Introduction
The study aims to consider the peculiarities of reading abilities in children under ten years of age and identify their relevant difficulties and problems. This research is vital because many children have difficulties with reading. The study forms the basis on which the relevant literature with methods and exercises will be compiled to correct the child’s reading deficiencies. It is important to note that an in-depth study of the problem will help identify approaches and strategies, draw attention to specific shortcomings in the child’s reading ability, and improve the children’s overall reading ability. The study was conducted to examine the readership of Amanda, a five-year-old girl. Attention was paid to assessing and analyzing her phonemic awareness, short and long vowels. Amanda attends a KG 2 class, which prepares children for their first year of primary school education. She speaks American English at home with her parents and brother. Amanda likes to listen when her mother reads her books about adventure and fantasy.
Methodology
The objective of this case study is to determine a child’s phonemic awareness. The main goal is to study their perception of short and long vowels. Therefore, I will use word cards (words with both short and long vowels) and ask the student to spell these words slowly and attentively. Then the child’s task will be to use words as she usually does, at medium speed. After that, Amanda will have to say them quickly. This approach will be essential to receive complete data on different children’s pronunciations regarding the correctness of spelling short and long vowels.
It became clear from the assessment results that Amanda had difficulty pronouncing both short and long vowels. At a slow speed, the child tried to pronounce the words correctly. It can be concluded that due to the lack of haste, Amanda was attentive and did not confuse words with short vowels with words with long vowels. However, as the speed increased, the errors grew. Attention should be paid to her pronunciation of vowels such as A, I, and E. The child experienced particular difficulties in such pairs of words as can-cane, ran-rain, back-bake, lack-lake on the A vowel, slim-seat, site-site, ride on the I vowel, and set-ride and peek-beat-seat on the E vowel.
Literature Review and Strategies
From the assessment, I found that Amanda could not pronounce short and long vowels correctly at medium and high speeds of reading. She got 12 out of the 40 words right and has problems with particular vowels such as A, I, and E. From the literature and strategies I have chosen for the intervention, special attention should be paid to books with the pronunciation topic. One of them is the book Build-a-skill instant books: short and long vowels by Cernek and Williams. It presents exercises to improve the pronunciation of words by the child when reading. According to Cernek and Williams (2007), “this book helps children identify short and long vowel sounds through fun and easy-to-make instant books” (p. 2). It is noteworthy that the book includes exercises on reading vowels that are problematic for Amanda, which are short and long A, E, and I vowels. The book’s authors claim that child reading improvement will occur by increasing their decoding skills and sight word vocabulary (Cernek & Williams, 2007). Regular exercises with an emphasis on problem vowels will help Amanda get used to them.
Another strategy to help Amanda with her short and long vowel problems is described in the book Long Vowels Grades 1-2 by Govermale and Squires. The strategy is based on communication between children and parents on fundamental issues. As Govermale and Squires (2002) state, “Look for ways to make real-life applications for the skills being reinforced. Play games with your child to find the vowel sounds in words. Can you think of a dessert that begins with c and has a long a sound? CAKE!” (p. 2). This approach will help add an element of play and simplify the child’s learning. Since Amanda is only five years old, this will be an essential factor in successfully eliminating her short and long vowel errors.
In the third book, Teaching kids to read for dummies by Tracey Wood, the author emphasizes the strategy surrounding the child with words. The author describes the benefits of such an approach, such as increasing the vocabulary of the child, which will lead to better reading ability. According to Wood (2011), “Your child can become a better reader if she has a wide vocabulary, if she is able to follow a sequence of events (a story), and if she can hear the similarities and differences in words” (p. 53). This strategy implies an active practice with words every day. For some time, Amanda will memorize words and practice pronunciation, which will help her improve her pronunciation of vowels.
Post Assessment
After a few weeks of working with Amanda on her short and long vowels, using strategies mentioned in the books, post-assessment showed that she improved her ability to read vowels in words correctly on medium and high speed. The results showed that Amanda made short and long vowel pronunciation mistakes in four out of fourteen words. She still has some difficulty reading words with the long vowel A. For example, in a pair of words ran-rain, Amanda reads rain with the short A. For further practice to correct this deficiency of Amanda, I recommend using the cards from the book Long and Short Vowels-Bumper Cars Literacy Center. According to Hackett (2014), “students will categorize bumper cars with words that have long and short vowels” (p. 30). The method relates to Amanda’s daily practice of reading short and long vowels. This approach complies with the CCSS standard and will allow the child to distinguish vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words (Lessons, 2017). Daily practice will enable Amanda to eliminate the remaining spelling errors.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, it is essential to highlight that the Instructional strategies chosen and recommended are justified based on assessment and analysis. Amanda’s performance regarding short and long vowels has improved significantly, and she is no longer stressed when reading them. She needs to practice with vowels on an everyday basis. I learned that constant practice is vital in enhancing the child’s phonemic awareness. I believe the strategies I chose to improve Amanda’s abilities were effective for her. It is possible that the use of more in-depth literature on this topic could highlight other, more effective strategies. When I become a classroom teacher, I will use these strategies to find an approach to problems in each student’s reading. I am still unsure how to apply these strategies to a whole class of students, and I want to learn some data about this.
References
Cernek, K., & Williams, R. L. (2007). Build-a-skill instant books: Short and long vowels. Creative Teaching Press.
Govermale, A. M., & Squires. (2002). Long vowels grades 1-2. Teacher Created Resources.
Hackett, K. (2014). Long and short vowels–bumper cars literacy center. Teacher Created Materials.
Lessons, O. (2017). Vowels. Rainbow Horizons Publishing.
Wood, T. (2011). Teaching kids to read for dummies. John Wiley & Sons.