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Is the PRC written for a particular grade level, or levels?No, this is not a graded series. The series is arranged in sequential cumulative units. This series - in it’s entirety - has been used successfully to teach reading skills to second graders, adults, and all ages in between. Students and adults will be able to read any word the encounter at school, work, or play, even if they don’t yet know the word’s meaning. Back to Top My student has had some previous phonics-based instruction. Can I start in the middle of the program?No! The program is a chained, sequential, and cumulative design. The first five units form the foundation for the program. Starting in the middle or leaving out units will break that chain and render the program ineffective. Back to Top Since the PRC is primarily a learning-to-read (decoding) program, aren't the students being short-changed so far as comprehension skills are concerned?No. Students who have completed this series have consistently demonstrated impressive growth on standardized reading achievement tests which measure comprehension (reading-to-learn) skills. The decoding-disabled (dyslexics and undiagnosed poor decoders), whose strengths at the representational (meaningful) level are sound, only need to learn-to-read. Back to Top Exactly how is the oral reading material organized?Oral Reading is the fourth exercise in every daily lesson, and is preceded
by learning
Students will learn how to sequence letter-sounds from left to right within syllables, and accented and unaccented syllables within words. Each unit's oral reading material includes learned sight words and phonetic one-syllable and multisyllabic words comprised of only the letter-sounds of that unit and previous units, making all words readable with no need to guess. The organization and the reading material that follow each list result in easy teaching and easy learning. In each unit, the word lists are arranged as follows:
This pattern continues in each unit through words of four, five, six , seven syllables. Primary and secondary syllables are underlined in word lists but not in the text that follows. Underlining visually separates accented syllables from unaccented syllables, resulting in easier accurate decoding. Words within a list, when possible, are subdivided into similar or identical groupings. For example:
A summary of the Oral Reading content in most units can be found in the
PRODUCTS page. Aren’t the big, long (multisyllabic) words in the program way over the head of some students? They won’t know the meaning of many of the words.The student’s reading problems are rooted in reading words accurately, not in comprehending meaning. When this DECODING problem is solved, they will COMPREHEND what they read because their speaking and listening vocabularies are much larger. Like those of us who have no decoding problem, they’ll begin to learn the meanings of words by reading them in context. After all, none of us learned the meaning of every word we know by looking it up in the dictionary! You’ll find hidden benefit to this approach, too. Self esteem and overall confidence in themselves improves, as students that were ashamed or sensitive about being “not as good as” their classmates will now be able to read words that are beyond their peers. Back to Top What is the significance of CHAIN in Phonetic Reading Chain?Robert Gagne's chaining concept permeates the entire PRC series. All exercises of the daily format correspond directly to each point Gagne makes regarding links and chains, the ultimate point being that the learning of chains needs to have a satisfying outcome, which is the fact that students know they are reading words accurately, a unique experience for them. The satisfying outcome is much appreciated by the students, teachers and parents. This chained approach is what makes The Phonetic Reading Chain both unique and successful. For example, orthodontist and informant are included in the or unit (Unit 12) because all phonetic elements included therein have been taught. However, the or words absorbency, aorta, and notorious will not be included until Units 26, 27A, and 36 respectively. when soft c, long a, and the ious ending are taught. Back to Top What is the reaction of the older students and adults?Because the program is not grade-based, adults don’t feel the content is “beneath them” or insults their intelligence. There are intentionally no distracting child-oriented pictures. As they read the first units, they realize they are actually learning to read. They begin experiencing positive feelings about themselves which had almost, if not totally, disappeared during the previous years of repeated failure in learning to read. Back to Top How long, on average, will it take to complete the entire program?This depends on many factors unique to each classroom or, in the case
of tutoring, the individual student. These include:
Assuming one (1) hour of instruction per day, you can expect to cover all the material in 200 instructional days. Back to Top When tutoring, what is the suggested lesson duration and frequency?One (1) hour daily when school is in session is highly recommended. Students need daily reinforcement of decoding skills, continuity, and practice. Those who need this program have not received the instruction necessary to master their other subjects, so they need to "catch up" as quickly as possible. Back to Top The thought of teaching my child to read scares me. Is the program difficult to teach?You were also nervous when teaching your child to do many things as he or she was growing up. Few learning experiences are as well documented as the PRC, and you will find there is no greater reward than to bring the gift of reading to your child. The daily exercises have been carefully designed to reinforce what has already been learned, so the program builds its own momentum, and the student actually helps move the learning process along. Your child’s enthusiasm and self confidence will grow before your eyes. Of course, if you prefer, the lessons can be taught by a tutor. Back to Top What if I start the program and feel I’m way over my head?You are never alone. This program was written out of compassion for those who had been left behind after the existing programs had failed them. This child-first attitude is apparent in the devotion of the author, and to the experienced tutors you will have access to. They are there to help you and your child be successful! Back to Top What is the recommended classroom composition?Placement has nothing to do with intelligence, but everything to do with the severity of the student’s decoding disability. Placement decisions should be based on the number of misread words, percentage grades, and types of errors noted on the diagnostic test. Seriously decoding-disabled students, who can move more rapidly through the 38 units, must not be placed in a slower-paced group of grossly decoding-disabled students. Both of these groups can be composed of more then one grade level, as long as the age range is not more than three years. Class size should be kept to ten students or less. Back to Top What are the observable differences between seriously and grossly decoding-disabled students?Seriously decoding-disabled students are those who:
Grossly decoding-disabled students are those who:
How do I know if the student’s problem is the inability to decode words accurately or simply that he/she does not comprehend the subject matter?A teacher usually realizes that certain students are not learning to read as one would expect, based on the teacher's observation and the students' obvious intelligence, but may not see any concrete evidence until a low grade level or percentile score is seen on a Standardized Reading Achievement Test. However, this low score does not determine whether the root cause is a decoding or a comprehension problem. The most effective way of determining the answers to these questions is to administer an appropriate Oral Reading Diagnostic Test to the low scorers, a test that includes all combinations of letters that make one sound, such as initial blends, digraphs, diphthongs, and word endings such as -ous, -nt, -ct, tial, cial, tion, sion, -ble, dle etc. and all single letter-sound associations. The students who decode correctly and consistently can then be evaluated with tests pertaining to comprehension so as to determine the extent of that aspect of learning to read. Back to Top |
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