Using AAR with different readers?

[Linz1084]

I have no idea if this is a good idea but my mind has been spinning in how to get AAR to work for us. What is working - the magnet tiles, the blending method, the new lessons... what isn't working? The fluency and practice sheets. Worksheets and my son just don't mix. He sees it on a sheet and freaks out. So I have been picking words from the fluency sheet and putting them on the magnet tile board, or writing them on a white board, or just listing a few at a time in his notebook. We work our way through them.

 

So here are my thoughts. He doesn't love reading the readers. I have considered separating the lessons/fluency sheets from our reader stack in order to get through the lessons more quickly, allowing him to then have more options for books to read. He really wants to read books from the library. Or is even motivated more by the Bob books and the I See Sam books. I think he kind of feels like the AAR book is the book that never ends with all the stories crammed into that one book. I get it. He never closes the cover when he's done. So, I was thinking of using AAR for the lessons and practicing fluency sheets while using more variety of readers. We would probably read through AAR also but I don't want that to hold us back from progressing with the lessons (that I feel that he's ready for). Compared to other curriculums, AAR seems to move very slowly, but the tile method is working so I don't want to fully switch.

 

Does that make sense? Has anyone done this? Is this a horrible idea? I want to hear it all. Reading has been a struggle and I'm trying to do my best to lighten this up for my boy and encourage some interest.

[Linz1084]

I should add, were about 70% through AAR Level 1. So we have a ways to go.

[desertflower]

Yes, sure u can use aar with different readers.

 

I'm going to use readers from the American Language series (i think that is what it is called) thw pictures are in color and the stories are short. It's a compilation of many short stories in each book. I have my child just pick a story and check it off thw table of contents. Sometimes we do 2 stories.

 

I think you wilk be find with the bob books. At least til he gets further into his study.

 

Depending on what level your child is in will depend if you can find readers at the library.

 

What level aar is your child in?

[desertflower]

Since you are almost on aar 2, there will be plenty of readers in the library. :)

[ExcitedMama]

AAR is tough in the beginning because it doesn't line up with the sequence of other early readers so it can be hard to find outside books. That gets easier in AAR2. I would definitely encourage you to stick with the sheets. I know it can be tedious and my DS thought it was torture but it works. Mine had more trouble in the beginning with that page full of words. He definitely liked the ones with sentences as you move higher in the levels. In the beginning we went through the lesson itself quickly but it could take a week to get through the sheet. I folded it into thirds and we just did a little everyday so it wasn't so overwhelming for him. There are other recommendations that are more fun, like highlighting or using stickers. The stories are really well done for it's limited options for words, much better than others out there, and they will get more fun as you add in more phonograms so I would recommend sticking it out. I did add outside books to encourage fluency. Can you still get the digital I See Sam books? We did those. We also did apps with phonic games and little readers. I think you can definitely add outside books and help him through any new words but I would recommend continuing to use the sheets and readers as well. When you get into AAR2 it will definitely be easier to add in more outside books. My DS is now an avid reader and I'm so grateful we stuck it out when AAR was hard for him. He went through the higher levels quickly but it was definitely difficult in the beginning.

 

Have you gotten to Silent e yet? I know that was a problem because AAR introduces it later. We did MP First Start Reading alongside AAR1 and you could get the one with silent e if you wanted to introduce it earlier to expand reading options. It is a workbook so you could look at the sample to see if he would hate it. My DS thought they were fun. You don't need the TM so the books are very reasonable.

Edited August 29, 2017 by ExcitedMama

[Meadowlark]

I don't personally thing that's a good idea. I think the readers are the *gems* of the program. What I like about AAR is that whatever story they are to read, they are ABLE to read because they just learned that concept from the previous lesson. Yes, it's hard to let go of the BOB books or Learn to Read books, but I believe this method really works. I have used all 4 levels and taught 3 kids to read with AAR. I believe in the process. I'd say you'd be setting him up for frustration because he will encounter words that he hasn't learned how to read yet. Unless you can explain how to decode every single word, he will have no frame of reference. At least with AAR, you can say "remember honey, we learned yesterday that in a 2 syllable word, first find the vowels, then the consonant, and put the consonant with the second syllable  and see if it makes sense". No questions. Make sense?

[ElizabethB]

Use what is working for you and don't use what isn't! Don Potter's Blend Phonics lessons and stories teach the words right before the story, so you can use them easily as a supplement.

 

http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/blend_phonics_stories.pdf

 

if you want more word cards ready made, he has hundreds of them aligned with Blend Phonics, here is his Blend Phonics Page with that and a lot more:

 

http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/blend_phonics.html

 

As long as you eventually teach all the sounds and don't teach sight words as wholes, you will be good. How and why to teach sight words with phonics:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

I have some ideas about how to make basic phonics fun on my blending page:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/blendingwords.html

Edited August 30, 2017 by ElizabethB

[scoutingmom]

Personally, I would drop AAR and just teach with the I See Sam books. I have used it with my youngest. You just teach the new sound in the next book, and they read the book a couple of times and then on to the next book. I use the instructions from www.3rsplus.com which is run by one of the original developers of the program in the 1970's. Honestly book 1 is the "hardest" in that they learn 5 sounds and blending. After that there is maybe 1 or 2 new sounds in a book. No sight words. No rules. And the names of some characters are a bit similar to encourage careful decoding. But honestly, the student learns to read by reading. There are sticker charts to go with the books too if that is motivating.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[Melissa in Australia]

I had never heard of I seSam books. Thanks to this thread I did a google search and found a free download of the whole 100 books. Developmently delayed twin one just read the first book to me.

 

 

We haven't finished AAR prereading and he only knows half the alphabet. I think I will start doing AAR 1 alongside AAR prereading along with reading I See Sam andBob books. That way we get more practice reading simple CVC books

[medawyn]

We've also used AAR and I See Sam. AAR was fine, but I See Sam was a huge hit here. We're just wrapping up Level 4.

[Linz1084]

We've also used AAR and I See Sam. AAR was fine, but I See Sam was a huge hit here. We're just wrapping up Level 4.

How did you combine the two?

[Fardo]

Another recommendation of I See Sam from me. I wouldn't attempt to combine the two programmes necessarily - I've never used AAR but I'd assume that if you're 70% through the first level that you've already covered the sounds in book one of the Sam series. So just pick up the first book and go from there, keeping on with AAR separately. 

Edited August 30, 2017 by Fardo

[medawyn]

How did you combine the two?

I didn't, exactly. We started with AAR, which I do like, but then I stumbled across I See Sam. I printed off a few books, but DS actually LOVES to read on daddy's iPad. He requested reading lessons every day, and soon he outpaced the phonics in AAR, so we ended up dropping it. I still use the readers on occasion as review/change of pace.

 

I introduce all the phonics in I See Sam as if I was teaching Spalding, and it works really well for my little guy who isn't ready for any writing yet.

[TheAttachedMama]

I have the exact same feelings about AAR as you describe!

 

I also used the parts of AAR that I liked with the I see sam readers.   It was INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE!    The I See Sam readers will teach fluency, and the whole process will be a lot smoother than the AAR fluency sheets which are often disliked by young students.    (they are not that fun.)   

 

How I used AAR and I See Sam together:

When I was teaching my kids to read, we had two short reading lessons per day.   I was working with slightly older kids--and I found that two shorter lessons per day worked better than one longer lesson.   

 

Reading lesson 1-   Review Lesson

Step 1:   Teach any new phonograms, review any old phonograms

Follow the phonogram introduction in the I See Sam books instead of the AAR teacher guide.    The "I See Sam" books are very similar to AAR, but does not line up exactly.    Somewhere online, (I think perhaps the yahoo group that supports the I see sam readers?) I found a document that lists each new phonogram and the new words for each reader book.   I used this as my guide for when to teach things.

 

I would introduce the new sound covered in the reader and review any of the previously learned sounds using the letter tiles.  We put all of the phonograms on a big pile---if they new them, we put them in their correct spot on the board.   Any they didn't know, stayed in the pile and were reviewed again.    

 

Sometimes I would dictate a sound and then they would write the phonogram that would make the sound to review.

 

Step 2:   Review

We would then read the "I See Sam" reader that we read the day before for review.   (We read each reader at least twice.)   Once we got to one of the later sets, I remember that we had to re-read an entire set for a third or fourth time.   We kept the letter tiles (or my ipad with letter tile app) right next to us.   If they struggled with any word, we would build it and use the AAR blending procedure to read it.

 

Reading Lesson 2:  New Material  (we would do something different for awhile.  Either another subject that wasn't seat work, or eat a snack, or clean some area of the house...just something different.   Then we would come back for another short reading lesson.

 

Step 1:   Play "Build a Word"

We would quickly review the new Phonogram I taught them in the morning.   (Only if the new book had a new phonogram.   Some I See Sam books are reivew.)   Then, we would build some words using the new phonogram.  (I would use the new word lists from the previously mentioned I see sam document.)   We would use the AAR blending procedures to blend these words together.

 

Step 2:   Read New "I See Sam" reader

We would read the new reader.   If they struggled with any words, we would build them on the board or ipad app...or I used a notch business card to reveal one phonogram at a time.   And I would have them say each sound and blend them together.

 

Parts of AAR that I skipped:

1)  The word cards--   In an attempt to "master" these new words, my children inadvertently developed a NASTY sight word reading habit.   It was really hard to get them out of this habit.   I found that the I See Sam books provided enough practice to build automaticity without flash cards.   I encouraged my children to sound out the words as much as they needed to and never pushed them to "master" any word before it naturally happened.  

 

2)   The fluency sheets-  I tried every tip AAR could give me to make these sheets fun.   I cut them up into pieces, made complicated games, tried highlighters, etc.   But despite my efforts, my children dreaded fluency sheets.   Plus, they were never really effective in building fluency!  I would have pushed through the sheets if they were effective, but all of the work yeilded little results for my children.    (I used AAR for 2.5 years before switching to my I See Sam method.  So I feel I gave their method, as written, a fair chance.)

 

3)  The AAR Readers-   I liked the AAR readers.   I could have (and would have!) used those for additional reading practice.  However, for my two children at least, I never needed additional practice.  So I skipped the AAR Readers just for the sake of time.  I don't think the additional reading practice could ever hurt though if you really want to include the AAR readers.  You will notice that the AAR readers make a lot more leaps than the I See Sam readers do.   For example, in the AAR readers, there is a big jump between levels 1 and 2:   the sentences become longer and more complex, the font size gets smaller, and there are a lot of new words introduced per book.   The I See Sam readers are a lot more gentle:   new sounds and words are drip fed to the child very slowly and then reviewed over and over again and the font size gets gradually smaller at a slower pace.    The BIGGEST leap in the I See Sam readers is when you leave the animal characters (Sam the Lion, Mat the rat) behind.  That happens between sets BR3 and AR1 if you are using the numbering system used by the original creators of the books.  (Different publishers of the I see sam books number their books differently... but the books that get a little bit more challenging are these:    http://www.3rsplus.com/3rsplus_ar1.htm )    And even that leap is VERY, VERY small compared to AAR.   Just saying that some students might need extra encouragement when you get to this set.  But this is where you start to see some major reading improvement.

 

We did go through all levels of AAS though.   (Which I love!)  So my children were explicitly taught all of the rules through that program again.  It was a great review after the child has learned to read.

 

 

ETA:  Please ignore all of my typos!   Yikes!   I am trying to write this in a dark room while I get my toddler back to sleep.   hahaha   

Edited August 31, 2017 by TheAttachedMama

[newhsmom]

I don't personally thing that's a good idea. I think the readers are the *gems* of the program. What I like about AAR is that whatever story they are to read, they are ABLE to read because they just learned that concept from the previous lesson. Yes, it's hard to let go of the BOB books or Learn to Read books, but I believe this method really works. I have used all 4 levels and taught 3 kids to read with AAR. I believe in the process. I'd say you'd be setting him up for frustration because he will encounter words that he hasn't learned how to read yet. Unless you can explain how to decode every single word, he will have no frame of reference. At least with AAR, you can say "remember honey, we learned yesterday that in a 2 syllable word, first find the vowels, then the consonant, and put the consonant with the second syllable  and see if it makes sense". No questions. Make sense?

 

I totally agree with this.  I used I See Sam books with my oldest child because AAR was not out then.  I have then used AAR with younger children, and I am so much happier with AAR.  It is so much more comprehensive and thorough.  I feel like any Orton-Gillingham phonics program takes a while to get into before you can easily find readers at the library that kids can read.  Most of the readers at the library have tons of sight words that just drive me crazy because they are too difficult for a kid that is really using phonics.  Of course, the traditional reader is geared for the public-schooled kid that is taught tons of sight words and very little phonics.  However, if your kid doesn't like the readers, then try a few different things, but it might take some time and patience until he can read the readers at the library.  

[TheAttachedMama]

I totally agree with this.  I used I See Sam books with my oldest child because AAR was not out then.  I have then used AAR with younger children, and I am so much happier with AAR.  It is so much more comprehensive and thorough.  I feel like any Orton-Gillingham phonics program takes a while to get into before you can easily find readers at the library that kids can read.  Most of the readers at the library have tons of sight words that just drive me crazy because they are too difficult for a kid that is really using phonics.  Of course, the traditional reader is geared for the public-schooled kid that is taught tons of sight words and very little phonics.  However, if your kid doesn't like the readers, then try a few different things, but it might take some time and patience until he can read the readers at the library.  

 

Just a word of caution (that may or may not be related to what was written above, but a word of caution nonetheless): :)

 

One criticism I often see of the "I See Sam" books is that they teach sight words.  That is a false claim.   But I can explain how that 'rumor' came about.....

The I See Sam books are in the public domain.   So some publishers have taken the original books and added all of this instructional material to the front.  (Example:   ReadingTeacher.com, Iseesam.com, and others.)   So you may find yourself with a printed copy of the book that tells you to teach some sight words.   Ignore that material.    For example, in some of the printed books they might say, "Teach the word 'see' as a sight word".    HOWEVER, that is not how the books are meant to be taught.   The books are written to be taught so that the child learn to read phonetically....using all of the same phonograms taught in AAR, Spalding methods, Logic of English, or any other good phonics based reading method etc..   (That is why they are often recomended to be used with these books.)   Instead of teaching the word 'see' as a sight word (just for example), you are supposed to teach the child the sound of /s/, then teach the child the vowel team "ee" as the long e sound...and then blend the word together like "sssssseeeeeeeee" and then say "see"   (Just as an example.)    

 

This is why I always tell people to ignore any instructional material in the front of the I See Sam books and *not* to buy any teacher's manuals.   Just teach the sounds (usually only one is introduced per book except for the first book which is the hardest...five new sounds are introduced /s/ /m/ long I, short a, and long e spelled "ee"*), and have the child blend the sounds together into words.   That's it.    

 

I would actually argue that the "All About Reading" readers contain a lot more sight words.   They introduce a lot of purely phonetic words early before the child has learned to sound them out.   (They call the words "leap words" and they have a little frog on the word cards.   The child is supposed to learn these by sight since they haven't learned the sounds or rules for the words yet....even though they are phonetic words)   There are no leap words in the I see Sam books.     The child is supposed to sound out every word in the books.   (Except*** for the few words in English which are not phonetic, and these are introduced very slowly and reviewed a lot so the child does not get in the habit of reading by sight)  

 

***OF COURSE, in English there are a few words that are not phonetic.   (Example:  'said', because the phonogram 'ai' usually makes the long a sound.)     These words are going to have to be learned by sight in any reader....including the I See Sam Readers, or the AAR readers, or the LOE readers, etc.   In fact, AAR has written a series of articles on their blog abot these words.   Here is one:   https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/how-to-teach-sight-words

 

Newhsmom is right though about her point regarding sight word readers.  (Example:  Dick and Jane.)  A child who is taught to read by sight will at first be able to read at a higher level.   However, the construction quickly breaks down in 3rd and 4th grade when a bunch of unknown words are introduced in their science/history/health books.   The child who has been taught to read phonetically will have the advantage.  

 

 

 

Long story short:

Both the AAR readers and the I See Sam readers are purely phonetic readers.   They are NOT sight readers.  (Even though AAR introduces a few leap words as sight words, I would not call either of these books sight word readers.)   The AAR readers are super cute.   The illustrations are adorable.   There are actually many phonetic readers available on the market:  bob books, eps books, logic of english readers, spalding program readers, and many more.  All of these phonics based readers are good.    The one thing that separates the I See Sam readers from these other phonetic readers is the amount of review and how slowly the phonetic code is introduced (and then practiced, practiced, practiced.)  

 

I would say that the AAR readers will work for some children.   And if you are one of the lucky parents whose children can learn with just the AAR readers, don't fix what isn't broken!!   They are very, very cute books.

 

However, the AAR readers do not provide enough practice for many children.   And all of the word cards and leap words in AAR can inadvertently get some children in the bad habit of reading words by sight.  (This is VERY hard habit to break.)    I have noticed that there are quite a few children who need a lot more practice than the AAR fluency sheets, word cards, or AAR readers alone provide.   (You can see this when you go and read the AAR/AAS forums...or even do a quick search for AAR on this board.)    So, for the kids who are having difficulty developing automaticity and fluency using AAR as written, I recommend the I See Sam Readers.    (Or you could just start with I See Sam from the start.)

 

Also, let me be clear:   I See Sam is not an orton-gillingham program.  It uses the same phonograms and sounds as the OG programs because those are the sounds we have in English words.   With I See Sam,  You are supposed to just teach the phonograms and then teach the child to blend them into words.   For my children, I chose to combine the tools that I learned in the OG programs with the I See Sam books.     This was like a magic-one-two knock out punch!    

[medawyn]

Just a word of caution (that may or may not be related to what was written above, but a word of caution nonetheless): :)

 

One criticism I often see of the "I See Sam" books is that they teach sight words. That is a false claim. But I can explain how that 'rumor' came about.....

The I See Sam books are in the public domain. So some publishers have taken the original books and added all of this instructional material to the front. (Example: ReadingTeacher.com, Iseesam.com, and others.) So you may find yourself with a printed copy of the book that tells you to teach some sight words. Ignore that material. For example, in some of the printed books they might say, "Teach the word 'see' as a sight word". HOWEVER, that is not how the books are meant to be taught. The books are written to be taught so that the child learn to read phonetically....using all of the same phonograms taught in AAR, Spalding methods, Logic of English, or any other good phonics based reading method etc.. (That is why they are often recomended to be used with these books.) Instead of teaching the word 'see' as a sight word (just for example), you are supposed to teach the child the sound of /s/, then teach the child the vowel team "ee" as the long e sound...and then blend the word together like "sssssseeeeeeeee" and then say "see" (Just as an example.)

 

This is why I always tell people to ignore any instructional material in the front of the I See Sam books and *not* to buy any teacher's manuals. Just teach the sounds (usually only one is introduced per book except for the first book which is the hardest...five new sounds are introduced /s/ /m/ long I, short a, and long e spelled "ee"*), and have the child blend the sounds together into words. That's it.

 

I would actually argue that the "All About Reading" readers contain a lot more sight words. They introduce a lot of purely phonetic words early before the child has learned to sound them out. (They call the words "leap words" and they have a little frog on the word cards. The child is supposed to learn these by sight since they haven't learned the sounds or rules for the words yet....even though they are phonetic words) There are no leap words in the I see Sam books. The child is supposed to sound out every word in the books. (Except*** for the few words in English which are not phonetic, and these are introduced very slowly and reviewed a lot so the child does not get in the habit of reading by sight)

 

***OF COURSE, in English there are a few words that are not phonetic. (Example: 'said', because the phonogram 'ai' usually makes the long a sound.) These words are going to have to be learned by sight in any reader....including the I See Sam Readers, or the AAR readers, or the LOE readers, etc. In fact, AAR has written a series of articles on their blog abot these words. Here is one: https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/how-to-teach-sight-words

 

Newhsmom is right though about her point regarding sight word readers. (Example: Dick and Jane.) A child who is taught to read by sight will at first be able to read at a higher level. However, the construction quickly breaks down in 3rd and 4th grade when a bunch of unknown words are introduced in their science/history/health books. The child who has been taught to read phonetically will have the advantage.

 

 

 

Long story short:

Both the AAR readers and the I See Sam readers are purely phonetic readers. They are NOT sight readers. (Even though AAR introduces a few leap words as sight words, I would not call either of these books sight word readers.) The AAR readers are super cute. The illustrations are adorable. There are actually many phonetic readers available on the market: bob books, eps books, logic of english readers, spalding program readers, and many more. All of these phonics based readers are good. The one thing that separates the I See Sam readers from these other phonetic readers is the amount of review and how slowly the phonetic code is introduced (and then practiced, practiced, practiced.)

 

I would say that the AAR readers will work for some children. And if you are one of the lucky parents whose children can learn with just the AAR readers, don't fix what isn't broken!! They are very, very cute books.

 

However, the AAR readers do not provide enough practice for many children. And all of the word cards and leap words in AAR can inadvertently get some children in the bad habit of reading words by sight. (This is VERY hard habit to break.) I have noticed that there are quite a few children who need a lot more practice than the AAR fluency sheets, word cards, or AAR readers alone provide. (You can see this when you go and read the AAR/AAS forums...or even do a quick search for AAR on this board.) So, for the kids who are having difficulty developing automaticity and fluency using AAR as written, I recommend the I See Sam Readers. (Or you could just start with I See Sam from the start.)

 

Also, let me be clear: I See Sam is not an orton-gillingham program. It uses the same phonograms and sounds as the OG programs because those are the sounds we have in English words. With I See Sam, You are supposed to just teach the phonograms and then teach the child to blend them into words. For my children, I chose to combine the tools that I learned in the OG programs with the I See Sam books. This was like a magic-one-two knock out punch!

Yes and yes!

[Linz1084]

I have the exact same feelings about AAR as you describe!

 

I also used the parts of AAR that I liked with the I see sam readers.   It was INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE!    The I See Sam readers will teach fluency, and the whole process will be a lot smoother than the AAR fluency sheets which are often disliked by young students.    (they are not that fun.)   

 

How I used AAR and I See Sam together:

When I was teaching my kids to read, we had two short reading lessons per day.   I was working with slightly older kids--and I found that two shorter lessons per day worked better than one longer lesson.   

 

Reading lesson 1-   Review Lesson

Step 1:   Teach any new phonograms, review any old phonograms

Follow the phonogram introduction in the I See Sam books instead of the AAR teacher guide.........

 

 

This is INCREDIBLY helpful.  I have already started to do some of the steps you mention using AAR.  We introduce the lesson, then I have been picking some words off the fluency sheet to do with the tiles.  The past week of trial and error, this has the best result.  I ditched those cards too.  I noticed the sight-reading habit too, and even just ditching them for a couple weeks and going back to the tiles over and over again I see him sounding out far more often.  Less guessing is happening.  

 

Fluency and automaticity are definitely the biggest struggles - and this is frustrating for my perfectionist son!  I'm thinking this will come with time and practice.  

 

I am just beginning with my 5yo son now, and am thinking of NOT doing AAR at all and just starting with I See Sam.  This makes me slightly nervous, but progress will be made I'm sure!  Hah!  

 

Do you happen to have that document you mentioned that listed the words and sequence of phonograms with I See Sam?  I would love to get that from you if possible. :-) Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

[Linz1084]

I totally agree with this.  I used I See Sam books with my oldest child because AAR was not out then.  I have then used AAR with younger children, and I am so much happier with AAR.  It is so much more comprehensive and thorough.  I feel like any Orton-Gillingham phonics program takes a while to get into before you can easily find readers at the library that kids can read.  Most of the readers at the library have tons of sight words that just drive me crazy because they are too difficult for a kid that is really using phonics.  Of course, the traditional reader is geared for the public-schooled kid that is taught tons of sight words and very little phonics.  However, if your kid doesn't like the readers, then try a few different things, but it might take some time and patience until he can read the readers at the library.  

 

 

I agree - if something is working, don't change what's working.  But the fluency sheets are a big joy-kill over here (or battle, is more like it) and the cards have created a bad guessing habit.  I'm sure I can tweak this to make it work for us, but over the past few months I have seen that something does need to change.  Fluency sheets are only tolerated in bite-sized chunks which would take us many days to get through.  He would rather be reading stories, and I don't blame him!  

 

Something I have found that is helpful is some of those readers that have the parent and child read together - he reads what is on his level, and I'm able to add some dimension to the story by reading other parts.  Usborne has some, which we own and enjoy.

[Linz1084]

Just a word of caution (that may or may not be related to what was written above, but a word of caution nonetheless): :)

 

One criticism I often see of the "I See Sam" books is that they teach sight words.  That is a false claim.   But I can explain how that 'rumor' came about.....

The I See Sam books are in the public domain.   So some publishers have taken the original books and added all of this instructional material to the front.  (Example:   ReadingTeacher.com, Iseesam.com, and others.)   So you may find yourself with a printed copy of the book that tells you to teach some sight words.   Ignore that material.    For example, in some of the printed books they might say, "Teach the word 'see' as a sight word".    HOWEVER, that is not how the books are meant to be taught.   The books are written to be taught so that the child learn to read phonetically....using all of the same phonograms taught in AAR, Spalding methods, Logic of English, or any other good phonics based reading method etc..   (That is why they are often recomended to be used with these books.)   Instead of teaching the word 'see' as a sight word (just for example), you are supposed to teach the child the sound of /s/, then teach the child the vowel team "ee" as the long e sound...and then blend the word together like "sssssseeeeeeeee" and then say "see"   (Just as an example.)    

 

This is why I always tell people to ignore any instructional material in the front of the I See Sam books and *not* to buy any teacher's manuals.   Just teach the sounds (usually only one is introduced per book except for the first book which is the hardest...five new sounds are introduced /s/ /m/ long I, short a, and long e spelled "ee"*), and have the child blend the sounds together into words.   That's it.    

 

I would actually argue that the "All About Reading" readers contain a lot more sight words.   They introduce a lot of purely phonetic words early before the child has learned to sound them out.   (They call the words "leap words" and they have a little frog on the word cards.   The child is supposed to learn these by sight since they haven't learned the sounds or rules for the words yet....even though they are phonetic words)   There are no leap words in the I see Sam books.     The child is supposed to sound out every word in the books.   (Except*** for the few words in English which are not phonetic, and these are introduced very slowly and reviewed a lot so the child does not get in the habit of reading by sight)  

 

***OF COURSE, in English there are a few words that are not phonetic.   (Example:  'said', because the phonogram 'ai' usually makes the long a sound.)     These words are going to have to be learned by sight in any reader....including the I See Sam Readers, or the AAR readers, or the LOE readers, etc.   In fact, AAR has written a series of articles on their blog abot these words.   Here is one:   https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/how-to-teach-sight-words

 

Newhsmom is right though about her point regarding sight word readers.  (Example:  Dick and Jane.)  A child who is taught to read by sight will at first be able to read at a higher level.   However, the construction quickly breaks down in 3rd and 4th grade when a bunch of unknown words are introduced in their science/history/health books.   The child who has been taught to read phonetically will have the advantage.  

 

 

 

Long story short:

Both the AAR readers and the I See Sam readers are purely phonetic readers.   They are NOT sight readers.  (Even though AAR introduces a few leap words as sight words, I would not call either of these books sight word readers.)   The AAR readers are super cute.   The illustrations are adorable.   There are actually many phonetic readers available on the market:  bob books, eps books, logic of english readers, spalding program readers, and many more.  All of these phonics based readers are good.    The one thing that separates the I See Sam readers from these other phonetic readers is the amount of review and how slowly the phonetic code is introduced (and then practiced, practiced, practiced.)  

 

I would say that the AAR readers will work for some children.   And if you are one of the lucky parents whose children can learn with just the AAR readers, don't fix what isn't broken!!   They are very, very cute books.

 

However, the AAR readers do not provide enough practice for many children.   And all of the word cards and leap words in AAR can inadvertently get some children in the bad habit of reading words by sight.  (This is VERY hard habit to break.)    I have noticed that there are quite a few children who need a lot more practice than the AAR fluency sheets, word cards, or AAR readers alone provide.   (You can see this when you go and read the AAR/AAS forums...or even do a quick search for AAR on this board.)    So, for the kids who are having difficulty developing automaticity and fluency using AAR as written, I recommend the I See Sam Readers.    (Or you could just start with I See Sam from the start.)

 

Also, let me be clear:   I See Sam is not an orton-gillingham program.  It uses the same phonograms and sounds as the OG programs because those are the sounds we have in English words.   With I See Sam,  You are supposed to just teach the phonograms and then teach the child to blend them into words.   For my children, I chose to combine the tools that I learned in the OG programs with the I See Sam books.     This was like a magic-one-two knock out punch!    

 

 

Have you looked at the I See Sam app?  I just bought one level to start using with my son.  It has the phonograms in the beginning and then the words we will see in the coming book.  It uses blending each time you click on a word in the way you describe above.  I do like it, but will probably order hard-copy books too.  I know I can print them for free, too.  I haven't come across any that tell us to teach words as sight words yet.  

[medawyn]

Have you looked at the I See Sam app?  I just bought one level to start using with my son.  It has the phonograms in the beginning and then the words we will see in the coming book.  It uses blending each time you click on a word in the way you describe above.  I do like it, but will probably order hard-copy books too.  I know I can print them for free, too.  I haven't come across any that tell us to teach words as sight words yet.  

 

My son LOVES the app.  I have actually turned off the voice, because eventually the blending gets weird. (y - o - u = you).  Plus sometimes I would redirect his attention to the text, and the voice would jump in and blend or read for him.  I just teach the sounds, we practice reading through the words (using the AAR tiles if we need to).

 

I have printed off some of the books as well, but he much prefers reading on Daddy's iPad.

[TheAttachedMama]

This is INCREDIBLY helpful.  I have already started to do some of the steps you mention using AAR.  We introduce the lesson, then I have been picking some words off the fluency sheet to do with the tiles.  The past week of trial and error, this has the best result.  I ditched those cards too.  I noticed the sight-reading habit too, and even just ditching them for a couple weeks and going back to the tiles over and over again I see him sounding out far more often.  Less guessing is happening.  

 

Fluency and automaticity are definitely the biggest struggles - and this is frustrating for my perfectionist son!  I'm thinking this will come with time and practice.  

 

I am just beginning with my 5yo son now, and am thinking of NOT doing AAR at all and just starting with I See Sam.  This makes me slightly nervous, but progress will be made I'm sure!  Hah!  

 

Do you happen to have that document you mentioned that listed the words and sequence of phonograms with I See Sam?  I would love to get that from you if possible. :-) Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

 

 

The file that I mentioned is located here:  http://www.3rsplus.com/documents/List_of_Titles_New_Words_000.pdf   It contains the new sounds introduced in each of the first 25 books.  (I'm not sure where you are placing your child, so I hope this helps.)    It also lists any new words the child will see in the first 25 books.   We built these on the white board before reading and reviewed all of the sounds using the letter tiles.   As you can see, the very first book is going to be the hardest because the child has to learn 5 new sounds.   After that, any new sounds are very, very, very slowly introduced and reviewed quite a bit.    This site (3rsplus) was created by one of the original researchers (Dick Schultz) so any instructional recommendations are sound.   The procedures *might* match up with what the app tells you to do, but I am not sure.   Just beware of anything that tells you to teach sight words!  :)  

 

I would also recommend that you join the yahoo group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Beginning-Reading-Instruction/files

Mr. Schultz is still very active in this group, and he will take the time to help you troubleshoot any issues you are having, give placement advice, etc.   There are also many tutors in this group who have years and years of experience teaching with these books.   They have worked with kids with learning challenges, dyslexia, gifted children, children from every socioeconomic background, children who are learning English as a second language, etc.  Pretty much any new problem you are having, they have probably seen before!   They are all very nice and helpful too.   The files section of this yahoo group is even better because there is one document which even tells you when the child will see a capital letter for the first time!  (example:  in the first book, they actually will see s and S.)   There are also homemade letter tiles that you can print, laminate, and put magnets on.  There are word flashcards too ;), but we skipped these and just use the letter tiles.  

 

A note about teaching new readers:

Unlike AAR, the I See Sam books start out introducing vowel teams right away.  (For example, in the very first book "ee" is taught.)   The idea is that the child learns right away that two letters can work together to make one sound.   (This is such a common occurrence in English.  So the idea is introduced right away.)   Long and short vowels are introduced right away too.   (In the very first book, the child learns that "a" can make the short /a/ sound....but when "I" is in an open syllable, it makes its long sound.)  

 

I am teaching my three (almost 4) year old with these books.   Because he is so young, I don't use the terms long or short vowels...or open or closed syllables.   I keep instruction very simple.   (Say the sounds and blend into a word.)    We learn one sound that corresponds with one symbol (aka letter or digraph) at a time then we practice, practice, practice.   I had to make homemade capital and lowercase letter tiles for him on my printer because he doesn't reliably remember that A and a can be the same "symbol" yet because he is so young.  ;)  So we practice the sound with both letters.  (Example of how I teach him:   I just use the "a" tile and model the short a sound.   Then I use the ee tile and model the long e sound.   Then I use the capital "I" tile and model the long I sound.   Then I give him a turn to practice the sounds...I point and he says the sound.  Then we build words and practice holding each sound and blending them into words.  We build some words with both the capital and lowercase letters to practice them:   Example:   See and see Mat and mat, etc.)   When I introduce the books, I use a notched card and uncover one "sound/symbol" at a time and have him hold the sound and blend it with the next sound.  

 

I was worried about teaching such a young kid.   But he seems to be learning without problems.   :) 

 

I also was scared to leave AAR too and venture out on my own.  (It is talked about so much in the homeschool community!)   But if you think about it, these SWRL books (the "real" name of the I See Sam books btw) have been around for a lot longer and have a lot of research published on them.    So it isn't like we are using some "unknown" or "untested" instructional method.    

 

I also start AAS 1 with my kids in first grade (once they have learned some basic penmanship).   This way my kids are explicitly taught the "why" behind English....    (Why are f, l, and s sometimes doubled at the end in some words?   Why do we need to double the consonant in some words?  When do we turn the y into an i when making some words plural, etc.)    I am actually a huge fan of Marie Rippel.    She takes complex rules and makes them simple and easy to remember.  So I don't want to diminish her programs in any way.   I am just not a big fan of the fluency sheets or flashcards in AAR.  

 

 

 

Placement for kids who have already started reading:

The placement set for the I see Sam books is located here too:   http://www.3rsplus.com/documents/Performance_Indicators_000.pdf

You can also post on the yahoo group and ask for help too.

Note:   All of the "3rsplus" files use the numbering system for the original books.   And the people on the yahoo group often use the original book numbering system...BR1, BR2, AR1, etc.  (BR stands for beginning readers and AR stands for advanced readers I think.)  You can see which tiles they are talking about if you go to the main site on "3rsplus" to correspond them to the app or printed copies of the book:   http://www.3rsplus.com/  (Click on products.)   I am probably making this overly complicated, but this is just one of those things you have to learn when talking the "i see sam" talk!   :)  

 

 

Have you looked at the I See Sam app?  I just bought one level to start using with my son.  It has the phonograms in the beginning and then the words we will see in the coming book.  It uses blending each time you click on a word in the way you describe above.  I do like it, but will probably order hard-copy books too.  I know I can print them for free, too.  I haven't come across any that tell us to teach words as sight words yet.  

I have looked at the app.  It is nice, but I much prefer using actual books when teaching reading.   I am probably old fashioned.  

[Linz1084]

Okay, just to get this straight. You still used AAR to teach new phonograms, but just went in the order of I See Sam instead?

 

I'm trying to figure out if I can just follow AAR, skipping the cards (and only building some words with tiles off the fluency sheets), and then do I See Sam alongside it. But maybe that is too much.

 

Just trying to wrap my mind around it so that we can make progress and I'm not leaving any gaps!

[TheAttachedMama]

Okay, just to get this straight. You still used AAR to teach new phonograms, but just went in the order of I See Sam instead?

 

I'm trying to figure out if I can just follow AAR, skipping the cards (and only building some words with tiles off the fluency sheets), and then do I See Sam alongside it. But maybe that is too much.

 

Just trying to wrap my mind around it so that we can make progress and I'm not leaving any gaps!

Short answer:   I used the methods that I learned in AAR to teach the phonograms as they came along in I See Sam.  (But I used the I See Sam books as my spine to guide my order of introduction.)  

 

Long answer:

When I first discovered I See Sam, I *think* I was half way through AAR 2 if I remember correctly.   Again, I had heard the books recommended over and over again, but I just assumed they would be like any other phonics based reader.   (I already had quite a few on my shelves.  Supplementing AAR with these other readers was also not helping with fluency.)   But we were really having problems with the AAR 2 readers.  The sentences were long enough that if a child doesn't have some type of automaticity in reading, they have trouble holding the content in their head long enough to make sense of what was happening.   (At least that is the problem we were having.)   I posted on this forum quite a bit about the problems I was having.   I also posted quite a bit on the All About Learning forum for help.   I was told I just needed to over-review the word cards.  So I did.  We went through the WHOLE deck several times for weeks and weeks.  (Putting new lessons on hold and just focusing on those word cards.)  We redid all of the fluency sheets.   We re-read the AAR readers so many times that my child had them memorized.   This didn't really help.  In fact, it more introduced a sight reading habit that I had to work really hard to break.   

 

So, I finally tried the I See Sam readers.    I gave my child the placement test, and he placed in the BR levels still...like maybe the 3rd set?  I can't remember exactly.   I do remember that the readers felt really easy at first (which was a welcome relief for my kid!)  

 

At first, I tried using AAR (minus word cards and fluency sheets) in the morning and then the I See Sam readers in the afternoon.   (Treating both like two separate reading programs.)    I too was afraid of gaps and was reluctant to leave AAR completely since other stuff besides phonics is covered.   Eventually, I stopped following the AAR lesson order and instead used the general tools I had learned in AAR to teach the material in I See Sam.   The order that the concepts are introduced is not that different, but I chose to follow the I See Sam order of introduction so I wasn't throwing too much new stuff at my child each day. 

 

 

Some specific examples

 

When the soft sound of "g" was first introduced in the I See Sam books:

I pretty much followed the teaching procedures in AAR lesson 38.   (Skipping the word cards, fluency sheets, and activity sheet).  Then I used the I See Sam books to practice the concept.  

 

An example of how I would introduce vowel teams:

When the sound "oy" and "oi" are introduced in the "I See Sam" books, I followed AAR 2 Lesson 46 to introduce the sounds.  

I used the same lingo that they use in AAR because I knew we would use it again in spelling (AAS).   (I wanted to remain consistent.)   I would say---  oy as /oy/ that we may use at the end of English words.  and oi as /oy/ that we may not use at the end of English words.   Then I would file those letter tiles under the vowel teams so we could review it.  (I had stopped using the phonogram cards and just reviewed stuff with letter tiles by this point.)   Then I would blend sounds into words with the letter tiles. (Often using the words that would be in the I see sam book which were listed in the front.)    Then I played "change a word" as taught in the AAR lesson.   I did not do the word cards.   I did not do the activity sheets.  And I did not do the fluency sheets or leap words.   We also read two stories per day from the "I See Sam" books.   One story was a review, the other would be new.   (Again, we split all of this up into two different lesson times to keep my child from getting burned out.)   

 

NOW--according to Mr. Schultz---- everything I did above was an overkill.   According to him, you should just be able to introduce the new sounds as you come to them in the readers.  (Teach your child to say the sounds, then have them say the words.)   He says I was making things too complicated.   :)   Perhaps I was.   I'm just letting you know what I did.   

 

Concerning gaps:   All About Reading covers a lot more than just phonics.   For example, in the later books, it covers literary terms and devices.   It covers greek and latin roots.     Etc.   I think this is great---BUT it can also be a con when you are trying to get a child up and reading at grade level.    In hindsight, I think it is more effective to get the child reading fluently and well in the early grades rather than spending time learning about personification (and other things) in 2nd grade.   Those are all great topics, but they can be taught later.

 

Right now, my child is in 5th grade.   I don't think that skipping all of the stuff in AAR did him any diservice.   We followed up learning to read with a great, phonics based spelling program.  (AAS.)    Things like abbreviations and contractions were also taught in the I See Sam books, and his grammar program, and in AAS.     He started taking French and Latin, so he is learning root words though those programs VERY thoroughly.   Greek words are taught all.of.the.time in most classical curriculum.  (We use Memoria Press, and trust me....kids are going to know Greek roots by the time they finish that program!  hahah)   Literature terms are taught in his literature programs.   (And I would say much more easily understood by a logic stage student.)   

[PeterPan]

I have no idea if this is a good idea but my mind has been spinning in how to get AAR to work for us. What is working - the magnet tiles, the blending method, the new lessons... what isn't working? The fluency and practice sheets. Worksheets and my son just don't mix. He sees it on a sheet and freaks out. So I have been picking words from the fluency sheet and putting them on the magnet tile board, or writing them on a white board, or just listing a few at a time in his notebook. We work our way through them.

 

So here are my thoughts. He doesn't love reading the readers. I have considered separating the lessons/fluency sheets from our reader stack in order to get through the lessons more quickly, allowing him to then have more options for books to read. He really wants to read books from the library. Or is even motivated more by the Bob books and the I See Sam books. I think he kind of feels like the AAR book is the book that never ends with all the stories crammed into that one book. I get it. He never closes the cover when he's done. So, I was thinking of using AAR for the lessons and practicing fluency sheets while using more variety of readers. We would probably read through AAR also but I don't want that to hold us back from progressing with the lessons (that I feel that he's ready for). Compared to other curriculums, AAR seems to move very slowly, but the tile method is working so I don't want to fully switch.

 

Does that make sense? Has anyone done this? Is this a horrible idea? I want to hear it all. Reading has been a struggle and I'm trying to do my best to lighten this up for my boy and encourage some interest.

 

Fwiw, AAR is a pretty slow method of presentation, and some kids can indeed go MUCH faster. If you want the same methodology (phonogram-based, OG-light), look at WRTR or SWR. That's what I did with my dd, and it allowed her to get to reading what she wanted to read much more quickly. You'll teach most of the phonograms upfront, etc. It's just much, much faster.

 

As far as the fluency, you can load the words on Quizlet. There's a desktop version and apps for your ipad, phone, etc. My dd (ADHD) needed fluency work and my ds (dyslexic) did too. So definitely don't be hesitant about putting those words onto flashcards or an app and drilling them to fluency.

 

You realize you don't have to teach reading at all? All you actually have to do is teach him the phonograms and how to spell. When you do that, many kids will just zoom right into reading. That's the whole thesis of WRTR/SWR. You're worried about being thorough, but even syllabication rules many kids just infer and don't need explicit instruction on.

 

Amazon.com: writing road to reading  Here is WRTR. The phonograms are almost identical to what you're using with AAR. So if you want a faster version, also thorough, this would work. Then just let him read what he wants. Your library might have this.

Spell to Write and Read Core Kit (048480) Details - Rainbow Resource Center, Inc. Little bit more money, same basic program, lots of extra features. 

 

You can continue to use your AAR letter tiles with other programs. Or speed up AAR. I would definitely drill to fluency though, no matter what program you're using.

[medawyn]

Okay, just to get this straight. You still used AAR to teach new phonograms, but just went in the order of I See Sam instead?

 

I'm trying to figure out if I can just follow AAR, skipping the cards (and only building some words with tiles off the fluency sheets), and then do I See Sam alongside it. But maybe that is too much.

 

Just trying to wrap my mind around it so that we can make progress and I'm not leaving any gaps!

 

First, you aren't going to leave any gaps that won't be filled in over the years.  Almost all kids learn to read in a wide variety of ways, and they all end up at more or less the same place.  

 

I used AAR Pre and half of AAR1.  I'm planning on using AAS1 when we're ready for more than basic penmanship.  For us, AAR moved a bit too slowly, and like AttachedMama pointed out, covers a lot more than basic reading instruction.  A lot of what they cover is interesting and useful information, but unnecessary for beginning readers.  It'll get covered during spelling and when children are more fluent.

 

Here's how I work I See Sam readers:

 

I preview a few readers in advance and I introduce the phonograms 3-6 at a time.  We review our phonograms daily (not all of them, but a stack of a dozen or so each day).  I actually use Spalding's phonogram cards, but honestly, one Orton Gillingham program is much like another; there are tweaks here or there, but it's not going to matter that much in the long run.  I always introduce all the sounds a phonogram makes, even if the reader is only focusing on one.  I also preview for spelling rules that might be useful, like Silent E.  I add the new phonogram tiles to our whiteboard.

 

We start a lesson by introducing any new phonograms and reviewing some old ones.  Then I build any new words I think might be a challenge on the whiteboard with the tiles, and we practice sounding them out.  This is the time we would practice Silent E or maybe talk about base words and endings.

 

After that (the above takes about 5 minutes), we read the new story.  Another time during the day, we will review an older story from the same set of books for review and fluency practice.  Our whole lesson takes about 10-15 minutes, which is just about right for my 4.5 yo.  We've moved into the Advanced Readers 1 books, and each of those has two stories in it; he really can only do one in a sitting.

 

Basically I've ditched AAR for I See Sam.  I still use (some of) their verbiage, because I do plan on using them for a spelling program.  And like OhElizabeth pointed out, The Writing Road to Reading is much faster way to get to the same end result as AAR.  We're not using it at the moment, because my guy is too little for the writing, which is the core of the program.  I'm a huge WRTR fan, but if you have a little person ready to read who is not up for spelling, it's not the right program to start with.

[Linz1084]

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[Linz1084]

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[ElizabethB]

I would try using my letter cards to make sounding out words a bit more fun and use the one page sheet as a reference when reading, it makes learning the sounds easier and faster once you get used to it.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/Resources/40LChartsCombined.pdf

[scoutingmom]

The file that I mentioned is located here: http://www.3rsplus.com/documents/List_of_Titles_New_Words_000.pdf It contains the new sounds introduced in each of the first 25 books. (I'm not sure where you are placing your child, so I hope this helps.) It also lists any new words the child will see in the first 25 books. We built these on the white board before reading and reviewed all of the sounds using the letter tiles. As you can see, the very first book is going to be the hardest because the child has to learn 5 new sounds. After that, any new sounds are very, very, very slowly introduced and reviewed quite a bit. This site (3rsplus) was created by one of the original researchers (Dick Schultz) so any instructional recommendations are sound. The procedures *might* match up with what the app tells you to do, but I am not sure. Just beware of anything that tells you to teach sight words! :)

 

I would also recommend that you join the yahoo group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Beginning-Reading-Instruction/files

Mr. Schultz is still very active in this group, and he will take the time to help you troubleshoot any issues you are having, give placement advice, etc. There are also many tutors in this group who have years and years of experience teaching with these books. They have worked with kids with learning challenges, dyslexia, gifted children, children from every socioeconomic background, children who are learning English as a second language, etc. Pretty much any new problem you are having, they have probably seen before! They are all very nice and helpful too. The files section of this yahoo group is even better because there is one document which even tells you when the child will see a capital letter for the first time! (example: in the first book, they actually will see s and S.) There are also homemade letter tiles that you can print, laminate, and put magnets on. There are word flashcards too ;), but we skipped these and just use the letter tiles.

 

A note about teaching new readers:

Unlike AAR, the I See Sam books start out introducing vowel teams right away. (For example, in the very first book "ee" is taught.) The idea is that the child learns right away that two letters can work together to make one sound. (This is such a common occurrence in English. So the idea is introduced right away.) Long and short vowels are introduced right away too. (In the very first book, the child learns that "a" can make the short /a/ sound....but when "I" is in an open syllable, it makes its long sound.)

 

I am teaching my three (almost 4) year old with these books. Because he is so young, I don't use the terms long or short vowels...or open or closed syllables. I keep instruction very simple. (Say the sounds and blend into a word.) We learn one sound that corresponds with one symbol (aka letter or digraph) at a time then we practice, practice, practice. I had to make homemade capital and lowercase letter tiles for him on my printer because he doesn't reliably remember that A and a can be the same "symbol" yet because he is so young. ;) So we practice the sound with both letters. (Example of how I teach him: I just use the "a" tile and model the short a sound. Then I use the ee tile and model the long e sound. Then I use the capital "I" tile and model the long I sound. Then I give him a turn to practice the sounds...I point and he says the sound. Then we build words and practice holding each sound and blending them into words. We build some words with both the capital and lowercase letters to practice them: Example: See and see Mat and mat, etc.) When I introduce the books, I use a notched card and uncover one "sound/symbol" at a time and have him hold the sound and blend it with the next sound.

 

I was worried about teaching such a young kid. But he seems to be learning without problems. :)

 

I also was scared to leave AAR too and venture out on my own. (It is talked about so much in the homeschool community!) But if you think about it, these SWRL books (the "real" name of the I See Sam books btw) have been around for a lot longer and have a lot of research published on them. So it isn't like we are using some "unknown" or "untested" instructional method.

 

I also start AAS 1 with my kids in first grade (once they have learned some basic penmanship). This way my kids are explicitly taught the "why" behind English.... (Why are f, l, and s sometimes doubled at the end in some words? Why do we need to double the consonant in some words? When do we turn the y into an i when making some words plural, etc.) I am actually a huge fan of Marie Rippel. She takes complex rules and makes them simple and easy to remember. So I don't want to diminish her programs in any way. I am just not a big fan of the fluency sheets or flashcards in AAR.

 

 

 

Placement for kids who have already started reading:

The placement set for the I see Sam books is located here too: http://www.3rsplus.com/documents/Performance_Indicators_000.pdf

You can also post on the yahoo group and ask for help too.

Note: All of the "3rsplus" files use the numbering system for the original books. And the people on the yahoo group often use the original book numbering system...BR1, BR2, AR1, etc. (BR stands for beginning readers and AR stands for advanced readers I think.) You can see which tiles they are talking about if you go to the main site on "3rsplus" to correspond them to the app or printed copies of the book: http://www.3rsplus.com/ (Click on products.) I am probably making this overly complicated, but this is just one of those things you have to learn when talking the "i see sam" talk! :)

 

 

I have looked at the app. It is nice, but I much prefer using actual books when teaching reading. I am probably old fashioned.

Wow, I could have written this post! I avoid the app. Www.3rsplus.com has the best way to teach the books (as mentioned in this quote) because one of the designers created this website. I used another site to get free copies of the first several books (26 or so I think) to print for free, then used the free ebooks from the 3rsplus site, but you could just use them from 3rs. (There is a free pdf from them for 12 books, then they use ebooks).

 

My daughter is in ARI2. She was struggling a lot before we moved to "I See Sam" when we used 100 Easy Lessons. I have been amazed at how easy this program has been. She has read about 6 chapters of Harry Potter on her own this summer....

 

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[scoutingmom]

 

 

NOW--according to Mr. Schultz---- everything I did above was an overkill. According to him, you should just be able to introduce the new sounds as you come to them in the readers. (Teach your child to say the sounds, then have them say the words.) He says I was making things too complicated. :) Perhaps I was. I'm just letting you know what I did.

 

 

I followed Mr. Schultz's advice. Generally after the first book there is only a couple of sounds introduced.... so I would take a minute or two to introduce the sound (if my daughter didn't know it) and we went straight into the book. If she struggled with a word, I used the advice... "Say the sounds, say the word". If she had forgot a sound I would tell her it. In BRI I required 2 readings at least.... but about 5 books back (unless there was struggles). First time she read through as she decoded it out. To pass the book, it had to be read well, with inflection etc. Some books took 3 readings. A few might have taken 4. In ARI, a single reading has been fine.

 

She has started AAS1.... although I am tempted to try the spelling program that 3rs has....