ROAD TO THE CODE

Benita BlachmanEileen Ball

Rochella BlackDarlene Tangel

How was this program developed?

• Began with a study in 1987 (Blachman)

to develop activities for 1st grade children having difficulty in reading

• Lessons were modified and expanded

• Grant from the National Center for Learning Disabilities

Structure

• Program is intended for small groups of students in Kindergarten and First Grade who are struggling with beginning literacy skills.

• There are 44 lessons to be done for 20 minutes four times a week.

Adaptable

• The program can be easily adapted for individual differences.

• The manual gives specific examples to make lessons more challenging for some or more review for other students.

• Teachers can introduce the program at different points in the year, depending on the needs of the students.

Pacing

• Proper pacing is crucial for the success of students.

• Optimal pacing requires a balance among activities.

• Each child should be able to demonstrate a high rate of correct responses.

Prerequisite Skills

• Children need to have some knowledge of word and syllable segmentation

• One to One Correspondence

• K-PALS by Mathes,Menchetti,&Torgesen (Sopris West)

• Phonemic Awareness in Young Children

by Marilyn Adams. (Paul Brookes Publishing)

Materials

• Significant set-up is required using the masters provided.

• Cutting, coloring, and laminating can be time consuming.

• Need to gather some materials that are not provided such as a puppet, fishing pole, and lunch bags.

Getting Started

• Eight letters (a,m,t,i,s,r,b,f)

• Use only short vowels

• / / indicates that you use the letter sound• Underlined letter refers to letter name• Bold print suggests dialogue to use with

students

Comstock-Green MeadowKindergarten03/04 & 04/05

Comstock-Green MeadowFirst Grade

Richland ElementaryFirst Grade

Manual Preview

•Introduction

•Lessons

•Materials

Phonological Awareness

• Critical factor in learning to read

• Awareness of segments in speech

• Without this awareness it is difficult to understand how the alphabet works

Phonological Awareness

Children must become aware that speech can be segmented into :

• words

• syllables

• phonemes

Lessons

• Each lesson has three parts.

1. Say-It-and-Move-It

2. Letter Names and Letter Sounds

3. Phonological Awareness Activity

Say-It-and Move- It

• Phonemic Segmentation- done everyday

• Designed to heighten awareness of phonemes in spoken words

• 5-7 minutes

• Children repeat target word and then move 1 disk for each sound

• Students say the word blended

Letter Name and Sound Instruction

• Explain to the students-all letters have both a name and a sound

• 5-10 minutes

Letters and SoundsActivities

• Letter introduction• Hand clapping• Alphabet books• Trace in the air• Sound Bingo• I’m thinking of a word• Concentration• Go Fish• Sound Boards

Phonological Awareness PracticePractice Activities

• Sound Categorization by rhyme / initial sounds• How Many sounds ?• Fix-It• Elkonin cards• Let’s Fish• Post Office• Save the Rabbit

Helpful Hints

• Flat stones or gems for “Say-It–and- Move-It”• Lots of teacher modeling• When modeling make sure you turn your card

upside down so that students see it left to right• Elkonian cards in a binder• Consider laminating the materials• A small file box works well for sound

categorization cards

Progress Monitoring

How do you know if it’s working ?

Is the program working for all students ?

Are they on the trajectory to success ?

Factors to Consider

• Program match to student

• Fidelity of implementation

• Group size

• Number of days

• Length of lesson

• Repeat lessons

ROAD TO THE CODE

Large envelopes ( 7 )

1 Say-It-And-Move-It- 6 sets 3 Large Alphabet Picture Cards- 3 sets 1 Small Alphabet Picture Cards-12 sets 1 Fish 1 Sound Bingo

Small envelopes (27)

1 Mail Box Cards 1 Small Plain Alphabet Cards A-Z (6 sets) 1 Small Plain Alphabet cards-a,m,t,i,s,r,b,f (6sets) 23 envelopes- initial sounds & rhyme cards 1 Misc. extra small alphabet

File Box-Sound Bingo Cards

7 dividers a,m a,m,t a,m,t,i a,m,t,i,s a,m,t,i,s,r a,i,s,r,b a,i,r,b,f

Keep the Goal in Mind