As educators, our ultimate goal, of course, is for readers to be equally proficient in navigating the print and in comprehending what they read. In fact, the more we understand about how individual children are doing these two things, the better we can teach them. So the reading process of a proficient reader can be generally represented like this:

I first represented the print/meaning duality with with this two-circle Venn Diagram when I was a regional language arts consultant in 1999, because I wanted all of the work I did with teachers anchored in understandings of children's reading processes. Literally every workshop I've ever taught across two decades, has been held up by this mental model. 

​Of course, not all children are equally proficient in both print and meaning, and variations on the Venn diagram can illustrate some of the differences. For example, children who are skilled in decoding but don't comprehend well, are represented with the same two circles, but the meaning circle is smaller. This reduction indicates that the stronger proficiency is in the area of decoding/word recognition, like this:
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Children with "small meaning circles" have difficulty with language comprehension. Their spoken vocabulary, general knowledge, and/or facility with language structure are typically limited, which places a ceiling on their reading comprehension. Children who's reading looks like this may rely on context to figure out words with little or no attention to the letters on the page.

Similarly, children who are not skilled with reading the words (vs. understanding the words), are represented with the opposite pair of asymmetrical circles: 

Children with "small print circles" have limited orthographic knowledge. They don't fully understand how our alphabetic code works. Consequently, if tricky words are not sufficiently supported by context (which happens increasingly as text gets more difficulty) they get really stuck.

You can read about this simplified model in Preventing Misguided Reading (Burkins and Croft, 2010), Reading Wellness (Burkins and Yaris 2014), and Who's Doing the Work? (Burkins and Yaris, 2016). ​

There are a number of factors that contribute to children reading in ways that favor meaning or favor print, paying insufficient attention to the other source of information. The most troublesome cause, however, is us, their teachers. If our instruction is biased towards print or meaning, then it is possible for children to learn to rely on that source of information and neglect the other. This is, or course, unintentional. 

In the next post in this two-part series, I will describe one of the ways we can inadvertently teach children not to use the print or not ​to comprehend.
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As educators all over the United States grapple with the back-to-school models that inevitably include simultaneous preparation for “face-to-face” learning and distance learning, there is an understandable sense of overwhelm. Teachers are faced with preparing for two different (or hybrid) and complicated learning environments. Not knowing which model will finally play out adds a distressing element of uncertainty.

Perhaps, however, shifting our mental model can help. We can reframe the two options --”face-to-face” vs. remote learning-- as variations of distance learning, rather than as two completely different models. Then, we can find commonalities between them and start our planning there. Rather than thinking of back-to-school as either face-to-face or at-a-distance, in actuality, everything is going to be distance learning, even when students are in classrooms and “face-to-face.” 

As I’ve been thinking through what fall instruction can look like, it has been helpful to stop thinking of it as two different options, and to frame both options as variations of the same theme. Both are distance learning, with one six feet apart and the other miles apart. So I can plan for instruction that helps me with both at once. Here are some examples:

• Read Aloud:  If you are reading aloud to students, because they will be so spread out rather than on a carpet crowded together right in front of you, you will probably need to project the book. Whether you hold the illustrations under a document camera or read aloud in front of a webcam, even in the classroom, the six-feet-apartness of this fall’s face-to-face requires digital tools that bridge the space.

 

• Phonics Instruction:  If you are teaching children to pronounce and blend phonemes (sounds), they will need to see your face and mouth, and hear you clearly. Masks, quite obviously, obstruct sight and sound as you try to teach this critical understanding. To compensate, you could pre-record some sound and blending lessons and activities. Use your webcam to really get up close on your face and over articulate as you pronounce the sounds. Whether you are distance teaching at six-feet-apart or from your home, the video will support you in teaching children how speech sounds are made.

• Reading Assessments:  At the beginning of the year, you want to find out about children’s reading processes by listening to them read individually. How will you do this six-feet-apart, or even miles apart? You may need to set up a computer station where children can read aloud to you in a Zoom session from the other side of the room. You may need students reading into an ipad in a chat with you from six feet away. If students can use the same platforms they use when learning from home, then all of the procedures and routines you teach in the classroom will simultaneously prepare them should all learning become at-home learning once again.

• Classroom Libraries:  As for the physical classroom library, it seems that children may be able to shop for books if there are few children in the library, they wear masks, and they wash their hands well before and after shopping (Check district guidelines on this!). Of course, this probably means book shopping less frequently, so you will want to put some time and energy into setting up a virtual classroom library. Whether you are in the school building with students or supporting distance learning in their homes, a virtual library will support independent reading. Make teaching children how to navigate this library one of your key routines as you launch the school year. Clare Landrigan has done a beautiful job helping teachers organize and curate virtual libraries. 

There aren’t easy answers to the complexities of back-to-school 2020, and the overwhelm we are all feeling is warranted. For me, however, as I think about how to support the teachers with whom I work, things became a bit unstuck when I stopped thinking about the home learning and school learning options as separate. It is all distance learning, friends, so perhaps we can begin planning accordingly.

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