Edmund Henderson

By Christy S. Nobles

Edmund H. Henderson by Christy S. Nobles

Outline:

1. Introduction :Background

2. Beliefs and Work

3. The Virginia Studies of Word Knowledge

3. Conclusion

Background

Edmund H. Henderson was from Easton, Maryland and earned a B.A. from the College in 1950. As a student, he was very dedicated to his studies and passionate about teaching. He returned to Easton to teach and in 1954, married a Sweet Briar graduate named Achsah Easter. After his graduate studies and an assistant professorship at the University of Delaware, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson returned to Virginia in 1969 and Mr. Henderson became the Director of the McGuffey Reading Center at the Curry School of Education. He remained director of the McGruffery Reading Center at the Curry School from 1969 until his death in 1989.

His years as Director were marked by great successes at the Center, which can be attributed to his dedication and hard work. Mr. Henderson was both a researcher and a teacher. He combined excellent research with a lot of personal dedication. He changed the lives of a lot of young children and had a deep influence on his graduate students.

Beliefs and Work

Edmund H. Henderson focused his research on the developmental and cognitive aspects of learning to read and spell. He authored numerous books about this subject and became very well known as an important researcher of his time. He was and still is very well respected as an authority on spelling research.

Developmental research shows that children learn to spell in systematic stages. Children do not learn to spell English all at once, in fact, they make many errors but these errors change and decrease as learners master the pattern and meaning relationship of English. Edmund H. Henderson along with a remarkable group of graduate students in reading education, lead the way for research in English spelling. During the 25 years this extraordinary group of graduate students worked together, Edmund H. Henderson wrote many books. Among these books are Teaching Spelling, First and Second Edition where Henderson takes a more developmental and practical approach in teaching spelling. Also, Henderson wrote Learning to Read and Spell: A Child’s Knowledge of Words, in which Henderson believes that a child must be exposed to a print rich environment as well as a literate adult to help guide the child through the process of reading and spelling. Henderson believed that language and thought were dichotomous functions centrally and that this “happy” condition would allow thought to command language in all it’s forms.

The Virginia Study of Word Knowledge

One of the most informative studies that Henderson completed was the indepth look at Read's 1971 research titled Pre-School Children's Knowledge of English Phonology. Henderson reviewed this research and focused on spelling errors that he had discovered in the Read study (Read, 1971). He noticed that there were some similarities in these errors and wanted to research and analyze what might be causing these errors. This study included the following spelling error categories: long and short vowels; syllabic r; inflectional endings, ed and ing; and the flap and nasals, m and n. Upon completing this study, some very key points were brought to light.

1. Children begin to learn about words long before they come to school. At an early age, they make marks on paper (a gross representation of letters).

2. They begin to ask questions about what letters are and what letters they need to write their names.

3. They begin to recognize initial sounds (consonants).

4. They begin to read words they are familiar with and spelling begins to develop.

5. When vowel patterns are understood, they begin to learn principles to spelling (doubling consonants and how to add endings).

This study proved it true that errors in spelling are to be expected as children advance toward the standard we see as profiecient spelling. Children are not to be expected to be proficient spellers until they have somewhat mastered the categories he reviewed. This is not to say that a child can not read, they are developing as both a reader and a speller at the same time.

Conclusion

Edmund H. Henderson and his research and study in Spelling and Reading development is an important part of understanding the way we learn to spell and read. Understanding that we must expose our children to a print rich environment and we must allow them to develop as spellers is key to his studies. Allowing a child an opportunity to use invented spelling is an acceptable practice in developing as a speller. Henderson believed that through mistakes and errors, we develop as proficient spellers which then lead to a better grasp on reading. Much like other researchers, Henderson believed that reading and spelling must go hand in hand to ensure a sound understanding of the English language.

References:

Henderson, E.H., (1981) Learning to read and spell: the child's knowledge of words.

Henderson, E.H., (1985) Teaching spelling. (1st Edition).

Henderson, E.H., (1990) Teaching spelling. (2nd Editions).

Henderson, E.H., Beers, J.W., (1980). Developmental and cognitive aspects of learning to spell: A reflection of word knowledge.

Online References:

Background Information: http://www.virginia.edu/bov/meetings/00oct/fullboard.html

External Links:

http://www.addall.com/author/2537800-1 - list of the books that he wrote.

http://hoosonline.virginia.edu/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=eeIILLOrGpF&b=2022911&ct=2902811 - His school

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/80 - Article

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/80?theme=print - Article

http://www.unr.edu/cll/rbresources-1.htm - About a foundation

Commentary by Vanessa Avis

Christy, this is a well written and informative paper. My suggestions are rather picky and that is only due to your thoroughness in covering this topic. I realize the paper was on Edmund Henderson, but it might have added some interest to name some of the graduate students that studied under Henderson and link their more current research to his. This would help to emphasize how pertinent his work is to present day instruction and research.

In proofreading I suggest the following changes:

1)change took a B.A from the college to EARNED a B.A. from the college

2)During the 25 years this extraordinary groups of graduate students worked together

DELETE THE S ON GROUPS

3)He noticed that there were some similarities in these errors and wanted research and analyze what might be causing these errors.

ADD TO BETWEEN WANTED AND RESEARCH.

I hope this is of some help.

Commentary by Cynthia Boles

Christy, I agree with Vanessa's comments. In fact, she actually suggested most of what I would have! I only have a few ideas:

• One typo: In your first reference entry, capitalize the t in "the child's ...".

• Did you intend there to be new paragraphs at: "His years as Director...," and "Developmental research shows..."? It looks like you may have wanted to break at these two places.

• Should there be a reference citation at the end of your background and beliefs and work sections citing the source(s) from which you got your information?

• I thought we were supposed to have external links with this wiki, just as we did with the first. I may be mistaken.

Overall, your page is well written and informative. Good Job!

Commentary by Sara Mcginnis

Christy,

I thought your page was very well put together. Venessa and Cynthia hit most of the grammer and other important stuff. The only thing that I would add is the external links. I am not sure if these were required or not but better to be safe.

Here are some that I found that you may want to use:

http://www.addall.com/author/2537800-1 - list of the books that he wrote.

http://hoosonline.virginia.edu/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=eeIILLOrGpF&b=2022911&ct=2902811 - His school

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/80 - Article

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/80?theme=print - Article

http://www.unr.edu/cll/rbresources-1.htm - About a foundation

You may have already used some of these. These may or may not help. Again, you did a great job!

Commentary by Sara Sewell

I found your article very interesting and fairly easy to read. The one part I did have difficulty reading was the paragraph before the conclusion. I have rewritten it to be a bit more concise.

This study proved that errors in spelling are to be expected as children advance toward conventional spelling. Children should not be expected to spell proficiently until they have somewhat mastered the categories Henderson reviewed. This is not to say that a child can not read until they can spell conventionally. On the contrary, a child develops as both a reader and a speller simultaneously.

I hope this helps!

Commentary by Carolyn Morin

Christy~

I found that your article very interesting and well written. My suggestions are the same as Vanessa.

I would add more details about The Virginia Study of Word Knowledge. For example, what age or grade level did the study involved.

Also, you needed some external links.

Hope this helps

Carolyn

Commentary by Amanda Hatten

Hi there! Only a few things I think could improve the WIKI. I like the variety of the external links, but perhaps you could add a bit of information about each link, just about why the article is significant, etc. Also, in referencing Henderson, was there anyone else who wrote on him or was there limited information about him to work with?

______

Commentary by Deborah Louie

I thought you summarized your subject very effectively. The editing errors have been addressed except for one spelling error in the section: The Virginia Study of Word Knowledge. In the first sentence after key point five, the word proficient is misspelled. I think a link to Read would be appropriate as he was very influential for Henderson. Also, working together for 25 years with graduate students is quite impressive!! I would be very interested in reading more about this relationship. If there was a link regarding this working relationship, perhaps written by one or more graduate students, it would be great to include it. Good job!

Commentary by Philicia Randolph

I really enjoyed your coverage of this topic. I would like to point out a couple of areas where you could make minor improvements in terms of the style of your wiki.

1. In the first paragraph, you have two of the same links for the McGruffery Reading Center. I'm not sure if it this program automatically creates the two links, but I would only think that you need one.

2. In the Beliefs and Works section, you wrote Edumund Henderson along with. . . I think your paper would read better if you said: Edmund Henderson, along with a remarkable group of reading graduate studens, led the way for research in English spelling. This will help ensure that you have uniformity with verb tense.

3. In addition, you should go back and italicize all of the titles of books listed within your paper as well as in the references section.

4. In the Belief and Work section, you wrote :"Also, Henderson wrote Learning to Read and Spell: A Child’s Knowledge of Words, in which Henderson believes that a child must be exposed to a print rich environment as well as a literate adult to help guide the child through the process of reading and spelling." I think it would sound better if you wrote: In Learning to Read and Spell: A Child's Knowledge of Words (year written), Henderson stated that spelling development is best fostered in children who are exposed to print-rich environments and are supported by literate adults that guide them through the process of reading and spelling.

5. You refer to a term "dichotomous functions." I think you should say centrally dichotomous function. This may be a new term for many people. I think you would do well to include a link explaining its meaning.

6. In this section of the Virginia Study of Word Knowledge, you should say that the "study improved. . ."

7. In your conclusion section, I think it would be better if you said "the key findings of his studies. . ."

8. I think that you should limit the use of "must" in your research paper. It shoulds a bit didactic instead of letting the research speak for itself.

9. In the conclusion, you say "reading and spelling must go hand in hand." Perhaps you could omit the must, since you have done a good job of providing support for that claim.

10. In your reference section, be sure to prevent editions in this manner (1st. ed.).

11. I think that your paper would be improved if you gave a more detailed explanation of your links.

Well done! As a result of your paper, I am really interested in learning more about Mr. Henderson.