Summer Reading Program Implementation Guide

Summer Reading Program Implementation Guide

Summer Reading Program Implementation Guide Contents Overview... 3 Direct Instruction - Adapting for Summer... 4 Direct Instruction - Timeline for Grades 1-3... 5-6 Direct Instruction - Timeline for Kindergarten... 7-8 Software Instruction - Adapting for Summer... 9 Software Settings... 10

The Problem Loss of literacy skills during summer break is a substantial and sobering problem among our students. Considerable research on this topic shows it s usually the students who can least afford to lose ground as readers who are most likely to suffer from summer reading loss, falling far behind their peers. Access to reading materials has been consistently identified as a vital element of enhancing the reading development of children. Many children do not have access to materials at home, and families often need clear guidance on how to keep their child s reading skills up. The Solution Of all of the activities in which children engage outside of school, time spent actually reading is the best predictor of reading achievement the more students read, the better readers they become (Allington, 2006; Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988). Experience and research tell us, however, that if students struggle with reading and do not have sufficient skills to decode text, they are less likely to engage in the activity of reading. Reading Horizons is designed to teach the skills necessary for automatic decoding and fluent reading. Reading Horizons provides the skills necessary to create successful readers who want to read. Reading Horizons can be adapted for a summer program to review skills taught during the school year and to pre-teach skills for the coming school year. This, paired with access to reading materials that reinforce and help practice the skills learned, will keep students from falling behind and can even help them get ahead.

Direct Instruction Adapting for Summer: Key Points Just as it is essential to teach the program sequentially, it is most effective to review the skills sequentially. The focus will be on core skills within the program. Do not teach or review Reference lessons due to time constraints. Teaching or reviewing Most Common Words lessons is left to the discretion of the teacher. Plan on spending 10-15 minutes a day reviewing/modeling the skills and 10-15 minutes practicing the skills using dictation and Transfer Cards (this is critical for student success). Time for additional guided practice or independent practice will be determined by the teacher. (This is not as critical and is flexible based on the schedule and student need.) Increase focus on the transfer of skills to reading and providing reading practice (20-30 minutes). The total suggested time from instruction/ review to reading practice is estimated at 40-60 minutes per day. Suggested minimum time using the above mentioned instructional framework is four hours per week. The focus is not so much on student mastery of skills but on student exposure to and experience with the skills in practice and reading.

Direct Instruction Timeline: Grades 1-3 This timeline is designed as a six-week review of the Reading Horizons Discovery teacher-guided direct instruction material for students in grades 1-3. This should be used with students who have just completed first, second, or third grade and need additional practice before the upcoming school year. The lesson numbers correlate to the Reading Horizons Discovery teacher manuals for grades 1-3. CONTENT LESSON(S) TIME ESTIMATES Week 1 Day 1. Review letter sets, slides, and words and Spelling with C and K Day 2. Review L-Blends, R-Blends, and S-Blends Day 3. Review Extra Blends and Double S, F, and Z Day 4. Review Special Vowel Combinations Day 5. Review Voiced and Voiceless Digraph TH and Digraphs CH, SH, WH, and PH Day 6. Review Short and Long Vowels and Phonetic Skill 1 Day 7. Review Phonetic Skill 2 and Spelling with -CK Day 8. Adding Suffixes to Phonetic Skills 1 and 2, and Three Sounds of -ED Day 9. Review Phonetic Skill 3, Phonetic Skill 4, and Spelling with -KE Day 10. Review Another Sound for C and G Day 11. Review Phonetic Skill 5 and Spelling with -K Day 12. Review Adding Suffixes to Phonetic Skills 3 and 4 and Adding Suffixes to Phonetic Skill 5 Lessons 1, 3, 6, 8, 10,13, & 14 Lesson 18, 19, & 20 Lessons 22 & 23 Lesson 25 Week 2 Lessons 27 & 28 Lessons 31 & 32 Lessons 33 & 35 Lessons 37 & 38 Week 3 Lessons 42, 43, & 45 Lesson 47 Lessons 50 & 52 Lessons 48 & 55 5-10 minutes per letter set (depending on student level you might want to spread the lesson material over two days). 40-40- 40-

Direct Instruction Timeline: Grades 1-3, Continued... CONTENT LESSON(S) TIME ESTIMATES Week 4 Day 13. Review Many Jobs of Y Lesson 59 40- Day 14. Review Decoding Skill 1 Lessons 61 & 62 and The Schwa Day 15. Review Last Job of Y Lesson 64 40 min. Day 16. Review Decoding Skill 2 and Double Consonants Day 17. Review -LE at the End of a Word Day 18. Review Murmur Diphthong AR, Murmur Diphthong OR, and Murmur Diphthongs ER, UR, and IR Lessons 66 & 68 Lesson 69 Week 5 Lessons 76, 77, & 78 40 min. Day 19. Review Exceptions to Lesson 80 40- Murmur Diphthongs Note: This is the end of first-grade instruction, additional skills taught to first-grade students will be a preview for the upcoming year. Day 20. Review More Digraphs, Digraphs with Plural Endings, and Multi-Syllabic Words with Digraphs Lessons 83 & 84 Day 21. Review Special Vowel Sounds AU/AW and Special Vowel Sounds OU/OW Day 22. Review Special Vowel Sounds OI/OY and Special Vowel Sounds OO and OO Day 23. Review Spelling with -KE, -CK, -K, and -C and Decoding Exceptions Day 24. Review Other Suffixes: -TION, -SION, and -OUS Week 6 Lessons 86 & 87 Lessons 88 & 89 Lessons 90 & 91 Lesson 93 40-

Direct Instruction Timeline: Kindergarten This timeline is designed to take students through the Reading Horizons Discovery teacher-guided direct instruction material for kindergarten students in six weeks. This should be used with students who have just completed kindergarten and need additional practice before entering first grade. The lesson numbers in the timeline correlate to the Reading Horizons Discovery kindergarten manuals. CONTENT LESSON(S) TIME ESTIMATES Day 1. Review Vowel A; Consonants B, F, D, G; The Slide and Building Words; Nonsense Words Day 2. Review Vowel E and Consonants H, J, L, M Day 3. Review Vowel O and Consonants N, P, R, S Day 4. Review Vowel U and Consonants T, V, W, X, Y Day 5. Review Vowel I; Consonants Q, Z, C, K; and Spelling with C and K Week 1 Lessons 2-9 Lessons 12-16 Lessons 19-23 Week 2 Lessons 26-31 Lessons 33-37 & 39 40-40- 40-40- Day 6. Review L-Blends Lesson 43 Week 3 Day 7. Review R-Blends Lesson 44 Day 8. Review S-Blends Lesson 45 Day 9. Review Extra Blends Lessons 46 40- Day 10. Review Double S, F, and Z and Plurals Day 11. Review Special Vowel Combination -LL Day 12. Review Special Vowel Combination -NG Week 4 Lesson 47 Lesson 50 Lesson 51 40-40-

Direct Instruction Timeline: Kindergarten, Continued... CONTENT LESSON(S) TIME ESTIMATES Week 5 Day 13. Review Special Vowel Combination -NK Day 14. Review/Teach Voiced and Voiceless Digraphs TH Day 15. Review/Teach Digraphs CH, SH, WH, and PH Lesson 52 Lesson 55 Lesson 56 40- Note: At this point, teachers could begin teaching the first-grade curriculum and pre-teach the following lessons for Kindergarteners going into first grade. The lesson numbers referred to are found in the grades 1-3 manuals. Week 6 Day 16. Teach Long and Short Vowels Lesson 31 40 min. Day 17. Teach Phonetic Skill 1 Lesson 32 Day 18. Teach Phonetic Skill 2 Lesson 33

Software Instruction Adapting for Summer: Key Points If you are new to Reading Horizons and are starting with Reading Horizons Discovery as a summer program with plans to implement the full program in the fall, there are a few important points to be aware of: While this situation will provide a good preview to the course, students will not be able to go through the entire program in a summer school setting, so results will not be the same as when a student goes through the program during a full school year. The effectiveness of the program is tied to going through the program sequentially, even in summer school. In this situation, though, there can be more focus on just core skills within the program. It is not recommended to teach Reference lessons due to time constraints. Teaching Most Common Words lessons is left to the discretion of the teacher. Plan on spending 10-15 minutes a day modeling each skill and 10-15 minutes practicing the skills, using dictation and Transfer Cards (this is critical for student success). Time for additional guided practice or independent practice will be determined by the teacher. (This is not as critical and is flexible based on schedule and student need.) Even though students are new to the program, in a summer school setting there still needs to be an increased focus on transfer of skills to reading and providing reading practice (20-30 minutes). The total suggested time from instruction/ review to reading practice is estimated at 40-60 minutes per day. Teachers are encouraged to follow the sequence in the manuals and to use student proficiency to guide pacing. Suggested minimum time using the above-mentioned instructional framework is four hours per week. The focus is not so much on student mastery of skills but on student exposure to and experience with the skills in practice and reading. There is not a suggested timeline for this situation. Teachers can refer to the above timeline for review with the understanding that the skills may take longer and pace will be slower.

Software Instruction Adapting for Summer: Software Settings Teachers should consider the following options when using the Reading Horizons Discovery software as part of a summer reading program. The suggestions are different depending on whether students used the software during the previous school year or not. For students who used the Reading Horizons Discovery software during the previous school year: 1. Have students continue on the software from where they were at the end of the last school year. 2. Change each student s software track to the grade for the upcoming school year. 3. Reset student accounts, set their tracks to the grade for the upcoming school year, and change the settings to Activities Track instead of Instructional Track. For students who have not previously used the Reading Horizons Discovery software: Setting Activities Track 1. Set up the student account in the class roll, and select the Grade Track for the upcoming school year. 2. Override all of the Phonemic Awareness Assessments (for students going into 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grades). Considerations: Teachers may want to override the Reference lessons for summer (make sure to re-enable them for the school year). Teachers may want to override the Most Common Words lessons for summer (make sure to re-enable them for the school year). Teachers may want to disable the Games or enable them only on certain days to help students stay focused and spend their time in the lessons and library. Setting Overrides

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