Transcript

In my classroom, we use the Empower Reading Program. This multi-strategic, research-based medical cognitive program is working really well for my students. It's for grades two to five, and it's tiered instruction so when you're teaching a grade two class, versus teaching a grade five class, it can look a little different based on the pace and what the students are capable of. How quickly or how slowly you need to move, attention spans, and just the overall age and what that would predict from a student.

There are many different program design features. Some that stick out the most and that have been the most influential in my classroom is the Self-Talk strategy or a dialogue that students are given, and it helps them choose which strategy they want to use and really think about what they're doing to be aware and really involved in the reading process. This dialogue also helps them monitor and evaluate the strategies they're using and ultimately it helps them monitor and evaluate if they're being successful as readers. Once again, it's that awareness piece. 

The Empower Reading Program teaches children five different strategies, and it's important to note that these strategies also transfer over into their spelling. The first strategy is called the "Sounding Out" strategy. Most students are quite familiar with this strategy and it's the one that, up until this point, they've depended on the most. What's exciting is that there's four other strategies, so they don't just have to depend on sounding out. The next strategy is called the "Rhyming" strategy. The program uses a bank of key words that help the students decode new words that they encounter. Basically, if they know one word, for example, "her", they can look for that spelling pattern "e-r" in another word. Another strategy is called the "Peeling Off" strategy. From my experience, this is my students' favorite. Basically, students learn a whole bunch of beginnings and endings, and they learn to find them in words and then they can peel them off. Some at the beginning of a word, some at the end, sometimes multiple at the beginning, multiple at the end, and then they're left with a small root in the middle. 

The fourth strategy is called the "Vowel Alert" strategy. As many of us know, vowels have different sounds. The "Vowel Alert" strategy basically tells students that they need to stop and really think about what sound the vowel is going to make. Vowels can be tricky, especially if they come in vowel teams. Some vowels even have three different sounds, so a "Vowel Alert" is very important for students to be, basically, alert of the different sounds a vowel can make. The fifth strategy, called the "SPY" strategy, which stands for "seek the parts you know". By the time students get to this strategy, they've already learned a lot of words. So this strategy allows students to use the words they know when they're decoding a word. Sort of like an "I Spy" for reading. 

Once students have learned multiple strategies, they are able to apply something called the "Game Plan". The "Game Plan" helps students manage the strategies, and it also helps them decide which strategy would be the best to use for different words. So for example, you're going to attack a long word different than you would attack a short word. In the "Game Plan", students are also provided with a script or, once again, self-talk. First students chose the strategy they want to use, or the different strategies they'd like to use. Then they have to use the strategy. What's really important is the next step: checking. This is the self-monitoring piece. Students need to ensure that the strategies they're using are working and they're actually decoding a word. And finally, assuming they got it correct, and I'm sure they will, they get to score, similar like you would if you used a "Game Plan" in a basketball game or a soccer game.

Let's use an example. Let's say students fall on the word unsteady. 

"I was about to cross the balance beam, and it felt a little unsteady."

Students would stop, and they would choose their strategy. Unsteady is a longer word, and I think I see some beginnings and endings, so I'm going to use "Peeling Off". Students would peel of "un" at the beginning of the word and the ending /e/, it's a "y", but it makes the sound /e/ at the end. Once they've peeled it off, they're going to "Vowel Alert" because they see "e-a". And this is where you have to be flexible, because "e-a" can make different sounds. So for example, if students try and say /steed/ and they put the word together, un/steed/y, that's not a word, so the "Vowel Alert" really forces them to stop and really think about, be aware, self-monitor what the vowel sound is going to be. Once they determine that that middle part, the root, is /stead/, they can put the word together, unsteady. And they use their strategies properly, so they score. It's important to remember that the "Game Plan" not only helps students decode, it also helps them with spelling. So during a writing lesson, or any type of lesson that requires spelling, you can use the cues of the "Game Plan" to help students spell. So they can use any one of the strategies to spell a word they're unsure of. And most of the time, they're quite successful. 

The Empower Reading Program provides every teacher with a scope and sequence. It's basically a lesson plan for all 110 lessons. And if you're like me, it's a real benefit because you can check off what you do as you go along. Each lesson is approximately one hour, and it involves pre-skills, lots of review, consolidation. Everything happens in a sequential order, constantly building on one skill and getting ready for the next one. Each lesson also includes worksheet practice as well as application to stories.

The program allows students to practice each strategy. It provides a lot of worksheets and activities that students can practice right after they've learned a strategy. In my classroom, I like to use my Smartboard or just a simple projector, and project the worksheets onto a large board where the students can complete them as a class. There's also a student reader. There's a story for every lesson. This is where students can apply the strategies that they're learning. So each lesson allows students to practice as well as apply.

Challenge words are another activity that the program provides. The Empower Reading Program gives teachers a large bank of challenge words. This is where students get to really get down to business. They get to use their strategies to decode a word. If you attach the word challenge to anything, most students are up for it. At the beginning of the program, they're a little timid. But by the time they get to the middle, and especially near the end when students have learned multiple strategies, they're literally fighting over who gets to take on the challenge word, and from my experience, in the Teacher Training Program, these are pretty challenging words.

Related References

Empower Reading Program: http://www.sickkids.ca/LDRP/Empower-Reading/index.html

Lovett, M. W., Lacerenza, L., & Borden, S.L. (2000). Putting struggling readers on the PHAST track: A program to integrate phonological and strategy-based remedial reading instruction and maximize outcomes. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(5), 458-476.

Lovett, M.W., Lacerenza, L., Borden, S.L., Frijters, J.C., Steinbach, K.A., & De Palma, M. (2000). Components of effective remediation for developmental reading disabilities: Combining phonological and strategy-based instruction to improve outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(2), 263-283.