Visualizing and verbalizing vs. DISTAR

Chantelle:

<

I know nothing about DISTAR and little about V/V. Could anyone compare them for me?>>

I’m wondering if the DISTAR program is the same as what SRA now refers to their Direct Instruction program Corrective Reading: Comprehension. There are three (maybe four) different levels of this program. It is scripted, and it is a good program. I am currently using Level B. This level covers parts of speech, analogies, following directions, making deductions (logic).

However, I wouldn’t use one over the other. I would use both! They are so different that they really cannot be compared. One should not be sacrificed for the other. V/V involves listening/reading increasingly longer passages, forming images of each sentence (eventually paragraphs and whole pages) based on structure words and at the same time place felt squares down on the table as markers. When the entire paragraph is completed, the student points to each colored square and says “Here I saw…” That is the picture summary. Then the student gives a word summary (the main idea of the selection).

Does your son receive Speech & Language services? Is it possible that the Speech/Language clinician does the V/V, and the SPED teacher does the DISTAR? If the Speech/Language clinician cannot do it, you can do it yourself with your child. The manual is self-explanatory, or you can go the the Lindamood-Bell training yourself, or purchase the videotapes.

Marilyn

I’m not familiar with DISTAR but I thought I could at least help you with understanding the purpose of V/V. In addition to what Thirdshift has said, V/V uses 12 structure words: what, size, color, number, shape, movement, where, background, perspective, when, mood, sound. The student gradually internalizes these words. S/he uses them to organize their thoughts about a passage that’s being read or listened to. Initially the person working with the students spends a long time asking questions that provoke images surrounding these structure words as they relate to the context. Eventually the student doesn’t need to be asked questions but will spontaneously explain a passage using the structure words as a guide.

So really, in addition to simply spurring a student to get mental images, V/V also helps those who don’t form images at all or very much by giving them a way to organize their thoughts. This has the additional benefit of strengthening their sequential memory (Thirdshift mentioned the felts a little - this is what they really help).

So if Distar doesn’t also do both these things, you should push for your son to continue with V/V. But if it doesn’t work, V/V IS easy to do at home and it’s extremely inexpensive too. Hope this helps a little.

Joan,

This is slightly off-topic, but I had to tell you that I found out on Friday that the Charlotte, NC LB Clinic (near me) will be sponsoring the workshops in LiPS, V/V, Seeing Stars, and On Cloud Nine math in June! I was on cloud nine when I heard it! Not having to travel to the other side of the country certainly reduces the expense! Now to see if my district will pay for any of the workshops!

Janis

Janis:

<>

I hope your district will pay for you, because they cost me an arm and a leg! But it was well worth the money. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I didn’t do the On Cloud Nine workshop, because it wasn’t offered at the time.

Marilyn

Hi, Marilyn! It’s good to see you! I’m counting on all those workshops to be good for HI kids! And I was being VERY optimistic to mention that the district might pay for any of it! Actually, I plan to say that I’d like to go to all the workshops (at about $1600 for 8 days) in hopes that they will maybe pay for one of them. The end of their fiscal year is June 30, so it is quite likely they will have no money left. It is sad when we have to pay for our own training in order to be better teachers. And I think of the countless, worthless workshops I’ve had to sit through all these years! But I’m glad to know you enjoyed the LB workshops. I’ll probably skip the math, too, if I’m paying for it myself.

Janis

Marilyn,

Just thought I’d tell you that my director said “no” to the LB workshops. Said she wasn’t into “programs” that “supposedly” do these wonderful things… and that teachers can already do all those things without taking that training. I guess that’s why our high schools have tons of unremediated LD kids, huh?

Janis

Janis:

<>

Why am I not surprised that your district refuses to pay? One of these days parents of dyslexic students are going to band together and petition for quality services for their kids.

Marilyn

I’ve had the idea of forming a sort of parent coop near me and finding a teacher interested in being a tutour and pooling our resources to send her-him to the LB workshops. I want to say I admire both of you for going and lucky parents to have you for their kids.

That was very sweet, PK! It is really frustrating to know that there are better things out there to use with our students and to rarely get the support from our school systems to attend. I was very discouraged this morning after I received that reply. On the other hand, I told my child’s school (a charter school) about the PhonoGraphix workshop in April in New Orleans and both the principal and LD teacher are going! Now that’s being open to trying new things to help our kids! Since I am also having to pay for my own trip to New Orleans, it is a stretch to pay for LB in June. I was just hoping the school would pay a little.

I think your idea is great, by the way! It is still sad that kids can’t have the good programs at school, though.

Thanks again…a little encouragement surely is nice every now and then!

Janis

I have had training for both Visualizing and Verbualizing and DISTAR ( REading Mastery/Corrective REading). I beleive that DISTAR has been renamed and repackaged….and is part of Direct INstruction by Engellman. Joan V explained the V/V prgram. There is a book by Nancy Bell Visualizing and Berbalizing for Lnaguage Comprehension and Thinking Gander Educational Publishing 805-541-3836.
The Corrective Reading is a research based decoding program. Any comprehension is at a very literal level. Reading Mastery has more comprehension but it is not as explicit or systematic as the V/V.

Well, it’s encouraging to know there are teachers like you out there. We are sending teacher to LB clinic in San Luis Obispo in April and she’s going to share accommodation with her sister. So there’s two trained. If I lived near i’d start a fundraiser to help you. If kids can wash cars to send the band somewhere…. Heck I’d even sell cookies and I swore off that until I lost 30 pounds. Good luck anad Godspeed.

Wow, if there were more parents like you….!!!

Janis