EARLY READING INTERVENTIONS

Scott-Foresman

Goal of the Program:

The goal of Scott Foresman’s Early Reading Intervention (ERI) program is to increase students’ alphabetic principle, phonemic awareness and early phonics (decoding) skills so they are able to begin reading by the end of Kindergarten or the middle of first grade.

Grade Level(s):  K-1st   

The program works best if implemented for the majority of Kindergarten year (starting perhaps three weeks into the year) and for the first half of first grade (if necessary).

Type of Program:

The program is designed to be supplemental, with students receiving their Open Court Phonics and Fluency sections (twice, when appropriate, with the double-dip taking place during centers or guided-process reading groups).

Instructional Delivery Mode: Teacher-directed, small group instruction

Technology Required:  

There is no technology required (no computer, overhead, cassette player). White board markers, white board erasers, and small place markers are required and not provided.

Reading Components Addressed:  Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Fluency

Recommended Instructional minutes: 

There are 126 lessons, each of which takes 20-30 minutes daily.

Kindergarten student should begin with lesson 1; first grade students should begin at or around lesson 62. The program would best be implemented daily.

Student/Teacher Ratio:

Each teacher (or instructional aide) group should include a maximum of 5-6 students, depending on the abilities of the instructor. While a single kit can support more than one group working simultaneously IF they are not at the same level (i.e., one Kindergarten group and one first grade group; or, one group at Lesson 10 and one at Lesson 72), there may be picture cards or tracing cards required by both groups. The absence of a few of either from a group is not detrimental. Due to the materials in each kit and required for lessons, running more than 2 similar groups simultaneously per kit would not be advisable.

Overall Design:

The program is broken into four sections and teaching guides, each comprising approximately one-fourth of the 126 lessons. The sections are: Learning Letter Names and Sounds; Segmenting, Blending, and Integrating; Word Reading; and Sentence Reading.

Instructional Sequence of the Program:

Each lesson is comprised of 7 activities and is divided into two 15- minute parts. The first part consists of activities that develop and reinforce phonological awareness and alphabetic understanding. The second part consists of activities that develop and reinforce letter writing and spelling.

Assessments:  Manual

There are periodic progress monitoring assessments (every 8-10 lessons), although DIBELS progress monitoring should be used (every 2 weeks). There are also placement assessments, although experience suggests placement for Kindergarten and first grade students as described above works well. There are summative assessments at the end of each of the four units.

Professional Development Requirements and Cost:

Professional development requirements are minimal and could be handled by within-district resources. A helpful VHS accompanies the program; it includes a sample lesson performed by a highly competent teacher and actual students.

Who Can Deliver the Program:  Teacher or trained instructional aide

Strengths of the Program:

• Sound research base (mentioned in Overcoming Dyslexia as Project Optimize)
• Short daily duration
• Can be delivered by aide
• Closely related to Open Court and DIBELS
• Short and focused instructional sequences. Each lesson consists of approximately 7 different activities.
• Involves students writing letters and words
• Focused narrowly on the basics of alphabetic principle and phonemic awareness

Weaknesses of the Program:

• Five students is a low number, possibly necessitating multiple groups
• Prep time to gather cards and letter tiles – approximately 15 minutes per group

Cost:  $1,200 per kit, $29.95 per replacement unit