Judy Ramírez ©1997-2023
Licensed under CC BY 4.0
This not-for-profit site asks you to rethink what you know about foundational literacy.
Three unique conceptual perspectives are recognizable as we critically think about how reading is being taught:
(1) VC Logic
(2) ABC Logic
(3) Shape Logic
VC LOGIC is foundational literacy's soundest venture.
VOWELS are sound-units (not letters)
CONSONANTS are sound-units (not letters)
Realize your personal power to choose the way you think.
Are vowels and Consonants sounds-to-be-spelled?
Are you employing letter-sounds, phonics rules, letter-based jargon?
Do you "See-Say" enough times to learn word shapes?
Do leaners LISTEN!! Then look?
Do learners LOOK!! Then listen?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Do phonemes predominate?
Do graphemes predominate?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
"Spell-out the sound-units."
"Sound-out these letter-units."
"See it. Say it."
Are V01–C39 on a MAP?
Do you teach Short-A, B-Sound, Hard-C, etc.?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Do learners encode first?
Do learners decode first?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Are there spellable SOUND sequences?
(regional variances are recognized)
Are there pronounceable LETTER sequences?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Are {.Sound+Spelling.} relationships employed?
Are "letter-sound" relationships employed?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Do pronunciations evoke spellings?
Do spellings evoke pronunciations?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Does practice makes permanent –
explicit {.Sound+Spellings.}?
Do you memorize "tricky" words by sight?
Is it only whole-word sight memory?
Are speech sounds – Heard, said, spelled, read... ahead of time?
Do letter-sounds mitigate skipping and guessing?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
My 3rd Grade students eagerly embraced personal responsibility because empowerment itself is motivational. They also learned that choices have consequences. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, DON'T GO ALONG. Leaders of Learning will consider evidence, perceive any dichotomy, use personal truth as a defense, then achieve the fix.
In my own career, at first I used "whole word" sight memory; flashcards with no other explanation. Then I used decodable books and phonics worksheets, but soon found the rich literature of Whole Language curriculum to be far more engaging than contrived fat-cat-sat stories.
Only outside of employment have I been able to scrutinize and discover the wrongheadedness of allowing the visual modality to dominate. Spoken language requires HEARING blended speech sounds. Written language requires SEEING blended letters. Hearing and seeing always dance together, so our job is to guarantee that "hearing" always takes the lead.
Truth is not our enemy. Every parent, tutor and teacher will make choices and create consequences. Most learners compensate and move forward in spite of error. (Machines always need a reliable algorithm.) The day is coming when systemic errors will be exposed and fixed, but that shift must begin in the minds of Learning Leaders for the benefit of our children, their children, and all children to follow.
Notions of rightness and wrongness will set up intrinsic disputes. Within a home or classroom, of course, one's own sovereignty may not be challenged. Within larger venues, observe advocates and adversaries. Each dispute may become a manageable dynamic given free relationships within society. We may respectfully disagree, yet continue to give voice and vote.
Freedom is precious.
=== REVIEW ===
VC Logic is intrinsically sensible, yet still an unproven outlier. Reading scientists have not yet scrutinized VC Logic which organizes all teaching around speech sounds mapped V01 through C39, no letter-based attributions, spelling-out what is spoken: Heard–Said–Spelled–Read (HSSR)
ABC Logic requires learners to sound-out what is on the page (Seen–Read–Said), is organized around alphabet letters and "letter-sounds" with rules and letter-based jargon. Nonsense is included.
Shape Logic simply "sees-says" enough times to memorize whole words.
Licensed under CC BY 4.0
This not-for-profit site asks you to rethink what you know about foundational literacy.
Three unique conceptual perspectives are recognizable as we critically think about how reading is being taught:
(1) VC Logic
(2) ABC Logic
(3) Shape Logic
VC LOGIC is foundational literacy's soundest venture.
VOWELS are sound-units (not letters)
CONSONANTS are sound-units (not letters)
Realize your personal power to choose the way you think.
Are vowels and Consonants sounds-to-be-spelled?
Are you employing letter-sounds, phonics rules, letter-based jargon?
Do you "See-Say" enough times to learn word shapes?
Do leaners LISTEN!! Then look?
Do learners LOOK!! Then listen?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Do phonemes predominate?
Do graphemes predominate?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
"Spell-out the sound-units."
"Sound-out these letter-units."
"See it. Say it."
Are V01–C39 on a MAP?
Do you teach Short-A, B-Sound, Hard-C, etc.?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Do learners encode first?
Do learners decode first?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Are there spellable SOUND sequences?
(regional variances are recognized)
Are there pronounceable LETTER sequences?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Are {.Sound+Spelling.} relationships employed?
Are "letter-sound" relationships employed?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Do pronunciations evoke spellings?
Do spellings evoke pronunciations?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
Does practice makes permanent –
explicit {.Sound+Spellings.}?
Do you memorize "tricky" words by sight?
Is it only whole-word sight memory?
Are speech sounds – Heard, said, spelled, read... ahead of time?
Do letter-sounds mitigate skipping and guessing?
Is it whole-word sight memory?
My 3rd Grade students eagerly embraced personal responsibility because empowerment itself is motivational. They also learned that choices have consequences. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, DON'T GO ALONG. Leaders of Learning will consider evidence, perceive any dichotomy, use personal truth as a defense, then achieve the fix.
In my own career, at first I used "whole word" sight memory; flashcards with no other explanation. Then I used decodable books and phonics worksheets, but soon found the rich literature of Whole Language curriculum to be far more engaging than contrived fat-cat-sat stories.
Only outside of employment have I been able to scrutinize and discover the wrongheadedness of allowing the visual modality to dominate. Spoken language requires HEARING blended speech sounds. Written language requires SEEING blended letters. Hearing and seeing always dance together, so our job is to guarantee that "hearing" always takes the lead.
Truth is not our enemy. Every parent, tutor and teacher will make choices and create consequences. Most learners compensate and move forward in spite of error. (Machines always need a reliable algorithm.) The day is coming when systemic errors will be exposed and fixed, but that shift must begin in the minds of Learning Leaders for the benefit of our children, their children, and all children to follow.
Notions of rightness and wrongness will set up intrinsic disputes. Within a home or classroom, of course, one's own sovereignty may not be challenged. Within larger venues, observe advocates and adversaries. Each dispute may become a manageable dynamic given free relationships within society. We may respectfully disagree, yet continue to give voice and vote.
Freedom is precious.
=== REVIEW ===
VC Logic is intrinsically sensible, yet still an unproven outlier. Reading scientists have not yet scrutinized VC Logic which organizes all teaching around speech sounds mapped V01 through C39, no letter-based attributions, spelling-out what is spoken: Heard–Said–Spelled–Read (HSSR)
ABC Logic requires learners to sound-out what is on the page (Seen–Read–Said), is organized around alphabet letters and "letter-sounds" with rules and letter-based jargon. Nonsense is included.
Shape Logic simply "sees-says" enough times to memorize whole words.