OUR READING PROGRAMS
Multisensory phonics-based methods are an appropriate alternative for those students, estimated at 15% to 20% of the school population, who have difficulty with whole language and basal reader approaches to reading.
Multisensory methods have proved to be effective for dyslexic students and those with difficulties in language and memory. We match each student with a specific multisensory program to best address his or her needs.
The multisensory programs we offer include Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading System, Project Read Reading Comprehension, the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing™ Program and the Nancibell® Visualizing and Verbalizing® Program. These structured techniques are used to remediate reading and spelling difficulties.
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) for Title 1
Commonwealth Learning Center provides tutoring to students struggling with reading, spelling and writing in all grades (K - Adult) and all Massachusetts districts. The student works with the same teacher for every session, while receiving an individualized program tailored to his/her needs. Our programs focus on teaching students the “code” of the English language, its sounds, syllable types and rules, in a systematic and hands-on manner using one of many research-proven successful teaching methods. We welcome students who have learning disabilities and/or attention difficulties.
Last year, we offered Title 1 services from mid-January through the end of March and the results speak for themselves. In one of the districts we served the students showed gains of at least one grade level to as much as a three year growth in reading and spelling and a 27% gain in reading comprehension. Students felt better about their writing and reading comprehension as shown by their attitudes and eagerness to participate.
Supplemental educational services (SES) are additional, free, academic instruction designed to increase the academic achievement of students in schools identified for improvement, corrective action or restructuring under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Instruction may be provided before or after school and during the summer. Students from low-income families attending Title I schools in their second year of school improvement (i.e., have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for three or more years), in corrective action, or in restructuring status are eligible to receive SES.
Visit the Massachusetts Department of Education for more information. www.doe.mass.edu
– Back to the top –Orton-Gillingham
The Orton-Gillingham method, based on sound theoretic principles, is a systematic, multisensory, and phonetically based approach that is highly effective for teaching reading, spelling and handwriting to learners of all ages. This diagnostic method analyzes a student's strengths and weaknesses and can help those who have not succeeded using other reading methods. It can be used to teach both beginning readers and those who have some "holes" in their knowledge and skills. Structured and sequential teaching ensures that the individual experiences continuous and visible success.
The Orton-Gillingham approach to language instruction addresses the simplest sound-symbol relationships and logically integrates the auditory, visual and kinesthetic elements to reinforce optimal reading and spelling skills. Students learn the basic building blocks of the English language – the phonemes – and then progress to syllables and word parts such as prefixes, roots, and suffixes. In spelling, they learn the many spelling rules that govern the language. The Orton-Gillingham lesson plan integrates reading and spelling skills and builds in continuous practice and review. Students progress from the smallest elements of the language to reading books and applying their spelling skills when writing sentences.
This method is particularly effective for students who:
Have difficulty matching sounds with their associated letters
Find it difficult to sequence sounds
Read aloud in an uneven, halting manner
Frequently "skip over" words or fail to notice punctuation
Have difficulty remembering spelling patterns
Wilson Reading System
The Wilson Reading System is a twelve-step reading and writing program based upon the Orton-Gillingham philosophy. The program was designed to increase a student's current skill in reading and spelling to a mastery level. The ultimate goal is for students to then independently apply these skills to their academic studies.
The Wilson Reading System's twelve steps are direct, sequential, and multisensory, and go beyond the scope of traditional phonics. Students start with sounds and progress to syllables, words, sentences, stories, and finally to books, learning from constant review and practice. The steps follow the six syllable types found in English, and we teach the sounds that relate to the syllable being studied. Each lesson introduces new concepts while reinforcing those already learned. Students experience success because they read only text that contains what has been previously taught.
While the Wilson Reading System was originally designed for students with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia, the program has proven beneficial to all students.
This method is particularly effective for students who:
Find it difficult to read isolated words
Often must guess at words from context
Are poor spellers
Project Read Reading Comprehension
Project Read teaches students to analyze the structure of expository (report form) and narrative (story form) writing. It presents concepts and skills to students in sequence, with each dependent on learning the one before it. Teachers use multisensory strategies and materials to teach students from grade two through adult to use language independently in all their studies.
This method is particularly effective for students who:
Struggle to distinguish the main idea from detail
Have difficulty with complex thinking skills such as drawing conclusions, inferring, and predicting outcomes
Have difficulty analyzing a story into its parts
Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing™ Program
The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing™ (LiPS®) Program provides specific instruction for students with weak phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to process the individual sounds, or phonemes, within spoken words. Students who cannot judge the sequence of sound units within spoken words cannot grasp the alphabetic principles upon which English reading and spelling are based. When reading, speaking, or spelling, they often add, omit, or reverse sounds in words. Research indicates that strong phonemic awareness is the foundation for reading and spelling success.
The LiPS® program teaches students to feel the actions of their lips, tongues, and vocal chords, and to notice and label them. Using this new ability to "feel sounds," students learn to count, identify, and order sounds within words. They then use this "motor kinesthetic feedback" to read and spell. The LiPS® program enables children and adults to think, often for the first time, about how to read and spell.
This method is particularly effective for students who:
Add, omit, or struggle to sequence word sounds when reading or speaking
Add or omit letters or syllables when reading or speaking
Avoid reading and are reluctant to read aloud
Write with simpler words than they use when speaking
(The Commonwealth Learning Center is an independent, non-profit teaching facility and is not affiliated with Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, Pat Lindamood, Phyllis Lindamood, or Nanci Bell.)
Nancibell® Visualizing & Verbalizing® Program
The Nancibell® Visualizing and Verbalizing® Program for Language Comprehension directly teaches students how to better understand and remember language. Many students who experience difficulty with language comprehension (oral or written) are not forming mental images from the words they read and hear. They only grasp "parts" of oral and written language, such as a few facts or details, rather than the main idea of the information. This is referred to as weak concept imagery.
The Nancibell® Visualizing and Verbalizing® Program strengthens an individual's concept imagery. The student begins by verbalizing descriptions of pictures and then progresses, as mastery is achieved, to imaging words, single sentences, multiple sentences, whole paragraphs and finally to entire sections of text. The program improves student's reading comprehension, oral language comprehension and oral language expression. The ultimate goal of the program is for students to transfer these skills to their academic studies. To help ensure this transfer, we also teach note-taking and critical thinking skills.
This method is particularly effective for students who:
Accurately read isolated words
Often must reread to understand
Have difficulty sequencing information
Words seem to "go in one ear and out the other"
Are unable to remember information for quizzes and tests
Have trouble following multi-step oral or written directions
(The Commonwealth Learning Center is an independent, non-profit teaching facility and is not affiliated with Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, Pat Lindamood, Phyllis Lindamood, or Nanci Bell.)
