Language+Experience+Approach+and+VAKT+Tracing+Technique

Motivating struggling readers can at times be difficult for educators. Holding high expectations for these students and presenting them with the attitude that you believe they can succeed will go a long way to encouraging students to continue their efforts and become successful readers and writers. Using the Language Experience Approach (LEA) with struggling readers and writers is one way to increase student motivation. This technique allows students to write personal experience stories using their own language. The process can be as simple as the student dictating a short story followed by repeated read alouds by both teacher and student to even more elaborate books created by the student using pictures from magazines or using their own drawings. Specific vocabulary can be incorporated into the stories as required by the teacher and the student’s needs. LEA is successful with struggling readers because the story is their own and they are familiar with the language. If explicit vocabulary is deemed necessary to be included within the student’s story a discussion about these words should be held prior to the dictation process and the student should be allowed to choose pictures from magazines to represent this vocabulary as a way to help them understand and make connections to the words. A student’s stories can be put together into a collection and bound as a book to help build their self-efficacy as a reader and writer.

A system that is effective in Tier III interventions that goes hand-in-hand with the LEA is the VAKT (Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic-Tactile) tracing technique. The main difference between LEA and VAKT is that with LEA the teacher takes dictation and therefore the student may do little or no writing on their own. With VAKT the teacher will take dictation of the student’s story and then read it back to the student for them to write the story themselves. By initially taking dictation the teacher is giving the student the ability to get their story on paper without the struggle of spelling unknown words and possibly forgetting parts of story. Once the student begins writing the story themselves the VAKT technique really begins.

There are four stages in the VAKT tracing technique. In the **introductory stage** the teacher is modeling how the technique works and building the student’s confidence. For this stage and throughout the entire technique you will need a dictionary, recording sheet, several 4 x 12-inch strips of paper, and a crayon. In later stages you will also need story or notebook paper. Teacher and student need to sit next to each other so that the student can see //how// the teacher writes. The how is emphasized here because part of this technique is about establishing correct writing habits as well as improving reading and writing for the student. During this first stage the student does not dictate a story but instead chooses a word they would like to learn how to write. Any new words (other than proper nouns) will be looked up in the dictionary. However, prior to looking the word up the teacher will ask the student how many parts or syllables they hear in the word. The teacher will then ask the student where to find the word in the dictionary; the student should be able to recognize the beginning sound of the word to let the teacher know what letter to look under in the dictionary. The student is not expected to locate the word themselves during the early stages. Once the word is found inform the student if they were correct about the number of syllables in the word. The teacher will ensure the student is watching as they write the word onto the sentence strip. In addition to writing the word the teacher is sounding out and underlining each separate syllable. At this point the teacher will model tracing the word with their finger and then allow the student to trace the word with a crayon, until they feel they can write the word from memory. Using the 4x12 inch writing strips the student will cover the teacher’s example and write the word from memory. They will then compare their writing to the teacher’s. If correct they will again cover all previous examples and write the word a second time. Again, it is important to enforce accurate tracings and not allow improper techniques to be continued. While tracing the student will need to: Maintaining a dated record (Figure 1 has a list of VAKT recording symbols) of the words the student learns as well as the number of demonstrations, tracings and attempts to write from memory is important. Additionally, the new words learned must be kept as a record for the student to refer to as needed. These records are useful to the teacher to monitor the students’ progress and determining when the student is ready to move on to the next stage.
 * say the whole word
 * say each syllable as they trace
 * dot //i’s// and cross //t’s// as they trace
 * say the whole word again




 * Stage 1** follows the same tracing and writing procedures as in the introductory stage. The difference here is that the student will now dictate a short story to the teacher and this story serves to generate words the student will trace. As the student is writing their story from the teacher’s reading problem words will be identified along the way and addressed immediately. Again, the teacher will keep records and the student will follow the same process with identifying number of syllables and correct writing technique. In addition these words will be underlined in the student’s finished copy. The teacher will then type the passage and a list of the newly learned (underlined from passage) words. The next session will begin with the student reading the typed story or a passage from the story. As they read, the teacher will note missed words and the student will be asked to pull those cards from their record box and again trace and make two successful writings of the word. As the student needs fewer tracings in order to successfully write the word from memory the teacher may move to Stage 2.

There is one major difference between Stage 1 and **Stage 2**: the student no longer traces the words. Once the word has been identified the student will first check their record box, if the word is not there student and teacher will follow the guidelines for finding the word in the dictionary. Again, the teacher will model writing the word as the student watches and listens to the teacher saying the word and the separate syllables. The student will then study the example writing and repeatedly say the word as a whole as well as the separate syllables. When the student is ready they will attempt to spell the word correctly twice on a separate card from the teacher’s example.

Finally, in **Stage 3** the student uses the dictionary as their model. The teacher no longer models the writing for the student. It may still be necessary for the teacher to assist the student in locating words within the dictionary.

The VAKT tracing technique is effective because it provides structure and support for struggling students. This process is multisensory, systematic and provides direct instruction for the student. High expectations are set for the student and it is important to maintain those expectations. VAKT is built upon language development and the student’s experiences or interests.

Gunning, T. G. (2010). //Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties.// Boston: Pearson Education Inc.