Synopses & Reviews
For helping kindergartners and first graders who are having difficulty on their early literacy skills, Road to the Code is a successful, 11-week program for teaching phonemic awareness and letter sound correspondence. Developmentally sequenced, each of the 44 15- to 20-minute lessons features three activities — Say-It-and-Move-It, Letter Name and Sound Instruction, and Phonological Awareness Practice — that give students repeated opportunities to practice and enhance their beginning reading and spelling abilities. Road to the Code is backed by more than 10 years of study in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms.
Detailed scripted instructions and reproducible materials — such as Alphabet Picture and Sound Bingo cards — make this program easy for teachers to use. Teachers have the flexibility to work with students individually or in small groups and may adjust the amount of time it takes for a student to complete the program. With these proven phonological awareness activities, educators can confidently intervene before children have a chance to fail.
Review
DO NOT PUT IN PRINT I apologize for not getting back to you before Aug 19, but I'm not so interested in having my endorsement in print. I do want you to know, however, that I found the Road to the Code program extremely effective for a VERY language disabled but bright student. The amount of structured repetition and review were better than any other materials I have used, and they have allowed him to begin to read. I was only sorry that the program did not continue with more letters. I used the model of the program to extend it and created the lessons and materials myself for those letters. Joan Waldman
Synopsis
Naeyc and Ira both agree that young children benefit most when they're taught in small groups or individually. Road to the Code perfectly meets this recommended teaching criterion! Designed for helping kindergartners and first-graders who need extra work on their early literacy skills, this proven plan for teaching phonological awareness is a teacher's best friend. Expert researchers created this developmentally sequenced, 11-week program to give students repeated opportunities to practice and enhance their beginning reading and spelling abilities. Each 15- to 20-minute lesson features a Say-It-and-Move-It activity, a Letter Name and Sound Instruction exercise, and Phonological Awareness practice. Perfect for small groups or individual instruction, this program is easy for teachers to use and includes detailed scripted instructions and photocopiable materials. With this all-in-one resource, educators will have everything they need to get students who need extra help off to a better start.
Synopsis
Designed for kindergartners and first-graders, this proven plan for teaching phonological awareness features a developmentally sequenced, 11-week program that meets Reading First criteria.
About the Author
Eileen Wynne Ball, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where she was the recipient of two major teaching awards. She has a doctoral degree in education from Syracuse University, where she also earned a master's degree in urban education. Before joining the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. Ball received a second master's degree from Northeastern Illinois University and taught at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois; she also taught at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, where she created and coordinated Le Moyne's program for special education teachers. Prior to her university work, Dr. Ball was an urban classroom teacher for 12 years. In Chicago, she directed and taught in The Parents School, an early model in alternative urban education, and she continues to do educational consulting nationally. Her research in phonological awareness has won her grants and fellowships from the National Dyslexia Research Association, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and the Spencer Foundation. Dr. Ball is returning to UIC after completing another 2 years as a full-time third-grade classroom teacher during which she deepened her belief that classroom practices and classroom teachers must inform educational research.
Benita A. Blachman, Ph.D., is a professor in the Reading and Language Arts Department and Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Learning Disabilities in the School of Education at Syracuse University. She also holds a courtesy appointment in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department. She has a doctoral degree in educational psychology from the University of Connecticut and is a former special education teacher, reading specialist, and learning disabilities consultant. She has published extensively in the area of early literacy, focusing her research on early intervention to prevent reading failure and on the factors that predict reading achievement. Dr. Blachman is currently directing a project at Syracuse University (in collaboration with researchers at Yale Medical School and the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center) funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to investigate the influence of intensive reading intervention on patterns of brain activation in young children. Dr. Blachman has served on the professional advisory boards of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the National Dyslexia Research Foundation, and the Neuhaus Center. Her edited book Foundations of Reading Acquisition and Dyslexia: Implications for Early Intervention was published recently by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rochella Black, M.S., has been a kindergarten teacher, first-grade teacher, and special education resource teacher for 24 years, teaching in both the inner-city schools of Syracuse, New York, and the suburban schools in Northport-East Northport, New York. Over the years, she has also served as a private tutor for students of all ages who were experiencing difficulty learning to read. In addition, Ms. Black was the project coordinator of the large-scale kindergarten and first-grade reading research project directed by Dr. Blachman during which the Road to the Code manual was developed and evaluated. She has presented numerous seminars and in-service courses for teachers on the effectiveness of specific activities for developing phonological awareness in children at the beginning stages of reading. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in social studies and two master's degrees from Syracuse University in elementary education and special education with a specialization in learning disabilities. Her publications have appeared in Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
Darlene M. Tangel, Ph.D., is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Reading and Language Arts
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
- What is Phonological Awareness?
- What Makes Phonological Awareness Difficult?
- What Makes Learning to Read Difficult?
- Can Phonological Awareness Be Taught?
- Is Phonological Awareness Enough?
- Can This Program Be Adapted to Meet Individual Needs?
- A Word About Pacing
- Some Prerequisite Skills
- Getting Started
Lessons 1-44Materials
- List of Materials
- Say-It-And-Move-It Sheets
- Jingles to Accompany Alphabet Cards
- Large Alphabet Picture Cards
- Small Alphabet Picture Cards
- Small, Plain Alphabet Cards
- Sound Categorization Cards
--By Rhyme
--By Initial Sound
- Sound Bingo Cards
- Elkonin Cards
- Sound Board Instructions
Frequently Asked Questions References