Using Software to Support Your Response to Intervention Program

RTI (Response to Intervention) is a process used to shift educational focus away from identifying students as “learning disabled” toward the delivery and evaluation of targeted instruction. This process is designed to provide struggling students with a specific course of action to help them succeed. Reading intervention programs for elementary schools like those produced by Essential Skills provide schools with valuable tools that will support all stages of the RTI process.

 

The RTI Process

• Screen: Early recognition that a child is struggling is key to timely intervention. Some schools use standardized testing, but often it is the classroom teacher that may refer a child to an RTI. The use of a recognized online reading intervention program can provide valid, measurable information to support the referral.

• Teach: In the classroom, all teachers are highly qualified and are working from approved curricula. Teachers should use assessment tools to help them identify when a child may be struggling and take appropriate action.

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How Phonics Dominoes Can Help Build Language Skills

Can kids learn while they’re playing games? Word building and decoding are key elements in language acquisition. To become proficient requires repetition, review, and experimentation. These tasks are easier for parents and teachers to encourage when the student is engaged. There are many choices available to make learning fun. The best online phonics program will offer a variety of games and activities to play while learning.

 

 

What about a game of phonics dominoes? Each tile contains one consonant and a combination of two or three letters, so putting them together builds words, and provides the basic tools for many different spelling games.

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What Is the Fourth Grade Reading Slump?

 

It is no coincidence that at the age of 10 or so, many students seem to experience new challenges with reading.  Even kids who previously held high marks in reading may see a decline in grades and begin to feel more challenged by their lessons. This phenomenon, known as the “fourth grade reading slump” is a common occurrence with students at this grade level.

 

The fourth grade reading slump can be addressed using online reading programs for schools, but before tackling the issues, it is important to understand the cause of the problem. In the typical elementary school curriculum, students at the fourth grade are transitioning from “learning to read”, to “reading to learn”.  In other words, up until now the majority of literacy instruction was focused on helping students to develop their decoding and word recognition abilities (ie: letters represent sounds, different letter combinations make different sounds, different sound combinations create words).  But after the third grade, the focus moves to comprehension of texts and critical thinking about those texts. In other subjects, a greater weight is placed on using print text as learning materials. Therefore, it is understood that the benefits of using elementary reading programs online can extend to other subjects as well.

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Instill a Love of Reading in Students

There are many reasons to instill a lifelong love of reading in our kids. It builds their vocabulary of course and helps with areas such as language fluency. Students who love to read are likely to have a more expansive background knowledge on the subject at hand. But academics aside, a love of reading can open the doorway to unbridled imagination and virtually limitless potential. 

Teachers and parents can act as positive role models to reinforce a student’s enjoyment of reading during class, and outside school hours. Additionally, introducing compelling and interactive reading programs for schools can go a long way in promoting and encouraging independent reading in elementary students.  Here are some ways that elementary reading programs can be integrated into a routine that encourages a child’s love of reading: 

 

Make Reading Materials Interesting and Readily Available

Elementary classrooms are stocked with wonderful books, word walls, printed lessons, and interesting, interactive workbooks. Today, teachers are adding elementary reading programs online to their list of valuable literary resources. Using this type of comprehensive electronic reading material, students from pre-kindergarten to middle school will discover exciting lessons in phonics, spelling, reading, writing and so much more. The benefits of digital reading lessons are far-reaching: Students who utilize well-designed reading software are likely to spend more time reading independently and show higher levels of reading achievement. 

Essential Skills reading programs for schools are designed by teachers to support and foster the development of reading skills. They incorporate systematic and comprehensive activities that provide learners with the opportunity for extensive independent learning. Essential Skills activities are aligned with current research and utilize engaging rewards and interactive activities to encourage and motivate students.

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Essential Components Of Elementary Reading Programs

Teaching a child to read involves much more than simply recognizing words on a page. Proper literacy instruction is comprised of five essential and individual learning components which collectively contribute to the ability to read: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. When choosing elementary reading programs online, take time to carefully research the content to ensure that each of these five integral elements are addressed:

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemes are the sounds that are combined to make up words. The study of phonemes is often a child’s first step in the process of learning to read. The ability to identify and manipulate these sounds is known as phonemic awareness. Online reading programs for elementary schools can be an excellent resource for teaching and reinforcing phoneme sounds and building phonemic awareness. 

Phonics

Where phonemic awareness is focused solely on the sounds making up a word, phonics involves the combination of those sounds with letters. Phonics is the connection between sounds and letters, and it is the study of how sound and letter combinations create words. At this stage in the learning process, a student is able to identify sounds and recognize letters of the alphabet. This is when students begin to “see” sound combinations and then “sound out” words. The best elementary reading programs for schools use a variety of phonics exercises that incorporate both aural and visual elements. This makes online phonics programs highly effective with young learners.

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Helping Students with Autism Learn Through Technology

Students on the autism spectrum face unique learning challenges and possess extraordinary skills. Each child with Autism is different from the next, and there is no single reading program that will be the right fit for every student. Using technology for online and in-class lessons can be a great option for instructors, but only if they are able to identify and access the best quality reading instruction software. The most effective type of online reading program, Autism educators agree, is made up of carefully researched lesson plans and activities that are flexible enough to meet the individual needs of the greatest number of students.

Individualized Learning

The opportunity for targeted instruction and individualized curricula is so important in choosing the Special Ed reading programs that are best suited for teaching students with Autism. Choose software that incorporates an integrated assessment feature. This tool helps teachers develop programs that are tailored to meet each student’s specific needs and target any learning gaps.

Minimal Distraction

Instructional materials for Autism should be developed with very little animation or unnecessary distractions. The repetitive animations that are prevalent on many tech-based reading programs tend to consume instructional time and can easily over-stimulate a student with Autism. Educational software should provide engaging, focused instruction with minimal distraction.

Adaptable to Varied Abilities

Reading software that uses a blend of activities will benefit a greater number of students. The combination of auditory, visual, and tactile activities should be appealing to students of varying learning styles and levels of ability, without overwhelming them. Further, tech-based Special Ed reading programs should present skill activities in a graduated and sequential pattern that allows students to build on what was learned previously. This pattern of learning helps to guarantee success for students of all abilities.

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Educational Software in the 21st Century Classroom

Learning in an “age of technology” presents students and teachers with educational advantages that previous generations could only imagine. By using technology as a learning tool, students have access to a virtually unlimited universe of people, places, music, art, science and more, all at their fingertips. 

There are a number of ways that implementing educational software for schools can enhance the learning experience. By nature, children are eager to learn and many if not most kids are already adept at using electronic devices by the time they reach school age. With this level of comfort and familiarity already in place, offering students access to electronics and educational software solutions for schools in the classroom can create a familiar and comfortable learning environment for students.

Classroom Tech for K-8 Students

• The use of laptops and handheld devices as regular classroom tools can help students become interested and remain engaged in learning activities. Children as young as toddlers use smartphones and tablets to play games and watch videos, so they will find some familiarity and a level of comfort in using these products in the classroom setting as well.


• Students of all abilities can use educational software for schools with great success. The lesson plans available on leading education software are designed to allow students to learn at their individual pace and achieve their full potential while helping teachers identify areas that require additional support.   

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