies that are being recommended and the reasons that those particular strategies are important. The family needs to feel like the strategies/activities are doable in the environment where they are. The strategies/activites should also be easily implemented and maybe fit into an already existing routine for the family. In order to do this, the teacher needs to understand the family dynamics, culture, and resources. The teacher needs to meet the family where they are and introduce the strategies in small steps so that the family can start off with small changes and make bigger changes over time. When strategies are introduced and implemented in this way, the families are more likely to have follow through with the implementation of suggested strategies and the student has a better chance of success.
Meeting families where they are is so important. If I have parents that say they are not good readers or canât read, I encourage them to look at the pictures of the stories and make up a story to the pictures. When children are really little, seeing the book, pictures, and print are important, but the interaction with those items and the parent is the most important. It is the process of the activity that builds on the childâs knowlwdge, not necessarily the reading of the words. It is all learning and maybe the process will help the parent too. I often share stories with the family that I have introduced or that they are familiar with and we build skills/activities from there.
Having high expectations is so important! As an itinerant TVI I work with students 3-22 in age, in 3 counties, in 9 different school district, with varying ability levels. I also have contact with a variety of educators that have different expectations for their students. I have some teachers that have said âthat student is so involved we are just kind to them because we cant expect anything elseâ and some teachers who have said âwe expect competance and offer support as neededâ. I fall on the expect competance side of the spectrum. I never want a child to be bored or feel defeated in a lesson that I am giving. I do not think any one person is able to reach their maximum potential if they are not supported to try and do their best.
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? (Reading Rockets, ND)
Reflect on the seven specific suggestions provided for teachers of reading classes with ELLs. How practical and feasible are these suggestions in real classroom contexts?
This articleâs intention was to provide suggestions based on research conducted by the National Literacy Panel for modifying reading programs for ELL students. There are seven specific suggestions for teachers of reading classes with ELL students. Below I have reflected on each suggestion individually by giving my thoughts on how practical and feasible these suggestions are in a real classroom context.
- Provide additional work on English phonemes that are not present in the studentsâ native language . I think this is an easy task to include within instruction. I had a friend who taught ELL adult students and found that watching popular movies and listening to Beatles music while reading the lyrics was a good starting point for building the experience to distinguish sounds within the English language. As suggested in the article, fun and engaging songs, poems, read aloud, etc are a great way to start this process. What might be hard for the educator is knowing what specific phonemes are not present in the studentâs native language. I would think that may be time consuming, depending on the native language. It might be more practical for the teacher to find a variety of age-appropriate appealing materials that are catchy and fun for the student. If additional individual support is available from an ELL teacher and collaboration is possible then it might be possible for the ELL teacher to consult with the classroom teacher on specific phonemes that are not present in the studentâs native language.
- If students are literate in their native language, focus on differences between that language and English, with less attention given to elements that will transfer . In my opinion, this suggestion is not practical and feasible for the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher would need to be educated on the studentâs native language in order to focus on differences between the native language and English. Possibly there is a cheat sheet available for some languages. Or possibly there could be some consult and collaboration from the ELL teacher. This would also require a lot of individualized instruction and material prep on behalf of the classroom teacher which may not be practical for a teacher of a class of 25-30 with a wide range of student needs and behaviors.
- Provide extra practice in reading words, sentences, and stories. I think this is a feasible suggestion. However, to make it meaningful the practice and choice of words needs to be meaningful and provide context to current reading applications. Repeated exposure to the words in print/braille/auditory is important. Teaching context clues is important. I think that all students in a classroom would benefit from vocabulary comprehension so the classroom teacher can focus on tasks/materials that benefit the class as a whole. Formative assessments can be conducted to determine any words/skills that need to be individualized. Review and maintenance of vocabulary previously learned is important and can easily be done via games or center activities.
- Use cognate words in the native language as synonyms when teaching vocabulary . Unless the language is a language that the classroom teacher is familiar with, this suggestion may not be feasible or practical. It seems very time consuming, requires a lot of research and awareness of other languages. Again, maybe it would be more practical if there was the opportunity to collaborate with the ELL teacher and receive suggestions and guidance from that professional, but then again, we are looking at time constraints of the ELL teacher who often has to serve multiple schools across the district and who has a large caseload of students and additional tasks/paperwork outside of direct teaching.
- Identify and clarify difficult words and passages . If this suggestion is implemented as part of whole group instruction and students are encouraged and feel confident to ask the classroom teacher for clarification/explanations, then I think this suggestion is feasible and practical.
- Consolidate knowledge of the text through the use of summaries. I think this is a feasible suggestion and can be applied to the whole class instruction. All students can benefit from this practice. Students themselves can be taught to create summaries of their own, in their own words by producing written or verbal/recorded summaries or even drawing picture summaries.
- Find appropriate ways to use the native language. I feel mixed on this suggestion. I think it is feasible if implemented creatively. Learning languages is fun and it is fun for young children to be exposed to other languages. I think incorporating some native language words through applicable fun lessons integrated with the current reading would benefit all the students in the classroom. However, this can also be time consuming and takes a lot of planning to determine how many words to use and which words are beneficial to meeting the direct needs of the ELL student and their current reading needs.
Lacey:
You make an excellent point that several of the suggested strategies can be applied to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. To add to this point, I think that many of these strategies can be applied to students with specific learning disabilities in reading and students with Intellectual disabilities. Incorporating some of these suggestions would benefit a whole class as part of whole class instruction. To individualize needs formative assessments can be conducted in order to address more specific needs within a classroom.
I think that the point that your former students seek you out is a testament to the impact you have made on them as a person and learner. Something I learned to do as an educator for students with special needs is to make them designers of their own education. I try to get their buy-in as to what goals they want to achieve. I usually start with a formative type assessment and explain to them where they are at based on that one assessment and then guide them through a discussion of where they âcanâ be and what that means to them as a student and a person- not just for the present moment but also looking at their future selves. I found that getting their buy-in means alot to them and they are persoanlly more engaged, interested and confident in themselves and their abilities to meet their goals.
- How might the cultural background or socioeconomic status of families impact their ability to implement the suggested strategies for promoting emergent literacy in toddlers with visual impairments?
Both cultural and socioeconomic factors into a family having a child with a visual impairment ability to promote emergent literacy. Cultural backgrounds can be complex. Having experience with 2 toddlers who are visually impaired, relocating from China and ESL has produced open and candid conversations with parents and team members alike. The main reason for relocating is having acceptance of their childâs visual impairment along with a better chance of success.
To be successful entails in-home conversations as to the whyâs and howâs with all team members. Teaching emergent literacy skills within the home is one thing. Parents while wanting the best for their child do not want their child to appear to âlook differentlyâ than their peers. We have to take baby steps, literally with the process. Emergent literacy skills experiences include from the readings rhyming, songs, print-materials and other fine motor skills.
Having the interventions of implementing during everyday routines has proven effective with the toddlers having moved from China. The rural family with a toddler who is visually impaired is another story. An ongoing issue with not having the time or for the most part, will to implement literacy strategies shows minimal gains when assessing. This family is also socioeconomically impacted.
Socioeconomic status has me putting on my thinking cap in arriving at products to assist with providing an enriched, all around literacy experience. The federal Quota Fund Program has proven to be somewhat of a lifeline for this TCVI and the ongoing needs of emerging literacy. This includes the Braille Buzz, basic concepts (Boehm), Laptime & Lullabies and added braille literacy materials to name a few.
The emergent literacy practices continue to be problematic at times it can be rewarding as well to all involved. Cannot stress to reach out to fellow TCVIâs for assistance.
I totally understand your socioeconomic status comments. I would like to address specifically the library. I am amazed at how many parents do not actually know of the library in their town/city. Usually the response is, âOh, I did not know we have a library.â This is from individuals that are within walking distance (3-4 blocks) and do not actually need transportation.
What a wonderful way to enrich a childâs emergent literacy skills through experience. Taking that walk to the library or even local store to talk about what is seen, smelled or experiencing with the cane. Am finding more parents are relying on technology to teach their children who are visually impaired versus the actual book or experiences. This can also be a family that does not have a good foundation in reading aka language development.
I enjoyed your posting.
Having ESL students and applying emergent literacy skills can be difficult especially when the school cannot provide guidance such as instruction with the particular language. The schools I work in have programs to assist with students who speak Spanish but not Chinese. This adds a lot of burden to the TCVI.
The toddlers I work with speak Chinese. Have had to seek out certain techies to assist with the language barrier. Am hopeful as the parents are on board with implementing the strategies I have modeled (fingers crossed).
Dyslexia
- Prior to viewing the module video, what were your assumptions about Dyslexia? How did the simulation activity change or contribute to your understanding of Dyslexia?
About 10 years ago, while I was a Special Education teacher in a self-contained classroom, Dyslexia became a very popular topic within our district. I remember sitting through informational seminars and trainings. We were taught that Dyslexia was a brain based disability. They too had us sit through simulations of reading passages and/or sentences as someone with Dyslexia to give us an idea or better understanding of their frustrations and why so many of our students feel defeated or not smart. It was heart breaking. Before then, I just assumed it was a visual thing, or somehow they reversed their letters when reading. I never thought about how it would affect someone who was blind or visually impaired until I became a TVI. However, even then, my first 2-3 years, Dyslexia never crossed my mind. It wasnât until I started working with one of my students that I shared with another TVI. The student was completely blind and received 3 hours of service between the two of us, not including O&M and OT. The TVI I worked with swore he was Dyslexic. We talked about it with other professionals on our IEP team. We even reached out to our professor who ran the vision program we attended. The other professionals that were on the IEP team refused to believe that this students limitations could be due to another cause other than him being blind and being in a childrenâs home. Our professor agreed with us that there was definitely more than just vision after we described the student to her. (Without identifying details of course/confidentiality) It took about 2 years to convince the others that the student needed more Sped services other than just VI services.
Before viewing the module I knew Dyslexia was a brain based disability. As I said before I had extensive training in the area at one time. I think if it werenât for the experience I had with one of my former students as a TVI I would not have thought Dyslexia would affect individuals with vision impairments or even thought about it in general. After viewing the module, I now know my student exhibited many of the same deficits as noted by Marnee Loftin in âUnderstanding Dyslexia in Children with Visual Impairmentsâ Pathways to Literacy. The simulation in the module was just as frustrating as the ones I had experienced during my previous trainings. I definitely could see how a person with Dyslexia can feel tired or defeated. I only had to try for a short time, they live with the disability every day. I really could not imagine and definitely gave me the ability to empathize with them.
Promoting Emergent Literacy Skills (JVIB, 2018, p. 542-550)
- How might the cultural background or socioeconomic status of families impact their ability to implement the suggested strategies for promoting emergent literacy in toddlers with visual impairments?
In Week 1, we read âthe parents of a child with visual impairments play an early and ongoing role in teaching their child about books, and reading and loving readingâ (Cay Holbrook, p. 204). However, unless parents also have a VI, they often donât know the culture of having visual impairment. In fact, many people donât believe that having a VI is a culture but how can it NOT be?
One of Merriam Websterâs definition of culture states âthe characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or timeâ (2024). Being blind or having a visual impairment is a way of life. That is how someone must navigate. People with vision are able to pick up on the most minute facial changes, where as people without vision might not be able to. These small actions create a culture.
Since research indicates that parents of children with visual impairments do read and sing to their kids (Chen and Dote-Kwan, 2018, p. 542), it beggars to assume that parents who have vision sometimes just arenât aware of needing to provide braille or early tactile literacy components in the same fashion they would for sighted children.
Parentâs donât do this maliciously. In fact, if early interventionists often feel a âlack of competenceâ (Chen and Dote-Kwan, 2018, p. 543), this alone can often feel insurmountable to parents learning how to best support their childâs needs. Worse still, systemic blocks in identifying which programs your child is even eligible for or works with your insurance or how to apply for grants all compound the culture/SES of families just trying to do whatâs best for their kids. It can all be so overwhelming.
Older, and often uneducated, Hispanics in my own culture tended to believe special needs children were a curse from god for some perceived sin. This lead to children being kept hidden from society. Thankfully, these beliefs are dying down and families can get the supports they need.
It can still be difficult for families with language barriers to find the supports they are entitled; especially, if they donât speak the common language of the system. But everyday we all get closer to closing those gaps and supporting accessibility for all.
Howdy Ms. Sara,
Iâve got to say that I knew of dyslexia previously but not enough to be as supportive as I hoped while in the classroom. In fact, Iâm still learning about new apps that use varied fonts and formats to help dyslexic readers to access printed materials. Of course, thereâs also text-to-speech and screen reader softwareâs that Iâve really gotten to know much better since working at MSB.
- Reflecting on your own experiences as a student, how did teacher expectations influence your academic performance and motivation? How might you apply these insights to your own teaching practice?
Teacher expectations influenced my performance and motivation â my teachers held their classes to high expectations. Therefore, I was very motivated to work in class. In some of my classes, students earned rewards for achieving a goal. This was very motivating. Teacher expectations can definitely affect students. I have high expectations for my students. We set goals, and once the student achieves his or her goal, there is a reward. Students choose their own rewards â it could be a pizza party or time to watch a movie. I also post progress so students can see how far theyâve come.
Some of my students have loved music too. We incorporate student likes into lessons as a motivator. Sometimes, we may read or write about a favorite Disney character, for example.
The book you mentioned sounds interesting - I will have to purchase it. To motivate students, we will set a goal. Once a student achieves that goal, they get a reward. Progress is posted throughout the semester.
I have also run into this issue as an itinerant provider!
- Prior to viewing the module video, what were your assumptions about Dyslexia? How did the simulation activity change or contribute to your understanding of Dyslexia?
Before this module, I had already done some minor research into Dyslexia and was already aware that Dyslexia was not a vision related problem. I thought of it as a learning disability. This module and simulation activity really did help me better understand the condition, that it is a problem with recognizing phonemes and from that, leads to difficulty with letter recognition, decoding, spelling, etc. Doing the simulation activity, it gave me a taste of the hardships that some of my students deal with on a daily and almost constant basis while theyâre at school. I have multiple students on my caseload that I suspect have dyslexia but havenât received proper attention for it. Many assume that their reading and writing difficulties are related to their vision, but I am convinced there is more going on than that. My heart goes out to these students. I really want to be able to help these students. But after going through this module, Iâm still not sure what more I can do for them, other than help teachers and others I work with to make the distinction between a visual impairment or dyslexia and advocate for appropriate accommodations to help these students compensate for their difficulties in reading and writingâsuch as speech to text/text to speech.