Volume 6, Issue 4
The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) is an organization committed to reviewing reading programs and sharing their findings with schools and educators nationwide. The FCRR recently conducted a review of Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself, and the results were very positive!
The FCRR uses a three-point scale to measure a program’s effectiveness in the areas the program addresses. Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself scored an impressive three out of three points in phonics, adding further validation to our claim to be one of the best, most effective phonics programs available.
The FCRR report describes Discover Intensive Phonics as an explicit, systematic phonics program that offers aligned student materials and plenty of opportunity for practicing the concepts taught in the program.
The FCRR report noted many strengths of Discover Intensive Phonics, including:
No weakness were noted by the review. You can view a copy of the FCRR review of Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself online at the following Web address: http://www.readinghorizons.com/solutions/reviews/fcrr.aspx
Whether using Discover Intensive Phonics as a main source for phonics instruction or as a supplement to a basal reading series, the methodology of this program is flexible enough to satisfy both areas of instruction. The Discover Intensive Phonics program is enriched with various teaching materials developed specifi cally to reinforce concepts once they’ve been taught. This article is aimed at helping teachers see how those supplemental aids can be employed in adding variety and clarity. A lesson from the manual is shown here as an example of how to use the supplemental materials.
Let’s suppose you are teaching a spelling lesson of single-syllable words ending in double consonants:
Refer to Teacher’s Manual Vol. 1, lesson 25: Double S, F, and Z.
Teacher: “We’ve been learning one-syllable words: words with one vowel sound. Now we’re going to learn an important spelling skill with words that end in the consonants s, f, and z. We sometimes refer to this as the ‘San Francisco Zoo’ rule.”
1. The teacher writes the following words on the board: “mess,” “class,” and “hiss,” and asks the students to read them.
“How did you know what the word said?” “Right, because we know what the vowel sound says. We learned the vowel sound and its key word.”
Review the vowel sounds while referring to the Vowels Poster with Key Words.
“Let’s look at the words again. Do you see any blends in these words?”
Students identify the c-l blend. Ask them to review the definition of a blend and point out the c-l blend on the Blends Poster. Repeat the above format using other words ending in double f (“cliff,” “huff,” “staff”) and double z (“jazz,” “fi zz,” “buzz”).
2. The teacher can now have fun with students using the Blends Flip Chart, making real and nonsense words that emphasize double s, f, and z. Real words should be used in the context of a sentence to reinforce vocabulary.
3. Once students understand this skill, use the practice pages in the Parent Involvement Pack on page 63 and plurals on page 64. Further practice and reinforcement of the skill can be accomplished with the use of Reverse Listening Cards.
Every skill taught in Discover Intensive Phonics is reinforced with RLCs, which also serve as excellent word banks. The RLCs can be used in a variety of ways: for whole group instruction with students coming up to the board; for students using lap boards; for games, such as “Panic” (found under “Games and Activities” in the Appendix); or at Centers for small group instruction.
4. Those with access to the computer courseware will find it an excellent resource for follow-up or re-teaching any student who needs additional drill and practice.
5. Finally, the Mastery Check provides additional assessment, showing if students understand the skill that was taught. Mastery Checks are to be administered one-on-one, allowing the teacher better insight into a student’s knowledge of a particular phonics concept.
When good use is made of all the wonderful supplemental materials provided in the Discover Intensive Phonics Teacher’s Kit, teaching is enhanced, students are reached, and an even greater degree of success is achieved.
Joan Parrish, Training & Curriculum Reading Horizons
In Lebanon, Pennsylvania, former electrician Ken* was looking for a new job, but was finding his limited reading ability to be an obstacle to good employment. Fifty miles away in Rehrersburg, 40-year-old Steve* was taking the necessary steps to finally be able to read and write words other than his name. In both places, lives were about to be changed.
Bobbi Hurst is the director of adult literacy at The Literacy Council of Lancaster-Lebanon, where Ken turned for help with his reading skills. She began working with Ken using the Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself method, and she wasn’t surprised to see him begin to progress quickly. A sight word reader, Ken’s deficiency lay in his lack of phonetic knowledge, and that’s just the type of student who benefits most from Reading Horizons, according to Hurst. After 10 weeks of direct instruction inthe Discover Intensive Phonics method, Ken’s ability to decode unknown words had increased markedly. “His reading fluency improved, along with his comprehension skills,” Hurst recalls. “The results of his last evaluation were at the high end of the most difficult evaluation.” Hurst says Reading Horizons turns on a light for students with phonetic weaknesses. “Its simplicity relative to other phonics programs, its sequential organization and its instructional design” are a few strong points of the program that Hurst has seen contribute to students making significant reading gains.
In Rehrersburgh, Kurt Tarkington has similar praise for Reading Horizons. Tarkington came to the Teen Challenge Training Center, which serves both teens and adults, in December of 2002 and was assigned to work in the Reading Room as a tutor. Tarkington had never used any type of reading program before and felt overwhelmed at the challenge facing him. “Quite frankly, I could not remember how I learned to read,” Tarkington says. “It’s a skill that has been there so long that I simply take reading for granted. I was struck by the enormous task of teaching an adult to do something that I could not break down into parts.”
When Tarkington began to use Reading Horizons, his fears were quickly dispelled. He was amazed at the program’s simple, systematic approach that made learning to read an attainable goal. “I found an ally that was friendly, understandable and effective,” Tarkington recalls. He quickly began to see success with his students, including Steve, who had memorized the formations of the letters in his name, but could not use them to spell other words. “We started together,” Tarkington says. “Letter, sound; letter, sound; letter, sound.” Now it brings tears to Tarkington’s eyes when he remembers the first time Steve read a list of words. He was able to read simple sentences by the time he left the Center’s eight-month program.
These two exemplary teachers are not the only people seeing success from Reading Horizons. Across the country, educators are seeing remarkable change take place in their students’ lives through the Reading Horizons and Discover Intensive Phonics programs. Students are gaining increased self-confidence and success as their reading levels soar. For thousands of people like Ken and Steve, schools and literacy facilities nationwide are becoming places where goals are met, challenges are overcome, and dreams are made reality.
* Names have been changed.
The University of Utah Reading Clinic has extended its Discover Intensive Phonics workshop offerings to include the H420 Teacher Certification workshop. This essential, one-day workshop qualifies attendees to become certifi edteachers of the Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself method.
Teachers who have attended a Two-Day Extended workshop (H410) can register to attend the Teacher Certification workshop. Additional requirements for certification include:
Teachers have the option of completing their log of practicum hours and recording their video prior to the workshop or they may wait to complete these requirements until after they have attended the Teacher Certification workshop.
The next Teacher Certification workshop will be held at the University of Utah Reading Clinic’s Murray, Utah location on January 25, 2006. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your skills and become a certified teacher of Discover Intensive Phonics! Log on to www.readinghorizons.com or call 800-333-0054 to reserve your place at this workshop today!
If you can’t make it to Utah for the workshop, we’ll bring the workshop to you! Contact us to learn how to schedule a workshop at your site. Take the next step in your professional development: become a certified Discover Intensive Phonics teacher and discover how valuable your new knowledge and skills can be!
The English Language Center (ELC) at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, has a history of providing students with effective methods and tools for learning English as an additional language. The ELC also has a commitment to growth and improvement, which is why when ELC educators heard about Reading Horizons nearly a year ago they decided to learn more about the program.
Dr. Neil Anderson, ELC Coordinator, and a few of his colleagues attended a two day Reading Horizons workshop in December of 2004. They were very impressed by what they learned there. “After this workshop, I feel able to explicitly teach phonetic skills,” Dr. Anderson commented. “In most teacher preparation courses or in-service sessions, how to teach phonics is not covered. We are very good at preparing future ESOL teachers to integrate top-down techniques into their teaching, but with bottom-up techniques we have not been very effective. I’m very anxious to begin using this new knowledge.”
After attending the workshop, ELC instructors began incorporating Reading Horizons into their curriculum using a mix of direct instruction and computer courseware. Despite time constraints that make full integration of the program difficult, Dr. Anderson has found ways to successfully incorporate Reading Horizons’ concepts into the students’ other classes. “We were reading The Secret Garden in class,” Dr. Anderson recalls. “The students could not say ‘Craven’ (the last name of one of the characters). I asked if they remembered the r-blends. Their faces lit up and they then knew exactly what to do.” The students at the ELC truly enjoy using Reading Horizons. Some students have even asked Dr. Anderson for permission to use the program during the semester breaks, when regular classes are not in session.
As part of their involvement with Reading Horizons, ELC faculty have committed to helping improve the Reading Horizons program for more effective use with ESOL students. Feedback from ELC teachers and students will prove invaluable in HEC Reading Horizons’ effort to continually improve the Reading Horizons program.
While Reading Horizons has always been an effective program for learning to read, write, and spell English, recent additions to the program make it ideal for students learning to speak English as an additional language. One of these additions is the new ESL Student Workbook, a collection of student worksheets that reinforce the phonics taught in the program and provide education in cultural concepts. These worksheets cover topics from social greetings and holidays to money and modes of transportation. They also offer practice for students in reading, writing, and speaking English. New ESOL-specific features in the Reading Horizons computer courseware make the program easily accessible to all students, even those who understand very little or no English.
Another reason for the success of Reading Horizons as an ESOL tool is that it teaches students the logic behind English, so they are able to read, write, and understand the English language more quickly than with techniques that focus mainly on frequency and repetition. Students who use Reading Horizons learn the phonetic rules governing how words sound and are able to generalize that knowledge and apply it to 90% of commonly used English words.
Reading Horizons has confidence in the future success of Reading Horizons as an ESOL program. The involvement of BYU’s English Language Center will prove essential to the improvement of Reading Horizons and the continual effort to provide valuable English language skills to individuals worldwide.