Have you had the pleasure of witnessing reading transformation through high-dosage tutoring?
I have—time and time again—with Reading Simplified!
You may have heard about High-Quality Tutoring or High-Dosage Tutoring as one evidence-based method schools have used to make up for loss of instructional time.
It’s a way to give one more layer of support to your striving students.
But it’s often a challenge for schools to find a reading intervention program to couple with their high-dosage model.
There are typically issues with feasibility, training instructors, and accelerating student progress.
Fortunately, Reading Simplified’s Streamlined Pathways effectively address those issues.
The structured, efficient instructional goals in this scope and sequence are designed to rapidly move students from decoding to fluency.
These goals also help educators focus on the most crucial skills, reducing overwhelm while accelerating achievement.
Win – win!
Hi – Jennifer Glueck here!
As a Reading Simplified Expert, I’ve used Reading Simplified alongside my school’s adopted curriculum during my time as classroom teacher.
And I’ve loved sharing the success I’ve experienced—especially with kindergarten.
But now, as an interventionist, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing reading transformations unfold daily within my small groups.
But, when my school introduced high-dosage tutoring –
– Nothing could have prepared me for the growth I witnessed.
Today I’m sharing that story.
…Virginia’s story.
Virginia’s Story Begins with High-Dosage Tutoring
Not too long ago, my school decided to increase instructional support by offering after-school tutoring for students who scored “Well Below Grade Level” on their DIBELS tests.
We kept our groups small, and I initially started with three students.
Unfortunately, two had to drop out due to transportation issues.
This gave me the chance to apply my Reading Simplified training in a fresh setting—getting to work one-on-one with a student named Virginia.
…This was also my first time witnessing such rapid improvement.
Virginia went from striving to success with Reading Simplified in just four weeks!
Starting Point for High-Dosage Tutoring
When we began our journey,
Virginia’s teacher mentioned that she had some phonics knowledge.
She knew most of her consonant and vowel sounds but struggled with digraphs like “th,” “ch,” and “sh,” as well as long vowels.
Virginia could blend three sounds most of the time but had trouble with words that included adjacent consonants, like “stop,” “blast,” and “rest.”
Based on her DIBELS scores and this feedback, I decided to start her at the beginning of the Kindergarten Pathway.
But we didn’t stay there long!
Initial Tutoring Sessions with Basic Phonics
We kicked lessons off with the 3-Part lesson plan structure that’s central to Reading Simplified, focusing on a basic code lesson plan.
Each session included,
Guided Oral Reading of short passages.
This lesson structure is incredibly versatile.
It’s designed to make planning a foundational skills lesson straightforward, regardless of the student’s age or skill level.
It also allows for easy differentiation and diagnostic decision-making based on the student’s progress and needs during each session.
Breakthroughs with Switch It Alone
After just two sessions, Virginia’s progress was incredible!
I moved her up to a CVCC word list, and she just took off from there.
By the time we wrapped up our four weeks of tutoring, she was confidently segmenting CCCVCC nonsense words on the whiteboard with both speed and accuracy!
Quick note: We use nonsense words at the CCCVCC level because there aren’t enough real words to practice switching sounds.
Watch Nonsense Word Switch It!
The Key Strategy in Read It
When we started another Word Work Activity, Read It, Virginia initially used the sound-sound-sound-word blending strategy.
This wasn’t very effective for her—she would say each sound individually, forget what she’d already said, and then have to start over.
To help her,
I introduced the Read It procedures and the key Blend As You Read strategy.
Using a notched card to hide most of the word, I guided her to blend the sounds together.
And she loved it.
I could see the excitement on her face when she successfully blended the sounds to read a word.
This new strategy and repeated opportunities to read and reread word lists and passages helped Virginia overcome her blending difficulties.
She soon started reading with much more confidence and fluency, further solidifying her phonics knowledge.
By the end of our first week, it was clear that Virginia was ready for more advanced phonics.
And by week two—we were already moving on to long vowels.
Advanced Phonics: Sort It and Search for the Sound Replace Read It
I introduced the /oa/ sound and its spellings using a brief Build It activity from my Teacher Resources set, followed by a Sort It activity in place of Read It.
Sort It still incorporates the Blend As You Read strategy, but children say and write the word as they sort.
Virginia was unstoppable.
She quickly mastered the words and then moved on to read the story “Joe and Joan” with hardly any help from me.
When I asked her to reread Joe and Joan – she did it with ease.
I then gave her a new story, “A Snow Day with Mom,” and was pleasantly surprised when she read the entire passage with very few errors. This is a typical procedure as part of the Re-Reading for Fluency lesson component.
I followed this with an /oa/ Flex It sheet.
To read more about this strategy go here.
Virginia’s success with this lesson prompted me to move forward and introduce her to the /ee/ sound.
Below are clips from our /ee/ lessons (yet we begin with a re-reading of an /oa/ sound passage from a previous lesson).
Re-Reading of Snow Day Watch Virginia re-read “Snow Day” after her first introduction to long vowels. *Notice how many adjacent consonants Virginia attacked!
Read and Highlight /ee/ Words Virginia reads many words focusing on /ee/ words with multiple spellings. *Notice how we habitually expand vocabulary.
/ee/ Guided Oral Reading Hear Virginia’s first read of a new passage in Guided Oral Reading and my prompt for a different sound.
Virginia’s Final High-Dosage Lesson
As we neared the end of our four weeks together,
Virginia's progress was remarkable – achieving an impressive level of fluency in re-reading.
During our final session,
I introduced the /er/ sound through a Sort It activity, and Virginia continued to engage in guided oral reading and a one-sentence Write It exercise.
Again – her progress was undeniable.
Below you can watch Virginia in action.
Re-Reading for Fluency Virginia's improved fluency is evident in her re-reading of the story. And she gets a lot of good prosody in as well. (I help her with Flexing “nothing.”)
Introducing the /er/ Sound for Sort It Watch me introduce the /er/ sound, before Sort It
Guided Oral Reading and Write It Virginia engages in guided oral reading and a one-sentence Write It exercise.
Virginia’s Results After Four Weeks of Reading Simplified
Thanks to Reading Simplified’s integrated approach and the High-Dosage Tutoring that the school made available, Virginia moved from “Well Below Benchmark” to “Benchmark” in just 14 one-hour sessions in just 4 weeks' time!
Her end-of-year DIBELS scores reflected this impressive growth. Notice how her DIBELS Composite score went from the red to green, as did several other DIBELS sub-tests.
Her Oral Reading Fluency improved from a score of 5 to 32.
And her accuracy skyrocketed from 36 percent to 89 percent.
Her grandparents were thrilled with her progress!
And at home, Virginia eagerly read her stories to anyone who would listen.
It’s amazing how much reading success can impact not just the student, but their entire family.
The Perfect Reading Lesson
Virginia’s story is a testament to the effectiveness of the Reading Simplified approach and the quality of training it provides to teachers like Jennifer.
If students in your school have been affected by instructional loss – as most have – high-dosage tutoring + Reading Simplified may be just the combination your school needs.
Virginia made remarkable progress in such a short time. Just 4 weeks!
And the key factor –
– Integrating multiple skills into each session with a simple, differentiated lesson plan along with ample practice with feedback from a highly skilled professional.
If you’re interested in learning the full system – go here to learn more about The Reading Simplified Academy.
Your Turn!
I’d love your feedback on some of these questions.
Does your school make time for High-Dosage Tutoring?
Have you ever introduced advanced phonics concepts to a young reader earlier than usual – if so, how did it impact their reading progress?
Share your experiences in the comments below!
