I have for years been successful teaching children to read for details and to evaluate and understand what they read. 

One example:

A 5th grader entered my free reading program.  He was reading between 2nd and 3rd grade with very low comprehension.  He was also having trouble with aggressive behavior at school.  After only 21 weeks of one-hour, once-a-week tutoring using vowel clustering, he was reading at the 6th grade level with strong comprehension scores.

I used the vowel clustering program as written in my newest book, Why Can’t We Teach Children to Read?
 
When you train children to read for details, their comprehension scores increase, their understanding of the material that they read is much better. 

Let’s look at an example.  Since we are all scurrying around getting ready for Christmas, I decided to use a Christmas example.
 
One program that I use this time of year is my Christment Workshop.  A Christment is an ornament made from beads and chenille stems. As shown in the picture, the Christment tree tells the story of Christmas.  Children (even 4-year-olds) can make a simple ornament.  My books provide step-by-step directions, patterns, and pictures.  Each ornament is graded by skill level needed for completion, so that all ages may be included.
 
Following step-by-step directions is one of the best ways to build comprehension skills. 
 
Yes, you actually help students learn to comprehend what they are reading when they apply what they read to a hands-on project.  Almost any hands-on project works.

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For more information on teaching comprehension skills, see:  Reading Comprehension
https://www.groupcentered.com/reading-blog/reading-comprehension
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Christments are easy to make, and the children love making them.
 
These simple ornaments may be used at home by families, in the classroom by teachers, or even in assisted living facilities with seniors who are working on building their skills.
 
I’ve even used the beaded candle ornaments from the Christment books at my reading clinic.  Candles are not necessarily related just to church.  The children practice reading, following directions, and comprehending what they are reading as they make the candles.  And yes, we have fun as well as learn.
 
My group made simple candles and took them home to hang in their bedroom window as a suncatcher.  The candles of course also work on the Christmas tree.  The point is that you are teaching comprehension skills.  These are skills that all children, teens, and adults need to learn.
 
For more about my Christment tree books and other publications, click below to the link to my books. 

This candle is also easy to make, but it has a few more steps to follow.  The challenge is perfect for elementary age children.  Children simply follow the directions and patterns in The Christment Tree, Volume 2. 
​​

Teenagers enjoy making this candle.  However, several elementary age children have followed the step-by-step directions in The Christment Tree, Volume 1, and made this candle as well.  The idea is to teach comprehension by following directions. 

On October 24th, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released scores for 8th graders for 2022.  The NCES was not testing during the early days of the pandemic, so this is the first Nation’s Report Card for 8th grade since 2019.  Eighth grade math scores dropped by 8 points and reading scores dropped by 3 points. 
 
The big question is always, why did scores drop?
 
Many journalists and social media users immediately blamed COVID and school closures for the drop in test scores. Yet, that does not tell us the entire picture.  There’s more to the problem.
 
Neither the pandemic nor online instruction is the primary reason for the decline in test scores.
 
 
What is the real cause of the decline in reading scores?
 
Let’s look a little further and see what the experts are saying.  Since my research and work is in reading, I will comment only on reading scores.
  
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said,
 
"What we’re seeing today isn’t just the impacts of the pandemic.  ... the data prior to the pandemic did not reflect an education system that was on the right track.  The pandemic simply made that worse.  It took poor performance – and dropped it down even further."
 
Why would Secretary Cardona say this?  Let’s look at a NCES graph that demonstrates exactly what Secretary Cardona is talking about. 

On October 12th, the ACT released dismal news.  More than 40% of graduating seniors in 2022 did not meet any of the college-readiness benchmarks—English, reading, math, and science.
 
The ACT press release stated,
 
“The national average ACT Composite score for the high school class of 2022 was 19.8, the lowest average score in more than three decades, according to data released today by ACT, the nonprofit organization that administers the college readiness exam. It is the first time since 1991 that the average ACT Composite score was below 20.0.”
 
Most of the news media eagerly jumped to blame the pandemic.  And yes, if you only read that one statement, you might agree.  Afterall, ACT is reporting the lowest scores since 1991, and COVID did play a role. But is COVID the real cause of the problem?  Keep reading.  
 
As Janet Godwin, ACT CEO goes on to explain in the news release, there’s a bigger problem than just the pandemic.  She explains,
 
“This is the fifth consecutive year of declines in average scores, a worrisome trend that began long before the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic….”  
 
That’s right, scores were declining before COVID even existed.  Scores have been declining since 2017.  Godwin goes on to clarify her reason for concern,
 
“The magnitude of the declines this year is particularly alarming, as we see rapidly growing numbers of seniors leaving high school without meeting the college-readiness benchmark in any of the subjects we measure. These declines are not simply a byproduct of the pandemic. They are further evidence of longtime systemic failures that were exacerbated by the pandemic.”
 
Indeed, she insists that we can’t just go back to the way things were before COVID:
 
“A return to the pre-pandemic status quo would be insufficient and a disservice to students and educators. These systemic failures require sustained collective action and support for the academic recovery of high school students as an urgent national priority and imperative.”
 
Godwin clearly states that the problem is not just COVID.  Yes, COVID contributed.  The problem, however, is a long history of failure.  In education, the term “systemic failure” means the school’s ability to help those in need.  This includes special needs students as well as students who are failing because of teaching methods that do not meet their learning requirements.
 
“Slightly less than one-third of ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2022 (32%) met at least three out of four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. More than 40% of ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2022 (42%) met none of the benchmarks.” 
  
We do not yet have the Nation’s Report Card scores for 2022 for high school students, but let’s go back and look at 2019.  The Nation’s Report Card only shows data from 1992 to 2015 for 12th graders, but for that period, there is no significant improvement in reading scores—almost a total stagnated flat line.  COVID did not exist from 1992 to 2015.  We must look for something besides COVID to blame.  The blame lies with teaching methods in the classroom.
 
What will it take to convince school administrators and politicians that we have a “teaching method” problem?  As with the 4th graders, it’s not just COVID.  It’s the way we are teaching in the schools.  The effect of failing teaching methods starts on Day 1 and follows students all the way through high school. 
 
Followers of my blog have seen how poor teaching methods have harmed children who are learning to read. 

Earlier Post: Why Does Phonics Education Fail? 

“In the juvenile court system, 85% of adolescents and youth seen by the courts are classified as functionally illiterate and unable to read.  Two-thirds of students who cannot read at grade level by the end of 4th grade show a high probability of failure….”
 
The Department of Justice has even gone as far as to say that academic failure, school delinquency, violent behavior, and crime are “…welded to reading failure.”

Extensive research shows that academic failure has a direct link with adolescent violence and crime.  Reading failure is one of the main causes of academic failure.  Weak word decoding skills, and low comprehension in reading have been labeled as strong predictors of violent and destructive behavior, hyperactivity, and anti-social actions.  Preventing academic failure is one of the key tools used for reducing violent and aggressive behavior.
 
But violence is not the only consequence of reading failure. As I explained in a 2019 book chapter: 
 
“The negative emotions or negative classroom events that surround reading failure increase the chances of mental illness.”
 
Students react to failure in different ways. Still, even though every student is unique and learns in a specific way, we can teach every student to read.  So, why aren’t we?  There is no reason for reading failure, other than society’s refusal to change the way we teach struggling students to read.

Here is a preview of a vowel chart from my new book on vowel clustering. Students can match words with vowel sounds. 

[Preview starts from p. 84] Copyright © Elaine Clanton Harpine  ​

A reader asked yesterday, “Just what is vowel clustering?  I’ve never heard of it.”   
 
Let’s begin by defining vowel clustering.  Vowel clustering teaches students to decode and encode letter sounds to pronounce and read words.  Children are taught to sound words out letter by letter or by sound cluster instead of guessing.  A cluster is a group of things (in this case letters) occurring closely together.   Vowel clustering emphasizes learning the lowercase alphabet and sounding out letter sounds and combinations of letter sounds.  Students never memorize word lists or phonics rules.   
 
Is vowel clustering similar to phonics? 
No, vowel clustering is not the same as phonics.  With vowel clustering, there are no rules to memorize, and students are never allowed to guess at a word. Vowel clustering teaches students to decode, that is, to break words down into individual letter sounds or sound clusters and then to encode or reassemble those sounds back into pronounceable words.  Vowel clustering method teaches spelling, handwriting, oral reading fluency, comprehension, and story writing.  I teach vowel clustering in all of my reading programs.  Vowel clustering has been tested and proven to work with struggling, at-risk, and failing students for over 20 years.  One student, who failed for nine years using balanced literacy and phonics, learned to read in 3 ½ years using vowel clustering.  I have even had struggling students move up four grade levels in one year using vowel clustering.  These were students who had failed multiple years in schools that taught whole language, balanced literacy, and phonics.  So yes, we can teach students to read, but to do so, we must change the methods that we use to teach reading.  
 
Does vowel clustering focus on letter sounds?  
Yes, vowel clustering simply means to teach words by sounds rather than by rules.  Vowel clustering directly connects letters and sounds—no pictures.  Students learn to identify letter sounds by matching letters and sounds together. Vowel clustering works with the brain’s oral language system. 
 
One mistake some people make in teaching letter sounds is to teach children by the first letter in a word, saying these words are similar:  bell, bike, ball, book.  Unfortunately, although each of these words starts with the same consonant sound—the letter B—the brain does not organize words by beginning letter sounds.  When you introduce new words that contain several vowel sounds, as in the example above, it confuses children who are struggling to read.  The brain identifies words by the word’s vowel sounds.  Therefore, we need to teach children to read by using words that have common vowel sounds:  at, back, cat, fat, hat, mat….  If we teach using the organizational structure that the brain uses, it makes it easier for at-risk students to learn.  That is what vowel clustering does.   
 
The children in my reading clinic learn to decode and encode words by vowel sounds.  For example, the letter A has 7 sounds and 22 different letter combinations to make those sounds.  Vowel clustering also teaches all of the sounds for a vowel in a cluster.  With the letter A, the children learn all seven sounds used by letter A and the 22 different letter combinations that can be used to make those seven sounds.   
 
In contrast, the traditional phonics approach was to teach the “short vowel sounds” and then the “long vowel sounds using silent e.”  The other sounds were called “irregular sounds,” but irregular vowel sounds confuse children the most.  Teaching vowels in clusters teaches children to learn all of the sounds for each vowel in an organized pattern.  It’s easier and less confusing, and it works directly with how the brain assimilates and organizes letter sounds—connecting synapses and building pathways.   
 
Does vowel clustering work? 
 Yes, at all of my reading clinics, all of my students learn using vowel clustering.  Let me share a few success stories: 
 
A student who failed for nine straight years in public school is now reading.
          
A student diagnosed with ADHD and failing in reading moved up two grade levels in one year.          
 
A student diagnosed with dyslexia and whose parents tried everything, including expensive private one-on-one tutoring in phonics, learned to read, and moved up to beginning chapter books in one year.
          
Six children who entered the program reading at the (pre-K) level ended the year reading at the 2nd grade reading level.  Only one child in the group was a first grader.
          
One student started at the pre-K level and ended the year reading at the third-grade level, while a second grader started the year reading below first grade and ended at the fourth-grade level.
          
One student moved up four grade levels in reading, four students moved up three grade levels in reading, and eight students moved up two grade levels in reading.  
 
The next year, 2 students moved up four grade levels in reading, 3 students moved up three grade levels in reading, and 6 students moved up two grade levels in reading.  

While I was talking with a teacher last week, she said, “I’ve tried everything, nothing works.  What do I do?  I’ve used all the new phonics techniques, reading recovery, everything….” 
 
Many teachers and parents bring students to my reading clinics saying just those words.  When you consider that reading scores just dropped another 5 points (Remember, scores dropped 2 points in 2019 before COVID.) and that more than 60% of students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade cannot read at the proficiency level, it is no wonder that teachers, parents, tutors, and students are frustrated about reading failure. 
 
As the young teacher asked, what should we do? 

 
Neuroimaging scientific research says that, to teach students to read, teaching methods must connect with the oral language system. 

_____________________
 
For more on the Nation’s Report Card scores, see:  The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released the first set of scores for 2022. They are not good. What does that mean for children in the classroom? 
_____________________
 
In Part 1 of this series, we are looking at what science has to say about the role of the oral language system in teaching students to read.
 
Since schools and the Internet are buzzing with talk about what scientific research says about teaching reading, let’s start by looking at some actual scientific research findings.

 
Scientific Research on Reading
 
The oral language system is how we communicate verbally (spoken rather than written).  We use spoken words to explain what we know, the information that we have learned.  We also use oral language to express ideas, opinions, and beliefs.  Oral language also includes the way we express our emotions and feelings, and how we interpret meaning.  Oral language is not written; it is derived from vocal sounds and from our oral communication experiences.  For example, a toddler can communicate orally and understand your oral communication, but most toddlers cannot read.  Reading is not something children learn naturally just by listening to others read.  Reading is a skill that must be taught.
 
Dr. Sally Shaywitz, M. D., author of Overcoming Dyslexia, who specializes in working with struggling students and students diagnosed with dyslexia, says that,

 
“In order to read, a child must ‘enter the language system;’ this means that the child must activate and use the brain circuits that are already in place for oral language…. tens of thousands of neurons carrying the phonological messages necessary for language… Connect to form the resonating networks that make skilled reading possible….” (pp. 59-68).
 
We activate the oral language system that Dr. Shaywitz mentioned by the way we teach letter-sound relationships. 
 
As Dr. Shaywitz goes on to explain, “Children do not learn to read by memorizing a word list.  Most children, especially those who struggle in reading, do not learn to read by memorizing phonics rules.” (p. 78)
 
Therefore, if you are teaching in the classroom or tutoring a student, you must use teaching methods that actually connect with the oral language system, otherwise your teaching and tutoring will not be effective, especially for those who struggle the most in reading.
 
 
Do phonics and whole language connect with the oral language system?
 
No, they do not.  Whole language does not teach letter sound relationships at all, and phonics focuses on letters rather than sounds.  Therefore, neither of these methods connects with the oral language system.  Let’s look at some actual scientific research.

In his book, , Equipped for Reading Success, David A. Kilpatrick explains why.
 
“Most people assume that words are stored in visual memory. Many teaching approaches [phonics and whole language] presume this. We assume that if students see the words enough, they will learn them. This is not true. Children with reading problems often cannot remember new words, even after many exposures.”  (pp. 29-30).

 
Why does whole language not connect with the oral language system?
 
Whole language focuses on “look-say” techniques and learning sight words. 
 
Whole language stresses whole words not letter sounds.  Therefore, whole language does not connect with the oral language system. 
 
We do not have a rolodex of words indexed in our brains.  The brain does not have the ability to store whole words.  The brain only stores words by sound.
 

We’ll talk more about how the brain records and stores sounds in Part 2, but if you’d like more information, read:  How the Brain Sorts Out Speech Sounds
 
For now, we’ll stay focused on the oral language system.

Scientific research in reading has tested the superiority of teaching letter sounds vs. teaching memorization of whole words.  Neuroimaging scientific research directly compared whole language and teaching letter sounds or phonemes.

 
Yoncheva, Wise, and McCandliss (2015) conducted a study using the word cat:

“… teaching students to sound out ‘C-A-T’ sparks more optimal brain circuitry than instructing them to memorize the word ‘cat.’ [thereby concluding that] “… different instructional approaches to the same material may impact changes in brain circuitry.”

This neuroimaging research study showed that it is much better to teach students to sound out the word cat (one letter sound at a time) than to teach students to memorize or simply recognize the word cat.  The proof is in the neuroimaging pictures.  Neuroimaging scientific research directly compared whole language and teaching letter sounds.  Whole language failed; it doesn’t connect. Teaching letter sounds connected to the oral language system and was very successful.  
 
Even though the word cat only has three distinct phonemes or sounds, students still need to break it into letter sounds. Yes, this is true even for simple one-syllable words like cat. It is better to teach students to sound out each letter sound, one letter at a time than to memorize or try to teach through repetition.  Sounding out letter sounds becomes essential for multisyllabic or compound words. 
 
There are no rules to learn when learning phonemes and sounds, and students are never asked to guess at a word or to memorize a word list.  Students are taught to break all words down into individual letter sounds or sound clusters (decode) and then put those letter sounds back together and read or pronounce the word (encode). 
 
 
Why does phonics not connect with the oral language system?
 
Neuroimaging research shows that phonics does not teach letter-sound relationships in the same way that the brain processes them.  Phonics focuses on letters; the brain focuses on sounds.  As we have discussed before, struggling students will most likely not be able to learn to read from either whole language techniques or systematic phonics. 
 
_____________________

For more about this research, see:  Tutoring Hint #8:  Stick with Real Scientific Research in Reading.  Do Not Fall for Gimmicks.  Scientific Research Is Helpful for Tutoring. 
_____________________
 
Some people may be saying that they teach phonemes or sounds in preschool or kindergarten and then I switch to phonics in first grade.  Wrong.  That's not what the research says.
 
Even the National Reading Panel (2000), said teaching letter-sounds was more than just teaching phonemes in kindergarten. 
 
 Yes, the National Reading Panel talks about phonics, but if you look more closely the panel actually tested three teaching methods, not just whole language and phonics.  The panel also tested phonemic awareness as a teaching method.
 
The term “phonemic awareness” has become distorted in schools.  Many teachers tell me, “That’s just learning sounds.”  Wrong.  As indicated by this quote from the National Reading Panel, phonemic awareness is a teaching method.
 
“… teaching students to manipulate phonemes with letters yields larger effects than teaching students without letters, …. PA [phonemic awareness] training is more effective when children are taught to use letters to manipulate phonemes. This is because knowledge of letters is essential for transfer to reading and spelling."
 
 
Therefore, when we teach letter sounds, we need to teach students phonemes using letters instead of just oral sounds.  Students need to match the actual letter with the sound. 
 
When you are teaching do not match letter sounds to pictures, instead match letter sounds to letters without a picture.  You want students to learn to associate the oral sound with the written letter, not a picture.  We read with words not pictures.  If you are tutoring, this is where manipulatives (letter tiles, letter cards) can really be helpful, but do not match the sound to a picture.  Match the sound to the letter without a picture. 
 
Yes, scientific research has tested the effectiveness of teaching letter sounds instead of teaching phonics.  In 2016, Sebastian Suggate conducted a study comparing 71 phonemic and phonics intervention groups.  He found that: 

“… phonemic awareness interventions [letter sounds attached to oral language system] showed good maintenance of effect…. phonics and fluency interventions … tended not to.”

  
Why are we not using teaching methods that connect with the oral language system?
 
If both whole language and phonics do not connect with the oral language system and teaching methods must connect with the oral language system in order for students to learn to read, then is science research in reading actually telling us that we should change how we teach students to read?  What teaching methods should we be using instead of whole language and phonics?
 
Neuroimaging research has changed how science views reading.  As Dr. Kilpatrick explains,
 
“Today scientists can actually watch the brain as it works to read; scientist can actually track the printed word as it is perceived as a visual icon and then transformed into the sounds (phonemes) of language and simultaneously interpreted from the meaning that is stored within the brain” (pp. 59-68).
 
Dr. Kilpatrick continues: 

“Understanding why words sound different is phonemic awareness.” (p. 16)

“… phonemic awareness is not “optional” if one wants to be a good reader.”  (p. 16)
“Phonemic awareness is a linguistic skill that is essential for learning to read. It is different from phonics….”  (p. 18)

“The vast majority of students with word recognition difficulties lack sufficient phonemic awareness.”  (p. 35)

 
So, as Dr. Kilpatrick states, phonemic awareness and phonics are not the same. Remember, we need phonemic awareness to tie into our oral language system. So, how should we teach students to use the oral language system?  I use vowel clustering.
 
  
Teaching Letter Sounds
 
Teaching letter sounds and connecting to the oral language system is much more effective for teaching students to read than phonics teaching techniques.  I have also found this to be true in my own research with vowel clustering. 
 
Vowel clustering teaches letter sounds and connects to the oral language system.
 
Study 1:  Camp Sharigan with children of Mexican descent from an inner-city neighborhood
 
Randomly selected students participated in my Camp Sharigan week-long, 10-hour after-school reading program.  Compared with students from the same after-school program who participated in homework help and one-on-one systematic phonics tutoring, the Camp Sharigan students showed significantly more improvement than the phonics/homework group in spelling, reading, sight words, and comprehension.  After follow-up testing one year later, results showed that the Camp Sharigan students were still scoring higher.  Camp Sharigan is only a one-week program.  There was no follow-up intervention, just retesting.  Camp Sharigan uses vowel clustering.

 
Study 2:  Camp Sharigan with children from a suburban public school

Students participating in the reading clinic

“… showed significant improvement in reading, spelling, and sight word recognition, while students in the control group showed no improvement in any category.  In fact, students in the experimental group actually surpassed students in the control group for all three outcomes, indicating that the immediate effects of the intervention were quite substantial.”

​From the results of the study as described in  Chapter 3, we see that the experimental group (the Camp Sharigan students) showed substantial improvement over the homework/phonics group. ​The bar graphs show the number of errors, or the number missed by students in each group.  Notice how much the Camp Sharigan students improved.

The Internet and the news media are buzzing with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) scores released on September the 1st.  In case you haven't heard, reading scores for 4th graders dropped five points.  Yes, this was a drastic drop that is quickly being blamed on COVID.  But is the pandemic the only problem?
________________
 
For the actual report, see:  The Nation’s Report Card Shows a Major Drop in Reading Scores.  Why?
________________

The 2022 test scores are low, yes, partly because of COVID, but mostly because of the way reading is taught in the classroom—teaching method.  Notice, I did not say teachers, I said teaching method.

 
Exactly what went wrong and who is to blame? 
 
Yes, the sudden five-point drop in reading scores for 4th graders between 2020 and 2022 was mostly caused by the pandemic.  Let's face it, for the past 2 ½ years school classrooms have been in turmoil.  So, the drop in reading scores should not be a surprise to anyone.
 
The question is, where we place the blame?
 
Was online teaching to blame?

Online teaching can be effective. Again, it depends on how you were teaching online.  What kind of curriculum were you using?  Let me give an example.  When the lockdown was first announced, I was teaching at my reading clinic where two students had just moved up two grade levels in reading using vowel clustering after only 48 hours of instruction.  Both of these students had entered my reading clinic reading below grade level. 
 
During the lockdown, I began teaching online.  I'm a group specialist.  I design psychological educational programs that emphasize the therapeutic healing power of working together in groups.  Therefore, teaching online was totally new for me, as it was for many teachers.  No, the way that I taught at my reading clinic did not just automatically transfer to online teaching. 
 
One student who I worked with during the lockdown was a full year behind.  This was a very bright student who always attended in-class instruction before the lockdown.  There were no diagnoseable learning difficulties and the student was not dyslexic.  But the student was a year behind before the pandemic.  During the lockdown, the school sent home stacks and stacks of worksheets, sometimes videos to watch online, and sometimes nothing at all. 
 
Worksheets do not teach. We have years and years of research that document that if a student does not already know the information, a worksheet will not teach it to them.  I had to start creating online curricula.  The next year, the parents took the option to enroll the student in an actual online program with curriculum that was written to be used online.  I continued to work with the student.  It was hard because the online curriculum assumed that the student was at grade level.  The student was not, but the student actually covered two years of learning in one year with online curriculum.  The student not only caught up to grade level but moved ahead.
 
So no, I do not believe that online teaching is to blame for a 5-point drop in reading scores.  Once again, the problem is the method that we use to teach reading, regardless of whether it be online or in the classroom.  Teaching method, not teachers and not poverty, is the cause of reading failure.

 
Won’t simply returning students to the classroom solve the problem?
 
No, returning students solves nothing.  Just sitting in a classroom is not what enables students to learn.  Research shows that curriculum can be one of the most important ways that schools can help students learn because when you select a reading textbook, you are also selecting a teaching method.  
 
As Matt Chingos and Grover Whitehurst stated in their Brown Center on Education at Brookings report,
 
“Students learn principally through their interactions with people … and instructional materials….”

When schools select a failed or disproven teaching method, they are contributing to reading failure.  Reading failure leads to academic failure.  A student who cannot read cannot excel in social studies, in science, or even in math.  Reading is essential; therefore, schools must select curriculum that will enable teachers to teach children to read: all children.  Just putting our students back in the classroom is not enough.

 
The question is, how are we teaching students to read in the classroom? 
 
I’m a psychologist.  Since reading failure is one of the root causes for mental health concerns, I must teach students how to read in order to help them correct the mental and psychological problems they are facing.  I cannot use a failing teaching method.  In many instances, I am working with struggling and/or failing students.  Students come to my program because they have failed in the classroom using whole language, balanced literacy, and even systematic phonics.  They have lost confidence; they no longer believe it’s possible for them to learn to read. Students need a teaching method that restores their self-efficacy (belief that they can learn again) by teaching them to read effectively.  I use vowel clustering.  I do not use phonics, whole language, cueing, guessing, reading recovery, or any other method presently being used in most public-school classrooms. 
 
Why not? 
 
Because the schools have tried these different methods with the students who I teach, and the methods have failed.  Students need a teaching method that will help them learn to read and be successful in the classroom.
 
Let’s look at another table from the NCES that charts how well students were reading before the pandemic.  This particular graph does not include the new 2022 scores.  You will recall from the earlier NCES chart that reading scores dropped from 220 in 2020 to 215 in 2022.

 
What does this chart tell us?
 
This graph shows how poorly our teaching methods have been working since 1992.  There is very little improvement.  This graph also shows that the 2020 scores are not the first drop in reading scores.  Look at 2019—a two point drop. 

So far, only the 4th grade scores have been released, so let’s look at those. For 4th grade, we see that the average reading score in 2019 was 220 which was two points lower than the average score in 2017 (222).  Why did scores drop?  Students were in the classroom.  We had full in-class instruction.  This was before COVID.  A 2019 survey of more than 600 elementary schools blamed the drop on balanced literacy teaching methods—a mixture of whole language and phonics. 
 
As one report stated,

“A 2019 survey of more than 600 elementary-school teachers by Education Week found that more than two-thirds used a balanced-literacy philosophy, although most also said they incorporated “a lot” of phonics.” 
 
In 2001, No Child Left Behind established that all students, pre-kindergarten through high school, should be at the proficient level for their grade by 2014.  We fell short of that goal.
 
Proficient level on the NCES scale means students are able to read at or above grade level.  Not proficient identifies students reading below grade level.
 
From 1991 to 2019, reading scores have improved very little.  Again, teaching methods.
The problem is not just COVID or the 2022 drop in reading scores.  Reading failure and below proficient scores have been a long-standing problem. We’re doing something wrong.  We need to change how we teach reading, especially since more than 60% of 4th graders could not read at the proficient level in 2019.

______________
 
For more on the 2017 and 2019 scores, see:  Reading Wars are Over!  Phonics Failed.  Whole Language Failed.  Balanced Literacy Failed. Who Won?  It Certainly Wasn’t the Students.
______________

 
What teaching methods are schools now using?
 
 
During the lockdown and even today as students return to the classroom, some schools rely heavily on worksheets.  As one author explained,
 
“A worksheet does not teach, no matter how hard you believe they do, they just don’t. Children, young children especially, need time to explore concepts and manipulate materials in order to learn. A cut and paste worksheet on the life cycle of a butterfly is really just giving them cutting practice, not teaching them about the life cycle.”

“Hands on learning benefits all learning styles, even those kids who love to write.”

 
Researchers have been studying worksheets for years.  Harris Cooper, Jorgianne Civey Robinson, and Erika A Patall  conducted a study entitled, Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003. 

Combining their research on worksheets with their focus on homework, they concluded that worksheets do not teach.  Unless the student already knows the material being covered on the worksheet, the student will learn absolutely nothing from the worksheet, except frustration and a sense of failure.  They also concluded that worksheets and homework do not improve academic achievement, test scores, or overall learning.
 
So, why do we keep using worksheets in the classroom and sending worksheets home as homework?  Good question, but in most school systems, worksheets and homework are a district decision, not an individual teacher decision.  Change must come from the school board or the state.
  
The schools are buzzing with “science of reading” talk.  As I stated earlier, I completely and totally support scientific research in reading, but just labeling our teaching methods science of reading will not teach students how to read.  We want to find methods that work with all students. 

​
For more on the science of reading, see:  Tutoring Hint #8:  Stick with Real Scientific Research in Reading.  Do Not Fall for Gimmicks.  Scientific Research Is Helpful for Tutoring.
 
Let’s look at an example.  I have cited this example before, but it is definitely worth citing again because it speaks so directly to the importance of using teaching methods that work with all students.  It also illustrates how changing the teaching method can turn a student from failure toward success.
A 15-year-old was brought to my reading program, reading at the pre-kindergarten level.  She knew her consonant sounds but none of her vowel sounds.  She had failed for nine straight years.  She had an extensive violence record.  She lived in a single parent household from the housing project area in her neighborhood.  She, her parent, and the school were completely convinced that she would never learn to read.  The school had tried balanced literacy, reading recovery, and even one-on-one systematic phonics tutoring.  The student could not even read simple words like cat or dog.  With the vowel clustering teaching method, she learned to read in 3 ½ years.  How?  Vowel clustering, the method that I teach in my new tutoring book. 

It is never too late to teach someone to read.  Vowel clustering works with all ages, and it is perfect for one-on-one tutoring, a small group, or an entire class.

Vowel clustering works with the brain and the way the brain processes phonemes or letter sounds.  Vowel clustering uses visual, auditory, and hands-on teaching techniques.  I use creative art therapy as a teaching tool with vowel clustering to help teach students how to read.
 
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For an example on how to use creative art therapy, see:  Tutoring Hint #7:  Intrinsic Motivation Is Better than Extrinsic Rewards
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Vowel clustering teaches students to match vowel sounds with their corresponding letter symbols.  This emphasizes the oral letter-sound relationship.  Remember, we are training the brain, building “pathways” in the brain.  When these neural pathways are developed, reading can take less than half a second.   Therefore, it is important to organize how we teach so students can organize how they learn. We want to work with the brain, not against it.

 
Does teaching method really make that much difference?

Yes, changing the method that you use to teach reading can even help a student who has failed for nine years become a successful reader.
 
As Dr. Mark Seidenberg states in his book, Language at the Speed of Sight:  How We Read, Why so Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It, the reason phonics did not work for my 15-year-old student and for many students is that it does not connect with oral speech.  Vowel clustering works directly with the oral language system.  This is why we have been so successful using vowel clustering with struggling and failing students.
 
As Dr. Seidenberg goes on to explain, real scientific research has had little effect on how reading is being taught in the classroom today.  If we simply return students to the classroom and do not change how we teach reading, reading failure will continue. 
 
We have the knowledge to stop reading failure.  The question is will we use that knowledge, or will we cling to old ideas and teaching methods that have proven to be ineffective.  We cannot just blame COVID for all of our reading failure problems.  Reading failure existed before COVID. 
 
Soon, we will look at some of the scientific neuroimaging research that Dr. Seidenberg was talking about.  But before we move on, we need to consider the effects of reading failure.
 
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.  I had two students contemplate suicide.  Once they were able to talk about their feelings, both students explained that they were tired of being teased and laughed at because they couldn’t read. 
 
Reading failure is a serious problem.  If you know someone who is struggling with suicidal feelings or with reading failure, be a friend, help them seek professional help.
 
I am always available to help anyone struggling with reading failure.  Contact me.  I can help.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) just released the first set of scores for 2022.  The NCES was not testing during the early days of the pandemic, so this is the first Nation’s Report Card since 2019. 
 
The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, Mark Schneider, said that reading scores went down five points.  Although this first report is only for nine-year-olds, this age group is considered a major benchmark in reading progress.  Therefore, the 5-point drop in reading scores causes concern. 
 
The 2022 Nation’s Report Card measured improvement from the start of the COVID pandemic to the return of in-class instruction in 2022.  Unfortunately, there was no improvement, not even with students in the 90th percentile. 

I have many other success stories, but I mention these two because the schools had tried and given up on these students.  Like Dr. Pallas, they didn’t think that it was possible to teach these two struggling students. 

I insist that it is possible to teach struggling students.  The problem is not the students, nor the teachers, nor the parents.  It’s also not poverty or low socio-economic neighborhoods.  Actually, many of the students that I teach come from the housing projects in their neighborhood. 
The problem is the methods that we are using to teach struggling students.
 
The Justice Department has said that “delinquency, violence, and crime are welded to reading failure.”  Bullying in school is also said to share a direct link with reading failure.  We’ll talk more about these psychological harms later. It has been estimated that 85% of adolescents and youth in the courts are classified as “functionally illiterate” and that 70% of prison inmates are not able to read above the fourth-grade level.  ​

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For more on this research, see Chapter 1 in After-School Programming and Intrinsic Motivation:  Teaching At-Risk Students to Read.
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For more on the struggle over teaching methods, see:  Reading Wars are Over!  Phonics Failed.  Whole Language Failed.  Balanced Literacy Failed. Who Won?  It Certainly Wasn’t the Students.
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Take a second look at the graph

Everyone is blaming COVID for the dramatically low scores, and COVID and the pandemic are obviously the cause of the major drop in reading scores over the past two years.  Look again though at the graph at the top of the page.  The last two years are not the only problem.
 
No, low test scores in reading didn’t just start with COVID.  Educators have been fighting over reading for years, while struggling students have been failing for years. 
 
Remember, we said earlier in Tutoring Hint #4 that over 60% of students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade could not read at grade level according to the 2019 Nation’s Report Card. The 2019 test scores were recorded before the pandemic.

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For earlier research, see:  Tutoring Hint #4:  Never Give Up
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So, yes, COVID is the cause of the drastic drop from 2020 to 2022, but what about the other low scores?  What about the students who were struggling and failing before COVID?
We have a major reading failure problem, and it is time for a change. 
 
 
So, what should we do about these low scores?
 
Swapping phonics for whole language is not the answer.  Yes, phonics may help the students in the 90th percentile, but systematic phonics will not help the students in the low 10th percentile group. 
 
Remember what the National Reading Panel said in their 2000 report?  The National Reading Panel  stated that, “systematic phonics approaches are significantly more effective than non-phonics [whole language]….  However, phonics instruction failed to exert a significant impact on the reading performance of low-achieving readers in 2nd through 6th grades” (p. 94).

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For more on the National Reading Panel, see:  Tutoring Hint #8:  Stick with Real Scientific Research in Reading.  Do Not Fall for Gimmicks.  Scientific Research Is Helpful for Tutoring.
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What about low-achieving students?
 
The low 10th percentile group of test takers are “low-achieving readers.”  Phonics will not teach these low-achieving students to read, even phonics advocates agree.  We must offer a different method for teaching struggling students.

We can teach struggling students, but we must change our teaching methods to do so.  I’ve even had failing students move up four grade levels in one year with vowel clustering.  We have the teaching methods to teach each and every struggling student how to read.  We just refuse to turn loose of the old battle between phonics and whole language and try something new, even when vowel clustering has been proven through university research to succeed.  No, we’d rather see students fail than change our ideas and our teaching methods.
 
As Thomas Kane, an economist at the Harvard Graduate School of Education explained, we cannot just keep doing what we are presently doing. 
 
“Somehow, we’ve got to figure out how to help students learn even more per year in the next few years, or these losses will become permanent. And that will be a tragedy.”
 

It's time for a change in how we teach students to read.  Phonics is not enough.  COVID caused the drastic 2-year drop in 2022, but it’s not the only cause of low reading scores.

Tutoring is one of the methods being advocated by the schools and government educational agencies. 

​Tutoring is a perfect way to help struggling students.  Through tutoring, we can use a different teaching method—a method that works with low achieving struggling students.  I use vowel clustering, and it works.

A reader asked this week, “Are you sure that intrinsic motivation is really better than extrinsic?  The students I’m tutoring really like it when I give them prizes.”
 
Yes, I’m certain that intrinsic motivation is a more effective principle for teaching and learning than extrinsic motivation in the classroom and when tutoring.  Extrinsic rewards and prizes will not teach children to read.
 
Let’s begin by looking at the Top 20 Principles for PreK through 12 Education, published by the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education of the American Psychological Association.  I’m only citing Principle #9 at this time, even though I hope you will take the time to read all 20 principles.  These principles for effective teaching and learning work in the classroom and with one-on-one tutoring.  I like this explanation because it explains so clearly why intrinsic is better than extrinsic.

 
“Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for its own sake. To be intrinsically motivated means to feel both competent and autonomous (e.g., “I can do it for myself”). Students who are intrinsically motivated work on tasks because they find them enjoyable. In other words, participation is its own reward and is not contingent on tangible rewards such as praise, grades, or other external factors. In contrast, students who are extrinsically motivated engage in learning tasks as a means to an end, such as to get a good grade, to get praise from their parents, or to avoid punishment.” 
 
The Coalition continues:
 
“These benefits occur because students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to approach their tasks in ways that enhance learning, such as attending more closely to instruction, organizing new information effectively, and relating it to what they already know. They also feel more self-efficacious and are not burdened by achievement anxiety. On the other hand, students who are more extrinsically motivated may be so focused on the reward (e.g., getting a high grade) that learning is superficial (e.g., the student may resort to shortcuts such as skimming the reading for specific terms rather than absorbing the entire lesson), or they may become discouraged if the pressures are too high. Furthermore, externally motivated students may disengage once the external rewards are no longer provided, whereas intrinsically motivated students show more long-lived mastery of learning goals.”  (page 16)
 
 
In schools, after-school programs, and even in one-on-one tutoring, motivation all too often takes the form of extrinsic rewards, prizes, or even food.  Such extrinsic rewards have been proven to be ineffective.  Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, two excellent researchers, have been studying and testing the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the classroom for over 30 years.  From their research, they concluded that intrinsic was superior to extrinsic.

I’m a motivational psychologist.  All of my reading programs only use intrinsic motivation, that is, internal motivation, motivation that comes from within.  The children read because they want to read, not to obtain a prize or reward. When tutoring, I want to kindle in each student a desire to read and enjoy reading.  I use hands-on projects to help generate intrinsic motivation. 
 
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See:  Tutoring Hint #7:  Intrinsic Motivation Is Better than Extrinsic Rewards
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It is not possible for a teacher, parent, or tutor to motivate a student, but you can create a motivating environment.  Tutoring is perfect for creating an intrinsically motivating environment. 
In each chapter in my new tutoring program (Why Can’t We Teach Children to Read?—pictured at the top of the page), students practice vowel clustering by reading, decoding, encoding, and working with the words introduced that day.  With the vowel boards used in the book, children and teens can see and hear the vowel sounds.  Hands-on learning techniques increase intrinsic motivation and individualize instruction.  Individualized instruction is essential for intrinsic motivation. 

Students learn a different vowel cluster each day.  To increase intrinsic motivation, the students use the words they are learning and place these words on puppets, rockets, and a variety of other hands-on projects.  Completing a project helps struggling students learn organizational skills and learn to read and follow directions.  The students work hard to complete their projects, but learning can also be fun. 
 
These hands-on projects become teaching tools and are also motivational tools to encourage students to want to learn.  They are not simply arts and crafts projects; they are a teaching technique building the student’s confidence and reading skills.  I want to undo the harms of reading failure.   I want to encourage children to try again and believe that they can learn to read.  Intrinsic motivation works hand-in-hand with vowel clustering because students must have skills if they are going to believe that they can read and then build an internal desire to read.  
 
So, yes, you want to use intrinsic motivation with your tutoring program. 
 
If you have more questions about using intrinsic motivation when tutoring, please contact me.  I’m always happy to help.

Just the other day a reader asked me, “Do You Believe in the Science of Reading?”  My answer was, yes and no. 
 
If you are talking about the actual scientific research that is being conducted in reading, then my answer is definitely yes.  As the author of several published scientific studies and books on teaching reading, I believe in the value of true scientific research. 
 
I also believe that true scientific research can help us reduce learning losses and teach failing students to read.  Scientific research can be very helpful when tutoring struggling students.
 
However, if you are talking about people who use the term “science of reading” as a label or new name for phonics, then, no I do not. 

We cannot simply say that phonics is the science of reading because there are scientific research studies that do not identify phonics as the best way to teach struggling students to read.  Phonics is one method, but it is certainly not the only method discussed in scientific research.  Therefore, it is not accurate to say that phonics is the science of reading.

 
What is the difference?

I distinguish between researchers doing scientific research in reading and those labeling their work as “science of reading.”  Why?  Because these are two totally different groups with two totally different objectives.  We have seen this happen before. 
 
Look-say enthusiasts, when they came under fire for the fact that look-say techniques were not working, quickly changed their terminology to whole language.  When whole language came under fire for also not working, they changed to blended literacy.  So, there is a long-standing tradition of just changing the label when a reading teaching method does not work. 
 
For those in the phonics camp who are now doing the same thing (changing phonics to science of reading), they will unfortunately get a similar result—failure.  Changing the label does not make an ineffective teaching method become more effective. 
 
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For more on the reading wars between whole language and phonics, see:  Reading Wars are Over!  Phonics Failed.  Whole Language Failed.  Balanced Literacy Failed. Who Won?  It Certainly Wasn’t the Students.
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We need to remember that phonics is an old concept, not a new idea.  Phonics education was first introduced in schools in 1690 with the New England Primer.  Like whole language, phonics has failed many times. 
 
You can change the name, but unless you change the teaching method, it is still the same.  Phonics instruction, even systematic phonics, uses a list of rules that predict when a letter of the alphabet will use a particular letter-sound.  As Sarah Forrest, a reading specialist with the Easyread System, explains—such phonics rules are only accurate 60% of the time. That means that, almost half the time, phonics rules give an inaccurate prediction, or the rule is simply wrong.
 
For those of us who are tutoring struggling and failing students, such inaccurate and unpredictable predictions lead to failure.  And this is why I do not support the “science of reading” that is just a relabeling of phonics.
 
Since it is not correct to say that phonics is the science of reading because there are scientific research studies that do not support phonics as the best way to teach all children to read, we must be careful with the labels that we use.  Even many phonics experts will tell you that phonics does not work for every student.  Let’s look at some scientific research. 

 
What does scientific research about reading tell us? 

The National Reading Panel (2000) stated that, “systematic phonics approaches are significantly more effective than non-phonics [whole language]….  However, phonics instruction failed to exert a significant impact on the reading performance of low-achieving readers in 2nd through 6th grades” (p. 94).

 
This is an important research study for us to look at because most phonics supporters cite the National Reading Panel (even though the research is over 20 years old) as being absolute proof that phonics is best for every student.  Yet, read the quote again.  I even gave you the page number.  Yes, this is a direct quote, and the National Reading Panel did actually make this statement.
 
The National Reading panel said that phonics does not work with low achieving students.  Remember, the Nation’s Report Card stated that over 60% of students cannot read at grade level—these are low achieving students.  If you are tutoring a struggling student in reading, you are tutoring a low-achieving student.  That’s why the student has come to you for tutoring help. 
That is also why scientific research is so important.  We need to know what works and what does not work with low achieving students before we select a tutoring method.

 
What do the phonics experts say?
 
The fact that phonics doesn’t work for low-achieving readers is not a new discovery.  Scientific research on phonics has always shown that phonics does not work with struggling and failing students. 
 
As far back as 1967, Jeanne Sternlicht Chall a very strong advocate and believer in systematic phonics, visited over 300 classrooms to conduct her research.  While she concluded that systematic phonics was superior to “look say” whole language in 90% of the classrooms, she also clearly stated and warned that a purely phonics approach would leave many students failing.
 
Linnea C. Ehri (2001), another strong advocate for phonics, studied 66 phonics vs. whole language groups and again found systematic phonics to be superior to whole language but also found that systematic phonics “…did not help low achieving readers that included students with cognitive limitations.”  
 
A cognitive limitation is having difficulty with perception, memory, expression and/or processing skills.  If you are tutoring a struggling or failing student in reading, you are tutoring a student with cognitive processing limitations.  Let’s look at a definition.
 
As Hands on Learning Solutions states,
 

“Just about any learning disability or learning challenge can be traced back to a processing problem. Challenges in processing come in all sorts of shapes. A student can have an auditory or visual processing issue, a dyslexic processing style, comprehension difficulties, trouble maintaining attention long enough to process, weak memory, speech and language disorders, sensory processing issues, organization problems, or simply slow processing to name just a few examples.”
 

Most learning differences (I like saying learning differences rather than learning disabilities.)  fall into the category of cognitive processing limitations.  This means that if you are tutoring a student who is struggling or failing in reading, you need a teaching method that works with students who have cognitive processing limitations. As Ehri clearly stated, phonics does not.
 
Similarly, Gerald Hughes and Jennifer Means explain in Gifted Not Broken:  Understanding Dyslexia, ADHD and the Autism Spectrum, phonics does not work with struggling students:


“…20% of all children will show little or no lasting improvement in reading ability using phonics-based programs.  ...using a phonics-based program on this particular group of children, is more than likely doomed to failure because it is focused on the very weaknesses of the child. Experience has repeatedly shown that when subjected to an extensive phonics-based program, many of these children will experience frustration, anger and ultimately continued failure.”

 
Therefore, what scientific research about reading tells us is that, as far back as 1967, we have known that phonics does not work with struggling and failing students.  So, why are we trying to pull science of reading out of a magic hat and say, “look what we have discovered.”  Because the Reading Wars have not really ended.  We have just landed in a new phase where phonics will dominate until it is proven to have failed once again.  Because, no matter how you label it (phonics, systematic phonics, science of reading), phonics is phonics.
 
 
What do struggling and failing students need in reading?
 
When tutoring or teaching in the classroom, you need to use the most effective teaching method to help students to learn to read.  Remember, as we’ve said before, no two students are exactly the same or learn the same—not even identical twins.
 
If you are using a teaching method that is not effective, your tutoring efforts will not be effective, either.  We talked earlier about how important it is to select an effective teaching method when tutoring.  So, don’t get caught up in a “fad” or advertising gimmick.  Also, don’t believe something just because it is on the Internet.  When you are reading and evaluating to see if a particular teaching method would work for your student(s), read carefully. 
 
Check to see if the author cites any research.  Some Science of Reading enthusiast will say, “I have over 200 studies that prove….” But they never cite those 200 studies, provide you with any links to those 200 studies, or even quote any of those studies.
 
Trust me, if someone has 200 quality, verifiable scientific research studies that prove the point they are trying to make, they are going to quote those studies.  So, do not get taken in by fancy writing.  Follow the research that actually exists. 
​
In an interview with the National Institute of Health, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a leading reading expert, stated that "Teaching matters and good teaching can change the brain in a way that has the potential to benefit struggling readers." 
 
Therefore, we need to search for good teaching methods backed by actual scientific research in reading.  Don’t just use a teaching method because it is popular this fall, and everyone is using it.  Check to see if the teaching method meets the needs of the student who you are tutoring.
 
As Dr. Sally Shaywitz goes on to say, “Children do not learn to read by memorizing a word list.  Most children, especially those who struggle in reading, do not learn to read by memorizing phonics rules” (p. 78). 
 
Some will say, “but she talks about systematic phonics in her book.”  Yes, she does, but she also clearly states that systematic phonics will not meet the needs of all struggling students. 

You must select a teaching method that fits the needs of your student.
 
At my reading clinic, I have worked with children who had failed multiple years.  Even if a student has been retained, we stress sending the child back to the classroom reading at their actual age level. 

• Some children have moved up 4 grade levels in reading in one year using vowel clustering.

 

• At-risk children placed in Reading Recovery failed, but the same students succeeded with vowel clustering.  They returned to the classroom reading at age level.

 

• Even failing special needs students placed in one-on-one pull out programs in systematic phonics, came to the reading clinic and with vowel clustering they succeeded.  They learned to read.

 

• Students who failed under whole language in the classroom came to my program to study vowel clustering. They returned to the classroom reading at their age level. 

 

• Balanced literacy failed as well (combining whole language and phonics), but vowel clustering taught the children who failed in the schools under balanced literacy to read at their respective age levels. 

A person asked me the other day, “Why do you do so many craft projects in your reading clinic?  I’m sure that the children enjoy the projects but doesn’t that waste time?  Why don’t you just sit down and read?”
  
I smiled and then began to explain.  The craft projects that I use at my reading clinic are actually teaching tools.  I use the craft projects to help children overcome the anxiety of failure and the disappointment of not being able to learn to read. Learning to read is very hard for some children.  They find it frustrating.  Reading then becomes something that they dread and feel very negative about; this leads them to not want to read.  In contrast, craft projects provide an intrinsically motivational environment that encourages students to read. Intrinsic motivation is an internal desire within the student. Craft projects are intrinsically gratifying and children in my programs read to make hands-on craft projects.

We must create a learning environment that encourages all students to want to learn.  This is true whether we are teaching 30 children in the classroom or tutoring a single student in a one-on-one tutoring session. 

Therefore, craft projects do not waste time.  Instead, they make learning easier for the child. They make learning to read take less time than usual.  What may look like a mere craft project becomes a hands-on teaching technique that helps struggling students learn to read.
 
Is using craft projects successful?
We have had children move up 4 grade levels in reading in one year.  These were children who were failing in school and who had also failed to learn to read with systematic one-on-one phonics tutoring.  So, yes, using hands-on crafts as a teaching tool can teach students to read.
 
I am a motivational psychologist.  I work with children and teens who are struggling in reading or, in many cases failing in reading.  My programs help students “erase” that feeling of “I can’t” or “I failed.”  At my reading clinic, we’ve helped many failing students return to the classroom and do well.  A 15-year-old who failed for nine years in reading learned to read in 3 ½ years.  So, the methods that I use are very successful, and they work for all ages.  
 
The first step is to create a learning environment. 
Hands-on craft projects help create a learning environment that encourages children to want to learn.  Creating an intrinsically motivating learning environment is how we had two students move up 2 grade levels in reading after only 48 hours of instruction. 
 
The hands-on craft project becomes the teaching tool that helps to create an intrinsic learning environment.  Intrinsic motivation is more successful in the classroom and for learning than extrinsic motivation.  Intrinsic motivation is the key to successful learning. 
 
Let’s stop and define our terms. 
 
How does intrinsic motivation work?
Motivation is the driving force that explains student behavior in the classroom, especially how a student approaches trying to learn something new—like reading.  Motivation can be intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (rewards).
 
Intrinsic motivation can involve the student’s internal desire to explore a new topic, to try to learn something even though it may be hard, to want to learn, to keep trying and to try again in the face of failure.  Intrinsic motivation produces better long-term outcomes and classroom performance, better grades, better test scores, and a stronger desire to learn.
 
Tutors must use intrinsic motivation as well as teachers.  Even though you may only be working with one student, it is critical to focus on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation during tutoring sessions.
 
What is extrinsic motivation?
Extrinsic motivation is an incentive or reward that drives a student to perform a particular behavior—grades, competition, food, money, promise of a prize or reward.  Extrinsic rewards can turn negative if the student doesn’t feel that the reward is worth the effort.  For example, the student might not work unless you offer two candy bars instead of just one.  Also, extrinsic motivation does not give long-term positive effects.  Extrinsically motivated students lack an internal desire to learn; they must be prodded, threatened, or bribed each time you want a certain action (completing an assignment).  Such compliance is not true motivation.
 
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For more about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, read Group-Centered Prevention in Mental Health:  Chapter 6, “Is Intrinsic Motivation Better Than Extrinsic Motivation?” 
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Why are we talking about motivation? 
You may even be asking, what does motivation have to do with reading?  Everything.  If a student is not motivated to want to learn to read, the chances are very strong that they will never be able to.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to motivate another person.  Yes, you can bribe.  Yes, you can offer rewards or incentives.  Yes, you can threaten or force.  But those methods are not true motivation.
 
This is not just a play on words.  Motivation is an essential ingredient for learning.  Motivation is a vital part of tutoring and classroom success.  In any classroom or one-on-one tutoring setting, motivation becomes the guiding influence that encourages the student to strive to achieve and perform up to their potential.  Intrinsic motivation occurs when a student wants to master a task (like learning to read) instead of just completing an assignment to get it finished and out of the way, not really caring about the quality of their work.  Research shows that intrinsic motivation leads to better classroom performance and learning than extrinsic rewards.

So, yes, we must build motivation, especially intrinsic motivation into our reading program.  Without intrinsic motivation, students will become bored, not pay attention, not be willing to tackle hard learning tasks, and not believe that it is possible to learn to read.  When you remember that according to the Nation’s Report Card over 60% of students in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grade cannot read at grade level, then the importance of incorporating intrinsic motivation into your reading program takes on new urgency. 
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For more on the Nation’s Report Card, read Why Does Phonics Education Fail?_______________________

How do you generate intrinsic motivation?
We’ve already seen that you cannot motivate a person or even a student.  So, how do we create intrinsic motivation in the classroom or when we are tutoring?  We create a motivational environment that will generate intrinsic motivation in the student.  At my reading clinic, hands-on projects as puppets, pop-up books, rockets, race cars, alligators, volcanoes, octopuses, squids, frogs, and even a rainforest are intrinsically enjoyable.  The hands-on project is always tied to the vowel sound that we are studying.  Remember, it is a teaching tool, not just a craft project.  Hands-on learning techniques and hands-on projects help to create an intrinsically motivating learning environment.
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For more on creating a motivational environment, read:  Teaching Technique #8:  Hands-on Learning
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​

Preview
from pages 109-110.
How to Make a Hands-On Teaching Aid


The first thing to remember about using a hands-on teaching aid is that you do not want to make the hands-on project in its entirety at the beginning of the session.  The idea is to make the puppet as you teach.  This gives a reluctant child a chance to get excited about making a puppet while they are learning.

The Sir Iggy puppet is an excellent example.  You can build a puppet as you teach the letter sounds throughout the four levels.  The puppet also corresponds to the stories because the stories are about Sir Iggy.  Then, you can use the Sir Iggy puppet to reteach any sections that the student is having trouble with.  Here’s an example.
               
A Sir Iggy puppet was a perfect teaching tool for my student who was having trouble with letter i vowel sounds.  Sir Iggy’s name includes two of the vowel sounds for the letter i:  short i and the ir sound.  Sir Iggy makes kites.  He is also a tiny giant; so there were lots of opportunities to practice letter i words when making a Sir Iggy puppet. 
 
I increased my students’ interest in Sir Iggy by making the puppet a medieval knight from the 1300’s.  The idea of kites had been brought back to Europe by Marco Polo around 1282; therefore, Sir Iggy could have been a kite maker in the 1300’s.  My student loved history and became very excited about making a medieval costume for the puppet.  We did a little research.
 
A medieval costume for men would’ve been a belted tunic with a mantle and possibly a hood over the head.  We used two 2-litre pop bottles to make the puppet (You may also use plastic water bottles.).  Since the story says that Sir Iggy is a tiny giant, my student wanted her puppet to be tall but not too tall.
 
Since my main goal in making the puppet was to encourage my students to work on difficult vowel sounds, we glued the two 2-litre pop bottles together end to end.  That left a bottlecap on each end.  We set the bottles aside to dry and worked on letter sounds.
 
Later, we came back and added a head for Sir Iggy by rolling a sock down and shaping it to fit on one of the bottle caps.  We glued the sock in place, and while it was drying, we worked on more letter sounds.
 
Next, we returned to the puppet and added a tunic.  I had cloth scraps available, but you may also use paper.  In medieval times, men’s tunics would be floor-length; so, we covered the puppet from head to toe in the cloth selected.  We glued it in place and set it aside to dry while we went to work on more letter sounds.
 
Then, we came back to make a mantle (shaped like a long cape) with a hood.  Again, my student selected cloth from the creative box, but paper would also work.  The mantle was laid aside until we added the words. 
 
Yes, all this time, the student had been capturing words and writing them on manuscript writing paper using colored pencils.  She decorated the tunic by gluing short i vowel sound words along the lower edge.  She glued long i vowel sound words along the lower edge of the mantle.  She added a face to Sir Iggy by gluing on sequins and other tiny decorations for eyes, a nose, and a mouth.  She used yarn for hair.  Words along the border of the mantle and tunic help to stiffen the cloth and create a structure for Sir Iggy‘s costume.
 
The last part of Sir Iggy’s costume was to make a kite.  In medieval times, kites were not diamond-shaped or triangles as we often see today.  Kites were boxy.  Kites often depicted animals, birds, or flowers.  My student decided on a pink boxy kite.  She added ir and schwa sound words to the kite.
 
The bottom bottlecap became the puppet handle, and my student was ready to go and teach others about letter i vowel sounds.  We made up a puppet play and had Sir Iggy teach about letter i vowel sounds.
 
You can use any kind of puppet.  The idea is to make the puppet one step at a time so that you are constantly going back-and-forth working on the puppet and then going and working on letter sounds and words.  This back-and-forth process encourages students who are reluctant to work on difficult tricky vowel sounds.  Quite simply, they want to finish the puppet.  To finish a puppet, you need to capture words.  Don’t let a puppet become just a simple arts and craft project.  Instead, use the puppet as a teaching tool.  The student must learn the words to finish the puppet.

Learning really can be fun.  You can even add a bit of history to your puppet making as I did with Sir Iggy.
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If you’d like to see a longer preview from the book, click here. 
 
If you have questions or need help in tutoring, please contact me.  I’m always happy to help.​

Measuring student improvement is essential when you tutor.  After all, how can you tell whether your tutoring program has or has not succeeded unless you test the student’s improvement?  You need to pre-test before you start tutoring.  Have a midpoint test, and of course, a test at the end of your tutoring program.  
 
If you do not test, you will have no idea whether your tutoring techniques are working or not.  But let us look at the way you test, which is just as important.
 

​Do you just test at the student’s grade level?
I work with at-risk students.  Some of my students have failed in school for two or more years.  Others are struggling and just need a different teaching method.  Therefore, I cannot simply say, “Oh, you are a 4th grader; therefore, I will give you the 4th grade test.  I use a testing procedure that allows each and every student to work up to their ability. 

That is, I use a step system so that students’ can progress up to their reading level.  I have had 1st graders who could read at the third grade level but had zero comprehension.  I have had 4th graders who could not read at the pre-kindergarten level.  Therefore, just giving a student their grade level test will not work.
 
So, when I give the pre-test, all students start at step one, regardless of whether they are 1st, 3rd, 5th, or 6th graders.  My test packet enables me to accurately identify the student's reading level and reading problems. 
 
Students “capture” the words that they are struggling with.  I use the word “capture:” instead of saying the student missed 10 words, I say the student captured 10 words that we want to work on.  Yes, the students know they missed the word, but they really like saying they captured it more than saying they missed it.  Then, we proceed to work on the captured words.
 
 
Should students be tested at the end of each tutoring session?
I also like to check at the end of each tutoring session to make sure that the student understood what I taught for that day. 
 
Don't give pop quizzes.  Everyone hates pop quizzes.  
 
Since vowel clustering is my teaching method, I use a vowel board to summarize, test, and reteach at the end of each session to make sure the student understood what I taught for that particular day.  I try to turn my testing into a game with the vowel board, but testing is very important.  Testing can tell you whether your student is ready to go to the next lesson or whether you need to go back and reteach the lesson again.  Let’s look at a preview from my new tutoring book.  Look at this from page 87:
 
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Success stories 

• A 15-year-old, who had failed for 9 straight years, learned to read in 3 ½ years.  
• A fifth grader, reading at the 2nd and 3rd grade level, moved up to the sixth-grade level in reading in only 21 weeks with one-hour, once-a-week tutoring.  
• A second grader mastered difficult vowel sounds through online tutoring.  

 
Vowel clustering works with all ages - children, teens, and adults. 
 
Do you know a child or teenager who is failing in reading? If so, this book is for you.  
 
Vowel clustering works with all students, including children, teens, and adults, regardless of age or reading problem. Vowel clustering teaches students to break words down into letter sounds. Vowel Clustering improves fluency and comprehension. Vowel clustering has been tested for over 20 years and proven to work with struggling, at-risk, and failing students.  
 
At my Reading Orienteering Club, we have had several students enter the program failing, then move up four grade levels in reading in one year using vowel clustering. Vowel clustering may be used by parents, homeschoolers, tutors, and teachers. Vowel clustering works equally well in classrooms and after-school programs. You do not need to be a teacher or have special training to use this book. The step-by-step program is easy to follow. The book gives instructions for one-on-one tutoring or small groups. Everything you need is included in this one book.  
 

A reader has requested that I talk more about teaching vowel clusters, so let me explain why the way you teach vowel clusters is so important. 

Students must understand vowel clusters in order to learn to read and to spell words.  Words are not always spelled the way they sound, so you cannot just rely on sounding out words.  Also, as I said before, do not dissect reading, spelling, and writing into different sections or teach separately.  When you are tutoring, teach reading, spelling, handwriting, oral reading, fluency, and comprehension all at the same time.  How? 
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I use vowel clustering, a teaching method that allows you to (1) teach children to sound words out and connect with the oral language system (decode and encode letter sounds) as well as (2) teach children to spell words, even words that use vowel and consonant clusters, and (3) teach children to comprehend, write, and practice fluency from the very beginning.  This is where vowel clusters become really important.
 
What is a vowel cluster?
First, let’s define vowel cluster.  A vowel cluster is when two adjoining vowels combine together to make a single sound.  The vowels may work alone, or they may combine with one or more consonants.  For example, eigh.  The ei vowel cluster combines with the gh consonant cluster to use the long a vowel sound, as in the word eight.  Notice that the vowel/consonant cluster uses the long a vowel sound but there is not even the letter a in the word.  This is where children who struggle become very, very confused.  [I talk more about how to teach the eigh cluster on pages 43 and 44 in my book:  Why Can’t We Teach Children to Read?] 
 
Phonics
In phonics, teachers normally teach the short a sound, then long a sound with silent e.  Later phonics talks about irregular sounds.  It is these irregular vowel sounds that most students who come to my reading clinic are completely and totally confused about.  As one student explained, “I got it when they talked about short a and long a with silent e, but where did all these others come from?” 
 
Vowel Clustering
This is why I use vowel clustering.  Vowel clustering teaches all of the sounds for letter a at the same time; therefore, students can see from the first day that the letter a is not just a long and short sound.  Even my first graders go to the vowel board and work with letter sounds so that they can learn how words are pronounced and spelled at the same time. 

As you will notice from the vowel board, there are 6 different vowel clusters which use the long a vowel sound.  When students look at the vowel board and “match the sound,” they are also matching the vowel cluster as well.  This helps students learn to pronounce the word as well as to spell the word.
There are no rules to memorize, and students are never allowed to guess at a word.  Students are learning to work with words and learn why words are pronounced and spelled differently.  It is this level of understanding that allows students to move up 2 and 4 grade levels in one year in my reading programs.  All of my programs use vowel clustering.

Vowel clustering teaches students to decode or break words down into individual letter sounds or sound clusters and then to encode or reassemble those sounds and sound clusters back into pronounceable words.  But vowel clustering doesn’t stop there.  Students match words by sound on the vowel board and by how words are spelled at the same time.  Then, they use the 4 Steps to learn the meaning of the word, how it is used in a sentence, and to write the word correctly.  [The 4 Steps teaching technique is emphasized in each chapter of the book.  Therefore, students learn to use the 4 Steps effectively.]

There are 15 different vowel and/or vowel-consonant clusters used just by letter a.  Every single vowel sound [a e i o u] uses vowel clusters.  This is why I use the vowel clustering teaching method. 
 
Is vowel clustering successful with struggling and failing students?
The student who I quoted above arrived at my reading clinic late in the fall term.  The parent was in tears because the school said that they were going to put the student back in 2nd grade because he wasn’t ready for 3rd grade.  When I tested him, he was reading at beginning 2nd grade with poor comprehension, and first grade spelling.  Since he joined late, I used individual one-on-one tutoring [methods from this book] to catch him up with the other students in my reading clinic.  By May, he was reading middle 4th grade level with 100% comprehension and beginning 4th grade spelling.

The vowel clustering method also teaches spelling, handwriting, oral reading fluency, comprehension, and story writing.  All of my reading programs teach vowel clustering.  Vowel clustering has been tested and proven to work with struggling, at-risk, and failing students.  A student, who failed for nine years using balanced literacy and phonics, learned to read in 3 ½ years using vowel clustering as taught in my new tutoring book featured at the top of the page. 

I have even had struggling students move up four grade levels in one year using vowel clustering.  These were students who had failed multiple years in schools that taught whole language, balanced literacy, and phonics.  So yes, we can teach students to read, but to do so, we must change the methods that we use to teach reading.  We must also change the methods that we use when tutoring. 

Today’s struggling students deserve the very best we can offer.  Tutoring can make a difference.  Simply using phonics instead of whole language is not enough.
 
So, how should we be teaching students vowel clusters?
Vowel clustering teaches all the vowel sounds in clusters.  Remember, there are seven different sounds for the letter a, and the long a sound is just one of those seven sounds.  The long a vowel sound can use:  ea, ai, ay, ei, ey, eigh, and silent e.  Of course, the letter a can also make the long a vowel sound when it stands alone, as with the word apron. 

In my tutoring book, there are detailed step-by-step instructions for teaching each vowel sound.  I even provide an “instructor” section that has the exact words you need to read or say to the student to explain vowel clusters. 

So, if you are only introducing students to the long a sound through silent e when you are tutoring, you have created a problem and confused struggling students, especially when you come along later and introduce irregular vowel sounds.  Irregular vowel sounds that are thrown in later is how most students get lost while learning vowels. This is also one of the main reasons that phonics fails with at-risk students.
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For more information on teaching vowel clusters, see:  Vowel Clustering Works Better than Phonics with At-Risk Students
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​If you’d like a longer preview from the book, click here. 
 
If you have questions or need help in tutoring, please contact me.  I’m always happy to help.