Thread by @ESL_fairy

Discussion point from our MLL literacy networking: is focusing on exposing children to lower-case letters first better than focusing on upper-case letters first, since the majority of letters kids will be exposed to in print will be lower-case? #WRDSBMLL

We may wish to take a step back from a focus on letter names as students first encounter letters and make sure we teach the SOUNDS the letters make. Alphabet-sound linking charts with visuals to support the letter-sound connection can be useful for MLLs and ALL kids. #WRDSBMLL

As teachers, we often point out the words that "break the rules" (spelling conventions), but perhaps we could set our students up for success by emphasizing the spelling conventions that are NOT rule-breakers, to help them both read and spell more efficiently. #WRDSBMLL

Should we ban levelled/patterned texts in schools? No! There is a time and a place for different types of texts. Teaching to decode shouldn't happen with patterned texts, but they may be useful for teaching sentence structure and vocab: docs.google.com/document/d/1mg… #WRDSBMLL

A variety of different types of texts should be included in every reader’s early literacy journey, including more complex texts with opportunities to develop comprehension strategies through read aloud, shared reading, and rich oral discussion. #WRDSBMLL

Teachers of MLLs need to focus on both literacy development and English language development at the same time. A focus on the maintenance and development of home languages and on the continued development of oral English language is important for successful reading instruction.

Every text designed for beginning readers has some degree of predictability and some degree of decodability and will have limitations. Most decodable and patterned texts offer limited opportunity to develop comprehension strategies. #WRDSBMLL

Text selection should take the whole child into consideration, including their current literacy and language acquisition skills and needs, prior learning, lived experiences/background knowledge, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds. #WRDSBMLL

Decodable books should ideally be used in systematically introducing and reviewing sound-spelling patterns as part of explicit phonics instruction, and can be discontinued once students are consistently applying the skills they’ve learned. #WRDSBMLL

Although they should not be used to teach kids how to decode, patterned texts (typically levels 1-3 in levelled texts series) can be helpful for beginning MLLs to understand simple sentence structure and new vocabulary. #WRDSBMLL

Although they should not be used for decoding instruction, levelled texts at levels 4+ can be useful in MLL literacy programs, and lend themselves to greater comprehension for students at beginning STEP levels. #WRDSBMLL