Early Steps Reading Program Presented by:

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Early Steps Reading ProgramPresented by

• Carol Critcher
• Title I Reading Teacher
• Cove Creek School

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Early Steps

• The program is based on the premise that
  children learn to read primarily by reading and
  rereading real stories. It also includes
  activities designed to help children learn to use
  the alphabetic code that our language is based on.

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Early StepsFirst Grade Reading Intervention

• The program is designed to provide a
  successful beginning in reading for first
  graders. Early in the first grade year, students
  in need of help in the beginning reading process
  are identified and given intensive one-to-one
  daily instruction.

Developed by Darrell Morris
Appalachian State University
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How are children assessed?

• Early Reading Screening Instrument
• (ERSI)
• This is a screening instrument developed by
  Dr. Darrell Morris at Appalachian State
  University. It is used to determine whether a
  child will have potential difficulty in the
  process of learning to read.

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What does the ERSI assess?

• Alphabet Knowledge (recognition and production)
• Concept of Word
• Phonemic Awareness
• Word Recognition

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Early Steps LessonWhat does a 30 minute lesson
look like?

• Rereading Familiar Books
• Word Study
• Writing
• Introduction of New Book

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1.) Rereading Familiar Books

• The tutor guides the child in reading
  interesting, predictable books that have been
  read before.
• Support is given by echo-reading, partner reading
  and questioning techniques to determine
  comprehension.

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After the book has been readTeacher Strategies
It is important to review a book to help the
child learn to apply the reading skills he is
acquiring.

• Teacher covers words for the child to identify
  missing words.
• Teacher selects two or three pages in the book
  and points to the words for the child to
  identify.

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When a child does not know a word
Teacher Strategies

• The teacher can wait 3 to 5 seconds before giving
  help.
• Point to the beginning letter of the word to give
  the child a clue.
• Give the beginning sound.
• Reread the sentence to the word to help put into
  context. (This helps with comprehension.)
• Tell him/her the word if they are struggling.

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2.) Word Study
Children require various levels of instruction.
The ERSI is used to determine the entry level of
instruction for each child. The levels of
instruction are

• Alphabet
• Initial Consonants
• Short Vowel Word Families
• Short Vowel Patterns
• Vowel Patterns

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Alphabet

• Begin work here with children who have a low
  score on the alphabet section of the ERSI (less
  than half the alphabet).
• Teachers use matching, sorting and concentration
  to teach alphabet

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Initial Consonants

• Teaching Letters/Sounds Use with children who
  need help in learning the correct sounds for
  consonant letters.
• Sorting without letter cards Children work with
  only pictures until he can hear and match
  beginning sounds.
• Sorting with letter cards Use with children
  that have mastered the sorting with pictures
  activity.

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Short Vowel Word Families
When a child knows all but three or four letters
of the alphabet and is beginning to learn sight
words they progress to word families. Words are
sorted by vowels, not by ending sounds.

• Word Family Sorting
• Cat Man Tap
• Mat Can Map
• Fat Pan Cap
• Hat Ran Lap

Teacher may use sorting, concentration, blending
and flash to determine childs knowledge.
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Mrs. Alisa sorts word families with Dakota.
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Short Vowel Patterns
In short-vowel patterns, only the vowel sound and
the spelling pattern (CVC) remain constant.
Students match sounds by vowel sound only. Words
do not rhyme but have the same short vowel.

• Short Vowel Sorting
• Cat Hit Pot
• Man Lip Top
• Map Hid Log
• Flag Chin Drop

Teacher may use sorting, concentration, flash,
blending and spell check to determine knowledge
and mastery.
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Vowel Patterns
Child should be able to read and accurately spell
most three-letter and four-letter short vowel
words before introduction of the long vowel
patterns.

• Long Vowel Patterns (aCe)
• Take Gave Made
• Discuss the rules of vCv

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3.) Writing

• It is important to have this component of
  the lesson everyday.
• 1) Getting a sentence
• Writing the sentence
• Cut up sentence
• As the child writes the sentence he/se pronounces
  each word slowly to hear the sounds.

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Teacher Strategies While The Child is Writing

• Teacher guides children to leave spaces between
  words.
• Teacher may model some letters or words
• Teacher provides guidance as needed in
  determining sounds.

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Mrs. Joy and Kortney prepare to write Kortney s
sentence on a sentence strip.
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When child completes sentence

• Teacher goes back over attempted sentence.
• Teacher cuts up sentence into individual words to
  determine if child can put back together.

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Mrs. Chris and Lawson cut up the sentence for
Lawson to reassemble.
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New Book Introduction

• Briefly the teacher introduces new title and
  pattern. The teacher and child work together to
  determine the sense of story.

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Echo-Reading/Partner Reading

• The child will have an opportunity to read some
  of the new story independently, using various
  clues to figure out words (picture, context,
  beginning sounds, etc.)
• The child needs to hear the story read in a
  fluent, expressive manner in order to get the
  flow of the language.

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Ms. Joni introduces the new book to Odaliz.
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Success Story

• Early Steps has been instrumental in helping many
  Watauga County children learn to read. Many
  children are on grade level by the end of their
  first grade year. We thank you for sharing your
  children with us and allowing us to work with
  them.