PART I Evidence-based Practices + Phonemic Awareness

Using evidence-based practices provides a solid foundation for effective phonemic awareness instruction. Here are some personal understandings regarding the use of evidence-based practices:

1. Research-Based Foundation: Evidence-based practices are rooted in rigorous research that has demonstrated their effectiveness in promoting phonemic awareness development. As an educator, it is important to stay informed about current research findings and align instructional approaches with evidence-supported strategies.

2. Systematic Instruction: Phonemic awareness skills should be taught systematically and in a predetermined sequence. Starting with simpler tasks and gradually progressing towards more complex ones helps students build a solid foundation and ensures they grasp concepts at each stage before moving forward.

3. Formative Assessment: Regularly assess students' progress using formative assessments to gather ongoing feedback on their phonemic awareness development. This enables you to identify areas of strength and weakness, adjust instruction accordingly, and provide targeted interventions when needed.

4. Differentiated Instruction: Recognize that learners have diverse needs and varying levels of phonemic awareness proficiency. Differentiate instruction by providing additional support, scaffolding, or enrichment activities tailored to meet individual students' needs.

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The?specific methods of evidence-based practices?I will use in the classroom are below.

1. Explicit and Direct Instruction: Providing explicit and direct instruction helps students understand and apply phonemic awareness skills. For example, clearly explaining the purpose and steps involved, modeling correct responses, and offering guided practice are key components of explicit instruction.

2. Active Student Engagement: Engaging students actively in phonemic awareness activities promotes their involvement and understanding. Encourage participation through hands-on manipulatives, games, songs, and interactive exercises that require students to manipulate and manipulate sounds in spoken words.

3. Formative Assessment: the form of formative assessments can vary, for example, ongoing tests, presentations, group debates on phonemics, etc. All the data enable me to identify areas of strength and weakness, adjust instruction accordingly, and provide targeted interventions when needed.

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PART II Multisensory Practices + Phonemic Awareness

For the multisensory practices part, here are some?personal understandings?of how to effectively incorporate multisensory techniques:

1. Engaging Multiple Senses: Phonemic awareness involves understanding and manipulating individual sounds in spoken words. By engaging multiple senses, such as sight, hearing, and touch, learners can reinforce their understanding and make meaningful connections between sounds and symbols.

2. Differentiated Sensory Experiences: Be mindful of individual learners' sensory preferences. Some students may benefit more from visual supports, while others may thrive with kinesthetic or auditory experiences. Differentiate instruction by providing varied sensory opportunities to meet diverse learning styles and needs.

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By incorporating multisensory practices into phonemic awareness instruction, educators create a rich, interactive learning environment that accommodates diverse learning styles.?

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The?specific methods or the plan?to use multisensory practices to create phonemic awareness I will use in the classroom are below.

1. Visual Supports: Using letter cards, word charts, or colorful manipulatives allows students to visually represent phonemes and manipulate them, enhancing their understanding of sound-symbol relationships.

2. Kinesthetic Activities: Incorporating movement and hands-on activities helps kinesthetic learners internalize phonemic awareness concepts. For instance, using gestures, finger movements, or body actions to accompany specific sounds or phoneme segments can enhance memory and engagement.

3. Auditory Reinforcement: Providing auditory experiences is crucial for developing phonemic awareness. Utilize rhyming songs, chants, or audio recordings that emphasize phonemes, blends, or segmenting tasks. Listening to and discriminating between different sounds supports auditory discrimination skills.

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PART III Multilingual Learners' Struggles?

Multilingual learners may encounter specific challenges when developing phonemic awareness, language skills, and reading abilities. Here is a summary of their struggles, along with two specific examples:

1.?Phonemic Awareness: Multilingual learners' struggles with phonemic awareness include difficulties in:

a) Differentiating between phonemes that don't exist or have different representations in their native language. For example, Mandarin speakers may struggle with distinguishing between the /r/ and /l/ sounds in English.

b) Grasping the phonetic patterns and sound combinations unique to the target language due to limited exposure. This can impact their ability to accurately recognize and produce specific phonemes.

2.?Language Skills: Multilingual learners face challenges in their language proficiency, affecting their overall reading comprehension. Key struggles include:

a) Limited vocabulary knowledge in the target language, which makes it difficult for them to understand and decode unfamiliar words while reading.

b) Transferring grammar rules and sentence structures from their native language to the target language, resulting in syntactic errors and hindering comprehension of complex texts.

3. Reading Skills: Developing reading skills poses challenges for multilingual learners. Examples include:

a) Difficulty decoding and recognizing words due to variations in phonetic patterns and letter-sound correspondences between their native language and the target language. For instance, Arabic speakers might find it challenging to decode English words without explicit instruction on the differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

b) Limited exposure to cultural and contextual background knowledge associated with the target language, making it harder for them to infer meaning from context and fully comprehend the text.

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To address these struggles, educators can implement strategies such as:

• Providing explicit instruction and practice in phonemic awareness activities that focus on the specific phonemes and sound patterns of the target language.

• Offering targeted vocabulary instruction to develop word knowledge and support reading comprehension.

• Assisting multilingual learners in transferring language skills by explicitly addressing grammar rules, syntactic structures, and language differences.

• Incorporating culturally relevant texts and diverse literature to enhance cultural understanding and exposure to different contexts.

• Providing additional language support through bilingual resources, peer collaboration, and differentiated instruction to meet the individual needs of multilingual learners.

By acknowledging the struggles faced by multilingual learners and employing targeted instructional approaches, educators can support their phonemic awareness, language development, and reading skills, ultimately promoting their overall literacy proficiency.

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PART IV Interaction of Various Readers + Comprehension and Engagement

Here is a summary of the understanding and two specific ways to address reader characteristics, motivation, text complexity, and purpose of reading for improved comprehension and engagement:

1.?Reader Characteristics:

Students' individual traits, such as vocabulary knowledge, background knowledge, and decoding skills, affect their ability to comprehend text. Understanding reader characteristics helps tailor instruction to address students' specific needs and build upon their strengths. To address this:

a) Conduct regular assessments to identify individual students' reading abilities and tailor instruction accordingly.

b) Provide differentiated reading materials that cater to students' diverse interests, backgrounds, and reading levels.

2. Motivation:?

Students' motivation to read impacts their engagement and comprehension. When students find reading meaningful, enjoyable, and relevant, they are more likely to actively engage with texts and invest effort in understanding them. To enhance motivation:

a) Offer choices in reading material to allow students to select texts that align with their interests.

b) Foster a positive reading environment by emphasizing the value and relevance of reading through meaningful discussions and connections to real-life situations.

3. Text Complexity:

The complexity of texts including vocabulary, sentence structure, and content can either enhance or hinder comprehension. Adjusting the level of text complexity and providing appropriate support ensures a balance between challenge and accessibility for students.

To manage text complexity:

a) Scaffold reading experiences by introducing challenging texts gradually and providing necessary support such as vocabulary assistance and comprehension strategies.

b) Teach students how to navigate and analyze complex texts by explicitly instructing them on comprehension strategies like summarizing, questioning, and making inferences.

4.?Purpose of Reading:?

Different purposes for reading, such as informational texts, narratives, or persuasive articles, require different reading strategies. Recognizing the purpose of reading assists in guiding students to employ specific techniques and approaches to comprehend and engage with the text effectively.To address different purposes of reading:

a) Explicitly teach students different reading strategies based on various text genres and purposes (e.g., informational texts, narratives, persuasive articles).

b) Connect the purpose of reading to students' personal experiences and real-world applications to enhance their motivation and understanding.

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Offering personalized instruction, promoting choice and relevance, scaffolding complex texts, and teaching purposeful reading strategies are effective ways to improve students' overall reading abilities and cultivate their enthusiasm for reading.