Ideas for great reading programs?

I will be happy to share with you a reading program and approach that I have put together out of comparatively inexpensive readily-available materials. I haven’t found any wonderful complete programs but by putting together two or three programs that are each good at what they do, I have a setup that covers all the ground. I send out my rough notes to anyone who asks; please email me at [email protected]
I’m overdue to send out notes so remind me that you need them quickly before September.

Hello!
I also teach a self contained 1st-6th sped unit. Recently I attended a workshop on a new program called Language! It is great for grade 3 and up. Very repetitive and it also includes daily lesson plans!!

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN PURCHASE LANGUAGE!? I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE IS A WEBSITE FOR THIS PARTICULAR READING PROGRAM.

Language! is sold by Sopris West. You can purchase by going to http://www.sopriswest.com . Click on “Reading and Language Arts” on the left, and all the different elements will be listed.

Just a note: typing in all caps is considered shouting on the net. You might want to change to lower case.

Nancy

I would also say that anyone considering buying Language! certainly needs to take the training course before using it. It is an extensive program.

Janis

Language! is excellent — but it’s really geared to older students (middle & high school). It’s intensive and extensive — It’s got writing and vocabulary and grammar worked into it, and the content is going to be far more interesting to older students. (Probably make a gifted dyslexic kiddo ecstatic — but it’s painfully unlikely that they’ll have been flagged yet.)
The older students are who I work with, so I’m not familiar with the stuff for the young set, but I would look first at something like Phonics First (http://www.rlac.com). It also, I am sure, requires training — training that is *well worth* investing in. If time is of the essence, then cruise through rlac — “Recipe for Reading” is another program for the smaller students.

I like Project Read which can be used K-5. It is sequential and structured. The mother of one of my students is a teacher and observes our sessions. She was so impressed with the progress her daughter was making last summer that she convinced the principal of the school where she teaches to let her be the reading resource teacher, and bought her own set of Project Read materials. At the end of the year, one of the kindergarten teachers was impressed with the results Mrs. M had gotten, and got a set for her class.
All of the kit is not needed. The necessary parts are: the Phonology Guide, the sound pack (large), the Red Word cards, and the demonstration tape. Parts that are good to have are: Treasure Chest Sentences, and Bonnie Kline Stories.

I think you need to look at the recent research on reading-look at approved programs. My school uses Wilson/Fundations will all students. The SPED kids get a more intensive presentation. Wilson/Fundations is not a total program, it is the structured language/phonics part of reading. I am totally sold on this program. Our reading scores are proving that it works with our kids.
Jane in VT

I should have suggested taking a look at Phono-Graphix (the book “Reading Reflex”, which uses this approach, is available in bookstores for under $20, or your local library may have it). Even if you cannot use the approach in your classroom, the book offers a lot of good insight into how to teach reading.

Nancy

I have taught for 8 years in an elementary school. Some of the things I use are (SRA) (Direct Instruction) Reading Mastery for grades 1 - 3 and Corrective Reading (Levels A and B )for grades 4 and 5. Our district also uses Scholastic’s READ 180, but it’s very expensive. Another thing I use is Synthesizing phonics or Pure Phonics programs, which use the Orton Gillingham approach, and after being trained are cheap to use.

Lisam