Cycle 10

10.1 Sound Review

10.2 The Slow-Fast Game

Purpose and Procedure

Starting with this cycle, the Slow Game and the Fast Game are combined, so now students will repeat each word slowly and then say it fast.

This structure will continue until Cycle 52, when it will change into a true segmentation task in which the instructor will say a word the fast way, and the student will say it the slow way.

Correcting the Student

The following is the correction text to use in Slow-Fast Game tasks if a student makes a mistake when they are supposed to say a word slowly [example word: red]:

❖ If the student blends the word fast instead of saying it slowly, say: Say it slowly first…

❖ If the student pauses between the sounds, say: Don’t pause between the /rrr/ and the /ĕĕĕ/. Listen: /rrrĕĕĕd/. Take a deep breath, and we’ll say it together: /rrrĕĕĕd/. Good. Now by yourself…

❖ If the student shortens a continuous sound, say: Say that sound slowly. Listen: /rrrĕĕĕd/. Take a deep breath, and we’ll say it together: /rrrĕĕĕd/. Good. Now by yourself…

10.3 Rhyming

Purpose and Procedure

This task introduces onset-rime exercises.

One of the purposes of the Rhyming tasks is to prepare students for reading words that begin with quick sounds, but that will be undermined if you pause after the onset (the initial sound). Therefore, in these tasks, it is important to never pause between the onset and the rime (the rest of the word).

In the first couple of Rhyming tasks, a single word carries over from one page of the script to another. For example, you will begin saying Sam on one page and finish saying it on the other, allowing the content on the student pane to change while you say the word. So, you will hold the onset (the initial /sss/ sound) as you advance to the next page, then, without pausing, you’ll go right into saying the rime (the rest of the word: /ăm/) to finish saying the word Sam.

When the onset is a continuous sound, you’ll hold it for two seconds, but you should never say the rime slowly. Always say the rime “the fast way.”

Important Reminders

As always, read the example sentences after each word.

The routines of these exercises can take students some time to get used to, so, at the end of the task, make sure to repeat the steps for any words that required correction.

Correcting the Student

The following is the correction text to use if a student makes a mistake in a Rhyming task [example word: Sam]:

❖ If the student skips /sss/ and just says am, touch under the s, and say: Read this sound first, and then say am, like this: /sssăm/. Let’s touch and say it together: /sssăm/. Good. Your turn…

❖ If the student pauses between /sss/ and am, say: Don’t pause between /sss/ and am. Listen: /sssăm/. Let’s say it together: /sssăm/. Good. Now by yourself…

❖ If the student only reads /sss/ and doesn’t add am, say: Now say am. Listen: /sssăm/. Let’s say it together: /sssăm/. Good. Now by yourself…

10.4 Word Reading

10.5 Story Reading

Purpose and Procedure

This task introduces Word Finding exercises in which you ask students to point out particular words from a passage they have read. These exercises require a basic form of encoding because the student will need to hear the sounds of the word they are looking for, recall the symbols associated with those sounds, and then identify those symbols on the screen.

This task also introduces the routine of you modeling how to read story text fluently, or "the fast way." Make sure to do so with prosody (the normal rhythm of the language) and expression, and make sure that you model touching beneath the text even when you read it the fast way.

This task is also the first time that you will use the term “cycles” with the student.

10.6 Writing

Purpose and Procedure

You may have some students who are ready to skip the tracing and connecting-dots steps and go straight to writing letters on their own. To show that they are ready to skip those steps, it is NOT necessary that their lines are perfectly smooth and straight. It IS necessary that their strokes are in the correct order and direction and that the students are not picking up their writing utensil between strokes that are connected. (For example, they should pick up their writing utensil exactly once when writing a and zero times when writing m.)