Thread by @EminaMcLean

We are kicking off. @PamelaSnow2 is about to introduce @spelfabet 👏🏻#BELLCoP #effectivephonics

@PamelaSnow2 is giving a wonderful intro to @spelfabet highlighting her achievements and passion in this space. She is a speech pathologist and has a degree in linguistics too. We are so lucky to have her. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Let’s do this. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Meaning is obviously what we are all on about. That’s what we want. What we are talking about is how children get to that. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Did you know @spelfabet is from Warrnambool and has been an SP in education, early intervention, disability and health since 1988? She’s been doing SSP with kids with DLD, ID, ASD, HI & reading difficulties with good effect for years. What a legend! #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Be aware of the misinformation out there. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

We are about to hear about language meaning versus language structure. As language users, children should have the right to know how their language works. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Thanks but no thanks Mem. We will go with the reading science. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Thanks but no thanks Ken Goodman. We will go with the reading science. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Thanks but no thanks multicuing. We will go with the reading science. No one can actually tell us where MSV came from. Enormous red flag! #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Encouraging poor reading habits including wild guesses. No thanks. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

No thanks, David, we will go with the reading science. We don’t like sprinkles, especially phonics sprinkles. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

And now we are on to why Cognitive Load Theory informs why we teach phonics systematically and with scope and sequence. Do you want to overload working memory or do you want to support learning? #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Spoken AND written words are made out of sounds. We need to keep saying this so kids (and adults) get it. Phonemic awareness is critical. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Without direct instructional support phonemic awareness eludes roughly 25% of middle class kids at Year 1 and even more from less literacy rich backgrounds. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Can children induce the alphabetic principle? Usually no. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

@spelfabet is talking about the Taylor, Davis & Rastle (2017) publication that showed focusing on sound to print relationships (rather than meaning only) improved decoding AND meaning making. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

An oldie but a goodie. Students who had been taught via structure rather than meaning methods ended up with significantly better reading comp i.e. better meaning making. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Every child is different blah blah blah, yes, but there is a lot more similarity than difference, especially with respect to reading. A pinch of this and a pinch of that based on catering to the individual is not a good approach. We know what works. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Much less activitation (effort) required one decoding is automatised which frees up WM load for comprehension. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

We all want to spark more brain circuitry yeah? #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

We are talking about the many strands. If the bottom strand is weak you won’t get good reading comprehension. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

It is just not true that you can go straight to meaning as a novice reader. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

It’s very hard to link a symbol to an abstract idea (a phoneme). It requires a lot of repetition. Try it at home by allocating sounds to WingDings symbols and see how quickly you can pick it up to the level that you can blend and segment words. 💁🏼‍♀️ #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

What’s in the box? Reading comprehension, my friends. How do we get there? By unlocking both locks. @spelfabet is reading to us beautifully in Spanish but can’t tell us the meaning of a single word. Decoding & comprehension both need to be unlocked. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

How to unlock decoding. Thank you David K! #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

In order of effectiveness: phonics, word families, whole word, whole language. What’s it gonna be? Structure please. DO NOT FORGET PHONEMIC AWARENESS. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Alison is wrapping up. We are heading to a panel discussion. We have academics, teachers, parents and speech pathologists here to share their experiences of literacy instruction. No tweets from the panel. Chatham House Rule applies for privacy. 🤫 #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

A reminder to check out @PamelaSnow2’s blog and join BELLCoP if you’re a local. pamelasnow.blogspot.com #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Check out Cognitive Load Theory: cese.nsw.gov.au/publications-f… #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Pam is summing up. Best practice instruction is our first port of call for “intervention”. Give all students the best china. It’s not just for remediation! SSP is the fluoride in the water. I say put it in the bubble taps. Let’s prevent casualties. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Actually no panel yet because @spelfabet is having her brains picked about her practice. So many gems about some of our weird and wonderful PCGs. A history lesson really! Hold in mind that with phonics and etymology most words are decodable. #BELLCoP #effectivephonics

Okay, panel time. Thanks for playing. 👋🏼 #BELLCoP #effectivephonics