Much of our recent activity has been ‘behind the scenes’ with updates to program content, training and the website interface but our next exciting adventure is a trip to Perth later this week for the Language Literacy and Learning Conference ✈️📊where we will be presenting data from exciting new research using Read3 (see details below).
We continue to receive messages daily from our families, speechies and teachers about their progress with Read3 or early screening endeavours. Here’s a lovely example from Leighland Christian School in Tasmania who have introduced the Easy Alphabet embedded picture mnemonics in the early years classrooms to supplement their own phonics approach (with cards listed in the order of introduction). We love how they have reduced the A5 Display Cards to an A6 portable format. 😍
With Easter just around the corner, you may already be counting down to that holiday break. If your Term 1 has been anything like ours, I think we’re all ready for a bit of R&R!
We are thrilled to be co-presenting findings from the Armidale Catholic Schools Action Research project with Bernadette Yeo, research leader, at the upcoming DSF Language Literacy and Learning conference.
In an effort to support students who had failed to respond well to other quality phonics intervention, Read3 was implemented in six schools across the Diocese of Armidale as a Tier 3 intervention. All participating students had severe reading difficulties, additional diagnoses (ASD, ID, ADHD, DLD, CAS/SSD), and all had undergone instruction / intervention using InitiaLit / MultiLit with limited gains.
Student progress was tracked using normed assessments and we are thrilled to report a positive response to intervention this significantly reading-impaired Tier 3 cohort, with a shift in standard scores. 🎉
If you are attending the conference in Perth and want to chat, please send us a text on 0473 233 800 and we’ll organise a catch up at the conference venue. Better still, pop along to our session and hear all the details:
Session S-19
Saturday 23 March
3:10 - 4:00pm
We anticipate Armidale Catholic Schools will release a report on the research outcomes shortly so stay tuned!
We’re excited to share that our new FISH Screener is just weeks away!. Building reading fluency is one of the greatest challenges for older struggling readers, but determining exactly where fluency breaks down is not always easy! FISH was designed for this purpose.
FISH stands for Fluency Indicators in a Story Hierarchy. Ideal for students aged 8 years and over, FISH offers a unique series of short, decodable passages that are designed to pinpoint where a student's reading skills begin to decline. In around 5 - 10 minutes of testing, FISH will provide essential insights into both their reading fluency and phonics skills, allowing you to identify an appropriate starting point to focus your literacy intervention with these older students.
The FISH story content is thoughtfully designed to engage older struggling readers, and quick and easy to administer. In fact, when we sent our draft out for feedback, here’s was what our first tester had to say:
“Kate, this is amazing! Such a terrific resource.
Instructions are very clear - the process is easy to follow.”
If you haven’t registered already, but are keen to add FISH to your screening ‘toolkit’, click below for early notification and our early-bird pricing.
The more we work in schools, the more we’ve realised there is some confusion around the term ‘fluency’ when applied at a word (or sub-word) level. As a result, we have made an adjustment to the wording in our daily Chunk Check activity. Where previously skills were monitored for Accuracy (Stage 1) and Fluency (Stage 2) we will now refer to Accurate (Stage 1) and Automatic (Stage 2). Although intervention researchers often refer to the development of fluency skills from subword to paragraph level, we will limit the use of the term 'fluency' to refer to text-level reading skills to reduce any confusion.
This small change is purely to prevent people bogging down – we don’t want semantics to be adding to anyone’s cognitive load!
If you’d like to dive a little deeper into the automaticity versus fluency discussion, check out Robyn’s latest blog post.
CHIPS is our free literacy screener that checks on four processing areas that can inhibit a child’s ability to develop strong literacy skills. In late 2023, some adjustments were made to all CHIP Screeners. The most significant change was to Form B (7-10 Years) which was replaced with a new 7-8 Years Screener. The updated form includes changes to some test items for this revised age range, as well as new cut-off scores for RAN risk.
If you haven’t done so already, please download the new and updated CHIPS Forms. Updated versions of all three forms are included in the download. Remember, if you are currently using Read3 you can download the latest copy of CHIPS at any time under the monitoring tab - no need to visit the store :)
Block #1 saw another 30 speechies complete Read3 training and now it’s time for Block #2! Training starts 14 April, 2024. The 4-week block consists of four x 1.5 hr sessions. Each participant will have access to Module 1 Step 1 of the Read3 program throughout the training block so they can practise what they learn!
You asked, we listened.😊
Some adjustments have been made to the Read3 training for schools to ensure staff can be upskilled in how to run a session as quickly as possible.
Our self-paced format enables staff to get started following a few hours of training. Once they have some experience in using the program, they then continue learning about progress monitoring and further adjustments to meet individual student needs.
Read3 intervention is ‘individualised’ but it does not have to be one-on-one. Our games-based approach lends itself well to a small group setting. You’ll learn more about how to run Read3 in groups during staff training.
If you're thinking about getting started with Read3, need a refresher, or have new staff who have joined your team, please reach out for a training proposal.
In keeping with our commitment to ensuring the Read3 program is dynamic and responsive, Read3 released a Module 1 Capital Letters add-on earlier this month.
For children who have difficulty pairing sounds with letters, we recommend capitals only be introduced once lowercase letters are automatic. If you’re already using Read3, this would be at the completion of Module 1 Step 3 when alphabetic code has been mastered. If your child really struggled to learn lowercase letters, it is appropriate to leave the introduction of capital letters a little longer (e.g. the end of Module 1).
This collection of resources is designed to help children learn to link capital letters to their corresponding lowercase letter. If you’d like more information on these additions and why we don’t use an additional embedded picture mnemonic for capital letters, check out our latest blog post.
For all our lovely teachers who may be wondering, the explicit teaching of capital letters supports ACARA Achievement Standards AC9EFLY08 and AC9EFLY11 for foundation year.
If you are not yet using Read3 but are keen to know more, reach out any time via email or phone 0473 233 800. We're always happy to help.
Cheers for now,
Kate & Robyn
]]>
The more time we spend working in schools, the more we realise there is some confusion around the term ‘fluency’ when applied at a word (or sub-word) level.
As someone who has been reading scientific papers on literacy for longer than I care to mention, I was curious to investigate this semantic conundrum with my live-in lay person...
Does it matter if we use the term Fluency or Automaticity?
In asking my husband about the difference between the two terms, he said
“Something needs to become automatic to be fluent.”
“So, is automaticity and fluency the same thing?” I asked.
“Pretty much”, he said.
So, why the confusion about these two terms?
Let’s go back to the beginning of “reading fluency” research. I think back then, anything that was automatic was considered 'fluent'.
For example, the DIBELS (Diagnostic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills) has been around for decades and uses the following test terms: First Sound Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency, Oral Reading Fluency.
When subword skills were automatic, they were deemed to be fluent. That was the term used in scientific research and it is still used in those circles today.
In the educational context, fluency refers to text level reading and writing skills that encompass the skills of reading rate, prosody or expression, and attention to punctuation. Quite rightly, that is fluent reading.
My understanding is that fluency can refer to all levels of reading development: from letter-sound links (phoneme-grapheme correspondences) to sub-word segments (onset clusters, rimes, morphemes), to syllables, to words, to phrases, to sentences, and to text. However a quick google search these days will inevitably bring up a narrowed definition of fluency at the text-level only.
So, does it matter if we use the term ‘automaticity’ or ‘fluency’ at each of these skill levels?
The answer is a bit like the old saying “Six of one, half a dozen of the other”.
The two options are virtually identical, suggesting that either alternative will yield the same outcome. In essence, it implies a 'lack of significant difference between the two possibilities' (https://grammarist.com/idiom/).
And that's a bit how I see the debate on the term fluency versus automaticity: lacking significance or largely irrelevant.
However, in an effort to reduce confusion, Read3 has made an adjustment to the terminology used throughout the program in relation to building fluency/automaticity. The term ‘fluency’ will be used in the educational text-level reading sense, and the term ‘automaticity’ will be used when referring to automating skills required on the path to text-level fluency. The last thing we want is anyone bogging down on semantics when the focus should be on instruction.
Regardless of the term, the most important thing is that we stay focused on developing automatic skills at every level, leading to text-level when teaching children to read.
]]>This collection of resources is designed to help your child learn to link capital letters to their corresponding lowercase letter.
For children who have difficulty pairing sounds with letters, we recommend capitals be introduced once lowercase letters are automatic. Introduce capitals at the end of Module 1 Step 3 when alphabetic code has been mastered. However, if your child has really struggled to learn lowercase letters, it is appropriate to leave the introduction of capital letters to the end of Module 1.
This new collection of resources includes:
We recommend you supplement your current Read3 sessions with an activity from this collection and start to build new letter-sound links over time. Detailed instructions on how to use each of these resources is provided.
In a word, no. 😊
Let us explain the reasoning behind this a little further.
The Easy Alphabet embedded picture mnemonics were created to help build strong letter-sound links for lowercase letters as these are the letters we use most frequently when reading and writing. Once your child can confidently recognise and form lowercase letters, it’s time to link that lowercase letter to its capital.
Rather than introducing a whole new ‘character’ for the capital, your child will be able to use the lowercase letter already stored in long term memory as the link to the ‘new’ capital letter version. There is no need for an additional mnemonic, but it is important that lowercase letters are automatic so the link between the two can be made. Memory is a great game to practise building strong links.
Here are a few infographics to explain this concept.
Included in your resource collection is a new set of display cards. These feature both upper and lowercase letters and a small Easy Alphabet graphic for support. You might like to add these capital cards below your current Easy Alphabet cards or, if letter-sound links are truly automatic, replace your current cards with the capital cards as you start to introduce capital letters to your child.
We also have a capital letter desk mate that can replace your current desk mate once lowercase letters are firmly established.
We’ve added a link to the Module 1 content titled ‘Module 1 | Capitals’. You’ll find it at the very end below ‘Module 1 | Step 5’.
If you are working through the program step-by-step, and do not have full access to Module 1 content, these resources will appear when Module 1.3 is added to your account.
Learning capital letters is not as difficult as it seems as many capitals are similar to their lowercase version.
There are 17 similar ones: C, F, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, S, T, U, V, W, X, Z. You might like to start by checking whether your child can recognise these, then focus on any that are not solid. A quick flip through the capital letter playing cards is a simple low-stress way to check this.
There are nine capitals that are truly different: a/A, b/B, d/D, e/E, g/G, h/H, q/Q, r/R, y/Y. Introducing 1-2 of these at a time (along with some familiar ones) is a great next step. The Easy Capital Practice Sheets are a fun way to get lots and lots of practice linking and forming both the upper and lower case version of each letter. Encourage your child to be as creative as possible with the colour and design element of this writing task.🎨🖍
For all our lovely teachers out there who may be wondering, the explicit teaching of capital letters supports ACARA Achievement Standards AC9EFLY08 and AC9EFLY11 for foundation year. 🙂
We hope you find these resources helpful, but remember, there's no rush! Mastery of lowercase letters should always be the priority for our Read3 kids.
Happy practising!
]]>
The Check How I Process Screener (CHIPS) has recently been updated. An overview of changes to CHIPS are outlined below.
If you are not yet using CHIPS but wish to get started, click below to download the latest version.
There have been significant changes to this form.
Age Range
Risk Factors
Processing Skill Test Components
Reading & Spelling Review Components
Read3 will be releasing FISH in 2024 for students 8+ years of age.
FISH (Fluency Indicator in a Story Hierarchy) offers a unique collection of short, sequential, decodable passages that will provide valuable insights into a student's reading fluency and phonic skills.
Use FISH stories to check student reading rates, then determine an intervention starting point.
If you have any questions please reach out via email or share below.
]]>
A few weeks back we wrapped up our final Read3 Training for Speech Pathologists for 2023. An enthusiastic group of 30 joined us for the 4-week block, one from as far afield as Germany!
Speaking of international, just this month we’ve been zooming with one of our Read3 schools in Hong Kong and fielding an enquiry from a school in Singapore. It’s exciting to see just how far the news of Read3 is spreading.
A little closer to home, Kate and Robyn had the pleasure of visiting Kalbar State School to watch Read3 in action in the early years classrooms. The integration of Read3 and the Easy Alphabet across all three tiers of instruction was fantastic to watch. Best of all, it means consistency between classroom instruction and extra learning support for our most vulnerable young readers. Congratulations to the whole team at Kalbar - we look forward to seeing more!
Kalbar State School's Learning Support Teacher Stesha Colledge took a us on a tour of the Prep-Year 2 classrooms as well as the Read3 intervention room.
A trip to Springfield Central State School for a day-long professional development session was another highlight. The focus was on improving knowledge about the complex processing challenges that some children face and how Read3 draws on the ‘fail-to-respond’ research base to support these children. With high quality phonics instruction already in place right across the early years, it’s exciting to see the focus at the school shifting to screening and supporting the children who struggle to respond to Tier 1 and Tier 2 intervention.
We are thrilled to announce we will be presenting at the DSF-SPELD Language, Literacy and Learning Conference next year.
During this joint presentation with Bernadette Yeo, SLP, findings of an extensive Action Research Project, undertaken by the Catholic Schools Office Diocese of Armidale (NSW) during 2022 and 2023, will be presented.
In an effort to support students who had failed to respond to other quality phonics intervention, Read3 was implemented in nine schools across the Diocese of Armidale as a Tier 3 intervention.
All students accessing the project had severe reading difficulties, additional diagnoses (ASD, ID, ADHD, DLD, CAS/SSD), and all had undergone Tier-2 literacy intervention with limited progress.
Over the course of the project, student progress building foundational literacy skills has been tracked using Read3’s built-in monitoring tools plus normed assessment measures.
This is our first 'formal' research into the efficacy of Read3 as a Tier 3 intervention and we thank the team at the Catholic Schools Office Armidale, and the nine schools involved, for their incredible efforts in designing and implementing this action research.
We look forward to sharing student outcomes with you at the conference next March.
If you‘re keen to join us in Perth for a great literacy conference, visit https://www.dsfconference.com.au/
In her latest blog, Robyn shares 3 key take-aways for us to consider when designing or choosing Tier 3 intervention.
"Forty Years of Reading Intervention Research for Elementary Students with or at Risk for Dyslexia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" (Hall et al, 2022) was published in the International Dyslexia Association’s Reading Research Quarterly in 2022.
The paper reviews the last 40 years of research and is uniquely focused on intervention studies of students with or at risk for word reading disabilities (RDs or Dyslexia).
Unlike previous meta-analyses that included studies using both researcher-created and norm-referenced assessment measures, this extensive review only included studies using norm-referenced measures of word reading, spelling, or foundational reading and spelling skills.
The fact that the results of this review did not replicate all the findings of several previous reviews may reflect the stringent standards imposed with regard to research design and methods. After sorting through thousands of intervention studies, the majority of the included studies (77%) were gold-standard randomised control trials (RCTs), and the mean sample size of the studies was above 100. Fifty-three elementary (primary) school intervention studies met the stringent criteria for review, and of those 53 studies, 45 were focused on students in Kinder to Grade 2 (US).
Want to know what the research tells us?
Article: Hall, C., Dahl-Leonard, K., Cho, E., Solari, E., Capin, P., Conner, C., Henry, A., Cook, L., Hayes, L., Vargas, I., Richmond, C., & Kehoe, K. (2022). Forty Years of Reading Intervention Research for Elementary Students with or at Risk for Dyslexia: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis. Reading Research Quarterly. 58(2), 285-312
Thanks to some fancy schmancy coding, Kate has upgraded our blog so that ‘general public’ content and ‘members only’ content can both be accessed from one place.
When you visit the Read3 site as a guest you’ll find our Blog on the top menu. The blog (still in its infancy stage, so stay tuned) is the place to head for feature articles and newsletters.
For those using the Read3 program, if you log in at Read3 you’ll find ‘Blog’ is replaced with ‘Blog & News’ on your top menu. From here you will be able to access everything on our public blog plus additional articles and videos about program updates. We will continue to build out this bank of ‘goodies’ in the months to come.
Please pop over and take a look and let us know what you think.
Is your child starting school next year?
Do you have students who are still struggling to get started?
Keen to take a sneak-peek at a Read3 activity?
The very first activities in Read3 are designed to ensure a child can hear syllables in words. After all, syllables form the basis of our language. Difficulty hearing syllable boundaries and distinguishing vowel sounds are two key markers for literacy challenges which is why we take this initial introduction to sounds so seriously!
As a little thank you for your support during the year we’ve put together a new resource based on our popular Sylla-Animal Counting game. It’s a great way to get kids engaged with syllables and thinking about the larger sound units in our language which is an important ‘pre-reading’ step.
Included in the instructions are details on how to extend the game beyond the sample provided so you’ll be able to count syllables all summer long!
If you’re keen to learn a little more about how we introduce syllables, and download a copy of our new syllable resource, click below.
⭐⭐ Special Offer ⭐⭐ Offer valid until 10 December 2023. |
VIEW Step 1 for Parents (single user) |
VIEW Step 1 for Professionals (Licenced for use with an unlimited number of children) Note: formal training required from Step 2 |
Practising phonics skills with decodable text is an important part of the Read3 routine. As the Read3 scope and sequence is a little different, we are continually sourcing and curating titles to match.
Last month Kate finished curating the Decodable Readers Australia (DRA) Early Readers collection which has been made available to all registered program users.
While there are publishers that align more closely to the Read3 scope and sequence (e.g. Dandelion Readers/Launchers and Sounds-Write), we recognise that many schools have purchased DRA books.
At this stage we have curated the Early Readers collection only. This set features shorter words, less text per page, and introduces additional code at a slower pace than the original DRA collection which makes them a good starting point for our struggling beginner readers. If you aren’t yet using Read3, but would like a copy of the curated list, please reach out.
⭐⭐ Special Offer ⭐⭐ |
Visit Decodable Readers Australia |
The good folk at Decodable Readers Australia are offering the Read3 community an ongoing discount of 10% on any DRA purchase. Full disclosure, this is an affiliate link which means should you choose to place an order you will also be supporting the Read3 team in a small way (🙏).
Our first speech pathologist training block for 2024 starts 12 January.
This four-week block consists of four x 1.5 hr sessions.
Each participant will have access to Module 1 Step 1 of the Read3 program throughout the training block so they can practice what they learn!
REGISTER FOR SLP TRAINING
Read3 intervention is ‘individualised’ but does not have to be delivered one-on-one. Our games-based approach lends itself well to a small group setting, and groups are quite popular amongst many of our Read3 schools.
If you're thinking about getting started with Read3 in 2024, please reach out for a proposal outlining training and program packages.
]]>
By Robyn Monaghan
As you may have noticed, we love the number '3' at Read3. Mostly, because remembering three things is not too taxing for any of us! And that means no cognitive overload.
So, here are ‘3 things’ that I learned from a article about interventions that support our Tier 3 students. "Forty Years of Reading Intervention Research for Elementary Students with or at Risk for Dyslexia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" (Hall et al, 2022) was first published in the International Dyslexia Association’s Reading Research Quarterly in 2022 and reprinted in their recent Special Issue on Dyslexia.
The article is a review of the last 40 years of research and is uniquely focused on intervention studies of students with or at risk for word reading disabilities (RDs or Dyslexia).
Unlike previous meta-analyses that included studies using both researcher-created and norm-referenced assessment measures, this review only included studies using norm-referenced measures of word reading, spelling, or foundational reading and spelling skills.
The fact that the results of this review did not replicate all the findings of several previous reviews may reflect the stringent standards imposed with regard to research design and methods. After sorting through thousands of intervention studies, the majority of the included studies (77%) were gold-standard randomised control trials (RCTs), and the mean sample size of the studies was above 100. Fifty-three elementary (primary) school intervention studies met the stringent criteria for review, and of those 53 studies, 45 were focused on students in Kinder to Grade 2 (US).
So let’s get to the ‘3 things’ I took from the review:
The overall effect size (g = 0.33, 95% CI) on normed assessments showed a meaningful improvement for students in Kinder to Year 5. There was no significant difference in outcomes by grade level, although, descriptively speaking, the studies with students in Grades 3-5 were associated with smaller effects (g = 0.16) than studies with students in Grades K-2 (g = 0.36).
As interventions with an effect size of 0.33 are more likely to close the achievement gap, interventions may be more effective for children in kindergarten than for children in Grade 5. However, more research was recommended for upper elementary students who were under-represented in this review and who are at risk for developing psychosocial and behavioural difficulties. With regards to policy decisions, it may be both wise and cost-effective for schools to intervene early if they are faced with a decision about how to direct limited intervention resources.
The findings support the provision of reading interventions focusing on foundational literacy skills to improve reading outcomes for students with or at risk for dyslexia. The study underscored the value of early interventions that are of sufficient intensity (dosage >100 hours) that include spelling instruction and are tailored to the specific needs of students.
The authors suggested that future research is needed that can answer the question: Is it necessary for students with dyslexia to receive instruction that is qualitatively different (e.g., such that it must be provided by different teachers, in different settings, using different materials) than that provided to students with broadly defined RDs?
Now that is a study we would love to see!
It is very encouraging to see the significance of intervention that is designed specifically for those with reading disorders being flagged. At Read3 we strive to provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based intervention for these children. Reviewing the findings from such a rigorous meta-analysis we feel confident we are on the right track, look forward to being part of the growing movement to support our most at-risk readers.
If you have any comments, please feel free to share them below 👇 or email us.
Hall, C., Dahl-Leonard, K., Cho, E., Solari, E., Capin, P., Conner, C., Henry, A., Cook, L., Hayes, L., Vargas, I., Richmond, C., & Kehoe, K. (2022). Forty Years of Reading Intervention Research for Elementary Students with or at Risk for Dyslexia: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis.
https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.477
With the summer holidays fast approaching, we thought it might be fun to share a game with you.😊 It focuses on building awareness of syllables in words which is an important 'pre-literacy' skill.
When teaching reading, our instinct is to focus on letters. However, for many beginner or struggling readers understanding that there are sounds in words can be a significant hurdle to learning.
For many young children when they hear a word they connect it to meaning (for example, a 'bus' is a thing you drive around in) and have little understanding that the word is made up of individual sounds (b-u-s).
Rather than jumping straight to linking individual sounds to letters, at Read3 we start by checking if a child can hear broader sound units like syllables. After all, syllables form the basis of our language. Interestingly, having difficulty hearing syllable boundaries and distinguishing vowel sounds are two key markers for literacy challenges which is why we take this initial introduction to larger sound units so seriously!
Once we are certain the child has some awareness of syllables it’s time to start fine-tuning phonological skills by focusing on awareness of rhyme, first sounds, last sounds, vowel sounds, and, of course, connecting those sounds to letters.
So, if you’re keen to check if your child can hear syllables in words, download a copy of Sylla-Snack Counting below.
Based on our popular Sylla-Animal Counting game included in the Module 1 Introduction, the little freebie will have your child identifying syllables like a pro! Instructions, cards and the game board are included PLUS you'll be able to learn more about our popular strategy for hearing syllables in words.
If you're not yet using Read3, this is a great opportunity to get a feel for the games-based approach offered in the Read3 program.
If you are already using Read3, just print off the new picture cards and add them to your existing 'Sylla Counting' collection.
Our aim at Read3 is to help you help your child build literacy skills in a fun and interactive way. 🙂 With the school holidays almost upon us, now is a PERFECT time to play games!
Enter Code SAVE45 at checkout.
Offer valid until 30 November 2023.
Step 1 for Parents
(single user)
Step 1 for Professionals
(licenced for use with an unlimited number of children)
Note: formal training required from Step 2
An important part of the daily routine at Read3 is practising skills with decodable text. Because our scope and sequence is a little different to other programs finding suitable decodable readers for Module 2 can be a little tricky!
We've been busy searching high and low for some more decodable text for you all and I am pleased to say an updated list of curated resources for Module 2 Step 1 is now available. 🎉
The list includes:
When it comes to Decodable Readers Australia (DRA), we have two pieces of exciting news to share:
So, about that list of curated resources…
At this stage we are focusing on the Early Readers collection.
Why? Well, even though the phonic sequence is the same across all DRA collections, Early Readers feature shorter words (CVC), less text per page, and introduce additional code at a slower pace than the original DRA collection. This makes them a good starting point for our struggling beginner readers.
While there are publishers that are more closely aligned to the Read3 scope and sequence (Dandelion, Sounds-Write etc), we recognise that many schools have purchased DRA books (supporting local 👏) which is why we have taken the time to carefully curate the DRA Early Readers collection.
Warning: ‘Early Readers’ do contain some longer (CCVCC) words. Please review content carefully before sharing with your student.
In Module 1 of Read3 we limit words to CVC, so please select ‘Early Reader’ titles carefully and support your child to chunk longer words and blend through the sounds in each chunk.
In the early stages of learning to read, reducing overwhelm is important. Therefore, we need to make sure our Read3 kids are practising their decoding skills using text that is closely aligned to the code they are being taught.
As with our other curated lists, titles are sorted in two ways:
To help you make decisions about suitability of each title, we have provided comprehensive details including any CCVCC words, high frequency words or complex words featured in the book. Please refer to the Read3 Curated List when selecting DRA titles for your Read3 children.
⭐⭐ Special Offer ⭐⭐
|
Visit Decodable Readers Australia
View Early Readers
View DRA Online Library
We are excited to share that the good folk at Decodable Readers Australia are offering all Read3 clients an ongoing discount of 10% on any DRA purchase. Full disclosure, this is an affiliate link which means should you choose to place an order you will also be supporting the Read3 team in a small way (🙏).
Click any links on this page to have your discount applied automatically at checkout, or simply enter discount code Read3 on checkout (or on your school order form).
Many thanks to the DRA team for their generosity and support. And thanks to you, our community, for supporting two local companies.🙂
Well, that’s it from us. We hope you find the curated list (and discount) helpful.
]]>
It's hard to believe another school term has drawn to an end. Hopefully you are all enjoying some much-needed downtime.
Over the past month, our main focus at Read3 has been on moving some of our many and varied projects forward.
Kate has been working on ways to support our schools including:
Robyn and Kate headed away for a week to work on:
Having so many projects on the go can be a bit of a juggling act, given the small size of our team, but we sure like to keep ourselves busy! 🤣
As well as managing finances, orders, emails, proposals and resource printing, every Read3 order is lovingly hand-packed by Amanda. 📦🤍
As we head into Dyslexia Awareness Month, it seemed appropriate that we talk a little about reading difficulties!
In this video presentation Robyn shares the work of Louise Spear-Swerling, reprinted earlier this year by Learning Difficulties Australia, which reviews research on three common patterns of poor reading.
Based on the Simple View of Reading model, Spear-Swerling breaks learning difficulties down into:
Click below to join Robyn as she discusses the article highlights and how to identify and support students with specific learning difficulties in the classroom.
Article: 'Common types of reading problems and how to help children who have them' by Louise Spear-Swerling. Published in Learning Difficulties Australia | Vol 55 No 1, April 2023
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month and thanks to Code REaD we'll be seeing buildings and monuments right across Australia lit up red in support of dyslexia. This initiative, now in its 9th year, is an important event on the Dyslexia Awareness Month calendar.
The Code REaD Dyslexia Network is a charitable organisation that advocates tirelessly for those with dyslexia. Their vision is:
"for all people with dyslexia to be understood, acknowledged, empowered and to have equal access to opportunities"
It goes without saying that a vision such as this is very close to our own hearts. 💓 Read3 was created specifically to support children with, or at-risk of, dyslexia and we urge you to get involved with this great initiative!
Support Code REaD in your local area!
Whether it's registering a building, buying some merchandise, making a donation or joining your local dyslexia support group!
For details on how you can get involved in 'Light It Red for Dyslexia' visit: https://codereadnetwork.org/get-involved/lir2023/
You'll find some great FAQs about dyslexia answered HERE
We'd love to see you or your local building lit up red! feel free to share photos to support@read3.com.au or tag @read3.literacy
-----
On a trip to Tasmania earlier this year Kate met Code REaD Board Member Marshall Roberts (aka 'The Angry Farmer') and discussed dyslexia, structured literacy and all things Read3.
Introducing 4 new activities to support children who are struggling to blend sounds.
Have you ever had a child who knows their letters and sounds but can't blend those sounds to form words? Have you tried every trick in the book and still get 'a'-'t' instead of 'at', or 'i'-'n' instead of 'in'?
It's frustrating isn't it?
This difficulty with blending usually arises from limited phonological skills. The child is focused on the meaning of a word not the sounds inside that word. Most likely they aren't even aware there are sounds in words! Even if they can link letters to sounds they don't understand how those letters relate to a spoken word. So, we need to back up and explicitly teach them awareness of sounds in words, starting with the rhyme part and then narrowing down to the individual sounds.
The 'Say It' series was created to help step children through the process of blending, segmenting and deleting sounds before progressing to identifying individual phonemes in words and applying letters.
Say It activities have been added to Module 1 Step 1. If you're using the Read3 program, simply log in and give it a go!
When supporting students with learning difficulties sometimes another opinion can be useful. Read3 is now offering consultation sessions with an experienced Speech Pathologist to assist!
Suitable for learning support teams and speech pathologists, our team member will connect via phone or Zoom to review client concerns and guide you on 'next steps' within the Read3 program.
To book, select a time on our Consultation Calendar and we'll organise an invoice for you.
Please note, our Free Discovery Call (20 mins) is available for anyone wishing to learn more about the suitability of Read3 for their clients/students or questions regarding Read3 training.
Our final speech pathologist training block for 2023 starts 13 October, 2023.
This block consists of four x 1.5 hr sessions.
Each participant will have access to Module 1 Step 1 of the Read3 program throughout the training block so they can practice what they learn!
REGISTER FOR SLP TRAINING
If you're thinking about getting started with Read3 in 2024, please reach out for a proposal.
Book your Read3 training now and we'll train your fourth staff member for free! Training is self-paced and can be undertaken any time up to the end of Term 1, 2024.
Click below to lodge your interest or phone Read3 for details!
Offer ends 18 October 2023.
We're pleased to say that our curated list of almost 100 FREE Progressive Phonics titles is now available. If you haven't done so already, pop over and download your copy today.
Progressive Phonics is the brain child of Miz Katz N Ratz, a writer-illustrator in the US. These titles are a fantastic starting point for any struggling beginner reader, and are particularly great for those with Rapid Automatised Naming difficulties.
In this video presentation Robyn shares the work of Louise Spear-Swerling, reprinted earlier this year by Learning Difficulties Australia, which reviews research on three common patterns of poor reading.
Drawing on Gough and Tunmer's Simple View of Reading model, Spear-Swerling breaks reading difficulties down into:
This simple model is a great tool for classroom teachers to consider when thinking about their own students with a view to choosing the most appropriate intervention.
The full article can be found here:
'Common types of reading problems and how to help children who have them' by Louise Spear-Swerling. Reprinted in Learning Difficulties Australia | Vol 55 No 1, April 2023.
We hope you enjoy!
Time Stamps:
00:40 Reflection on the Simple View of Reading
01:40 Spear-Swerling's interpretation of the Simple View of Reading
04:00 Three types of reading difficulties with examples of intervention
11:00 Importance of collaboration between classroom teacher and interventionists
12:40 Early-emerging reading difficulties
14:00 Late-emerging reading difficulties
15:00 Prevalence of reading difficulties in specific groups of students
16:00 Importance of understanding reading difficulties in your students
]]>
Say It, Make It
Say It, Delete It
Say It, Read It
Watch the overview, then view the game demonstrations.
Let us know in the comments below if you have any feedback!
]]>
Log in, jump to the relevant step and click the video link under SEE.
The 'Hear, See, Say' videos support the introduction of letters and sounds using the Easy Alphabet. While your child is learning about the character and story outlined on their sheet, have them listen to the video to reinforce the sound each letter represents.
While a sound wall can be a useful tool for helping children understand the mouth position for each sound, at Read3 we prefer to "feel the sound in your mouth". That way if a child needs to cue themselves when spelling out a word they can rely on what they feel in their own mouth, rather than seeking out a visual cue on the classroom wall.
Sound videos are grouped by Step. You can access the sounds covered in a particular Module 1 Step by clicking the link under 'SEE' titled 'Easy Alphabet Hear See & Say Videos' (located just below the Easy Alphabet Introduction Sheets).
For example, if you're looking for the sound video for 's' you would click on Module 1 Step 1 Lesson 1 (SATIMNOP) to locate the video.
If you ever need to be reminded which step contains which letters, you can always check our Scope and Sequence.
Please note, we have added these videos to the Read3 program access to directly support children using the Read3 intervention program.
Some of you may already have a multi-user licence for these Hear, See & Say videos for use in the classroom. We have a new Easy Alphabet Online Classroom Licence coming soon. This will provide classroom teachers with access to videos and resources for individual letters at the click of a button! If you are interested in learning more please reach out.
We hope enjoy your new videos!
]]>
It was particularly special to receive this photo of Helen with Rita McTaggart. Rita is based at St Brendan's Catholic Primary School in Mackay which was one of the first schools to take on Read3. Now in their third year, we're always delighted to receive an email or call from Rita updating us on Read3 is going in her school.
We are fast approaching that time of year when schools are setting budgets. This is an ideal time to audit the current programs in use and make adjustments if necessary.
If you're thinking about getting started with Read3 in 2024, please reach out so we can put together a proposal for inclusion in your next budget.
Book your Read3 training now and we'll train your fourth staff member for free! Training is self-paced and can be undertaken any time up to the end for Term 1, 2024.
Click below to lodge your interest or phone Read3 for details!
Offer ends 30 September 2023.
We're excited to say that Read3 now offers self-paced training for schools. 🎉 Self-paced training provides you with added flexibility and reduces pressure on aide release time. You can complete training components as a group (at a time that suits your team) or individually via a personal login. As part of the self-paced training block you will also receive a free 1-hour consultation with a member of the Read3 team where we'll answer all your questions.
In July we conducted a short survey to gather some important data about how Read3 is being used in schools and speech clinics, and levels of satisfaction.
We had a great response rate, so thank you to everyone who participated. A special congratulations to speech pathologist Alicia Terry (QLD) who was the winner of our Module 1 Card Kit giveaway.
So, what did the findings reveal?
Usage Levels
We are delighted to say that the results indicate that approximately 4700 children have benefited from the Read3 program and resources in the past six months.
This includes:
Client Progress
Satisfaction with client progress received an average rating of 5.31 out of 6. A compilation of open-ended comments from participants identified some key areas of growth with improved confidence top of the list. 🎉
I've seen an increase in confidence as activities allow for small steps of success. My clients are very used to ‘failing’ in school based literacy activities and therefore their confidence is severely impacted. Read3 is changing their view on their abilities and growing their confidence to try!
(Speech Pathologist)
For a number of the students Read3 has been life changing! Our students who have accessed the program for the past 18 months and are now in Year 2 are closing the gap, one is even now reading age appropriate texts!!! The key is to intervene early and hold the course as the change will take time.
(Read3 School)
Professional learning, training and personal support
Satisfaction with level of training and support received a whopping average rating of 5.58 out of 6. At Read3 we pride ourselves on providing support to our professionals well beyond the purchase of the program and is great to see our goal reflected in these scores. 😊
We thank everyone who took part for their considered responses to our open-ended questions. We've read each and every one in detail and will draw on your comments as we continue to shape the program and direction of Read3.
VIEW SURVEY RESULTS & FEEDBACK
As part of our Read3 daily routine we recommend children practise their skills using decodable readers. However, for children with weak Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) this is easier said than done!
RAN relates to how quickly our brain can retrieve known information. If this processing skill is weak, then it can be very difficult for a child to continually pluck the right sound or word from memory. As a result, reading can be very laboured and frustration levels can be very high!
One resource that we absolutely LOVE here at Read3 is Progressive Phonics. These books enable our children with fluency difficulties to enjoy the experience of reading without the pressure.
In Progressive Phonics books the child only reads part of the text. The decodable words (to be read by the child) are highlighted in red and the remaining text (to be read by the adult) is black. Many of the stories use rhyme which adds to the child's engagement.
While these titles are the perfect choice for children with weak RAN, they also provide excellent word-level decoding practice for any beginner reader. There are even some tricky titles that focus on b and d which is great practice for ironing out those frustrating b/d reversals!
The Progressive Phonics collection is completely FREE. Titles are available in a PDF booklet format or in a read-on-screen format making them a fantastic option for home practice.
To learn more about progressive phonics click below. Kate is busy curating a list of which titles match which steps of the Read3 program, so be sure to sign up for our curated list and we'll email it when it's available.
LEARN MORE ABOUT PROGRESSIVE PHONICS
The high response rate has enabled us to forecast usage levels across all Read3 clients.
So, what did the findings reveal?
We are delighted to say that the results indicate that approximately 4700 children have benefited from the Read3 program and resources in the past six months.
This includes:
Participants were asked to rate satisfaction on a scale of 1 (dissatisfied) to 6 (extremely satisfied).
When asked "How satisfied are you with the general progress of children using the Read3 program" the average participant rating was 5.31 out of 6.
Responses to an open-ended question about previous intervention offered to these students indicates that for most students quality phonics programs such as MiniLit, MacqLit, Sounds-Write and PLD had been attempted previously.
Analysis of open-ended comments from participants identified some key areas of growth. Top of the list was improved confidence and commitment to learning. 🎉
For children who have failed to respond to previous intervention, building self-confidence is critical - it takes courage to get up and try yet again! The therapy-based learning model of Read3 has been carefully designed to ensure a 'gentle' start in an effort to build trust and there are many opportunities for early success available to the child. Seeing the intentions of this model reflected in the client response is very rewarding indeed.
Percentages indicate the number of respondents who spontaneously mentioned improvements in these areas:
Participants were again asked to rate satisfaction on a scale of 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to 6 (extremely satisfied).
When asked "How supported do you feel in terms of training, professional learning or personal contact with Read3?" the average participant rating was 5.58 out of 6.
At Read3 we pride ourselves on providing support to our professionals well beyond the purchase of the program and is great to see our goal reflected in these scores. 😊
Here's what one school had to say:
Improved understanding of the science of reading for struggling readers has had a great impact on the literacy intervention at our school. We have been able to use the professional learnings provided by Read3 to implement best teaching in the classroom as well as in intervention.
Speech Pathologist participants were asked to comment on the impact Read3 has had on literacy intervention within their clinic. The response to this open-ended question saw considerable spontaneous feedback in relation to reduced prep time, increased parent involvement, and continuity amongst clinicians.
Here's little of what they had to say:
It has provided a clear structure to follow, addressing a wide variety of aspects related to literacy. It has been great for early speech pathologists still getting to understand literacy. It is easy to discuss with parents.
It has provided a "grab and go" program that has reduced planning/prep time for therapists, while facilitating meaningful and effective literacy intervention for our clients. I have observed specific improvement with clients who have been historically resistant to literacy intervention.
Read3 has made my literacy intervention easier both in planning and in sharing activities with parents. Most of the clients enjoy working through the activities and very little additional motivation is needed to ensure they stay on task.
Read3 has had a dramatic change on my practice. It has helped my clients who had difficulty with other literacy programs find a way to improve their reading and writing skills.
The depth of response to our open ended questions was truly heartening. We have included a handful of comments relating to student outcomes below:
The biggest change I have noticed for my clients is in their confidence and motivation. These Tier 3 students have years of struggle behind them, despite everyone’s best efforts and the use of evidence-based reading programmes. The first time I tried Read3 with a 'non-responder', the look on his face when he was able to fluently read all the words using the Word Maker activity was priceless. Suddenly he realised this approach was working for him and that reading won't always feel like such an effortful struggle.
(Speech Pathologist)
I've seen an increase in confidence as activities allow for small steps of success. My clients are very used to ‘failing’ in school based literacy activities and therefore their confidence is severely impacted. Read3 is changing their view on their abilities and growing their confidence to try!
(Speech Pathologist)
Most of my clients have gone from little to no phonological awareness and nil ability to write letters or to blend two sounds together, to reading and writing words and sentences. This has increased their confidence significantly.
(Speech Pathologist)
For a number of the students Read3 has been life changing! Our students who have accessed the program for the past 18 months and are now in Year 2 are closing the gap, one is even now reading age appropriate texts!!! The key is to intervene early and hold the course as the change will take time.
(Read3 School)
Teachers running the program, as well as the classroom teachers, have seen a huge impact in most of the students with regards to letters and sounds, phonological awareness and confidence. The students love coming to their Read3 sessions and love the games and the engaging activities!
(Read3 School)
The letter and sound knowledge of the high needs students I'm working with has improved dramatically. I've used an embedded picture mnemonic alphabet in the past, but what sets the Easy Alphabet apart is that the pictures are instructive not only of the letter sound, but the letter formation.
(Read3 School)
My students absolutely love the games and their concentration and accuracy greatly increases because they are so thoroughly engaged.... The games also help to build positive and supportive relationships between the students. They are always thrilled to come and work with me because they know it's going to be fun! I've seen all of my students blossom with confidence; even though some of them are still in the very early stages of the program they can see their progress, There are so many opportunities to have small wins with Read3 that there's an achievement in every single lesson we can celebrate.
(Read3 School)
We wish to thank everyone who took part in this survey for their considered responses. 🙏 We have read each and every answer in detail and will draw on your comments as we continue to shape the program and direction of Read3.
If you are not yet using Read3 or the Easy Alphabet, but are interested in learning more, please book a call - we're here to help.
]]>
|
In addition to our 3-step daily routine, Read3 recommends all children practise their new-found skills using decodable readers. However, for children with fluency challenges, continuously decoding word after word can be exhausting!
That's where Progressive Phonics can help.
Progressive Phonics is a wonderful FREE website that provides children with the opportunity to practise decoding skills in a fun, less confronting way.
If you have a child who struggles to build fluency, or has rapid naming difficulties in particular, we highly recommend you take a look at their New Alphabetti Books and Beginner Readers. You can download PDF versions or just read them straight from your tablet or phone.
Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) relates to how quickly our brain can retrieve known information. If this processing skill is weak, then it can be very difficult for a child to continually pluck the right sound or word from memory. Even though they may know it, they can't access it quickly enough. As a result, reading can be very laboured and frustration levels can be very high!
Click HERE if you need more info on how RAN impacts reading.
In Progressive Phonics books the child only reads part of the text. The decodable words (to be read by the child) are highlighted in red and the remaining text (to be read by the adult) is black. Many of the stories use rhyme which adds to the child's engagement and helps build awareness of rhyme endings - an important phonological skill for beginner readers.
For children with weak RAN, being required to just read just a few words per page can be a real game changer. It really takes the pressure off as they can 'prepare' for each word, and enjoy the success of decoding, rather than feeling constantly frustrated when words they know just won't come out correctly...
As you progress through the phonic series, the number of words the child will read per page increases - words they have already learned to decode are marked in blue and new words are red.
The Progressive Phonics sequence is very similar to the Read3 sequence so is a great way to start to build confidence in your little reader. You will need to teach the sound c (as in cat) before commencing as the main character is a cat.
A word of warning: each file includes additional information and activities relating to letters, sounds, and letter formation. Please skip over these pages and proceed straight to the stories. The evidence-based strategies offered through Read3 and the Easy Alphabet are designed to support children with a range of processing difficulties. As is the case with most decodable resources, the strategies outlined in these booklets relate to beginner readers more broadly, not specifically to struggling beginner readers.
Encourage your child to chunk words into onset (starting sounds) and rime (from the vowel to the end of the word) to help build automaticity of natural patterns in words and improve reading fluency.
If additional support is required with letters and sounds, be sure to recap using the Easy Alphabet Practice Sheets and Playing Cards included in the program. Login and download resources as required.
A detailed list of which titles match which steps of the Read3 program is now available. If you'd like to receive a copy, enter your details below and we'll email it to you. 😊
Register
]]>
]]>
A typical day at Read3 involves a lot of computer, phone and Zoom time… and perhaps that’s why the prospect of a trip south had us so fired up!
We kicked off May visit to Hobart with a free Read3 information session. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet our Tassie-based teachers and speechies face-to-face, and spread the word about Read3 with some newcomers as well. Our heartfelt thanks to Hockley Speech Pathology for hosting the evening for us.
As luck would have it, Jocelyn Seamer Education was presenting a “Practical Phonics for the Early Years Classroom'' workshop in Hobart that weekend, so Kate couldn’t resist popping along to that one. It was inspiring to be amongst so many educators, all keen to further their knowledge on quality classroom instruction.
We also visited Illawarra Primary School, Margate Primary School and Waimea Heights Primary School. Each school is at a slightly different point on their Read3 ‘journey’ and it was wonderful to be able to answer specific questions from team members. Seeing the Easy Alphabet up on the wall in every Prep Classroom at Margate was icing on the cake - a proactive approach to early intervention always makes us smile. 🙂
As luck would have it, Jocelyn Seamer Education was presenting a “Practical Phonics for the Early Years Classroom'' workshop in Hobart that weekend, so Kate couldn’t resist popping along to that one. It was inspiring to be amongst so many educators, all keen to further their knowledge on quality classroom instruction and see Jocelyn in action with some practical application.
And, of course, we attended the annual Speech Pathology Australia Conference!
Over the three days we had the opportunity to chat with almost a hundred speech pathologists from all over the country. We caught up face-to-face with some of our Read3 speechies as well! 😍 Of course with our snazzy new fluoro shirts we were pretty hard to miss! Helen immersed herself fully in conference sessions, which explored a wide range of topics and special interest areas, and has been sharing content with fellow speechies ever since. 🙂
All in all it was an incredible trip and we thank each and every one of you who connected with us during our stay.
Our next training block for kicks off on 21 July.
Don't miss out!
This block consists of four sessions.
CLICK HERE for details.
(and Robyn summarises it for us)
Dr Elizabeth Norton is a guru when it comes to RAN and reading. Her latest video presentation "RAN and the Reading Brain" is a must-view for anyone interested in early intervention and helping children at high risk of reading difficulties. Not only does Dr Norton explain what RAN is (it’s a test of speeded naming ability), she clearly sets out the reasons for including RAN tasks in our early literacy screeners and diagnostic testing.
RAN tasks are like a mini-version of the cognitive and linguistic processes involved in reading. Just like text in a book, a RAN task is presented as an array of items in rows. The items must be very familiar to the child, such as colours, objects, letters, or digits.
Only about 5 – 7 items are used in the task. These are distributed randomly across 4 or 5 rows with 10 items in each row. The objective is for the children to name the items in order as quickly and as accurately as they can while being timed. The timing is the key measure and that time helps us understand a little more about the reading process in the brain.
Click below to watch the presentation and read Robyn's take on the key points from the video. She recommends you listen to the entire video including the Q&A where many of the questions we all ask on this topic are answered by Dr Norton. Enjoy!
100 x FREE decodables matched to the Read3 Scope and Sequence
One of the challenges when supporting a struggling beginner reader is finding enough decodable readers at a suitable level to get that much-needed practice. This collection of FREE decodable readers from SPELD SA is a great place to start.
Sticking as close as possible to the exact code that a child is currently working on is very important, particularly in the early stages of learning to read. But of course, every series has a slightly different sequence! And that’s why Kate has reviewed every one of the 100 titles in this series and matched them as closely as possible to each Step (or Lesson) of the Read3 program.
Click to DOWNLOAD CURATED LIST , then follow our recommendations to ensure your child is reading the right title at the right time as they progress through Read3.
If you are not yet using Read3 but are keen to know more, reach out any time via email or phone 0473 233 800. We're always happy to help.
Until next time,
Kate & Robyn
Read3 Co-Creators
By Robyn Monaghan
The Reading League Illinois recently ran a session with Dr Elizabeth Norton titled "RAN and the Reading Brain". For anyone interested in early intervention and helping children at high risk of reading difficulties this is a must-see - we've even linked the video below, so there's no excuse! 😜 I recommend listening to the end as many common questions about RAN are answered during her Q&A.
I've pulled together some key points from Dr Norton's presentation which are included below. I'll finish by saying while this presentation focuses on what RAN is, the discussion around how best to support weak RAN is a discussion for another day!
RAN stands for Rapid Automatised Naming. RAN tasks are like a mini-version of the cognitive and linguistic processes involved in reading.
Just like text in a book, a RAN task is presented as an array of items in rows. Only about 5-7 items are used in the task and these items are distributed randomly across 4 or 5 rows with 10 items in each row. The items must be very familiar to the child, such as colours, objects, letters, or digits. If a child doesn’t know letters or numbers well, then colours or objects can be named instead.
The objective of the RAN task is for the children to name the items in order as quickly and as accurately as they can while being timed.
Asking the child to perform the task as quickly as they can simulates the ability to recognise and say the items automatically or without conscious thought, similar to mature reading ability.
Time taken is the key measure as it helps us understand a little more about the reading process in the brain.
RAN tasks share many common processes with reading, such as attention, visual recognition, integration, and retrieval processes.
The RAN task can be viewed as a microcosm of reading, like a surrogate for the reading process in the brain. RAN tasks therefore provide a small but revealing window into a child's reading potential and can be used to screen children as young as 4 years for possible struggles learning to read.
By adding RAN tasks to early screeners, professionals can better identify children at risk of dyslexia and understand the nature and extent of their difficulties. This insight helps us choose appropriate intervention strategies that focus on orthographic mapping, automaticity and reading fluency.
Yes. Numerous studies have shown strong correlations between people with faster RAN and stronger reading ability. The relationship between RAN tasks and reading is also supported by neuroimaging studies. These studies have shown that similar areas of the brain are activated when mature readers perform RAN tasks and reading tasks. The same areas ‘light up’, indicating the commonalities between these two activities. When RAN tasks are performed slowly or hesitantly or with many errors, the child has a higher risk of reading difficulties and/or dyslexia.
Despite its diagnostic potential, RAN tasks are not, by themselves, a cure or solution to reading difficulties. At present, there is no known method to directly improve a child's RAN ability. The best approach for supporting children with slower RAN scores is to focus on enhancing their accuracy and automaticity in all other language and literacy areas in an effort to develop a well-connected reading circuit in the brain.
Strengthening all the connections in the child’s reading circuit to progressively build their reading skills will help compensate for weak RAN. Understanding the need for carefully planned early intervention for children is vital, especially if weak RAN is accompanied by weak phonological awareness or weak language skills.
]]>
So, I did some reading on the weekend... 🤣
At the end of my 48-hour marathon I'd matched all 100 SPELD SA Phonic Book Series as closely as possible to each Step (or Lesson) of the Read3 program.
Why you ask?
Because we all need more decodable readers in our lives!!
One of the challenges when supporting a struggling beginner reader is finding enough decodable readers at a suitable level to get that much-needed practice.
Sticking as close as possible to the exact code a child is currently working on is very important, particularly in the early stages of learning to read.
If you don't have a lot of decodables on hand, SPELD SA's free books are a great addition.
The scope and sequence is a little different to ours which is why it was important we take the time to curate the listing. One of the challenges when supporting a struggling beginner reader is finding enough decodable readers at a suitable level to get that much-needed practice.
This document includes:
In the list sorted by Read3 Step, the titles are listed in descending order of difficulty from easiest to hardest per set. To help you make decisions about suitability of each title, we have provided comprehensive details including:
Click below to download our curated resource list, then follow our recommendations to ensure your child is reading the right title at the right time.
We'd love to know what you think. Let us know in the comments below. 👇🏼
]]>If you haven't spotted it yet on Facebook, Decodable Readers Australia currently have a great offer available.
You can download 24 readers - one from each level and category of their sequence - for FREE! Their categories are:
In this post, we'll run through which of these suit Read3 kids and at which level.
But first 👉 Download the 24 FREE Readers
Main Fiction are the first series of books released by Decodable Readers Australia. While the target sounds align reasonably well with early steps of the Read3 program, the length of words extends past 3 sounds (CVC) to include additional consonants (CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC).
For children with processing difficulties the cognitive load of decoding 4 and 5-sound words is too much in the early stages of learning to read. As a result, many of the Main Fiction books will not be suitable until your child is in Module 3 Step 1.
Having said that, you could look to introduce some of these books earlier but supervision will be required to ensure Read3 strategies are implemented. For example, you'll need to cover up the plurals on the ends of words and remind your child to chunk the occasional CCVC or CVCC word and blend through the sounds.
Fortunately Decodable Readers Australia have now released their Early Reader series. The Early Reader series is a much better fit for our beginner Read3 kids. The number of sounds in each word has been limited, which is great news, but there may of course be some high-frequency words that have not yet been taught. Be sure to double-check the content of each book to determine if the code is appropriate for your child's current skill level.
So with that general proviso out of the way, let's take a look at the specific titles that Decodable Readers Australia has so generously offered for free.
I've listed any of the 24 that match our scope and sequence and outlined where to introduce them.
Module 1 Step 1 (M1.1)
Pat a Pan (Early Reader Level 1 Book 8)
Extra word: the (introduced in M1.2 Say & Snap )
Module 1 Step 4 (M1.4)
Dom the Dog (Early Reader Level 2 Book 5)
Includes ck.
Has some plural s and 's words (e.g. naps, Nan's)
Module 1 Step 5 (M1.5) (with support) or Module 3 Step 1 (M3.1)
Fish in a Dish (Early Reader Level 4 Book 1)
Mostly CVC with double and digraphs
Minimal CVCC and CCVC included
End of Module 1 (with support) or Module 3 Step 1 (M3.1)
Fun in the Sun (Early Reader Level 3 Book 5)
Mostly CVC
Extra words: swim ramp camp zags buns
Of the 24 free titles on offer, the following are suitable once your child reaches Module 3 Step 1 when extra consonants are added to the beginning or end of words. Plurals are included in many of these books.
Fun in the Sun (Early Reader Level 3 Book 5)
Mostly CVC
Extra words: swim ramp camp zags buns
Eric's Socks (Main Reader Level 2 Book 2)
Focus: CVC including ck plus plural s and 's words
Extra words: Eric's, track, drip, stinks, stamps
Camp (Non-Fiction Level 2 Book 4)
Focus: CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC
Nat Lends a Hand (Main Reader Level 3 Book 3)
Mostly CVCC, a few CCVCC plus plural s words
Includes a few 2-syllable words (e.g. cobweb, bucket)
Fish in a Dish (Early Reader Level 4 Book 1)
Mostly CVC with double and digraphs
Some CVCC and CCVC included
Of the 24 free titles on offer, these ones are suitable once your child reaches Module 3 Step 2. Long vowels, 2-syllable words and word endings feature in these books.
Is it Junk? (Non Fiction Level 3 Book 5)
Up to CCVCC with plural s and 's words
Some 2-syllable words (e.g. constructs, objects)
Nat's Fudge (Early Reader Level 8 Book 7)
Great practise for M3.2 Extension _dge
Warning: some vowel digraphs included.
Extra words: eat, treat, tried
Pat's Kite (Early Reader Level 7 Book 6)
Warning: some vowel digraphs included.
Extra words: right, high, beach
A Trip to the Beach (Early Reader Level 5 Book 3)
Despite the title, this story features more ee than ea words.
ea words: beach, sea, heap, eat, treat
Big Things (Main Fiction Level 4 Book 17)
Focus: CCVCC.
Includes some 2-syllable words and endings.
Note: if a child has completed Module 3 Step 1 prior to commencing Module 2 (an alternate pathway we offer for younger students), this book is suitable from Module 2 Step 2.
Insects, Slugs and Bugs (Non-fiction Level 4 Book 2)
There is more text in this book but the code it totally manageable!
Focus: CCVCC
Includes some 2-syllable words and endings
Note: There are a few 3-syllable words that can be decoded if 'syllable split' principal is applied (e.g. abdomen, habitats).
The remaining FREE books offered through Decodable Readers Australia are beyond the scope of Read3, but we're sure some of your other kids will thoroughly enjoy reading these :)
Happy practicing!
]]>Chunk Check is a simple, 3-minute activity that helps build instant recall of word parts, which helps with reading fluency. Be sure to complete Chunk Check every day. Make no mistake - this is a game-changer for many children.
In Chunk Check, we check a child’s progress at recalling the 'new' sounds they are learning and review 'old' sounds to keep up that instant retrieval.
The results of Chunk Check are recorded and individual sounds noted down for more practice. When mastery is achieved, you can move on to the next step. That mastery is a key component of the Read3 Learning System.
To ensure the guidelines around scoring are super-clear, Chunk Check has been updated in every step across the Read3 program. This includes:
Watch the video below to learn more.
In a nutshell, at each session you record the percentage (%) of NEW sounds (decoded onset or rime chunks) that the child knows on the 5-point scale provided. You will:
You will continue to monitor 10 x OLD sounds each session, however, you will only score the NEW sounds on the 5 point scale.
The following is a summary of the tools that have been updated.
This updated monitoring video outlines the overall procedure. View below, or visit the 'Monitoring' page any time.
We’ve reviewed and updated the script for Stage 1 (Accuracy) and Stage 2 (Fluency) monitoring. It will step you through how to present sounds, what data to record and when.
The script applies to all Chunk Check activities and is DUPLICATED in each PDF file. For handy reference, you’ll also find a copy on the 'Monitoring' page of the website.
The Daily Sounds Record sheet is now available in a 2-week layout only. Five (5) sessions a week are required as indicated on the sheet. Features include:
a place to record the current Module, Step or Lesson (plus space to jot down the day of the week if you prefer)
an Accuracy / Fluency checkbox to indicate which stage your child is currently working at
a 5-point scale for recording the percentage of correct NEW sounds only (as mentioned above)
a notes section for recording errors with NEW sounds - you’ll use this to determine what needs more work
a separate notes section for recording errors with OLD sounds - you’ll use this to make sure previously mastered content is still automatic!
The instruction sheet tells you what you will be monitoring within the step - both the NEW sounds and OLD sounds from previous steps.
It features a simple list of the steps involved including the criteria for when to move on to the next Step.
Under ‘Simplify’ you will find tips on the specific order for introducing sounds for those who may need to progress more slowly.
Watch the following video for a walk-though of all tools.
Chunk Check in Module 2 Step 3 has been completely reworked, so be sure to reprint all four of these new 'word ending' Chunk Checks.
Remember that the script and record sheet are duplicated in each Chunk Check PDF - so check supplies before you print everything!
We hope you find this update useful.
Happy monitoring!
In a previous post we explained that a phoneme is an individual sound in a word. It logically follows that phonemic awareness is awareness of the individual sounds in words. This level of hearing is more fine-grained than phonological awareness which refers to 'hearing stuff in spoken language' more broadly.
A very simple summary is:
phonological awareness = awareness of sound patterns in our language
phonemic awareness = awareness of individual sounds
Phonemic awareness is a pretty big deal. Research tells us good readers and spellers have strong phonemic awareness. But it's important to understand that strong phonemic awareness doesn't automatically make you good at reading and spelling.
Children that are quick to pick up reading and spelling skills ALSO have phonological awareness, meaning they can hear the sound patterns in our language if they are brought to their attention (e.g. syllables, starting sounds, rhymes). Hearing individual sounds or phonemes develops easily from this strong base.
Phonemic awareness skills, just like phonological awareness, can be seen in a range of tasks that manipulate sounds in words from simple identification to more advanced sound deletion and swapping activities:
A child who can blend individual sounds to form words and segment words into individual sounds has basic phonemic awareness. If they can make sound changes quickly in their head, they have more advanced phonemic awareness called phonemic proficiency. As children learn to read, their phonemic proficiency develops and their ability to read and spell really steps up a notch.
Being able to 'process' or 'hang on to' the string of individual sounds within a word relies on verbal short term memory. The more working memory, the easier it is to build phonemic awareness and hear and sequence all those sounds.
Phonological awareness is definitely a 'buzz word' at present. We're seeing more and more schools bringing in programs designed to build a child's 'phonological awareness', but what exactly does that mean and why is it such a big deal?
Let's break it down.
PHONOLOCIAL AWARENESS (PA) is about noticing sounds in our language.
Phonological Awareness (PA) is a blanket term. It refers to the ability to hear all levels of sound in language - individual words in sentences, syllables in words, right down to the individual sounds (phonemes) in a word.
Phonological awareness follows a developmental progression. A child needs to learn to identify:
When you see the progression written out like this you can start to understand why having well established phonological awareness is so important. It's the way little kids eventually work out what individual sounds are in words. Once they can hear those they can match them to letters and they are on their way to being literate!
It is important to understand that when it comes to strong phonological awareness there are no short cuts. Just teaching children to hear individual sounds in words doesn't mean they understand how the English language works, especially when it comes to bigger words. They need to be able to hear rhymes and separate syllables in words if they are going to learn to read and spell efficiently.
Your child may be able to tell you the sound for each letter, or break a word like 'cat' up into sounds (c-a-t), but that doesn't mean they can HEAR that 'cat' rhymes with 'rat', 'bat' and 'brat' or that 'cat' is one of the syllables in 'caterpillar' (cat-er-pill-ar). If they can HEAR the natural patterns in our language it will help them work out visual spelling patterns that go with those sounds which will help them read and spell more efficiently. Try sounding out c-a-t-e-r-p-i-l-l-a-r letter-by-letter and you will see how slow and inefficient it is.
Having a rock solid understanding of all levels of sound in our language (not just individual phonemes) is the best foundation for successful reading (and spelling).
As much as reading and spelling looks to be about letters, sound and words, it's important to understand that hearing sound patterns and sounds within words is critical.
At Read3, we understand the importance of building strong phonological awareness skills. Learning to hear sounds is one of the three activities in our daily routine - we refer to them as HEAR activities.
When it comes to phonological awareness, the Read3 program assumes nothing. We start right back at awareness of syllables and systematically build skills from there. We link HEAR activities to the written patterns being taught (SEE activities) and then automate skills (AUTO activities) to build fluency.
If you're keen to know more, email us or give us a call.
Happy listening everyone!
]]>
When it comes to early reading, the term 'decodable reader' is quite the buzz word. And with good reason! So what is a decodable reader? And why should your child be using them?
A DECODABLE READER is a book that only contains the letters, sounds and spelling patterns that a child has actually been taught.
The focus is on decoding text (blending sounds to read words) based on skills learned not guessing words based on the pictures.
Decodable readers are carefully designed to support readers as they build their understanding of letters and sounds, and the patterns that occur in our language.
They are generally tied closely to a particular phonics program, and build in complexity in line with the sequence introduced in the program.
Most phonics programs start with just a few sounds - s, a, t, p, i, n - then add a few more - m, o, p. Children learn the link between these sounds and letters and then practise reading short words containing just 3 sounds (CVC words as discussed in Lingo-Free Literacy #3). For example, 'mmm' and 'a' and 't' blend together to form the word 'mat'.
The other type of reader that is commonly used in a classroom (and is most likely in your child's classroom) is a levelled reader or PM READER. These tend to include lovely illustrations but far more complex words. The hope is that by immersing the child in words, while referring to the pictures, they will start to make connections between the written and spoken word themselves. This approach may work for some children, but it is certainly not the recommended approach according to the science of how our brains learn to read.
Remember, learning to read is not a developmental stage like learning to walk or talk. It is a complex skill and we need to explicitly TEACH children how to do it.
Let me show you an example of each reader style to demonstrate.
This kind of book is decodable - we are asking the child to decode the word by identifying each sound in the word and blending those sounds together to form words. This is an example of text at a beginner level. it only includes simple words and a limited number of letters.
This kind of book is predictive - we are asking the child to guess what the text is based on the picture.
Around the Garden
Look at the butterfly.
Look at the caterpillar
Look at the beetle.
Look at the yellow flowers.
Given this is a beginner reader they MAY be able to read words like 'at' and 'the' but they will be predicting the rest based on the picture. You'll notice each sentence starts the same way. It doesn't take children long to work out that they can repeat the start, look at the picture and guess the final word.
This story includes all kinds of complexity that is well beyond a beginner reader. For example:
The child is left with no option but to guess. Remember, at this early stage the child may have only been taught a handful of letters and sounds in class.
Firstly, don't panic. The first step is to be aware.
If your school are providing predictable PM Readers rather than decodable readers, look for elements in each page that your child may be able to decode. For example:
Next, get online and find yourself some beginner decodable readers. Click here for Read3's suggestions for beginner readers and where to find them.
]]>
So, apparently CVC books are what your kid needs. Am I right?
The question is, what the heck is a CVC?
CVC stands for
Consonant Vowel Consonant.
It’s a term used to identify
small words that include three sounds –
a consonant, a vowel and another consonant.
Example: map, leg, pit, dog, cup.
Beginner readers that contain CVC words are the best place to start when teaching a child to read as there is no confusion about what sound the vowel makes. It is always the ‘short’ sound not the letter name (e.g. ‘a’ as in apple not ‘ay’ as in ‘ape’). This VOWEL CONSISTENCY helps beginner readers enjoy some early success when sounding out words.
Sometimes the term CVC is also used when describing simple books that contain… wait for it… digraphs.
For example: chat, when, thin, shop, dish, cash, ring
We’ll talk more about digraphs another time but basically a digraph is when a two-letter combo represents one unique sound. For example when we see the letters ‘s’ and ‘h’ together we say ‘shhhhh’. These words still only have three SOUNDS (even though they have four letters) which is why they sometimes get loosely referred to as CVC as well.
When choosing beginner readers:
look for ones containing simple CVC words first
then move on to ones containing simple 3-sound
words that include sh, ch, wh, th and ng.
Every phonics program follows a sequence so start with the ‘Set 1’ collection and work up slowly from there.
Click here to view our list of recommended beginner CVC readers that support the Read3 sequence, and details on where to buy them.
]]>When it comes to reading and spelling, letters and sounds are very closely linked. Words contain sounds (phonemes) and we use individual letters or letter combinations (graphemes) to represent those sounds.
GRAPHEME is what we write when we hear a sound.
It can be one letter (i) or a combination of letters (igh).
We write and SEE graphemes (think 'graph') and we HEAR phonemes (think 'phone').
There can be more LETTERS in a word than there are sounds, but the number of GRAPHEMES is the same.
Here's a couple of examples to demonstrate:
The word 'hop' contains three sounds 'h' 'o' and 'p'
which are represented by three graphemes h-o-p.
The word 'shop' also contains three sounds 'shhhh', 'o' and 'p'
which are represented by three graphemes sh-o-p.
You'll notice that the grapheme for 'shhhh' is a two letter combo.
The word 'train' contains four sounds 't', 'r', 'A' and 'n'
which are represented by four graphemes -- t-r-ai-n.
You'll notice the grapheme for 'A' is a two letter combo.
Understanding of graphemes builds slowly. First we encourage children to learn links between individual sounds and letters (e.g. the sound 'mmmmm' is represented by a letter m). Then, we add in 2-letter combos involving consonants (e.g. 'shhhh' is represented by the letter combo s+h).
After that, we tackle all the different vowel sounds and graphemes (sometimes referred to as spelling patterns) that can be used to represent these sounds.
This is where things start to get REALLY HARD in English.
Take the sound A (as in ape) as an example. the graphemes for this particular sound include:
ay (day)
ai (rain)
a_e (cake)
eigh (sleigh)
a (vol-ca-no)
ea (great)
Remembering so many spelling patterns for one simple sound is challenging. For children with weak working memory, and other processing difficulties, it is completely overwhelming.
To help combat the overwhelm, Read3 uses a systematic approach PLUS evidence-based strategies to support children with processing difficulties. Our aim is to automate skills at every step. But being able to instantly recognise graphemes and grapheme patterns in words takes practise. Lots and lots of practise.
I hope that helps. If you hear the word 'grapheme' being bandied about in your house be sure to check if you child actually knows what it is. ;p
For more tips and tricks, join us on Facebook or Instagram
]]>Note: in our example we use capital 'A' to represent the long vowel sound (ay) and lower case 'a' for the short vowel sound. This is certainly not the 'official' way of representing these sounds, but we're trying to keep thing simple :)
Phonics, phonemes, phonemic, phonetic, phonological.... phwew!!
The lingo that lies around literacy is one thing that really bugs me as a parent…. I understand it’s important in linguistic circles but in Prep? Really?
I, for one, found it very overwhelming when I was trying to help my struggling reader. And if I’m confused and overwhelmed, surely my son is too?
This series of short posts has been created for parents to try and shed some light on the somewhat daunting lingo that lies around literacy. It doesn't include big, technical words, nor does it include any fancy linguistic notation.
It’s Lingo-Free Literacy 😂
Today we're going to start with phoneme.
A PHONEME = A SOUND
To be more specific, the term 'phoneme' is used to describe the smallest speech sound in a word.
Let's use the word train as an example.
If you say the word 'train' out loud and really focus in on the individual sounds in that word we can identify four distinct sounds: 't', 'rrr', 'ay' and 'nnn'
That means the word train has 4 phonemes.
As you can see in this example, it is very common for there to be more letters than sounds in a word.
One cracker example is the word strength.
If we break down the individual sounds in the word 'strength' we have:
'ssss', 't', 'rrrr', 'e', 'ng', 'th'.
In literacy land we'd represent these sounds (phonemes) like this:
/s/ /t/ /r/ /e/ /ng/ /th/
So in strength there are 8 letters but only 6 phonemes.
Being able to accurately HEAR the individual sounds in words is called 'phonemic awareness' and it is a key element when it comes to learning to spell.
The hope is, that if a child can say the word in their head and 'hear' all the sounds then they'll be able to work out what letters to put down on the page to form the written word.
Of course, it's not quite that simple in English :)
If you need a handy way to remember what a phoneme is, try this.
]]>Phoneme includes the word 'phone'.
Talking and listening on a phone is all about sounds.
A phoneme is a single sound.
In his latest book, “How We Learn: The New Science of Education and the Brain” world-renowned neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene discusses the science of learning. He believes a deeper understanding of this science may help reverse the dark trend in academic achievement.
Dehaene describes in detail the four 'secret ingredients' of successful learning.
Mobilising all four ingredients in students will maximise the speed and efficiency of their learning. You can review Dehaene’s 13 Essentials for Successful Learning, and how these four 'ingredients' relate, in another post.
In this post, I'll be stepping you through each of these 'secret ingredients' and adding a little from the perspective of learning to read.
Attention is the gateway to learning! Becoming a master at capturing children’s attention and directing it to what matters, is what matters!
“Good teaching requires permanent attention to children’s attention.”
Stanislas Dehaene
In learning to read, paying attention to the overall shape of words (as taught in sight word instruction) prevents the discovery of the alphabetic principle and directs brain activity to an inadequate circuit in the opposite hemisphere of the brain. Only by attending to the correspondence between letters and sounds can a child activate the true reading circuit. For beginner readers, letters and sounds are what matters.
Another essential component of the attention system is the executive control centre as it determines how information is processed. It allows us to supervise our thinking and become aware of our mistakes. The good news is that attention can be trained and the earlier the better.
Dehaene reports that the best attentional training results come from stimulating the core skills of working memory and executive attention across a lot of different contexts. Starting in Prep, teaching the art of attention can be one of the best educational investments. Early training in attention and working memory appears to have a positive effect on reading and mathematics skill development.
Genuine attention disorders do exist, says Dehaene, and attention training, or in some cases medications such as Ritalin, can have positive effects. However, there is research indicating that a subset of hyperactive children with attention disorders may be suffering from a chronic lack of sleep or have sleep apnoea that prevents deep sleep. Without good sleep, the gateway to learning stays closed.
In short, Dehaene recommends simple improvements when teaching, like reducing sources of distraction for children in overly illustrated textbooks and excessively decorated classrooms. But above all, his message is that “good teaching requires permanent attention to children’s attention.” If children are not attending, they are not learning.
Once attention is gained a child needs to engage.
"A passive organism does not learn."
Stanislas Dehaene
It is by engaging, exploring, and actively generating hypotheses to test in the outside world that children learn effectively. Motivation is also essential. A clear goal, and a commitment to reach it, stimulates the child to sustain the effort needed.
Of interest, it appears that Dehaene is not a big fan of letting children fidget in the classroom all day long as a means of engagement. He feels this approach misses the point. Being active and engaged does not mean that the body must move, it means the mind needs to be engaged in actively generating mental models. "We learn with our brains, not our feet" he says.
New concepts are learned when students rephrase them into words or thoughts of their own. Whether the body is still or not is not important, so long as there is deeper processing in the brain and the language areas are activated aloud or through internal thoughts. Think-alouds and modelling are great teaching tools.
After a child selects the appropriate sensory input (attention) and uses this to produce a prediction (active engagement), they then engage in an activity to test their prediction. They evaluate the accuracy of the prediction through any errors that occur. This is error feedback.
An error signal is the element of surprise that drives learning.
A child’s ability to tolerate errors and quickly correct them is fundamental to learning. Why? Because an error signal is the element of surprise that drives learning. (Just ask our ancestors who were constantly adapting to ‘surprises’ in their environment.) So, don’t punish errors but correct them quickly by providing detailed, stress-free feedback. And lots of praise for effort always helps!
Next, practice sessions are needed with ongoing error feedback.
But how often?
Cramming loads of practise into a single session is not as effective as ‘spaced learning’. Practising fifteen minutes a day, five days per week, is better than two hours on a single day per week (and certainly better than a quick practise in the car on the way to a learning session!).
Spaced learning works best when the interval between sessions reaches 24 hours. If you want to remember something for a week or two, then practise every day. If you want more permanent memory, then extend the revision interval. Revise learned material every second or third day and then weekly or so.
Luckily, once we can read, we engage with the written word every day, so we don’t lose the skill and we keep on learning. But in those early stages of learning to read over-learning skills (and daily practise) is crucial.
Until knowledge and skills are rock solid, reviewing and testing continues to improve performance. And that’s where the next essential ingredient for learning comes in – consolidation.
In the early stages of learning, a child needs to mobilise all his attention to slowly and effortfully apply skills, then consolidate these skills through practice until they become automatic and unconscious.
Once we consolidate the skill our brain's executive control and attention can focus on learning.
Let's consider this process from the context of learning to read.
Learning to read is an intense and energy hungry activity for the brain. It requires effort, attention, and conscious executive control.
As learning consolidates, a restricted and specialised reading circuit is set up that efficiently processes strings of letters that we regularly encounter. Statistical learning occurs and the brain works out which letters are most frequent, where they appear most often, and which other letters are associated with them.
Through daily practise, with feedback on errors, the child begins to consolidate learning so that retrieval is automatic, and almost effortless, and reading fluency can be established.
Once the skill of reading is automated, the brain’s executive control and attention can be focused on other learning. Without automation the brain can only focus on the task of decoding which means all other decisions and deeper thinking is delayed or cancelled.
The need for consolidation to achieve automation is clear. And when it comes to the consolidation and generalisation of knowledge, Dehaene draws our attention to the importance of sleep, especially deep sleep.
“Let us make sure that our children sleep long and deep.”
Stanislas Dehaene
REM sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep is the state where we process and consolidate perceptual and motor learning – such as dance moves, learning to ride a bike or handwriting skills – areas of learning derived from our senses. But it is during deep sleep that we lock in learning of higher level and more abstract information. If a child is restless and wakeful, has breathing difficulties or other issues with sleeping soundly, then learning will be compromised. Most paediatricians will closely examine sleep behaviours when a child is having learning difficulties.
For older children, a nifty trick to consolidate learning is to study or review new information before falling asleep. Then, sleep does the job of sorting, consolidating, and linking new learning with previous information to allow easier access to information when they are awake.
In summary, Stanislas Dehaene’s advice for children in relation to those four 'secret ingredients' of learning can be summed up as:
Great advice for all of us!
If you're keen to get your hands on a copy of Deheane's "How We Learn" you can find it in any good bookstore or online here.
If you have any thoughts or comments feel free to share them below.
]]>
I recently finished reading Stanislas Dehaene’s 2020 book “How We Learn: The New Science of Education and the Brain” and thought I'd share some of his learning tips with you.
Dehaene focuses his book around four essential ingredients for learning success which I discuss in more detail in another post.
Although this current book is a fairly hefty read, much more so than Dehaene’s acclaimed work "Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read", I'm just going to summarise his 'checklist' of the conditions that are needed to maximise learning and memory.
The book, and checklist, is not solely about learning in relation to literacy, so I will highlight ways we address these 'essentials' in the Read3 Program to give a little context and practicality to the theory of learning.
Children are born with a rich set of cognitive skills that allows them to connect each word and symbol that they learn to prior knowledge already stored in memory. Dehaene states, “To learn is to succeed in inserting new knowledge into an existing network.”
In Read3 we work to bring meaning to literacy concepts that are quite abstract for young children. For example, our Easy Alphabet links new knowledge about letters and sounds with familiar words and fun stories. Our Sound Train allows children to link the abstract concept of phonological awareness, or 'hearing sounds in words', with little characters in a train that represents all the sounds in a word. When a character says a different sound the word changes, and so does the meaning of the word. The links between sounds, words and word meanings are strengthened in every “HEAR” activity.
From birth, a child’s brain is receptive, especially for language learning. The brain’s neural plasticity extends at least through to adolescence, but the earlier we maximise foundational skills the better.
With this plasticity in mind, Read3 was created to assist young struggling readers aged 5-9 years. However, we are mindful that literacy difficulties can be overlooked until children are older (8+ years) so we deliberately made sure materials were 'not too babyish' for older children to engage with. Of course, the specific strategies incorporated in Read3 work with any age - you just need to modify the way the material is presented. We have speech pathologists using our approach with teenagers and even adults recovering from stroke.
Provide the brain with the right stimulus at an early age. An enriched environment maximises brain growth and prolongs juvenile plasticity.
In a nutshell, this means talk more, read more, do more together. Surround your children with language. Ask questions, tell them stories, sing with them, recite nursery rhymes together, play in the dirt, play in the park, visit the museum, or just chat about what you are doing - you get the picture.
Learning styles are a myth. We all rely on similar brain circuits for reading and mathematical skills. We all face similar challenges in learning and the individual differences, when they exist, relate to:
The areas of the brain that are being set up during the process of reading and maths are the same areas in almost all of us. To build the circuitry in those areas, Read3 provides a highly structured, game-based systematic approach that motivates learners and makes allowances for differences in each child’s processing abilities.
Attention is the gateway to learning! Becoming a master at capturing children’s attention and directing it to what matters, is what matters!
The important message here is that children with genuine attention disorders are shut out of learning at the first hurdle. This is one of the first areas to think about when a child's learning is limited. When there are genuine concerns, a referral to a paediatrician is needed. However, some children appear to have an attention deficit when they are really showing avoidance or a motivational deficit due to the repeated experience of failure. In different contexts and with different materials the attention difficulties disappear.
That’s why Read3 advocates for injecting a bit of fun into the learning process – sessions are propelled through games, cards, colour and characters. Multisensory games, that can be simplified or extended to hold a child's attention, are sometimes the only way to get 'buy in' from reluctant readers with poor executive function.
Engaging, exploring, and actively generating ideas to test in the outside world allows children to learn effectively. Motivation is essential. A clear goal, and a commitment to reach it, helps children sustain the effort needed for learning.
At Read3, we understand the importance of accessibility and active engagement. We use games and activities that are set to clear performance targets. This helps motivate children (and parents) to practise daily at home without tears.
A child’s social brain responds to feeling valued and appreciated, as we all do. Stress should not be part of the learning journey.
For a struggling reader, avoiding stress can be tricky - nothing reduces confidence quicker than 'failure'. Ensuring that the learning support offered within the school day successfully targets the child's specific areas of weakness is vital. Providing opportunity for the joy of success in extra-curricular activities at school or elsewhere is needed to boost morale and help build resilience for those more challenging areas of learning.
Complex learning requires effort and years of practise. Teaching a child to adopt a growth mindset, not a fixed mindset, is important. So, praise, praise, praise the effort!
One of the reasons we encourage parents to start Read3 'back at the beginning' is that even if the material is a little 'too easy' for a child it gives them quick success and establishes a positive mindset to the learning right from the start. More challenging material can be slowly added while that positivity is maintained. The result? When something is not correct, the child is more likely to give it another go instead of sliding under the table or running off!
Don’t be content with superficial learning. Discuss ideas together, as deeper processing leaves a deeper trace in the brain.
This is at the core of Read3. We want children to understand how our language works - the syllable structure, the natural rhythm and patterns in words, how the individual sounds fit together, how words fit together. This deeper understanding will give them the confidence, and skills, to tackle new words and larger words, applying meaning as they go.
State the purpose of learning so that children can see that the tasks move towards that purpose. Stay focused on the goal.
In Read3 we focus on mastering skills. Learning intentions for each Lesson and Module Step are clearly set out. Skills are monitored daily by both parent and child and if mastery is achieved, they can celebrate and move on to the next step!
A child’s ability to tolerate errors and quickly correct them is fundamental to learning. Why? Because an error signal is the element of surprise that drives learning.
Our daily Chunk Check and 60 Word Stories encourage children to monitor their own errors for correcting. It's amazing to see how quickly a child starts to monitor their own areas of weakness when they are graphing their achievements or want to beat their personal best time.
Practice newly learned skills until automatic, unconscious, and reflexive. This allows the brain to focus on other activities, like comprehension when reading becomes fluent. Practice should be spaced out, with a little every day.
As we are realists, Read3 aims to have children formally practising with an adult five days per week for an achievable 20 minutes per day. Additional reading and incidental practise should be incorporated into the day at every opportunity.
This is hugely important and becoming a growing concern in this digital age. The good news is that sleep, especially deep sleep, allows for consolidation and generalisation of knowledge. The take home message from Dehaene is “make sure that our children sleep long and deep”.
This whole concept of consolidation in sleep is addressed in more detail in our post on The Four Essentials of Learning, but suffice to say, turn those devices off and get those kiddies to bed people! Bed-time routines, with a lot of dogged determination and possibly a little meditation, melatonin or music, can make all the difference :)
]]>If you're keen to get your hands on a copy of Deheane's "How We Learn" Click here. If you have any comments on this checklist, or anything else learning related, feel free to share them below.
There are many wonderful decodable readers on the market, however the challenge for Read3 kids is that the quantity of 'beginner' readers offered by each company can be fairly limited.
By 'beginner' we mean simple, decodable stories that focus on a limited number of letters and sounds and do not include consonant blends. In the early stages, books that contain 'sip' or 'pat' are great but that extra consonant in 'snip' or 'pant' adds too much cognitive load for our kids :)
Read3 parents and professionals receive access to a comprehensive list of Read3-aligned readers and curated lists to ensure practise is well targeted. This list is updated regularly, can be found under the 'Guides' menu when you log in to the Read3 program.
For specifics on which decodable readers match each step of the program, look for this book icon at the end of each Module Step and click the 'curated resources' link.
At each step of the Read3 program we include a list of curated resources which directly support learning at that step. This includes specific book titles of decodable readers offered by popular brands that closely match the Read3 Module 1 scope and sequence.
Read3's curated list helps streamline preparation for individual or group intervention and ensure funds are allocated where they are needed most!
Popular decodable readers that match the Read3 scope and sequence are:
Other high quality Australian decodable readers suitable for use from Step 3 (when all letters in the alphabet have been learned) include:
The order in which letters and sounds are introduced in these readers varies somewhat to Read3, so we are unable to match books to specific program steps. Suffice to say, if your readers are from any of these companies you are in good hands :)
When using decodable readers that don't match the Read3 scope and sequence, be sure to teach additional sound-letter links first and and try to minimise exposure to words containing consonant blends in the early stages of the Read3 program (e.g. spin, lost, plan). Remember, we are setting up a reading circuit in your child's brain and we don't want to overload the system!
If you have any suggestions for our list please get in touch.
]]>