Assignment Paper

Name: ___________________________________

This assignment involves a “scavenger hunt” for information. Your goal for this assignment is to learn more about how oral and written language are connected, to understand basic underlying processes involved in reading, and to identify potential sources of difficulty and causes of reading disabilities. This assignment will be worth up to 25 points and will account for the largest portion of the extra 5% that you may earn in this course by completing each of the extra credit opportunities.

To complete this assignment, you will complete a number of tasks by following the steps outlined below, which will guide you through answering a series of questions. You must write your responses to these questions on this form, as you will use this document to complete a quiz on Canvas and also upload this document with your quiz.

A. Reread Shifting Sources of Language Input located on pages 228-231 in your textbook. As you read, you will need to answer the following questions:

1. According to Chall, after the prereading stage, children move through how many stages of reading development?

2. During the period between kindergarten and first grade, children begin to decode words. This means that they:

3. In the area of reading, the term fluency relates to:

4. After stage 2, there is a shift from “learning to read” to:
B. Next, you will need to access the internet to follow a series of links beginning here: https://www.readingrockets.org/helping/struggle

Locate the video: Why is reading so hard? Learning to read is not the same as learning to speak. Dr. Margie Gillis explains why in this 2-minute video. Watch the video to gain an understanding of why. Write notes to help you answer the following question:

5. Briefly summarize why learning to read is a challenging task for humans:

C. Scroll down the page to Featured Video: Why Some Kids Struggle: Biomapping the Brain. In this 4-minute video, Dr. Kraus is working to learn more about “one possible cause of a child’s reading struggles.”

6. What is the one possible cause of reading difficulty that Dr. Kraus is working to identify through her research?

7. What technology is she using to help her accomplish this?

8. What does BIOMAP stand for?

9. What does the BIOMAP measure objectively?

10. In dyslexic children, the brain detects sound a little more ___________ than others.

11. This difference makes it difficult for a child to ___________________ between sounds.

12. What does the tutor focus on when working with the child in the video?

Critical Thinking and Making Connections to this Course:

13. Based on what you learned in this course, which one of the five areas of language is this research specifically examining?

D. Now, hover over Helping Struggling Readers at the top of the page. In the drop down, click on “10 things you should know about reading” (located near the right side).

Scroll down to number 3: Learning to Read is Complex. Here, Dr. Marilyn Adams provides an analogy for learning to read.

14. What is Adams’ basic analogy?

15. Adams states the ultimate goal of reading is to make ___________________________
E. Next, on the right side of the page, locate and click on The Simple View of Reading. Scroll down to the video. You will need to watch up to about 5:28 of this video.

During this video segment, Linda Farrell explains an important theory on how reading works. She explains that reading is made of two components. In order to be strong in reading comprehension, you must be strong in both of these components.

16. What are these two components?

17. So, a child with difficulty reading may have problems in either of these components or both. Why is it important to find out which of these areas a child has trouble with?

F. Next, you will visit this link: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Dyslexia-Information-Page. Read the Definition of dyslexia to answer the following:

18. Dyslexia is:

19. These individuals typically read at levels lower than expected despite ______________

___________________________________.

20. Common characteristics are difficulty with ___________________________________,

___________________, and/or ____________________________________________.

G. Next, visit this fact sheet about Dyslexia and the Brain on the International Dyslexia Association’s website: https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-and-the-brain/
Read the introductory paragraph and answer the following:

21. Dyslexia is associated with difficulty in processing which two aspects of language?

22. You should already know what one of these aspects refers to. What does the other refer to?

H. Finally, at the top of this page, hover over About Dyslexia and select Fact Sheets. Then select the fact sheet Dyslexia Basics.

Locate: What causes dyslexia?

23. Most people with dyslexia have been found to have problems identifying __________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

24. Dyslexia is not due to their _______________________________________________

25. With ____________________________, students with dyslexia can learn successfully.

Locate: What are the signs of dyslexia?

26. A common myth about dyslexia is that individuals ______________________________