Today I completed training in the MSSL program called Language!
(Level 1 training) by Jane Fell Greene, published by Sopris West.
I’ll have to say, it must be the magnum opus of structured language
programs.
This curriculum has strands which cover all language arts areas
including reading decoding (Orton-Gillingham influenced), fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and writing. The support materials are numerous to the point of being almost overwhelming. But the beauty of the program is that everything is integrated, which really helps kids who need total language arts instruction. They said you could use it for
younger children, but the some of the components definitely look
better for older elementary kids (3rd) on up through high school.
I’d say it would be an excellent choice for school-based personnel
who see children in small groups daily for at least an hour (90
minutes a day is the ideal). The materials include wonderful lesson
plans and all the reproducibles needed. It also includes nice
decodable text and fluency drills all coordinated to the decoding
instruction. All the materials have first class presentation and
quality with few errors.
Now, the downside. The decoding instruction is spread out so the
code is introduced in over a year’s time. They definitely understood
phonemic awareness and had good exercises in that area. But the
first level takes a child from non-reading to 2.5 grade level in a
year. That is significantly slower than Phono-Graphix. But there is
such good reinforcement when you consider all the integrated
instruction. The other thing it does contrary to PG is introduce 7
syllable types in level 2. Those who use PG know the PG philosophy
that that information is not necessary for most kids to learn to
read. And many kids simply might not be able to remember all that
extra information. But I can still see that it might help some kids
with spelling, so I do not think it is totally useless for everyone.
I thought the strands on comprehension and vocabulary were quite
good. And the writing seems very good as well. I’ll be able to
comment more on the writing after Shay comes next week and let’s me
view Step Up to Writing.
Will I use Language!? Well, right now, I think the two children I will have for that much time daily will not have high enough skills in the language area to be ready to begin this program. However, they certainly can learn phonemic awareness and decoding, so PG is still a great option for them. I could possibly see starting them in the other strands in a year or so, but we would omit the decoding strands if they had already learned those skills well from PG. This program would be difficult to use in a one hour a
week therapy setting unless it was a home-based program where the
parent did daily homework with the child in between sessions with
the reading therapist. That is how our trainer, who is an SLP in
private practice, does it.
Janis
Re: Language! A MSSL program...review
I like the other strands but the decoding portion is slow and overloaded with rules such as six or seven syllable types. Too much unnecessary information and too slow to make those brain cells activate! I’d use it if I went through PG first and then used the other Language strands. PG can be used for younger children, too.
Janis
Sayy Shaywitz “Overcoming Dyslexia” speaks highly of Language. The school district I work for has adopted Language for special ed classrooms. They have trained the teachers who have also been trained in Lindamood phonemic strategies. I am not currently in a classroom setting, but I do feel strongly that special ed needs a structured, sequential curriculum and it looks like Language supplies that.