What happened when an experienced literacy teacher in a large adult learning service tried a structured phonics program with his learners?
Literacy and Behaviour
Sometimes, working with young people living chaotic lives, you only get a very short time to make a difference. Here’s what only 4 hours of That Reading Thing can do.
Phonics Results for Secondary Students
What kind of results can you expect from an age-appropriate linguistic phonics programme in a large urban secondary school?
‘I don’t do education’
A woman from the Basic Skills Agency insisted, ‘You can’t just sit a young offender down at a table and teach them to read.’
Improved literacy is life-changing
In Ireland and was told he was dyslexic; in England he was told he had a learning disability; teachers found him difficult; college tutors treated him as stupid.
Where reading can take you
Choosing text for struggling readers – start with what they know and take them somewhere less familiar. Raise your expectations and see where reading can take you.
Four, Floor, Flour – reading visually similar words
Many dyslexic adults can read a lot but experience anxiety when required to read aloud, so I decided to practise reading Trivial Pursuit question cards. The difficult bit was not what I expected.
Reading and Spelling with a ‘Visual Learner’
Pete was formally diagnosed as severely dyslexic. He reads well but his spelling is a huge embarrassment to him.
Phonics for ESOL/EAL
Here’s a great anecdote for anyone wondering if That Reading Thing works with ESOL teens.
A conversation with Amy
How do you get from ‘I hate reading’ to ‘I bought a book’?
Amy was in Year 10, almost 15, very artistic, and refused to read even one multi-syllable basic code word on the TRT assessment. ‘I don’t read words like that.’
Phonics isn’t enough
I once had a call from a TRT trained teacher who told me it was going well, but the boys were getting through all of the TRT Levels without making much improvement in their reading. That’s not the most thrilling news I’d ever heard so thought I’d see if the problem was with TRT or with the way it was being delivered.
Is Anyone Unteachable?
Is anyone really unteachable? This young man, 25 years old, who came to us because his grandmother heard someone talking about That Reading Thing.