Although literacy outcomes for DHH students have improved over the past couple of decades, many DHH students continue to lag behind their hearing peers in literacy skills. Several factors indicate a need for ongoing research and education:

• (Some) DHH children continue to experience language deprivation (reduced quantity and quality of comprehensible linguistic input);
• There is an ongoing debate regarding the best approach to literacy instruction (e.g., the need for phonological awareness instruction);
• There is inadequate inclusion of explicit instruction of metacognitive and comprehension strategies in existing literacy instructional models.

Session 1:

The first workshop will consist of a review of the simple view of reading as a theoretical model of literacy development (i.e., reading proficiency relies on phonological awareness and decoding skills + language comprehension skills) and a brief discussion of its importance and application with DHH students who rely on auditory spoken language v. a visual language modality.

We will spend a good portion of our time reviewing evidence-based metacognitive and comprehension strategies and discuss the usefulness of think aloud as a means of explicit instruction of strategies.

Attendees will be presented with information re: a) various kinds of comprehension strategies, b) research findings regarding DHH students’ use of strategies, and c) the think aloud procedure for modeling strategies.

Session 2:

Attendees will be guided through an activity in which they practice the think aloud approach to teaching reading comprehension strategies. We will discuss potential challenges in implementing think-aloud in the classroom and clinical settings and brainstorm solutions to feasibility issues.

Please note that the proposed sessions are appropriate (most useful) for professionals who work with students in the mid-elementary through high school grades.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the differentiated application of the simple view of reading for DHH students who rely on spoken v. signed language input;
2. Identify evidence-based metacognitive and reading comprehension strategies;
3. Discuss think aloud as an explicit instructional approach;
4. Evaluate the feasibility of the proposed literacy instructional plan;
5. Design a lesson plan (for implementing a think aloud lesson of a few comprehension strategies).