Several approaches and suggestions were mentioned by the authors, however challenges continue to impact educating students who are D/HH. In thinking of your classroom, what components of reading and writing do you feel are important to teach and how will you teach them?
The subject of teaching reading to D/HH students is something that is talked about a lot in the field of Deaf Education. Research shows that it is a struggle to get D/HH students reading on grade level after the third grade. This is something that needs to be remedied. I personally feel that all components of reading and writing are important to teach these students. I feel that if these components are being taught to children without a hearing loss then they also need to be taught to children with a hearing loss. These children deserve the same education but it just needs to be delivered in a different way. Children who are deaf and hard of hearing need more explicit instruction when it comes to reading and writing that children without a hearing loss do not always require. I think it is extremely important for these children to get this direct and repeated instruction for letter sound correspondence. This is the beginning of learning to read and if they do not have a solid foundation here then they will continue to struggle throughout the reading process. Comprehension is also a component of reading that is often difficult for children who are D/HH. I think read-alouds and repeated readings could both be strategies that could help in this area.
Writing and editing their own writing is something that children who are deaf and hard of hearing also struggle with. I think this too can be fixed with direct teaching and repeated practice. These children take longer to process things than children without a hearing loss and sometimes all it takes is for a teacher to spend more time on things and give them more opportunities to practice.
I agree with you that all components of reading are important to teach to students. Not only components of reading, but writing as well. Even students with a hearing loss need to learn these components in order to be successful in their future academic careers and stay in line with their typically developing peers. I agree with you that the material may need to be delivered in a different way in order for students with a hearing loss to fully comprehend them. This may include giving the instruction in a different format and more direct teaching. I like your strategies that you mention. I also think these strategies would be very beneficial for this population.
ReplyDeleteI like how you expanded on writing. Editing their own work is a skill these students need to develop in order to progress in their writing abilities. With repeated practice they can work on this. There are so many strategies that teachers can implement in order to see what works best for their students. Thanks for sharing!
I really like how you shared the comparison between hearing and deaf students: " These children deserve the same education but it just needs to be delivered in a different way". It is so true and something we have learned over and over through out al of courses. CSD 764 has taught us how to teach these students-providing us the 'different way;' to do so. In my post I mentioned that direct instruction works well and is needed with our students who are deaf and hard of hearing; you took it a step further and added that this instruction not only needs to be direct but repeated! You mentioned read-aloud readings as a strategy; I feel this is something that is often looked over for the students with a hearing loss. This is an activity that almost all parents do with their children but statics have shown that parents with children who have a hearing loss tend to not read aloud to their students. But we know that reading aloud to our DHH students is beneficial. Good job!
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