By: Shantell Berrett, Reading Horizons Reading Specialist

Along with hours of preparation and work, a new school year bears anticipation and excitement of a new beginning. It is a new chance for creating opportunities for success for both students and teachers. There are three tips that can help ensure success with Reading Horizons reading program this year.

Tip 1

Summer often leaves students in need of a refresher at the first of the new school year to remember skills learned before the break. Taking the first four to six weeks to review the phonics skills learned in Reading Horizons will help students recall and reinforce strategies that they can use throughout the school year to handle unfamiliar words and build new vocabulary. (Click here to find a scheduled outline of how to review these skills in four to six weeks.) 

Tip 2

When students learn phonetic or comprehension strategies they still may have a difficult time applying them in context reading. Be very clear and give explicit, visual instruction as to how to do that. For example, when students get to a word they don’t know they should sound it out at least twice from the beginning to the end without stopping or guessing. This creates a new habit of processing phonologically and breaks the bad habit of skipping or guessing at unfamiliar words. If the student still does not get the word after sounding it out, walk them through steps to apply decoding strategies they have learned to figure out the word.

Tip 3

Give students numerous resources and accommodations for success. Some students have better success in reading by simply allowing them to use a paper or card to cover the page so that they can focus on one line at a time. Some need to learn to ask questions and connect with a paragraph or even sentence at a time instead of a page at a time. Taking 5 minutes with each student to ask them how they feel about reading, what the page looks like, and what helps them can make a huge difference. 

Results

Creating a safe environment that allows for learning styles and struggles supports students to find ways that really help them. Giving them the right type of instruction for decoding and helping them transfer those skills is a surefire way to set them up for success.

P.S.

Don't have Reading Horizons program? Check out our Online Workshop for teaching reading and see if any of our tips could help the effectiveness of your reading program:

Reading is difficult to teach because it is hard to know how the process of learning to read works. It is hard to map out a process that is automatic for most. However, 30% of students do not automatically learn to read. Reading is such an essential skill that to fail 30% of students when it comes to reading instruction is very detrimental to their future. To help all students succeed with reading, including the 30% of students that struggle with reading, reading instruction needs to take an explicit, step-by-step approach.

To help teachers and parents understand the recent research and findings in teaching reading, Reading Horizons is hosting a webinar which will compile recent research in reading instruction and how it fits into the new Reading Horizons v5 reading program.

Next Thursday, May 27th, Reading Horizons curriculum director, Heidi Hyte, will present on webinar titled: “Research Supporting the New Features of Reading Horizons v5.” Join her presentation at 2:00 PM MST by registering for the FREE webinar here:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/377163938

I was glad to see an article today about an organization called Kids Count which is encouraging parents to dedicate time to helping their children with reading this summer. Lately there have been numerous articles about how critical it is for students to read at grade level at the end of 3rd grade and going into 4th grade.

Today Education News had an article which claimed that 85% of 4th graders in low-income areas are not obtaining proficient levels in reading. The article went on to say: “The evidence is clear that those students who do not read well have a very tough time succeeding in school and graduating from high schools and going on to successful careers and lives,” Ralph R. Smith, vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Proficient reading skills are essential and summer presents students that are behind an opportunity to catch up to their peers. It also is important for all students to maintain their reading skills over the summer. Typically student's reading skills regress 2-3 months over the summer. This slows learning when school resumes in the fall and puts students who are behind, further behind.

Reading Horizons offers Reading Horizons At Home for students that need to spend additional time working on reading. It relies on the same method and covers the same materials as the version used in schools. It’s an effective resource for who are struggling with reading or that have a learning disability which makes reading difficult to improve reading over the summer.  

Reading Horizons At Home is an effective summer reading program for struggling readers. The reading program typically provides users 2-5 reading level improvements in 3-6 months. This program would allow many students to go back to school reading at grade level and greatly decrease the potential of them falling even further behind. This would be a good resource to refer to parents that have students that are struggling with reading.

Today I found a blog post from a former teacher that taught with Reading Horizons and reviewed Reading Horizons At Home for students. To read the blog post visit: http://www.womenshomeactivities.com/preschool-software-using-reading-horizons-at-home-intensive-phonics/

For more information on Reading Horizons At Home visit: www.ReadingHorizonsAtHome.com 

When someone uses the term “reading” it is likely that an image of a book comes to mind. However, with the technological advances over the past few years, reading skills are now needed to participate in an ever increasing amount of mediums outside that of books. Technology has undoubtedly changed what people read, how they read, and when they read. The internet provides a gateway to almost every type of information at anytime and with immediate access.

With such a large impact on reading, it is interesting to consider the influence technology plays in the reading development of students learning to read or working to improve reading. Children use technology from a young age, frequently before they even enter school, and this can have both a positive and negative impact on reading development.

Today I read an article from the Washington Post which said that 2/3’s of students do not read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. If that statistic is accurate it is obvious that reading instruction is lacking and is in need of improvement. One way to improve instruction is by applying relevant technologies.

One must be careful when incorporating technology into the classroom because many technologies excuse and almost embrace poor spelling and grammar, such as: text messaging, social media, and video games. However, there are also several technologies that work to enhance learning. There have been several products released recently that work to specifically help students enhance reading abilities. These technologies offer unique benefits and can easily find a fitting place in the classroom.

One of the benefits I have seen students have with the software component of Reading Horizons is that of independence. Independence is a motivating emotion that provides students with self esteem and self worth. By learning from a software program rather than by an instructor, students feel they have learned something on their own and without help. This is especially beneficial to older students and adult learners that may feel instruction from others is condescending.

Software instruction can also be beneficial because of its ability to cater to each individual student. By tracking progress Reading Horizons reading program can instantly adjust to student ability.

Another technology that can be used to enhance classroom instruction is the Intel Reader®, used to assist those with visual and learning disabilities on reading tasks. With the use of earphones the student can listen to printed instructions and test questions being read to them. However, it does not help students overcome reading difficulties. I think it’s a perfect resource for students which are blind and cannot read the material on their own but I don't agree with its use by dyslexic students.

Dyslexic students can overcome reading difficulties so I think it is important for them to receive proper instruction and overcome that difficulty rather than rely on a gadget to assist them and never gain reading skills for themselves.

Amazon.com recently released the Kindle reading device. The Kindle allows users to have texts read to them, read books and texts, and take digital notes on reading materials. I read an article of a teacher who incorporated the Kindle into her reading instruction for struggling readers and she liked the note taking capabilities because it helped her know if students truly understood what they were reading and helped her get a glimpse into their thinking processes.

It will also be interesting to see if the iPad increases reading rates with its larger screen, ease of use, and access to reading material.

There is clearly room for technology in the classroom but teachers need to carefully decide on options that will enhance reading instruction, not distract from it.

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We have enjoyed seeing the response to the new Reading Horizons v5 reading program! We are excited to see it implemented into an increasing amount of schools and institutions and to watch the positive impact it will have on the lives of many students ages 10 to adult. We recently completed this overview video highlighting Reading Horizons v5:



I am convinced that learning to read and using that skill throughout one’s life is capable of being one of the most impactful skills one ever learns. Reading opens knowledge to countless skills, information, and continuous learning. On top of that, it can be used by anyone who knows how to read. There are a lot of skills that are productive but reading is productive and useful for everyone. When someone learns to read it truly does change their life! Reading is one of the most useful skills one can obtain.

A few days ago we received a success story from an adult reading center called Reading Works in Modesto, California. One of the volunteer tutor’s wrote to us explaining his experiences in teaching reading to adults. In his own words:

When I first started with the program I came in full of excitement, enthusiasm and zero knowledge of how to teach reading. Having been an avid reader since I was a child, I was sure that I would have no difficulty teaching someone else how to read. How wrong I was. For over a year I struggled. While my students did make progress, there were too many times when they would ask me questions about why certain words sounded like they did and I didn't have the answer. We seemed to reach a plateau where we were at a roadblock. My students were frustrated and so was I.

Then I discovered Reading Horizons on the internet. What a "eureka" moment. At last I could answer those questions about phonics rules that I didn't understand before. I was able to obtain a laptop and the software from the Reading Works coordinator, and in January We started the program. I took my students back to the basics as I felt it was important to lay a good foundation. The results are impressive. Significant improvements in both reading and spelling were realized. I am now a confirmed disciple of Reading Horizons and I preach its benefits to as many of our tutors as I can reach. They too are telling me of struggling to overcome the same obstacles I ran into.

I know those lives were changed by gaining reading skills! It’s easy to underestimate the impact the ability to read has on our lives when we learned to read as a child and have enjoyed the skill the majority of lives, but it’s always interesting to hear the success stories of adults and how much they value their new skill. 

Today EdNET posted our Reading Horizons v5 press release! Read it here: "Reading Horizons Sprints Miles Ahead by Releasing Reading Horizons v5"

To see how Reading Horizons v5 reading program for help teaching reading to students learning to read sign up for a FREE 30-day trial at: http://www.ReadingHorizons.com/solutions/free-trial.aspx