Special Selection
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SPECIAL SECTION- DIFFERENTIATION
Figure 1
Session Seven:
Initially, this lesson focused on review and practice. Trigrams (cvc words) were presented, block patterns formed ( bwb arrays), words read (decoded). Next, two syllable words were introduced. Arrays were created for victim, submit, velvet and a “new rule” was demonstrated.
Rule: Where two blues touch, the pattern (and so the word) splits. Thus, hobnob formed the block array bwbbwb. Per the “new rule”, this word is split into bwb + bwb. Matching the letters to the pattern, and noting that the vowels (white cubes) in each section were trapped (short vowels), the student read hobnob.
Session Eight:
Consonant blends were introduced. Two letter groups (st, bl, tr) proved easy for the student. However, blending a three consonant series (str, spl) was not. Articulating these sounds seemed a “tongue-tied” issue. Specific articulatory instruction was required. Isolating each letter’s placement and noting the points of merger between letters (slow motion practice) helped. Application presented words like most, plum, split, scrap. The block patterns (bwb) were formed; the words read.
Session Nine:
Instruction with bwb (stop, slump, strip) and bwb+bwb (tinsel, suspect) patterns continued. The student would form the block arrays that matched the presented letters, but was now beginning to envision the patterns within the words themselves (integrating instruction). Phrase and sentence reading began. The student decoded plant a clump, bump the lamp, crisp crust, inspect the insect with ease.
Session Ten:
Long vowel arrays/ rules were introduced. The pattern bw was discussed, emphasizing that here the white block was “not trapped” (the pattern that indicates a long vowel phoneme is required). The student formed the arrays for me and go. Then, while reading the words, he explained the “rule”.
Next, the “new rule” was combined with the decoding patterns/ arrays taught thus far. For example, the block pattern for gumbo is bwbbw. The rules indicated:
1. split the word between touching blue cubes (bwb +bw)
2. note the first white cube is “trapped” (short vowel)
3. note the second white cube is “not trapped” (long vowel)
Sessions Eleven-Fourteen:
New pattern rules were introduced.These included the “tower rules”, arrays representing cvvc, cvce syllables (The Block Arrays to Identify Syllable Patterns Method consists of a total of five “rules” represented by combinations of four colored cubes.)
Academic Impact: The student can now decode words like abstract, dictate, splendid; he can distinguish between words like dinner-diner, tigger-tiger; he reads sentences like This is the best bunch of silk. and A bit of nutmeg is on the napkin.
Affective Impact: Overtly resistant behavior now presents as a slightly “silly” behavior usually accompanied by the comment “This is too easy.” The student is currently reading the Dog Man series by choice. For this child, the door to literacy has been opened!
I recently received an update from this child's parent. She informed me that, given the end of the academic year, she asked her son what he might want to do this summer. A strong athlete, she expected a list of sport camps or family travel options.His response: "This summer I want to learn how to write." When we re-establish the potential for mastery in the student's minds eye, we open a doorway they will run through.
Struggling readers do not have time on their side. Both Academic and Affective issues complicate their skills mastery. When strategies are applied flexibly and respond to the diagnostic impressions we note along the way, progress is rapid. Offering that which had been presented many times before serves only to deepen frustration, rigidity, and resistance. Novel methods and respect for the learner’s struggle and evidencing his potential to improve, serve us well.
Nickie Simonetti has taught reading for 50 years. Her experience ranges from Classroom Teacher to Supportive Education Program Director. Seeking an efficient approach for bright struggling students, and frustrated by their all too often tragic outcomes, she offers novel strategies and impressions in her first book, Smart Kids; Struggling Readers. Dyslexia Defused (Fall, 2021) which expands on the self-created methods and further explores the overlooked factors that contribute to reading failure.
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