Maybe you’ve experienced success with approaches like Reading Simplified, but you’ve been tongue-tied trying to explain Speech-to-Print (S2P), AKA Structured Linguistic Literacy approaches.
Or maybe you're curious about the approach because you’ve heard things like, “Every structured phonics approach goes from print-to-speech and speech-to-print”
Leaving you asking:
Is there any difference between that and what I’m already doing?
I’ve got some answers for you today!
But before I get there, I’d like to share this…
Teacher Triumphs in Kenton, Ohio: A Structured Linguistic Literacy Breakthrough
I just got off the phone with a 1st grade team of teachers in Kenton, Ohio, who are tethered to their students' data and are crushing it.
Shout out to all the teaching teams who are collaborating and implementing MTSS and those using Reading Simplified as a school or district!
After about 6-8 weeks of Reading Simplified lessons that looked a lot like this, a Tier 3 student is already at grade level and ready to go back to her general education placement.
Achieving grade-level benchmarks and transitioning out of Tier 3 in just a month or two is pretty unusual.
And from my experience – such rapid progress seldom occurs with mainstream reading programs.
However, that’s one way Reading Simplified distinguishes itself – through its remarkable efficiency and speed.
And that’s just what the team from Ohio and this 1st grade teacher discovered – our approach consistently yields reliable results.
Curious about what drives these remarkable outcomes?
Let's look at how Reading Simplified's unique approach to reading distinguishes itself from traditional reading programs.
Miriam Fein's Speech-to-Print Article Breakdown
I'm pleased to share a well-written recent article by speech-language pathologist Miriam Fein in The Educational Therapist on how approaches like Reading Simplified are organized differently from mainstream phonics approaches.
This article will illuminate specific aspects of a speech-to-print approach, comment on how they align with key insights from reading and learning sciences, and explore similarities and differences with the O-G approach. For those new to the S2P approach, this is an invitation to bring a spirit of curiosity to learning more and considering the possibilities it can offer to students.
It was an extra treat to see that she included our Family Tree of Structured Linguistic Literacy Approaches, too!
Article Attribution: “A Speech-to-Print, Linguistic Phonics Approach: What Is It and How Does It Compare to Orton-Gillingham?” was originally published by Miriam Fein in The Educational Therapist, Volume 44, Number 2. Copyright 2023 by the Association of Educational Therapists.
Few, if any, researchers are writing about this strand of reading approaches, largely because of a paradigm shift in the 1960s that moved the focus away from different types of programs.
So it's great to see how my colleague Miriam has so well articulated the Structured Linguistic Literacy (AKA speech-to-print) essential features.
In addition, here's another option for learning more about Structured Linguistic Literacy (AKA Speech-to-Print) approaches such as Reading Simplified…
Speech-to-Print through the 3rd Way Webinar
Last year I was a guest on a webinar hosted by Donna Hejtmanek of the What I Should Have Learned in College – Science of Reading Facebook group:
Speech-to-Print: Is There a Third Way?
Many of the same points from The Educational Therapist article are covered in this talk.
You can snag a copy of our Family Tree of Structured Linguistic Literacy Approaches on the page with the webinar recording, too.
And that's all there is to it!
I sincerely hope you'll explore Structured Linguistic Literacy methods further because…
When using a S2P approach, we give our students the conceptual framework and explicit teaching they need to get started and provide specific, targeted coaching to promote confidence and independence.
And if you're tired of not seeing the rapid gains in reading achievement that you believe your students deserve, then I invite you to test out the Reading Simplified system…
Head here to learn more about the Reading Simplified Academy.
Your Turn!
Ever tried this method or helped a student catch up to grade level in just 2 months-like that clever teacher from Ohio did?
Article Attribution: “A Speech-to-Print, Linguistic Phonics Approach: What Is It and How Does It Compare to Orton-Gillingham?” was originally published by Miriam Fein in The Educational Therapist, Volume 44, Number 2. Copyright 2023 by the Association of Educational Therapists.
Can you get this program in French for teachers teaching French only.
We DO believe these strategies work with any alphabetic language based on theories and research of reading development. However, we haven’t implemented them in another language here at Reading Simplified. We do have a few French immersion teachers inside our Reading Simplified Academy who are testing them out. So far it seems positive.
I would test out Switch It first, to see if you can adapt that: ReadingSimplified.com/integrate-dont-isolate