Reading Program

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"Reading is the most important skill for success in school and society." Susan L. Hall and Louisa C. Moats, Straight Talk About ReadingThe First Step Toward an Education for a LifetimeWhen we first began developing our programs, we knew that early reading was probably the most important skill we could focus on.We asked one of the country's top reading researchers, "What program should we use that best teaches reading?"Her response was: "None of them."So, based on careful guidance, we made the decision to build it ourselves. Why go to such trouble? The primary reason gets to the heart of why we are different from other curriculum providers:Learning to read well is incredibly important. Even math performance is tightly linked to reading performance. Therefore, we needed the best possible approach to reading to maximize students' abilities to learn in all other subjects.That's why we created K12PhonicsWorks.The K12PhonicsWorks program gives you the tools you need to prepare your child to become an independent readerthe first step towards an education for a lifetime.K12PhonicsWorks is based on the best reading research and years of firsthand experience. It is designed to help children: Recognize the relationship between sounds and letters Blend sounds represented by letters into words Read and spell longer, unfamiliar words by breaking them into syllables Read "sight words"frequently used words such as "said" or "was," some of which do not follow the spelling patterns that have been taught.Click here to learn more and order a Basic PhonicsWorks kit.Multisensory InstructionK12PhonicsWorks lessons incorporate multisensory instruction lesson activities that allow children to look, listen, touch, move, and speak.At the core of this multisensory instruction is the K12PhonicsWorks tile kit, which contains letters and letter combinations that represent sounds. Children use the magnetized tiles to manipulate sounds and letters in fun activities that combine visual, auditory, tactile, and oral learning.Using the Letter Tile KitThe Tile Kit helps your child understand how speech is represented in print. For instance, consider how we use the tiles to build the word chin. When your child first builds the word chin, he or she will be guided to select three tiles:

The single sound /ch/ is represented by two letters, c and h. Because those two letters are printed on a single tile, your child gets both visual and tactile reinforcement of the simple but important concept that two letters can represent one sound.Complete K12PhonicsWorks Kit PhonicsWorks training video PhonicsWorks tile kit (Basic or Advanced)letter tiles, color tiles, magnetic whiteboards PhonicsWorks Readers"decodable" books of letter-sound patterns and sight words Teacher Guidedaily lesson plans and assessment answer keys Student Pagespractice pages, games, and assessmentsThe PhonicsWorks program is organized into two partsBasic and Advancedtypically completed over the course of two grades. When combined with instruction in literature (such as K12's Language Arts program for Kindergarten and Grade 1), PhonicsWorks offers a comprehensive and balanced approach to help your child acquire the critical skills and knowledge required for reading and literacy.Order a Basic PhonicsWorks kit today!Naturally, We Don't Stop with PhonicsWorksReading is fundamental throughout theK12curriculum. Other highlights of our reading programs include: Vocabulary building with outstanding early learning programs such as Wordly Wise and Vocabulary Workshop The excitement of reading real literature: from fairy tales, folk tales, and great children's books in the early grades, to classic contemporary and traditional booksfiction, plays, poetry, and non-fictionall carefully selected for appropriate grade-level interest. A reading-writing connection: students are encouraged to respond creatively to their reading, often by writing, and to make connections between literature and their own lives. In the middle grade years, the Vocabulary from Classical Roots program helps students appreciate the linguistic history of words while allowing them to more easily decode unfamiliar vocabulary and enhance reading proficiency. In high school, real-time, online class discussions, as well as message board exchanges, develop true communities of readers. K12also utilizes best-in-class reading test preparation programs so that students can excel on standardized tests.Our goal is to create motivated, capable, life-long readers who open their school books with a sense of happy anticipation, looking forward to the discoveries and pleasures that reading can bring.

Characteristics of the Reading ProgramDeveloping high level reading skills as well as reading habitsCharacteristics of the Reading Program

In the Reading Programme, native speakers acquire advanced reading comprehension skills and are immersed in reading from a wide range of texts. Progressing in small steps through each stage, the student starts with learning the sounds within the words. After moving on to the fundamentals of sentence structure, grammar and punctuation, students progress to summarization and critical reading involving more complex passages.

ENABLING YOUNG READERS: A PRIMARY SCHOOL READING PROGRAM IN THE PHILIPPINESPDF VERSIONResearchers evaluated a 31-day read-a-thon where students were encouraged to read as many books as possible through daily reading activities in school, such as storytelling sessions, reading games, and posters that display each classs progress. Overall, the results suggest that encouraging an increased use of age appropriate reading materials by students was a viable strategy for improving students reading skills.

RESEARCHERS: Ama Baafra AbebereseTodd KumlerLeigh LindenPARTNERS: Sa Aklat Sisikat FoundationLOCATION: Tarlac, PhilippinesSAMPLE: 5,150 fourth-grade students from 100 public schoolsTIMELINE: 2009THEMES: EducationPOLICY ISSUE: Student LearningPolicy Issue: Initiatives such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which call for universal primary education by 2015, have pushed developing countries to extend primary school access. Yet increases in the quantity of schools have not always led to corresponding increases in the quality of the education offered, and in many developing countries, the reading ability of many students is well below the appropriate level for their grade. The Millennium Development Goal specifically highlights the need to increase literacy rates among youth. However, it is important to understand what types of programs actually have positive and persistent effects on literacy levels and academic performance. Can a month-long reading marathon have more substantial effects?

Context of the Evaluation: Though the Philippine government spends 16 percent of its budget on education, most of its expenditures are focused on staff salaries, with very little money left over for training, textbooks or buildings.1 Because of this, the public primary schools in the Philippines generally lack sufficient reading resources.

The Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation (SAS) is a Filipino non-profit that promotes reading among Filipino children. SAS works with public schools around the country, providing resources to motivate students to make reading a part of their daily lives, including reading programs for kids, teacher training and conferences, and materials on the latest teaching techniques. Since the inception of the organization in 1999, SAS has implemented its reading program in over 750 public schools, reaching nearly 150,000 students.

Details of the Intervention: The SAS Reading Program consists of a two-day training program for fourth-grade teachers on the implementation of a reading marathon, followed by a 31-day reading marathon for fourth-grade students. The program is targeted at fourth grade students because this is the age at which the Philippine school system expects students to have developed sufficient reading fluency to enjoy reading independently.

During the 31-day read-a-thon, students are encouraged to read as many books as possible through daily reading activities in school, such as storytelling sessions, reading games, and posters that display each classs progress. Additionally, SAS provides 60 childrens storybooks in both Filipino and English, reading diaries, and reading progress charts to each of the participating schools. Of the one hundred schools that participated in this evaluation, 50 were randomly selected to receive the materials and participate in the reading marathon.

A baseline survey was conducted in all 100 schools in July 2009 . Two follow-up surveys were then conducted - just after the completion of the reading marathon and then again three months later at the end of the academic year to measure program impact. The study also measured students reading skills as well as their knowledge of other subjects to assess the possibility of spillovers .

Results and Policy Lessons: Overall, the results suggest that encouraging an increased use of age appropriate reading materials by students was a viable strategy for improving students reading skills. Immediately after the treatment, students reported that the number of books they read at school increased from 1.9 to 4.2 in the last week and from 2.3 to 9.5 in the last month. At the same time, their reading scores increased by 0.13 standard deviations.

These positive effects persisted after the end of the program. Three months after the reading marathon, students in the treatment group still read 3.1 more books in the previous month and scored 0.06 standard deviations higher on reading tests, relative to those in the comparison group.

These results suggest that implementing short-term programs that promote reading can be an effective way to cultivate good habits in children and improve their reading ability.