Reading Reflex in Resource Class

You may want to join the ReadNOW group at http://groups.yahoo.com . There are people there who should be able to give you good tips, and share how they do it.

Nancy

It is quite a different approach. It takes a while to get it in your head. Phono-graphix is more of an approach than a “program”. Phono-graphix is not about materials. I’d say the materials are just part of the program and the materials aren’t that great anyway. Your brain is the biggest part. It is a “thinking teachers” program. It is not scripted. It is not curriculum to cover. . Phono-graphix is about teaching segmenting, blending, and phoneme manipulation (kind of segmenting and blending combo) and teaching how sounds are represented on paper. Phono-graphix is about teaching chunking. It is about teaching kids to chunk then showing them how to chunk without physically chunking but about doing it in your head. Phono-graphix is pure decoding.

Start by giving the kids the PG test. Put the tests in a folder to grab for constant review. Take the kids one at a time and start teaching blending, segmenting, and phoneme manipulation. I posted a post not too long ago on HOW TO ADAPT PG TO SMALL GROUP. Read that post.

Rotate kids up to the u – shape table or other table doing the skills. It is easier one on one. Do the CODE altogether. Start with /oa/. Do whole group through the code. Review as needed.

CODE: Discover the sounds, practice the sounds, read a story with the sounds. Pull up each kid to read the word lists and story while the rest are back at their seat doing the sound sort. The sound sort takes some time. Use this time to grab kids to read words with target sound and story.

GO to the ReadNOW and read old posts. Look at everything on file. You may want to check out a spin off by a lady named KIM who has redone PG for whole class. She sells large manipulive sets and redone stories. I will probably buy it as soon as I can find another $200. That is a good price for everything you need. Plus she has a HOW TO VIDEO.

Good luck. You will love the results. In one quarter you won’t believe the progress.

Michelle AZ

is the name of the program Kim sells for $200? Thanks.

Kim’s web-site will be up sometime in January. So hang on a few more weeks and we can give you more info. I think she is sending me a kit to look at.

Janis

Michelle gives a very good reply and this novice has this to add: I used this as part of my research in my graduate program. I teach 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students (most ld) in a very small, rural school.

I introduced it at the beginning of the year and told my students that I would be trying this new program which had come highly recommended by another special education teacher who had been using it in Virginia with great results. I also told them that I would be using their results from pre and post tests in a study I was doing for my masters degree.
I received wonderful cooperation from my students, most of whom were anything but receptive, cooperative students normally.

I gave each one the individual tests to determine blending and segmenting ability and code knowledge. What I learned about the code knowledge astounded me. Out of 22 students, only one scored well on the code knowledge test. It is little surprise that he is the only one who can read on grade level and can spell very well. The majority missed half or more. Many couldn’t tell me what sound they would expect the “w” to make! Forget “qu” “ai” “oa” and “oy.” I remember telling my husband that it was no wonder these students couldn’t read.

Anyway, I didn’t use any of the suggested manipulatives or controlled stories. I felt that they were a little too old for it. I did go back and talk about how important it was to know the ways sounds could be represented by letters, how we can take words and break them down into individual sounds, and how we take individual sounds and push them together to form words. We did much practice pushing sounds together and taking words apart—I would take a word and carefully make the individual sounds and have them try to write down the sounds they heard and figure out the word. I then gave each of them a word that they got to make the sounds so that their classmates could write down.

I also went systematically through the code from start to finish being careful to emphasize the letter variations for the same sound. While we were doing this, I was assigning 7-10 spelling words each week that lent themselves to what we were going over. For example, fantastic was one of the first spelling words. Many looked at that first list like I was crazy. They’d never be able to spell words like that! Soon they were spelling words like phenomenon and I swear you could lee their heads getting bigger by the minute! It was too cool.

Once we got through the code, we began reading aloud in class with these brand new literature books that are written slightly below grade level. If a student misreads a word or makes an error, I can provide feedback and direct their attention to allow them to realize and fix their problem. Each student reads one to two paragraphs at a time.

I am so excited I can’t tell you. They are decoding, they are reading—heck, they were even laughing while reading a funny little story about a kid who always got things screwed up when working odd jobs. They are becoming more fluent, they are spelling much better, they are beginning to see themselves as capable readers. In seven years of teaching, it is really the first time that I have felt that I am being effective.

Good luck and I wish you and your students the best.

Great, Deb!!! That is a super success story! I wasted a lot more than 7 years, so be glad you found an effective method that early! Congratulations to you and your kids!

Janis