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A–Z for A–Z for ®® Mat MatMan Man and andMeMe Research Alignment
The A–Z for Mat Man and Me program is built on both longstanding and current research pertaining to early literacy development.
The following chart provides highlights of research alignment. For additional background, see Research Support for A–Z for Mat Man and Me. RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS
DEMONSTRATION OF ALIGNMENT
A student’s reading level in grade one is a reliable predictor of reading achievement in high school (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1997). Teaching foundational skills is critical. (Fletcher et al.,1994).
A–Z for Mat Man and Me uses engaging stories and instruction to explicitly address the foundational skills of alphabet knowledge, concepts of print, academic language, phonological and phonemic awareness.
In “cracking the code” of English, young children need explicit instruction in academic language skills; the ability to link letters and sounds; to decode words; read connected texts (What Works Clearinghouse, Foorman et al., 2016).
The Letter Learning lessons for each Student Letter Book provide structured experiences with each letter of the alphabet. The Meaning Making lessons provide opportunities for decoding and comprehending texts.
Reading is made of decoding (code-focused skills) and comprehension (meaning-focused skills) (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Ortiz et al., 2012).
The Student Letter Books for each letter are at the heart of this program. Each book was purposefully written to connect codebased foundational skills and meaning-based comprehension skills.
Explicit lessons in alphabet learning should include teacher modeling and guided practice for identifying the letter name and sound, recognizing the letter in text, and producing the letter form (Jones, Clark, & Reutzel, 2012).
The program makes use of The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983). Its before, during, and after reading framework ensures a balance of teacher demonstrations, guided practice, and independent practice of the alphabet.
Young learners must master the motoric requirements of letter transcription, including several complex configurations using the distinctive critical features of letters (Reutzel et al., 2019).
The program uses the award-winning Handwriting Without Tears® letter formation to assist with students’ letter-writing work. Each lesson connects to practice in centers and the letter formation pages of the practice book.
Students should not only be taught letter sounds and soundspelling patterns, but should also be taught both regular and irregular words (What Works Clearinghouse, 2016; McArthur et al., 2015; National Reading Panel, 2000).
Each Student Letter Book includes opportunities for learners to read regular (decodable) and irregular words, which leads to automaticity and fluency.
While many programs use single-criterion texts, there is a growing evidence base for multi-criteria text. Multi-criteria text include multiple scaffolds in one book. These scaffolds include word repetition, number of high-frequency words, and meaningfulness (Hiebert, 1999; Mesmer et al., 2012; Cheatham & Allor, 2012).
Students engage with multi-criteria texts that incorporate both decodable and irregular words in the context of stories that are engaging for students. Every book has characters representing an array of backgrounds with relatable situations and challenges.
Oral language is central in developing academic language. Language supports students ability to relate a series of events, infer, and think analytically. (Foorman et al., 2016).
Students build language skills through conversations about the texts. The lessons and questions in the back of each book develop students’ vocabulary, narrative skills, and their ability to think analytically about characters and story problems.
Multiple empirical studies support the efficacy of shared read alouds in developing children’s language and literacy skills (Piasta et al, 2010; Aram, 2006; Justice, & Ezell, 2000; Neuman, 1996).
Students and teachers engage in read alouds and repeated readings as a vehicle to foster knowledge-building and conversations that develop students’ ability to retell, synthesize, summarize, and read fluently and with expression. A chart on the back covers of the books helps teachers plan lessons around decodable words, high-frequency words, and story words.
RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS
DEMONSTRATION OF ALIGNMENT
Academic outcomes increase with differentiated instruction in small groups.(Gersten, Compton, Conner, Dimino, Santoro, Linan-Thompson, & Tilly, 2008; Lou et al, 1996; McCoach, O’Connell, & Levitt, 2006; Vaughn, et al, 2003; Archer & Hughes, 2011).
The program instruction occurs mostly in small groups. The Teacher’s Guide provides instructional ideas for a diverse range of emerging readers and developing readers. Specific ELL scaffolds and multimodal learning activities support differentiation. SEL, phonological awareness, and phonics are also labelled to augment responsive teaching. The multi-criteria texts include scaffolds for readers at a range of stages. Scaffolds include having emerging readers listen and follow along as a text is read or identifying words that begin with the target letter. Developing readers may be asked to read on their own or segment and blend phonemes with the target letter sound.
The fastest growing sector of the U.S. school-age population are English and Multi-Lingual learners (ELs). According to Manken and Kleyn (2009), many of these students struggle academically due to the lack of vocabulary and academic language needed to excel in school. The IES Practice Guide for Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners recommends differentiating instruction by teaching academic vocabulary intensively, integrating oral and written language into lessons, and providing small group instruction to students in struggling areas.
The A–Z for Mat Man and Me curriculum provides scaffolds specifically for Multi-Lingual Learners. The scaffolds help ELL students understand multiple-meaning words, support transfer of primary language skills to English, and facilitate communication with peers. The cognates of many exemplar words in the books are highlighted to support Spanish-speakers.
Multimodal expression is a component of culturally responsive teaching (Taylor & Leung, 2019). Multimodal instruction engages students’ visual (seeing) auditory (hearing) tactile (touching) and kinesthetic (moving) sensory modalities.
Students have the opportunity to interact with the lessons through reading, writing, speaking, listening, movement, and drama, as well as through music and art. The multimodal learning ideas span whole group, small group, partner work, and independent practice.
Explicit social-emotional instruction has an impact on academic outcomes for students. Children develop more positive social behaviors, experience fewer conduct problems, a reduced amount of emotional distress, and improved test scores and grades (Greenberg et al., 2003; Durlak, Dymnicki, Taylor, Weissberg, & Schellinger, 2011).
SEL is woven into the Student Letter Books and Meaning Making lessons as children read, think, talk, and write or draw about five key SEL habits: problem solving, understanding feelings, persistence, cooperation, and kindness. These habits are grounded in the CASEL core competencies, and charts in the Teacher’s Guide name the CASEL alignment of each student book. The CASEL competencies addressed include: • self management • relationship skills • self awareness • social awareness • responsible decision-making
Cultural competence is the ability to interact effectively with people across cultures. Providing access to books that reflect all students’ own race, culture, experiences, and context is one effective way to build this competence (Wanless & Crawford, 2016).
The A–Z for Mat Man and Me books incorporate a plethora of diverse and relatable characters and settings that allow all readers to see themselves in the books. The discussion questions and prompts invite expansive thinking about the values that all communities have in common, while also promoting asset-based mindsets about the uniqueness of each culture. Ideas for homeschool connections are also included.
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