USING THE SCIENCE OF READING PRINCIPLES
The First Steps to Reading for Adults is a 20-week course (requiring a 5 days a week commitment) designed specifically for illiterate adults.
Similar to the other books in the series, this Multisensory Reading Program is systematic, structured, multisensory and uses a range of memory strategies to maximise learning and most importantly adheres to the ‘science of reading’ principles.
The program begins by systematically introducing the basic sound represented by each of the letters of the alphabet and then progresses to more complex phonemes and their common graphic form using a multisensory format. Students who have a good knowledge of the sounds of the alphabet and can segment and blend, could start at Unit 8.
These concepts are then applied to:
- A rapid decoding activity (to encourage recognition within other letter strings),
- Vocabulary development
- An oral reading activity (containing the vocabulary learned in isolation along with the introduction of frequently used words which the student does not have the current knowledge to decode independently)
- A comprehension activity linked to the oral reading and vocabulary
- A word building activity
- A chunking activity containing the focus grapheme(s) which teaches students how to break words into smaller units to reduce the load on working memory.
- A phonological processing activity as this is a skill that underpins reading and spelling.
The program has been designed so that each section complements and reinforces the other sections. Once a concept has been introduced, it continues to be used throughout the program.
In addition, there are a series of adult and adolescent appropriate decodable books. These books are designed to be introduced in Unit 8. The first book contains the 9 high frequency words introduced in Units 1-7. All other words in the book can be decoded with a knowledge of the basic sounds of the alphabet, an understanding that the vowel letters can be read as short and long vowel sounds and a knowledge of split digraphs.
Each subsequent book, links to the graphemes being taught in Units 9-20 and the high frequency words introduced in those units. Once a word or grapheme has been introduced it continues to be used throughout subsequent books in the series.
Unit 1
a-apple, p-pig, n-nut,
c-cat, t-tent
+the
Unit 2
e-egg, v-vase, y-yoyo,
s-snake, b-ball
+I, you
Unit 3
i-insect, w-water, l-lollipop, z-zip, k-king
+said, they
Unit 4
o-orange, f-feather,
d-dog, x-box, g-goat
+to, come
Unit 5
u-umbrella, h-horse,
r-road, j-jellybean, m-mountain
+here, put
Unit 6
q-queen & consolidation
+was, are, there
Unit 7
Letter names
Unit 8
Split digraphs – a-e cake, e-e Pete, i-e kite, o-e bone, u-e flute/cube
+of, one, want
Unit 9
sh-ship, ch-chick, th-three/brother
+because, new, do
Unit 10
‘r’ controlled vowels
ar-car, er-flower, ir-girl, or-fork, ur-church
+can’t, could, some
Unit 11
ng-ring, all-ball, ck-duck, ed-/d/-fanned,
/t/-jumped, /əd/-painted
+where, your, were
Unit 12
ai-rain, a-e cake, ay-tray
+what, know, four
Unit 13
ee-tree, ea-leaf, e-e Pete, ie-briefcase
+people, two, walk
Unit 14
ow-bow, oa-boat, o-e bone
+other, their, many
Unit 15
oo-book, moon
+who, any, work
Unit 16
y-sky, sunny, pyramid
+year, great, through
Unit 17
ow-cow, ou-house
+pull, water, minute
Unit 18
oy-boy, oi-coin
+ask, should, answer
Unit 19
ce-centipede, cy-cycle, ci-circus
+would, might, does
Unit 20
ge-orange, gi-giant,
gy-gym
+don’t, talk, though
Click on the images below to find out more about the program and to view sample pages.
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