DEVELOPMENTAL READING

LOUELLA JOY O. OSORIO

GenEd Faculty
What is Developmental Reading?
Developmental reading deals with theories of
child’s early stages of learning, his progress to fluency in
oral language, reading and writing, and the transfer of
his home literacy to school literacy.

The study of developmental reading indentifies

models for teaching strategies and activities in actual
classroom to address the needs of teachers and
students.
 What is Emergent Literacy?
• Marie Clay (1966) was the first one who used the term
“emergent literacy”.
• Emergent literacy is based on an assumption that a child
acquires some knowledge about language, reading and
writing even before attending any formal education.
• Clay (1966) asserted that literacy development begins early
in life and is ongoing.
• Teale (1987) described emergent literacy as the early signs
of reading and writing demonstrated by young children,
even before theybegin to take formal instruction in reading
and writing.
• Teale (1982) viewed literacy as the result of children’s
involvement in reading activities facilitated by literate
adults. Thus, emergent literacy refers to competencies
and literary skills in early childhood.
• Sulzby (1991) defines literacy as the reading and
writing behaviors of young children that precede and
develop into conventional literacy.
 VIEWS ON READING
Goodman Chomsky Holdaway Vygotsky Teale
(1967, (1972) (1979) (1981) (1982)
1980)
•Reading as •Reading to a •Children •Children’s •Reading is
psycho- child aids learn to read all higher acquired
linguistic literacy skills naturally in mental through
guessing the home functions are socially
game •Increases environment internalized interactive
interest in and social and
•Reading as books and in interaction relationship emulative
an active learning to with parents behavior
process read
 VIEWS ON READING
Goodman Chomsky Holdaway Vygotsky Teale
(1967, (1972) (1979) (1981) (1982)
1980)
•Capitalizes •Enhances •Children •Children •Social
on children’s background emulate the increase functions
prior information reading their and
strengths, and sense of model set up independent conventions
past story by the engagement of reading
experiences structures parents in reading are acquired
and activities through
knowledge •Familiarizati through interactive
on with interaction literacy
•Child language of with literate events
attempts to books adults
reconstruct
his own
 THEORIES ON READING ACQUISITION
• The model applied to each child to speak a primary or
secondary language has an impact on the type of reading
and writing instruction provided in schools (Durkin, 1995).
• Extensive (thorough) reading is essential for the
development of reading comprehension (Cummins, 2005)

THEORIES ON EARLY WRITING DEVELOPMENT

• The movement from playing with drawing and writing to
communicating through written messages is a continuum
that reflects the basin theories of emergent literacy
(Dyson, 1985; Halliday, 1975; Parker, 1983; Sulzby, 1986;
Morrow, 1989).
 THEORIES ON EARLY WRITING DEVELOPMENT

- Vygotsky (1978) asserted that the child’s language

learning begins in the pre-speech communication
between parents and infants.
- This pre-speech is built through listening and talking, to
playing symbolically, to drawing, and from there to writing
and reading.
- The children’s literacy development begins with the
continual process of learning to communicate which
involves nonverbal, verbal, symbolic play and drawing.
 EARLY WRITING ACQUISITION

• Children naturally develop their writing through their self-

initiated practice.
• This self-initiated practice significantly helps in children’s
conscious learning about writing.
• This is an evolving phenomenon that plays a fundamental
role in the development of writing abilities
 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Part I- Observe a pre-school class to find out the strategies

employed by the teacher, the activities done by the pupils,
and the skills being developed.
Check those that are explicitly employed. Then, point out
the emphasis and identify the theory applied. Report
other observations not included in the list.
 Part I.A- Strategies Employed

Manipulative experiences Sensory techniques

Guided play Circle Time

Social interaction Free Play
Outdoor play Dramatic Play
Systematic training Work
Active participation Real-life experiences
Functional experiences Sensitive period
Exploring Problem-solving

Have you observed other significant strategies employed by the

teacher, but are not indicated in the list? If yes, please indicate.
 Part I.B- Students’ Activities

Manipulating objects Dancing

Smelling objects Singing

Guided-playing Reciting a poem/ rhyme
Identifying shapes/size Informal writing
Free play Informal reading
Exploring Story reading
Dramatic play Artwork

What are your other observations as the students performed their

activities individually or by group?
 Part I.C- Skills Developed

Sensory skills Psychomotor skills

Social skills Physical development

Reading Writing
Art skills Concept mastery
Independent reading Problem solving
Inquisitiveness (curiosity) Spontaneity (willingness)
Communication skills Speaking
Exploration Experimentation
Listening Language

What other skills were being developed in the students based on

the activities given to them?
 Part II

1. Based on the information gathered, what do you think is

the emphasis of the preschool class which you observed.

2. What are the implications/significance of your preschool

observation to early literacy instruction?
 EARLY LITERACY BEHAVIOUR

From the moment of birth, babies begin to acquire

literacy information and they continue to build their
knowledge of oral language, reading and writing as they
go through their childhood.

Thus, when children attend formal education, they

have been already equipped with many literacy concepts
and certain oral language, reading and writing
competencies (Goodman, 1984).
 EARLY LITERACY BEHAVIOR

Physical Language Reading Skills Writing Skills

Abilities Skills
•playing toys •humming •browsing •scribbling
•manipulating •imitating books and •squiggling
clay, blocks, familiar sound other colorful •drawing
legos •singing reading •tracing
•attempting •counting materials •coloring
puzzle work •reciting •looking at •interested in
•putting •producing pictures and pencil and
together toy pleasant other print paper
parts sound to materials activities
•dismantling imitate •eyes focused •attempting
toy parts reading voice intently on to make
books marks on
 EARLY LITERACY BEHAVIOR

Physical Language Reading Skills Writing Skills

Abilities Skills
•holding and •using •emulating •recognizing
using pencil incomprehen- adult reading lines and
•holding and sible language •enjoying shapes
using crayon but perceived story telling •imitating
•finger as reading •interested in adult writing
painting •using oral reading aloud •practicing
•holding language •retelling writing
books •possessing •half narrating strokes
•turning pages oral •half reading •copying
of books vocabulary •possessing letters and
•attempting •reading reading numbers
to use paper aloud vocabulary
 EARLY LITERACY BEHAVIOR

Physical Language Reading Skills Writing Skills

Abilities Skills
•drawing •narrating •naming •starting to
•tracing familiar objects and write his
•scribbling stories characters name and
•discrimina- •inquiring names of
ting pictures •commenting family
•discrimina- •using oral members
ting colors language for •copying
•recognizing communica- environmental
shapes and tion print
sizes •writing with
•identifying adult
texture supervision
 LESSON 3: EMERGENT READER AND EMERGENT WRITER

Characteristics of Emergent Reader:

- pertains to the first stage in a child’s growth toward
literacy
- this stage relates to the beginning experiences or the
child’s first experiences with print in the home and
continues through early years of formal schooling
 STAGES OF THE READING PROCESS
Stage 1- Emergent Readers
-generally ranges from 2-7 years old
-They begin to familiarize themselves with the concepts of
print related to directionality, one-to-one correspondence
between the spoken and written word, and the value of
picture clues to the meaning of a story. (emergent-developing/growing)

Stage 2- Early Readers

- between ages 5-7
- Early readers begin to rely more heavily on the printed
text than on the pictures in a book. They begin to develop
word recognition strategies (monitoring, searching,
crosschecking and self-correction)
Stage 3- Transitional Readers
- ranges from 5-7 years
-Transitional readers make the leap into fluent reading as
they are generally able to read in meaningful phrases with
comfortable pace and appropriate voice intonation.

Stage 4- Self-Extending Readers

-range in age 6-9 years old
- They often read a variety of textual genres and use
reading as a tool for gaining new knowledge or building
upon existing knowledge; they are able to read more
complex texts and begin to read for variety of purposes
Stage 5- Advanced Readers
- generally over the age of 9
- They are readers who attained a level of mastery with
reading.
- They are proficient in reading, enjoy reading and use
reading as means of gaining knowledge.
- They can also read fluently and can interpret texts at
both concrete and inferential (reasoning) level.
 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN
EMERGENT READER

PERCEPTUAL ORAL COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE HOME

FACTORS LANGUAGE FACTORS FACTORS ENVIRON-
FACTORS MENT
FACTORS
•Developed •Has a great •Conscious •Shows •Has access
sensory deal of oral understan- strong to print
skills, visual language ding about involvement materials
and auditory •Has well- language in being read •Has parents
discrimina- developed •Has to who are
tion aural/oral emerging •Has a great habitual
•Left to right language ability to deal of time readers
eye skills think and interest themselves
progression •Uses •Uses trial in reading •Has social
descriptive and error to •Enjoys interaction
language discover new reading with parents
 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN
EMERGENT READER

PERCEPTUAL ORAL COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE HOME

FACTORS LANGUAGE FACTORS FACTORS ENVIRON-
FACTORS MENT
FACTORS
•Stimulated •Expanding •Can retell •Has
awareness memory stories pleasant
and •Imaginative actively environment
manipula- or creative for reading
tion of
objects/ toys
•Emulates
adult reading
behavior
Characteristics of Emergent Writer:

- Children have acquired considerable information about

writing before they enter formal instruction.
- They have learned to write naturally because (Gundlach,
et.al., 1985) familiar writing situations and real life writing
experiences are evident in the home environment as
modeled by the parents and even by other family
members.
- Writing is always related to reading and reading is always
connected to writing. As the child writes, he integrates
knowledge of reading with knowledge of writing.
 STAGES OF WRITING DEVELOPMENT
(Sulzby, 1985; Barnhart and Heisima)

Six Categories of Writing:

1. writing via drawing
2. writing via scribbling
3. writing via making letter-like forms
4. writing via reproducing well-learned units
5. writing via invented spelling
6. Writing via conventional (usual/normal) spelling
 Conventional
spelling

Invented
spelling

Reproducing
learned units

Making
letter-like
forms
Sribbling

Drawing
 READING AND WRITING INDEPENDENCE
(Cooper and Kiger, 2001)

Five Stages of Early Literacy Learning:

1. Early emergent literacy stage
2. Emergent literacy stage
3. Beginning reading and writing stage
4. Almost fluent reading and writing stage
5. Fluent reading and writing stage