Usage of Flashcards in Identifying High-Frequency Words - Article Example

Flashcard is a card with words or numbers printed on it that is briefly displayed as a learning device. The purpose of using flashcards is memorization. One writes a question on each card (and an answer overleaf), tests themselves using the cards, and sort the cards into groups as he or she learns, according to performance. Flashcards can bear vocabulary, historical dates, formulas, etc. The strategy makes selective learning possible whereby the more difficult the flashcards in a group is, the more often one reviews that group. The result is, ideally, a reduction in the amount of study time needed. The use of flashcards was proposed by the German psychologist Sebastian Leitner in the 1970s. However, Pimsleur language courses are based on a similar idea. Since the 1980s, Computer-assisted language learning has been developed to make memorization easier and more effective. Electronic flashcards can bear not only text and pictures, but also sound, which proves very useful for language learning. Moreover, computers can employ spaced repetition to improve memory retention. The paper will discuss two journals that has discussed about how the use of flashcards improves to identify high frequency words. The journals are; The Effects of Reading Racetracks and Flashcards on Sight Word Vocabulary of Three Third Grade Students with a Specific Learning Disability: A Further Replication and Analysis and Word identification abilities of severely disabled readers: A Comparison in Isolation and Context. It will give a summary of the articles highlighting main points, give some quotes and give a response reacting to the article and how it can improve reading skills. How the Use of Flashcards Improves Identifying High Frequency Words In the journal, ‘The Effects of Reading Racetracks and Flashcards on Sight Word Vocabulary of Three Third Grade Students with a Specific Learning Disability: A Further Replication and Analysis’, it highlighted the purpose of a study to improve student sight word vocabulary through the use of reading racetracks and flashcards. The aim of the study was to replicate and extend the findings of Rinaldi and McLaughlin (1996). In the present replication a more rigorous experimental design than Rinaldi and McLaughlin (1996) was used to determine if the use of reading racetracks could increase correct rate and decrease errors for words read in isolation and flash cards were added. Another aim of the study was to see if using reading racetracks on a daily basis improved student sight word vocabulary for three students identified with learning disabilities. (Falk, Band and McLaughlin, 2003) Falk, Band and McLaughlin (2003) carried out a study on three participants; three nine-year old males diagnosed with a learning disability. The research was carried out in a resource room in an elementary school in the Northwest. During the research, the study was measuring the number of correct words and errors said per min from flashcards directly after completing a reading racetrack. The reading racetrack procedure was evaluated in an ABAB single case design. It was discussed that students who have difficulty in reading have a greater instance of dropping out of school and have less success in work and other life skills and those who read well achieve good results in school. In the study, they used the reading racetrack procedure and Precision Teaching techniques to improve the accuracy and fluency that students read Grade Two Priority Words in isolation. The study was done on three participants; Taylor, Bobby, and Daniel. The three were nine- year-old males all diagnosed with a specific learning disability. Their reading levels were all at least a year below their current grade level. Taylor and Bobby received services for thirty minutes of reading right before lunch and thirty minutes of math right after lunch. They also both received in-class services. Daniel received services for written language and reading for one hour at the end of the school day. (Falk, Band and McLaughlin, 2003) The study took place in an elementary school in a large urban setting in the Pacific Northwest - the school was located in a low socioeconomic area where over 70% of the students qualified for free and reduced lunch - at the special education resource room. The data were collected on a loose-leaf paper while the students read their racetrack and flashcards which was later transferred onto a raw data collection sheet. The data for Taylor and Bobby was gathered both immediately before and after lunch, depending on what the students needed to get completed that day. When these data were collected, there were two adults and three to seven other kids in the room. The data for Daniel were gathered with only the first author during the last 15 minutes of the school day. During both baseline phases, the students read words on flashcards that were new to them as correct word read and errors were being recorded for one minute. There were two sessions in the second baseline. In the first session, the students read the flashcards from the first intervention without doing the racetrack while in the second session; the students read their new set of words without doing the racetrack. During intervention, they did the racetrack for one-minute timing and an error drill on the words they missed. Immediately, they followed the same tread where they read the same flashcards they did for baseline while corrects and errors were measured again. The same procedure was followed for the second intervention. The dependent variable measured was the number of words on flashcards said correctly in one-minute timing. During baseline, students were timed for one minute on flashcards based on words that were not in their immediate sight word vocabulary. The first baseline was in effect for three days with flashcards the students did not practice. The second baseline was in effect for two days. On the first day, the students read the flashcards from their first baseline and intervention and on the second day, they read a new set of flashcards that included the words on their new racetrack. After the research, it was noted that each pupil improved in their corrects and errors. Although some students’ improvements were greater than others, they all gained fluency. Taylor improved from 8 words correct per minute to 44 and from 16 errors per minute to 0. Bobby improved from 3 words correct per minute to 35 and from 6 errors per minute to 0. Daniel improved from 3 words correct per minute to 44 and from 9 errors per minute to 0. On the last session, each student had a big jump in their corrects and they all had zero errors. (Falk, Band and McLaughlin, 2003) According to Falk, Band and McLaughlin (2003), the achieved resulted were attributed to the fact that the students had a fourth grade partner to whom they read the racetrack and the flashcards. In each of the previous sessions, they all worked with the researcher one on one. The first author felt the new situation with the chance to impress their older peers helped them excel. This study showed that the reading racetrack is and remains an effective in improving fluency of sight words for the three students with mild disabilities and that the reading racetrack can be a good motivator, especially when said to their peers. The three participants improved their sight words by doing reading racetracks and the flashcards together. They enjoyed being timed and seeing how many words they could say correctly in a minute. The results showed that the flashcards can improve reading skills and that the use of flashcards was easy to implement in the classroom setting. The researchers recommended that combining of reading racetracks with flash cards appears to be a fruitful area for future classroom research. (Falk, Band and McLaughlin, 2003) According to the America Reads Reading Tutor Training Manual Designed for Beginning Readers in Grades 1-2 journal, Bill Clinton was quoted as saying, “There is simply no better way to serve your country and your community than by helping children and adults to read.” Allington (1979) advocated the use the alphabet letters and pictures to teach a child the correct names and sounds of the letters of the alphabet. As the child is being taught a specific letter, it should be cut out and the child is supposed to color it. It is very important that the child is able to identify the correct sound of each letter. According to Allington (1979), children’s knowledge of letter names and shapes is a strong predictor of their success in learning to read. Knowing letter names is strongly related to children’s ability to remember the forms of written words and their ability to treat words as sequences of letters. Not knowing letter names is related to children’s difficulty in learning letter sounds and in recognizing words. Indeed, it is unreasonable to think that children will understand and apply the alphabetic principle until they can recognize and name a number of letters. Since some words cannot be decoded easily, Allington (1979), advocate that your child should know them by sight, “we call them sight words”. High frequency sight words can make up more than 50 percent of the words we read and often cause problems. When a child masters sight words he experiences success in at least half of what hes reading. To help a child learn sight words high frequency sight words and high frequency flashcards should be used. Indeed, according to the two journals, they clearly show that the use flashcards improves identifying high frequency words. References Allington, R. L. (1979); Word identification abilities of severely disabled readers: A Comparison in Isolation and Context, Journal of Reading Behavior 1979, 10, 409–416 Falk, M, Band M. and McLaughlin, T. F (2003); The Effects of Reading Racetracks and Flashcards on Sight Word Vocabulary of Three Third Grade Students with a Specific Learning Disability: A Further Replication and Analysis, International Journal of Special Education 2003, Vol 18, No.2. SECTION II: America Reads Reading Tutor Training Manual Designed for Beginning Readers in Grades 1-2, Available at http://www.etsu.edu/students/cell/america_reads_files/AR%20Tutor%20Training%20Manual.doc, accessed on 10/07/2006 Read More