Integrating Use of Cueing Systems into Daily Reading Activities

Students will develop emerging abilities to:

• use combined knowledge of context, syntax clues, sight words, word structures, and graphophonics to draw meaning from print
• employ a variety of problem-solving strategies when confronted with an unfamiliar word.

In addition to the main cueing systems, children can be taught other problem-solving strategies such as the use of picture clues. Together these cueing systems and problem-solving strategies offer learners the means to "figure things out for themselves". The foundations for use of all cueing systems and other problem-solving strategies are laid in the Emerging Phase. The cueing systems and other problem-solving strategies are described in the two charts that follow. Examples are included with each description to illustrate how a child might make use of each cueing system or other problem-solving strategy.

Knowledge of Cueing Systems Syntactic Knowledge When learners are familiar with the patterns of word order or grammar that determine meaning in sentences, they can use this knowledge to predict unfamiliar words and to read with greater fluency. For example, children with good oral language have internalized a rule of word order that helps them to know that the following two sentences have different meanings: "The pitcher threw the ball." "The ball threw the pitcher." They can recognize this difference without being able to talk about such elements of grammar as subject and object. Teachers can help children access this knowledge by frequently focusing them on the difference between "sense" and "nonsense" or between something that sounds right and something that does not.

Semantic Knowledge When learners are familiar with the topic of a text because they have had personal experiences related to it, they are able to make use of this background knowledge to predict what an unfamiliar word or phrase might say. For example, children whose parents are interested in baseball are more likely to predict that the unfamiliar word in the sentence "The ____ threw the ball" might be "pitcher" or "catcher" than those unfamiliar with baseball. In this example, children who predicted that the word might be "pitcher" as opposed to "he" would also be making use of syntactic knowledge. They might also recognize that the word order "The he" does not make sense. You encourage children to make use of their "language sense" (integrating syntactic and semantic knowledge) by asking questions such as: Did that make sense? Did that sound right? What do you think would make sense in this story about baseball? In the Emerging Phase, such strategies are developed informally during group times such as Morning Message, Shared Language, or Shared Reading36.

Pragmatic Knowledge When learners understand that people use language differently in different contexts, they are drawing upon pragmatic knowledge. For example, children may notice that adults talk differently to a baby than to another adult. English as a Second Dialect speakers might notice that the language spoken by teachers at school is different than the language spoken by members of their family even though both are speaking English.

Graphophonic Knowledge When learners begin to develop an understanding of letter-sound relationships, they can use this knowledge to predict what an unfamiliar word might be. For example, if a child knew the "p" letter-sound relationship, s/he could use it to support the prediction of "pitcher" as opposed to "catcher" or "he".

Good Readers and Writers Integrate the Cueing Systems and Focus on Meaning Researchers have shown that children who become proficient readers and writers use all of the cueing systems relatively simultaneously and are not overly reliant on one method. They use these systems to attain meaning and expect literacy events to be meaningful. All children can be taught strategies that integrate the use of all available textual clues and their store of background information to decode and create texts. Teachers who consistently focus on the purpose of such strategies as being that of discovering and retaining meaning are likely to maintain the motivation and enthusiasm of their students in relation to literacy tasks.

Other Problem-solving Strategies Use of Picture Clues One of the first reading strategies that children use is that of inventing text in a storybook through use of picture clues. This strategy can be encouraged as children attempt to decode text accurately. In the Emerging Phase, teachers can strengthen use of picture clues in two ways. First, teachers can do this by drawing relationships between pictures and text during Story Time or Shared Reading. Second, teachers can choose books for beginning reading experiences that have a good page by page match of picture to text (see Fountas and Pinnell, 1996, for examples of books with this quality.) To prevent an over reliance on picture clues, teachers need to teach students to use them in conjunction with their cueing systems knowledge and other problem-solving strategies. Strategies that Integrate Semantic and Syntactic Knowledge What has Already Happened Keeping in mind what has already happened can give important clues to what a text is saying about what happens next. Children will make use of this knowledge when they have developed the understanding that just like oral language, printed language makes sense. Reading to children daily develops this understanding. It can be further developed during Shared Reading times by asking questions such as: Do you remember the part we read before about …? What do you think might happen next? "Reading On" Just as children can review what has already happened in order to help them figure out new text, they can also be taught to read ahead, skipping the unknown word and then going back to see if they can fill it in based on what would make sense in the sentence. During the Emerging Phase, teachers can develop this practice initially during Shared Reading time or as part of figuring out the Morning Message. Predictable Patterns in the Text Many children's books contain predictable patterns such as repetition, rhyming, or rhythms. When children have grasped the pattern of a particular book, they can use that pattern to predict new text and to participate in Shared Reading. Using such books regularly during the Emerging Phase can support children in using predictable patterns to read and to write more independently. Integrating Structural Analysis with Graphophonic Knowledge There are many occasions when children's attention can be drawn to patterns in word endings such as "ing", "ed", "er" and "est". When children have a chance to see as well as hear these patterns, this knowledge gets added to their existing graphophonic abilities.