PHONICS TALK NEWSLETTER - Volume 6 - June 2003 - by Dolores G. Hiskes, DORBOOKS, Inc.

DECODABLE READERS The feature article in this issue discusses decodable reading practice, why it is an important adjunct to teaching reading, when it should be introduced, and information about where to obtain decodable readers for Phonics Pathways. It also refers to a new article on *Reading Level After Finishing Phonics Pathways.* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ -Feature Article: DECODABLE READING -AN HONOR AND AN AWARD -READING LEVEL AFTER FINISHING PHONICS PATHWAYS -NEW PRODUCTS -FREE TEACHING TIP -TWO CUTE KID STORIES -FUTURE NEWSLETTER TOPICS -THOUGHTS TO PONDER ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ FEATURE ARTICLE: DECODABLE READING ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Some experts believe that it is not necessary to have practice decodable reading as an adjunct to teaching reading, if all the sound/syllable relationships are taught first. They feel students should then be ready to read almost anything once this technical skill of reading is mastered. While some students can indeed learn and remember all of this material prior to *real reading*, it is very difficult for many students to remem- ber and assimilate all of this information first without ongoing practice with decodable text to reinforce and cement these skills as they are learned, one at a time. It is my experience that decodable reading is vital to learning sound/ symbol relationships, and that it should be introduced right away: two- letter blends when learning short-vowel and consonant sounds, and as soon as a child can read three-letter words reinforced with practice words, phrases, and sentences as each new sound or spelling is learned. This text can be simply a list of phrases and sentences (as with Phonics Pathways) or very short stories, but the important thing is that to be effective it should only be comprised of skills they have learned so far. For example, when we learn how to dance a simple step is learned first, and reinforced with practice before more dance steps are learned. We do not learn a complex dance routine right away, stunning spectators with our grace and expertise as we whirl and leap through the air! Memory experts have long known that hooking something we are trying to learn with something already known will help cement it in our memory. For example, if we hook the short sound of *A* (a new concept) into the word *ant* (which we already know how to say and has this sound) it will help help us remember it. (Sometimes when educators refer to *decodable reading* they include sight words if they are introduced prior to reading the story, but to me that's a misuse of the term. By *decodable reading* I mean only words containing sounds and spellings that have been learned so far--not count- ing any sight words! Premature reading which includes a large number of sight words is the equivalent of inserting a stick into the spokes of a moving bicycle and can do far more harm than good.) This kind of practice can be difficult to find. But here is a list little decodable readers that follow a similar teaching pattern to Phonics Pathways. They are systematic, progressive, and have a very minimum of sight words: BOB BOOKS (Scholastic) The Bob Books, available almost anywhere, are especially good with very young children just beginning to read. Many people have used them with great success. Small half-sized books, with very simple stylized black and white drawings on every page. FUN PHONICS (Sizzy Books) www.funphonics.com 1-888-886-7323 These little Sizzy books are similar to the Bob Books, with line draw- ings on every page, but have three questions at the end of each booklet to check for comprehension. (Also on the last page is a state map with the capitol, state flower, & tree on it. There is a different state for every booklet.) Emphasis is on short-vowel words. After that it moves faster--for example, all long-vowel sounds are grouped together. STORIES BASED ON PHONICS (Learning Pyramid) www.learningpyramid.com 1-800-386-3386 Similar to the above but emphasizing all of the phonograms equally-- short-vowels, long-vowels, digraphs, etc. These booklets have separate worksheets for comprehension. J & J LANGUAGE READERS (Sopris West) www.sopriswest.com 1-800-547-6747 These booklets are also as progressively decodable as the above, but with stories appealing to older children (baseball, rollerskating, etc.) as well as beginning readers. As such, very nice for older remedial readers. Contains more stories than the above--several short stories in each booklet. Small, with black and white drawings. Comprehension questions at the end of each reader. POWER READERS (NEW!) Contact author Susan Ebbers ebbers@sbcglobal.net Written to follow the sequence of sounds in Phonics Pathways, these little books each contain a short cleverly-illustrated story, compre- hension questions, and a section on phonetic concepts including word lists and a sound chart. There are15 short vowel books in the first set which is now ready, covering skills through double-consonant endings. Includes such lovable characters from Phonics Pathways as Gus the pig, Ben his intrepid owner, as well as others. Power Readers were written by Susan Ebbers, M. Ed, after nearly 20 years in the field of education (including 14 years as a primary reading teacher). Susan is joint author of K12's Phonics Works curriculum and has just completed a middle school vocabulary curriculum based on Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots for Sopris West. PYRAMID (Dorbooks) www.dorbooks.com 1-800-852-4890 Not truly readers, these reading exercises develop reading skills and fluency by controlled and progressive practice, presented in the same order as Phonics Pathways. Strengthens eye tracking and increases eye span. Bridges the gap between reading phonograms and "real readers." Other readers we've looked at are beautiful with colored illustrations, but move ahead faster and have many more sight words. These are the readers I am familiar with that are systematic, progressive, and have a minimum of sight words. They will be posted on my website, and I will add to them as I find more. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ AN HONOR AND AN AWARD ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ An Honor: Several years ago Brunei sent an educational representative from a tutoring organization to this country in order to get a private workshop on how to use Phonics Pathways. The results were so successful that when Brunei held a nation-wide educational conference last month they invited me to fly over and give a workshop about Dorbooks' products at this conference, to be attended by representatives of every school in the country. Unfortunately, I had to send regrets because of SARS--there was no way to get to Brunei without going through Singapore, which at that time was on the WHO travelers' advisory list. (But what an honor it was, and what a wonderful opportunity it would have been!) A New Award: We are pleased to announce that Phonics Pathways has just won another first-place award as *Best Phonics Program in The Country!* This time it was the *2002 Product Review Award* from Education Clear- inghouse, bringing the total to three national first-place awards so far. See http://www.educationclearinghouse.org. for details. (The other two were the *Excellence in Education* award from The Old Schoolhouse magazine which can be seen at http://www.theoldhomeschoolhouse.com.excellence_awards.htm and *Best Phonics Program* from Practical Homeschooling's first place *Reader Award* in 2002.) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ READING LEVEL AFTER FINISHING PHONICS PATHWAYS ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I am frequently asked *What level will my child be at when he finishes Phonics Pathways?* This is an excellent question with a not-so-simple answer. For a thoughtful analysis on this topic check out the newest article at http://www.dorbooks.com, and click on *Articles.* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ NEW PRODUCTS ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ New book: A new edition of Pyramid is out, and gorgeous is the word for it it! It has a spectacular new colored cover, and is greatly expanded with 16 new pages and 64 new pyramids to read, as well as new graphics and many more proverbs. If you liked the previous edition, you'll love this one! Pyramid provides decodable reading practice in the same sequence of skills as Phonics Pathways, in a rather unusual but highly effective format. If you are not familiar with Pyramid, take a peek. New game: An extravaganza of educational games! *WordWorks* is the combined and refined evolution of card games previously offered. Ten sets of cards review and reinforce phonics reading skills at gradually increasing skill levels ranging from two-letter syllables to multisyllable words. Each set can be played using five different games: *Bag the Bugs* (hands-down favorite of little boys!), *FindIt* (similar to *Memory*), *WordBird* (similar to *Old Maid*), *Go Hunt* (similar to *Fish*), and *I Spy.* Most sets consist of two-word phrase cards which help bridge the some- times-difficult transition from reading whole words to reading sentences. Excellent practice in a truly fun-filled format. More information and samples of *Pyramid* and *WordWorks* can be seen at http://www.dorbooks.com. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ FREE TEACHING TIP ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Sometimes a whole page of sentences can be daunting to beginning readers, especially if they are very young. Here's a great idea from a customer whose child was overwhelmed by the idea of reading a whole page: Transfer the information into a different format consisting of bite-sized pieces. Use the computer to make little sentence strips, short lists of words, or two-word phrases taken from that page. Cut them out, fold each one, and put them into a *Reading Box* for your fledgling reader to pick out himself, open, and read one at a time. It's just what many students need! They enjoy being *in control,* fishing them out of the box, and reading them one by one, all by themselves. It's the same material, but in small, easy-to-digest pieces. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ TWO CUTE KID STORIES ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 1) When my grandson was four and asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied *I'm not sure.* He replied, *Grandma, all you have to do is look in your underwear! I did, and mine says I'm four.* 2) I received this charming story from a customer: *Hooray! My five year old just finished Phonics Pathways and we're so excited--we're dancing, baking, etc. I had no idea he'd be in such a celebratory mood. He begged me not to sell the book because he wants to take Dewey the bookworm with him when he goes away to college. So I guess I'll be holding on to this book for a long, long time...* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ FUTURE NEWSLETTER TOPICS ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Future issues will include topics such as the math/ reading connection, how to teach spelling with Phonics Pathways, and illiteracy in other English-speaking countries around the world. Watch for them! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THOUGHTS TO PONDER ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ When you look at a patch of dandelions, do you see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over your yard, or flowers that will blow white fluff you can wish on? When you feel the wind on your face, do you brace yourself against it and feel upset because it's messing up your hair, or do you spread your arms and lift your face to feel it caressing you? When your little one runs to hug you with a peanut butter and jelly face and muddy hands, do you flinch, hold him at arms' length, and clean him first? Or just give him a great big hug right back, on the spot? Enjoy these little things while you can, for one day you may realize they are the big things in life that gave you joy. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ We hope you have enjoyed this newsletter, and invite you to share it with anyone else who you think might find it helpful. And by the way... we hope you will have a wonderful fun-filled summer! --Until next time, Dolores © 2002-2003 Dolores G. Hiskes May only be reprinted with permission from the author