Schools

KINGERGARTEN - FIRST GRADE 

2.1a    Phonological Awareness

Children at this grade level need repetition with the sounds of the letters and the consonant teams and vowel teams in order to develop automaticity.  Utilizing brain friendly methods in whole group and small group instruction allows for this daily repetition until mastery is achieved. 

2.1b   Blending Sounds into Words (Decoding)

Specific brain friendly techniques are utilized for younger learners to help them blend individual phonemes (sounds) into words. These techniques are multi-sensory and based on years of research and experience.   Much of the kindergarten work is rooted in Montessori Methods with a careful attention to scaffolding reading skills.

2.1c   Spelling Road to Reading (Encoding)

Emphasis is placed on segmenting the sounds and writing what they hear. While this looks like spelling, it translates into improved reading ability while also improving spelling and writing. Utilizing randomized lists or high frequency word lists is counter productive at this age to teach spelling because the child needs to experience a group of words with the same pattern (not necessarily words that rhyme which are often called word families) in order to internalize that pattern. 

SECOND – FIFTH GRADE 

3.1a    Phonological Awareness 

Frequently older children have gaps that need to be addressed in order for the child to move forward toward grade level reading. While the older struggling reader may read only a grade or two below level, he or she may be spelling much lower. Both issues can be helped when the child is able to learn the phonemes he or she is missing. Typically this part of the program requires simply 4-6 minutes per day in a whole group setting. After several months of daily instruction, most children will have gained automaticity with more than 100 distinct sound/symbol combinations. This is a key pillar of both the decoding and encoding process. Without this, students continue to struggle. 

3.1b   Reading Instruction

Targeted reading instruction (10 minutes minimum) enables older readers to develop their understanding of word patterns so the brain begins to recognize those patterns in future texts. Reading word lists that have a single distinct phoneme pattern enables students to identify those patterns. Utilizing brain friendly pre-reading techniques give the students opportunities to experience success and grow their confidence. 

3.1c   Independent Reading

Children must read according to their individual skill level in order to develop their reading skills. Research has shown that 20-30 minutes/day is the minimum amount necessary. Utilizing decodable texts is helpful but not required in the majority of cases. 

3.1d   Spelling

Daily spelling work (10 minutes minimum) with the current BFR word list being utilized by the classroom is necessary to reinforce the students’ retention of the word pattern. Gross motor and multi-sensory techniques are utilized to move the information from short-term to long-term memory. Evidence-based approaches for teaching spelling have the effect of positively impacting reading growth. 

SIXTH– TWELTH GRADE  (Older children and Teens)

Older elementary children and teens who are reading below grade level have developed coping strategies to try to be successful and meet grade level expectations.    Comprehension is often identified as the issue.  Typically these children have memorized many words.  They struggle to easily and quickly decode unfamiliar words. They also overly use context clues to guess what the words are that they are reading.  They are so preoccupied with reading the words correctly that they cannot remember what they are reading.   

What they benefit from is systematic and direct instruction in the following:

4.1a    Phonological Awareness and Letter/Sound Recognition

Daily instruction in letter/sound combinations and practice in breaking words apart into their individual sounds assists the children with both reading and spelling.    This work takes minutes a day, but when done regularly results in improvements in reading and spelling.

4.1b   Reading Instruction

Regular targeted reading instruction (10 minutes minimum) enables older readers to train their brains to recognize word patterns so that the  brain will recognize those patterns in future texts.  Reading word lists that have a single distinct phoneme pattern enables students to identify those patterns.  Older children and teens need word lists that contain unfamiliar words so the brain is forced to decode rather than rely on memorized words.    

4.1c   Independent Reading

Children must read according to their individual skill level in order to develop their reading skills. Research has shown that 20-30 minutes/day is the minimum amount necessary. Utilizing decodable texts can be helpful with teens who are very beginning readers, but that is not required in the majority of cases with teens who are stuck at a 3rd grade reading level.   

4.1d   Spelling

Teens have often memorized a certain number of words but often have patterns of misspellings that get repeated or they may spell the same word three different ways on the same page.

When asked to write a paragraph, they choose simple sentence structures and words with which they are very familiar to avoid spelling errors.growth.   Teaching them how to break words apart into syllables and then syllables into individual sounds is a key component of dramatically improving their spelling.  

4.1e   Morphological Study   Studying roots, suffixes and prefixes boost reading and spelling skills of older children and teens by training their brain to see the patterns that are in words beyond syllable types.  For instance, when a child studies the root graph - its meaning, how to read and spell it, and many words using that root- that word part is moved into long-term memory.  As a result the child has improved his or her reading, spelling, and writing while enhancing their vocabulary.  All of that impacts the child's comprehension.   

4.1    In-Service Prior to School Beginning 

Prior to the start of school, all staff utilizing the BFR approach receive training in the theory and practice through a dynamic, hands-on training program. Each level (K-1 and 2-5) needs a separate training courses.  Each course would include the following:

· Direct instruction and practice for proper phoneme pronunciation

· Connecting sounds and symbols in a multi-sensory way for better recall

· Blending techniques useful for single and multi-syllable words

· Overview of the word parts (syllable types) and how the brain uses that knowledge to develop pattern recognition and automaticity in reading

· Strategies for breaking down multi-syllable words to facilitate reading and spelling 

· Spelling techniques that requires gross motor skills for sound segmentation

· Variety of classroom games that invite repetition to be played in small groups for reinforcement of skills

4.2   Classroom Observation and Coaching

Periodic classroom observations will be made to provide the teachers with actionable information regarding their implementation of the program.   This classroom level support varies according to the school's needs and the individual teacher's needs.

4.3    On-line Videos and E-Coaching

BFR videos as well as group and individual coaching are available to teachers to access continued professional development. 

4.4    Additional In-person Trainings 

Based on the needs of the classroom and teachers, additional in-person trainings are provided.  

4.4    30-hour OG Training available for all School Employees

Every employee in a school using the BFR approach is welcome to attend one of the 30-hour Orton-Gillingham tutor training courses to become a certified BFR Tutor.  The goal is to turn community members into highly-skilled reading professionals so that reading help is available to children on every corner.   Training costs are limited to the costs of the materials. 

BFR trainings provide hands-on instruction for teachers in key areas that support the reading development of all children but are absolutely vital for children with characteristics of dyslexia in order for them to succeed.     

TRAININGS INCLUDE

• Direct instruction and practice for proper phoneme pronunciation
• Connecting sounds and symbols in a multi-sensory way to the child's individual phoneme chart for better memory and recall in reading and spelling
• Blending techniques useful for single and multi-syllable words
• Overview of the seven syllable types and how the brain utilizes that knowledge to develop pattern recognition and automaticity in reading
• Strategies for breaking down multi-syllable words to facilitate reading and spelling
• Overview of characteristics of struggling readers (ie.  soft signs of dyslexia)
• Helpful accommodations for children who are dysgraphic (ie handwriting difficulties)
• Variety of classroom games that invite repetition to be played in small groups for reinforcement of skills 

POST TRAINING SUPPORT OPTIONS

• Classroom observations and collaboration
• Access to a private facebook group for Q&A
• In-person follow-up trainings 
• E-coaching

KEY PROGRAM ELEMENTS

• Quick-start reading support moving children up to grade level instructional reading  
• Easily layered on to any existing reading program 
• Early intervention for children with characteristics of dyslexia often eliminating the need for future intervention, tutoring or accommodations
• Evidence-based instruction necessary for struggling readers and valuable for all readers
• Systematic, synthetic phonics approach 
• Multi-sensory methodology steps up early mastery of decoding and encoding skills