Study Overview

What is this study about?

We are investigating whether children can learn the spellings and meanings of new words. We are also investigating the skills that may support this learning, and how they are related to word reading development.

Who is taking part?

We are following children across four years (from Primary to Grade 3). We are working with the same children each year.

Hand-drawn illustration of a boy reading a book, lying on his stomach.

What will children do?

Students will be asked to complete a variety of language and reading activities designed to be fun and age-appropriate with our research assistants. For example, students will complete several language-based activities like answering questions about how letters and words are used in books, answer questions about how punctuation marks work, and attempt to read some simple words. Some activities will be completed individually, and others may be completed in small groups of 3 to 5 students. We make it clear to children that we are interested in how they do these activities rather than whether they get things right. Based on our experience, children find these activities fun and engaging.

Hand-drawn illustration of an open book, with a girl sitting on the pages.

Who will work with children?

Two to three members of our research team will visit participating schools. All team members have clean child abuse registry and vulnerable sector checks.

How long will the activities take?

These activities will take less than 2 hours and will be divided into shorter sessions based on the child’s needs, as well as those of the class.

This study has been approved by the Halifax Regional Centre for Education and the Dalhousie Research Ethics Board.

What do children, parents/guardians, and schools/teachers receive for taking part?

Children

Children receive a certificate of participation and small prizes like pencils, erasers, or stickers.

Parents/Guardians

Parents/guardians who return a questionnaire for the full, school-based study will be entered in a draw to win a $250 Amazon e-gift card as a thank-you. Additionally, they have the option to receive information regarding their child’s word-reading skills!

Schools and teachers

Participating schools receive a $100 e-gift card and homeroom teachers receive a $25 Amazon e-gift card. Following our visit, we provide school administrators and the children’s teachers with information on participating children's word reading skills, provided we have parental/guardian consent to do so.

What do schools need to know?

What is involved for participating schools?

We will then deliver consent packages to your school to be sent home to parents. Parents are asked to sign and return the package with their child in the envelope provided. A member of our team will pick up the returned consent forms. We will then work with you to find a convenient time for our team to visit your school and complete activities with the students whose parents have consented to them taking part. We will be able to estimate the total number of days we will require at your school once we know the total number of students participating. Depending on the number of students who agree to take part, we estimate 1 to 3 days.

How will our team work with children in schools?

When our team arrives, we will need a separate space to work in. In the first year of the study, we will be working with children mostly in one-on-one tasks, so ideally we would like a space for 3 children and 3 team members. We also know that space in schools is limited, and we are happy to work in whatever space you can offer!

What health and safety protocols are in place?

Our research team meets and exceeds all school and Nova Scotia public health guidelines during our visit, including with all supplies and materials sanitized in between children.

Questions?

Email the Language and Literacy Lab's Research Coordinator, Emma Hak-Kovacs at PlayingWithPrint@dal.ca.

Meet the Research Team

This exciting study is being conducted by Dr. Hélène Deacon, Dr. Sophia Giazitzidou, and our team at the Language & Literacy Lab (LLL) at Dalhousie University.