Reading is life changing and it’s never too late to learn how.

For over 25 years, Reading Horizons has been helping instructors teach thousands of struggling students how to improve their lives through literacy. Across the country thousands of junior and senior high schools trust Reading Horizons because it is helpful and because it works.

Two of the greatest barriers to teaching older students are insufficient time to meet individual student’s needs and a lack of clear instruction and techniques. Reading Horizons overcomes these barriers with our interactive computer software.

This fast moving multi-century software is easy to use and understand without being childish or condescending. And… it presents a great opportunity for fun and independent student study leaving the instructor free to provide one-on-one help to students who need it most.

Students who have historically made little reading progress will make significant gains as they advance through this program, often improving their reading ability by three or more grade levels in just a few months leading to greater confidence and success in all areas of their lives.

So empower your students and change their lives.

Learn more:

http://www.backbonecommunications.com/reading-horizons-reading-intervention/

Introducing Reading Horizons v5
Are you looking for a program that will ensure the success for all of your struggling readers?

Welcome to Reading Horizons v5, the most advanced reading program on the market. Our software contains 81 interactive lessons that guide students, focusing on the concepts of english, building up to the decoding of multi-syllable words; vocabulary development, including over 10,000 terms that are defined, used in context and displayed in a picture; over 225 high interest reading passages that are grade leveled and allow students to select material that interests them while they improve fluency and comprehension.

Experience Reading Horizons v5.

Reading Horizons: The foundation for reading english.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trMpePCFMYo&feature=BFa&list=PL3F1E22C6192DB6A8&lf=plcp

Learn more:

http://www.backbonecommunications.com/reading-horizons-reading-intervention/

Learning English as a second language can be difficult without the proper foundation. In fact, recent research suggests that English Language Learners who struggle with reading face the same learning barrier as Native English Speaking students with reading difficulties: poor english skills in reading phonetics.

But with Reading Horizons and explicit, systematic instruction and phonics, struggling English Language Learners can become more proficient readers more quickly.

Reading Horizons uses unique multi-sensory teaching methods that English Language Learners enthusiastically respond to. We provide clear, easy to follow instructions that teach students how to accurately recognize and pronounce the 42 sounds of the english language.

In addition, students are exposed to a variety of practice opportunities that build vocabulary. As English Language Learners progress through the program they acquire the skills to decode and spell multi-syllabic words with ease.

These skills prepare them to study autonomously outside the classroom and throughout their life.

Transform your struggling English Language Learners into proficient, confident readers with Reading Horizons.

Learn more:

http://www.backbonecommunications.com/reading-horizons-reading-intervention/

Reading is life changing and it’s never too late to learn how. For over 25 years, Reading Horizons has been helping instructors teach thousands of adult students from all walks of life how to improve their lives through literacy.

Adult Education Centers, Correctional Facilities, Libraries, Workplace Literacy Programs all trust Reading Horizons because it is helpful and because it works.

Two of the greatest barriers to teaching adult readers are insufficient time to meet individual student’s needs and a lack of clear instruction and techniques. Reading Horizons overcomes these barriers with our interactive computer software.

This fast moving multi-century software is easy to use and understand without being childish or condescending. And… it presents a great opportunity for fun and independent student study leaving the instructor free to provide one-on-one help to students who need it most.

Adults who have historically made little reading progress will make significant gains as they advance through this program, often improving their reading ability by three or more grade levels in just a few months leading to greater confidence and success in all areas of their lives.

So empower your students and change their lives.

Learn More:

http://www.backbonecommunications.com/reading-horizons-reading-intervention/

Reading is life altering and for over 25 years Discover Intensive Phonics Program has been changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of students by teaching them the invaluable skill of reading.

It has been endorsed by the National Right to Read Foundation and is used in all three tiers of the Response to Intervention or RTI model.

In Elementary schools nationwide, students of all reading ability quickly advanced several grade levels thanks to this revolutionary reading program.

Discover Intensive Phonics is a step-by-step framework for phonics that, unlike many programs, is easy to understand and simple to teach.

Through direct teacher instruction and our engaging computer software, students are taught through a multi-sensory experience that is engaging and fun. The program begins by teaching the students the 42 sounds of the alphabet and the basics of phonics. Along the way, students learn common sight words, sentence structure, word meaning, handwriting and spelling as well as listening and thinking skills. The multi-sensory methodology through which all these skills are taught ensures that you address each student’s individual learning styles and our progress monitoring and assessment tools provide clear and concise data on individual needs and student improvement.

The Discover Intensive Phonics Program contains all the tools necessary to teach a small group or one-on-one.

In addition, we also provide fun and exciting professional development workshops for teachers. These workshops help familiarize instructors with the Discover Intensive Phonics methods and provide a solid foundation of simple and effective classroom techniques.

Learn more:

http://www.backbonecommunications.com/reading-horizons-reading-intervention/

Up to 4 hours of Professional Development

This workshop uses Orton-Gillingham based principles to teach teachers and students how to build a foundation for successful reading. It is commonly known that 7 out of 10 students will learn to read no matter the reading program. This workshop is designed to help you reach the 30% of students who won’t learn to read and continue through school as struggling readers. You will learn to identify struggling readers and become a better reading coach and teacher no matter what your students’ grade level. 

You will learn strategies to improve state test scores, intervention strategies for students with Dyslexia and other Learning Disabilities, how to integrate Phonics into the everyday classroom, and come away with decoding skills used to systematically analyze and pronounce unknown words of any length. 

In addition, you will walk away with the following skills: 

• Grapheme-phoneme relationships used in the alphabetic code.
• Auditory discrimination and matching phonemes to their related graphemes.
• Sound blending and phonemic segmentation.
• Structural analysis used to identify word patterns.
• Diphthongs, digraphs , rules for Y/y, special vowel sounds.
• Decoding skills used to systematically analyze and pronounce unknown words of any length.
• Handling exceptions,
• Decoding and encoding strategies used in spelling and Much more!

CLICK HERE for a complete schedule and registration!

-

Workshop Schedule: 

9:30 – 10:00am Check-In
10:00 – 11:45am Reading Intervention Workshop
11:45 – 12:30pm Lunch (provided by Backbone Communications)
12:30 – 2:00pm Reading Intervention Workshop




Location:
Cooperative Educational Services
4216 Balloon Park Rd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109

-

Up to 4 hours of Professional Development

This workshop uses Orton-Gillingham based principles to teach teachers and students how to build a foundation for successful reading. It is commonly known that 7 out of 10 students will learn to read no matter the reading program. This workshop is designed to help you reach the 30% of students who won’t learn to read and continue through school as struggling readers. You will learn to identify struggling readers and become a better reading coach and teacher no matter what your students’ grade level. 

You will learn strategies to improve state test scores, intervention strategies for students with Dyslexia and other Learning Disabilities, how to integrate Phonics into the everyday classroom, and come away with decoding skills used to systematically analyze and pronounce unknown words of any length. 

In addition, you will walk away with the following skills: 

• Grapheme-phoneme relationships used in the alphabetic code.
• Auditory discrimination and matching phonemes to their related graphemes.
• Sound blending and phonemic segmentation.
• Structural analysis used to identify word patterns.
• Diphthongs, digraphs , rules for Y/y, special vowel sounds.
• Decoding skills used to systematically analyze and pronounce unknown words of any length.
• Handling exceptions,
• Decoding and encoding strategies used in spelling and Much more!

CLICK HERE for a complete schedule and registration!

-

Workshop Schedule: 

8:30 – 9:00am Check-In 
9:00 – 11:45am Reading Intervention Workshop 
11:45 – 12:30pm Lunch (provided by Backbone) 
12:30 – 2:00pm Reading Intervention Workshop



Location:
Gila County, AZ

-

When there is a problem, it helps to understand that problem and have a label and explanation for it, because then – and only then – are we able to know where to go and what to do for help. We are offering a free dyslexia test created by a dyslexia tester and tutor to help you diagnose dyslexia in yourself or another.

What should I do to begin diagnosing dyslexia?

First, observe your children or become aware of your own reading habits. If you are looking at your children, you need to watch how they deal with language: Were they slow to connect letter names and sounds? Do they have difficulty with rhyme? These are all indicators. The first part of our free dyslexia test deals with questions such as these and looks at your family history, which is another strong indicator of the possibility of a dyslexia diagnosis.

What do I look for as I am diagnosing dyslexia?

Dyslexia symptoms while reading are not random; there is a consistent pattern.
Here is a list of patterns to look for when diagnosing dyslexia:

• Difficulty reading single words
• Particular difficulty decoding nonsense or unfamiliar words
• Reading comprehension is often superior to decoding individual words
• Inaccurate and labored oral reading of passages
• Trouble reading small “function” words: that, is, an, for
• The ability to sound out or read a word on one page and then on another page, or even just a few lines, and later inability to recognize or decode the same word
• Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced
• Slow reading
• Poor spelling

What does the free dyslexia test consist of?

According to Dr. Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia, there are three steps that must be followed for a dyslexia test:

1. Establish a reading problem according to age and education.
2. Gather evidence supporting its “unexpectedness”; high learning capability may be determined solely on the basis of an educational or professional level of attainment.
3. Demonstrate evidence of an isolated phonologic weakness, with other higher-level language functions relatively unaffected.

How do I accomplish these three steps of a dyslexia test?

Step 1: If you see any of the symptoms of dyslexia listed above and your child’s reading level is below what it should be, even though it is apparent that he/she is a bright child, then we have established the first part of the evaluation. When he/she is having reading struggles despite intelligence or effort, that is a strong indication you are dealing with dyslexia.

Step 2: The more observations you make to this end and the more evidence you gather showing a consistent struggle with reading and writing, then you have moved through the second step of the evaluation. The first part or our test will give further evidence to support this.

Step 3: Take the phonologic test that contains the recommended components of phonemic awareness and memory, reading words in isolation for decoding and nonsense words to look for specific phonological weaknesses.

Do I really want a dyslexia diagnosis?

As parents, we are often hesitant to give a child a dyslexia diagnosis. There can be a great deal of negative association with words such as ds such as learning disability, Attention Deficit Disorder, and dyslexia. Dyslexia is an important term to help identify kids with reading difficulties and is one from which we need not shy away. It is important for children to understand that their reading difficulties come from the way their brains are wired and not their intelligence level. Giving a label gives an explanation and, therefore, can lead to a solution.

This is how Dr. Orton, in his book Reading, Writing, and Speech Problems in Children , described the term dyslexia to a five-year-old: dys means problems, and lexia means words, so dyslexia means problems with the words you speak, the words you hear, and the words you see. Children and adults are so excited to have a word for it-one that explains what is going on.

Katherine Schantz, head of the Delaware Valley Friends School, shares, “It’s just such a meaningful term, and the kids understand that their brain works differently and feel relieved.” We should not be afraid of the term, the label, but embrace it, explore it, and discuss it with our children so that they can receive the correct help and begin to find success with words.

Teaching non-literate or very low literate non-English speakers to read is NOT like teaching students who are literate in another language.

Robin Lovrien Schwarz, PhD, will help you learn what research has discovered about the challenges these learners face and what the best approaches are for helping them begin to acquire literacy.

Dr. Lovrien Schwarz will also direct you to sources that will support you in teaching reading to this population.

-

Register Now

Arizona’s new reading law has high stakes (HB2732)
Proficiency a must to advance grade levels
by Kerry Fehr-Snyder – Oct. 14, 2011 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

This year’s Arizona first-graders must prove they can read proficiently in three years or they’ll be held back in school.

That shines a spotlight on first-grade classrooms like Tanya Pawl’s in central Phoenix, where 6- and 7-year-olds spend hours each school day learning how to put their A-B-Cs to use.

“First grade is so important,” said Pawl, a teacher for 10 years. “The teacher has so much magic in that.”

Starting in 2013-14, all third-graders in Arizona must prove that they are reading proficiently. If they fail, they will not advance to fourth grade.

This year’s Arizona first-graders must prove they can read proficiently in three years or they’ll be held back in school. That shines a spotlight on first-grade classrooms like Tanya Pawl’s in central Phoenix, where 6- and 7-year-olds spend hours each school day learning how to put their A-B-Cs to use.”First grade is so important,” said Pawl, a teacher for 10 years.

Reading well by third grade is vital to future academic success, studies show. And fluency – reading with comprehension and intonation – predicts eventual high-school graduation, according to the American Educational Research Association.

Last year, the Arizona Legislature passed, and the governor signed, the high-stakes reading mandate, House Bill 2732, titled Move On When Reading, which is modeled after a 2002 Florida law. Other states, including Massachusetts, Indiana and Utah, have similar laws.

Arizona has a lot of ground to make up. More than 4,000 third-graders statewide fell “far below” the third-grade reading standards on the spring 2011 Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards test.

The Arizona Republic FULL ARTICLE
Arizona’s new reading law has high stakes

379 Lexile & House Bill 2732 – What do they have in common?