The Learning Triangle

as presented by PBS Kids Ready to Learn Workshop

A triangle has three points and with regard to the learning triangle, each point identifies an aspect of learning including reading, viewing and doing. Implementing the triangle of learning every time you read a book will enhance learning. You know this is true because it has worked for you. Think of the books you have read in High School and were required to write essays and papers about. Do you remember them better than a book you read much more recently? What about the book that "spoke" to you because you related to it so well. Does the message from that book surface more readily than others regardless of order of appearance? This is because you are giving your mind additional avenues to learning and remembering. Providing children experiences related to what they have just read will enhance their learning and memory of what they have just read. The reading triangle is simple and designed to do just that - help you remember. Shall we talk about this more?

1. Read! Read a book. Ask questions about the story's characters, pictures and plot. Invite children to retell the story by reading pictures.
2. View. Actively watch an appropriate and related program with your child. While watching, ask open-ended questions. "What do you think will happen next?" If the characters are dancing and singing, dance and sing with them. Moving the body uses different parts of the brain and invites different memory tactics.
3. Do. Young children learn best by doing and using their five senses to explore their world. Extend the learning about the topics by engaging in a follow-up activity. This could be art or cooking project, a song, a game or anything!

The Triangle of Learning and its application to me, a mother of four enthusiastic learners:

The learning triangle has become one of our favorite things. We have learned to thoroughly enjoy this idea as we bond and enjoy one another through shared books and, thanks to the learning triangle, movies and adventures. I am not exaggerating when I say that many of our most memorable times together have been sponsored by a good read. A book creates a new way for us to recreate inviting new ideas, themes and templates to act on our imaginations. A book is as variable as its topic and its reader. A book, as it has been said so many times before, opens the mind to a world of endless possibilities. Let me share with you some ways that the triangle of learning has succeeded in fulfilling a passion for learning as well as many treasured occasions in our family.

The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
1. Read! I read the book aloud to my children.
2. Activity. I visited the bin candy and purchased six pieces of 30 or more different kinds of chocolate including milk, dark, white, clusters, mint, caramel, raspberry, crispy, etc. Then we rated each kind of chocolate with a one through five, five being The Best Chocolate Ever and one being Gross. It was enjoyable and my children were very careful raters. We glued the wrapper from the chocolate or drew a picture of the chocolate in a box on a page and rated it beneath producing a fun final product. Being the speech mom that I am, I took it to the extreme when my son said he would rather have the pizza touch. So, next, each of my sons dictated and illustrated a story of their own, one titled The Pizza Touch, the other, The Bubblegum Touch. What a template for creativity!
3. View. We watched Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory. Fact: children respond more positively when this is a shared activity (with mom) and because we shared something together such as a book about chocolate.

This book is a spin off the story King Midas and the Golden Touch so, naturally, we visited this story as well.

Holes by Louis Sachar
1. Read. I read the book Holes aloud to my sons. This book is not a light read and it is one I am glad I shared with them and, at their young ages, did not invite them to read independently. There was much to consider and discuss throughout the reading of the book - many questions to ponder and lessons to learn but this book needed a guide, a parent to lead the mind in a constructive direction. It was a eye opener in many aspects.
2. Activity. We dug a hole! It was exhilarating and fun for all of us. It may sound like work, however, we had something in common - we shared the book Holes. Our hole is about four feet deep and two feet wide and a favorite place for my boys to hide.
3. View. There is a movie about this book but we haven't seen it.

Davy Crockett by Enid Lamonte Meadowcroft
1. Read. I read this book aloud to my children. A delightful read for young boys.
2. Activity. We happen to have coon caps thanks to the boys Uncle and Cabella's and we simply acted out the story as well as our own story in the same setting. Learning happens. Activities such as this don't need much initiation on my part. This type of imaginative play is a common part of my boys life.
3. View. We watched Davy Crocket, of course.

We read several books in this series including Daniel Boone, Geronimo, General Custard and Crazy Horse. A great and fun way to learn a little history. We were so taken with it that I sewed a tepee, we made drums, we wrote in characters, and made costumes with head-dresses.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
1. Read. We listened to this book on audiodisc together. Should I mention that this book is quite different from the Disney movie so if you think you know the story because of the movie, you don't. The reader was very fun with an accent and sound effects and everything.
2. Activity. We made Bon Bon fudge using the recipe in the book.
3. View. We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while eating Bon Bon fudge. Thank you Mr. Bon Bon.

Chalk Box Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla
1. Read. I read this story with a small group of 3rd grade students.
2. Activity. We covered a hall wall with black paper and drew our own garden with chalk. We were very proud of our masterpiece.
3. View. We did not view anything related to this book because of the classroom setting I was in, however, we next read a book Riding Freedom and watched short clips from that time period helping the students visually identify the difference between our time and the 1800's.

Every night my husband and I read to our children (excluding some holidays or late nights). We take turns reading a novel to our oldest two while the other parent reads picture books to our youngest two. This is bonding. And truly, reading is a favorite pass time for each of my children. Following each chapter book, the boys anticipate an activity and view together and this has created a beautiful tradition and a great way to spend time together. I feel passionately about the strong and positive effect the implementation of the triangle of learning has had on our family. I want your family to experience this too. If you have used the triangle of learning in the past, please share your experiences with me. Happy reading and learning.

Twenty Minutes a Day

Read to your children,

twenty minutes a day.

You have the time

and so do they.

Read while the laundry

is in the machine,

Read while dinner cooks;

Tuck a child

into the crook of your arm

And reach for the library books.

Hide the remote,

Let the computer games cool,

For the day your children

Will be off to school;

"Remedial?" "Gifted?"

You have your choice;

Let them hear their first tails

To the sound of your voice.

Read in the morning;

Read over noon;

Read by the light of the

Goodnight Moon.

Turn the pages together,

Sitting as close as you'll fit,

Till a small voice beside you says,

"Hey don't quit."

by Richard Peck

Reading Before Reading

What is considered fluent reading? Well, reading fluency consists of three components including: 1. high degree of accuracy, 2. speed and 3. prosody. It is true that a reader who demonstrates two of these three components will leave their listener lacking and unable to fully comprehend what was read. A fluent reader will make few decoding mistakes and this skill is often the most recognized and praised amongst beginning readers while speed or rate of reading is not far behind on the list of importance. However, a reader can read with accuracy and speed and not comprehend the text. Prosody, the true act of freely reading and appreciating textural language, happens when decoding and comprehension come together. Prosody is the goal of reading. It is reading with proper pauses, intonations, rhythm - all thing that demonstrate ease of text as well as comprehension of text. Hence, there are three components to fluent reading.

Now that we know what a fluent reader is, what can we do to help our readers who are not yet reading become fluent? Let me makes some suggestions.

• Model fluent reading. Read aloud to your reader and love doing it. It is recommended you read up to two grade levels above your readers independent reading level is when reading aloud.
  
• Echo reading. You read something and your child echos your words. Remember to never force children to echo back. A great book for echo reading: I Went Walking by Sue William or Dinosaur Roar.
  
• Paired reading. Read the text together at the same time. Choose a book with a repetitive phrase with strong rhythm. A great book for paired reading: Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle.
  
• Choral reading. This is when a group or class read the text together. The teacher, or better reader, sets the pace. This is a good way to learn sight words.


• Chants. Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds on one or two pitches such as a melody with only one or two notes. Chants are often repetitive but can have highly complex musical structures. By turning a simple sentence into a chant (keeping the same words) you are adding a musical component giving your soon-to-be reader an additional learning strategy.


• Read along with audio disc. When you read along with an audio disc, you are listening to fluent reading - reading with accuracy, proper speed, and prosody - all the while you are watching the words and looking at the pictures. This is a great way to assist comprehension.
  
• Poetry. Poetry has been described before as the highest form of literature. Poetry adds elements to reading comprehension by offering more meaning than is explained or given to the reader. Poetry contains diverse levels of complexity but almost always is some implication and interpretation of the text required to get meaning from its words and sentences. A child who is introduced to age-appropriate poetry while still young will be better equipped to interpret and get meaning from various kinds of texts.

Read to your child everyday. You cannot do more to prepare your child for a lifetime of learning than to develop in them a love for reading. Let them participate in reading in various ways including echo reading, paired reading, or chants. Give them lots of examples and kinds of texts to love including poetry. Read what they can understand. Read. And then they too will read.

Late talker? Get Barking!

It's interesting to see the differences between parents' of late talkers. Some worry early, some don't worry at all because after all, Einstein didn't talk until he was three years old, right?  Well, that may be so, but I think it is safe to say that Einstein was not typical!  On the other hand, many children don't pop those words right out right just when their parents want them too, or when their siblings did, and that's okay too.

For the parent of a late talker, I would absolutely recommend getting their child tested by a speech language pathologist.  It doesn't hurt to know where your kid is at, and you can always decide how you want to handle it. Any state in the United States currently has free services for getting a child under three tested, and depending on the results, possibly free services.  This is due to the fact that early intervention is often effective.  It is much better to take care of things sooner rather than later!  In the meantime, what can you do to help that slow talker?  For those who are pretty quiet and say very little at all, here's one simple tip that may help get them going: Imitation.

Notice if your child imitates you either vocally or physically.  This is a good thing! Try to make a game out of imitation.  If your child will imitate sounds you make, encourage this.  Start with simple sounds, even just a vowel sound, like /a/.  If he makes a sound on his own, repeat that sound and look at him expectantly to see if he will repeat you back.  If she touches your hand, touch her hand back and look expectantly to see if  she will touch your hand back.  Imitation is a foundation of speech, it is how we all learn to talk, by listening and imitating others.  If your child imitates words this could be even better--perhaps they would use these words on their own at some point.

Another fun way to imitate is with animal sounds.  Many kids are interested in animals and so this can be quite motivating.  Kids also may view animal sounds less as "talking" and so may feel less pressure to try it out. If your child says animal sounds this is GREAT, it's a good opportunity for them to develop the same speech sounds that occur in words! Practicing imitating things others say is important for developing speech and language and can be practiced in many ways, including imitating vocalizations, gestures, or animal sounds.  What ways can you think of to get your child to play copycat?  Don't forget to have FUN!

Speaking, Singing, or Chanting about Nursery Rhymes...

  Studying speech and language pathology I had heard again and again about the fact that babies love language, and that they really appreciate rhymes.  They love rhymes so, they would all say!  I believed them.  But not until I had my third child did I decide to take the experts up on the rhyming piece in a black and white  nursery rhyme sort of way.  So my daughter heard the frequent recital of this rhyme at diaper changes, bedtime, playtime, any old time: