Reading/Spelling Program

Breaking the “Sound” Barrier to Fluent Reading
Breaking the “Sound” Barrier to Fluent Reading, is a high-interest, reading-fluency program developed initially for use with readers who experienced difficulties in middle school and high school.  As time went by, I discovered that this program was suitable for all grade levels.  Adaptations are provided for elementary-school students, beginning readers, and readers with severe deficiencies, so that teachers can use the program for students of all ages.  Breaking the "Sound" Barrier is a progressive approach; as such, students need to master Level 1 before proceeding to Level 2, and then need to master Level 2 before proceeding to Level 3. 

The three levels of Breaking the "Sound" Barrier incorporate four areas of reading fluency/spelling:  phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, fluency, and spelling.  Breaking the "Sound" Barrier can be used to support any reading program by adding the sequentially intensive reading-fluency component, which is often lacking from most scripted reading programs.

• Breaking the "Sound" Barrier, Level 1 teaches 28 sounds in three distinct groups: single-letter vowels, R-controlled vowels, and vowel-vowel combinations.

• Breaking the "Sound" Barrier, Level 2 begins after students master Breaking the "Sound" Barrier, Level 1.  Breaking the "Sound" Barrier 2 presents six syllable types: open (O), closed (C), vowel-consonant-E (VCE), R-controlled (R), consonant-LE (CLE), and vowel-vowel (VV).  Breaking the "Sound" Barrier 2 expands the establishment of consistent reading rules that lead to reading fluency, since mastery of important sequential steps is necessary before teaching the inconsistencies of our language.
• From Breaking the “Sound” Barrier to Fluent Reading, Level 2
  You can find more information about using word banks and decoding strategies at these websites:
  

  http://www.education.pitt.edu/leaders/faq/wordwallnutshell.aspx

  http://www.education.pitt.edu/leaders/teach.aspx#decoding

• Breaking the "Sound" Barrier, Level 3 begins once students master Breaking the "Sound" Barrier 2.  Breaking the "Sound" Barrier 3 teaches four dividing patterns: vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV), vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel (VCCV), vowel-consonant-consonant-consonant-vowel (VCCCV), and vowel-consonant-consonant-consonant-consonant-vowel (VCCCCV).  After completion of this level of the program, students will be able to pronounce lengthy words phonetically.  The book culminates with students pronouncing the longest words in the Guinness Book of World Records.
• From Breaking the "Sound" Barrier to Fluent Reading, Level 3
  These sites provide word lists in these categories:

  Favorite Holidays  http://www.earthcalendar.net/index.php

  First Names  http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/eng.php

  Longest Words  http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_longest.html

  New and Old TV Shows  http://www.crazyabouttv.com/

  People and Nationalities  http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030900a.htm

  Singers and Groups  http://www.pubquizhelp.34sp.com/ent/lead_singers_list.html

  Sports 

            Football    http://www.jimwegryn.com/Names/FootballTeams.htm

            Baseball  http://www.jimwegryn.com/Names/BaseballTeams.htm

            Hockey  http://www.jimwegryn.com/Names/HockeyTeams.htm

            Basketball  http://www.internationalbasketball.com/teamnames.html