"In addition to identifying effective practices, the work of the National Reading Panel challenges educators to consider the evidence of effectiveness whenever they make decisions about the content and structure of reading instruction programs. By operating on a "what works" basis, scientific evidence can help build a foundation for instructional practice. Teachers can learn about and emphasize methods and approaches that have worked well and caused reading improvement for large numbers of children."

• OBJECTIVES
• PREPARATION
• STEP ASIDE TO LEARN
  
• ACTIVITY - Hands-on learning
  
• LESSON - Building a Learning Log
• ONLINE STEPS SUPPORT Teacher Resources and Training
  

Put Reading First, The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, p. 16 *

STEPS Sequential Teaching of Explicit Phonics & Spelling

Effective programs offer phonics instruction that:

The STEPS program teaches:

1. Helps teachers explicitly and systematically instruct students in how to relate letters and sounds, how to break spoken words into sounds, and how to blend sounds to form words.

• STEPS 1,3,4,9,11,14, 16, & 25 teach the grapheme/phoneme connection as phonograms (written sounds). Students learn to read and write the sounds to the point of automaticity.

• STEP 8 and beyond teach students to take a spoken word, segment it into syllables and then write each sound, grapheme by grapheme as they apply the spelling rules from STEPS 6,7,10, 12,13,15,17, & 18.

• STEP 8 introduces students to the multi-sensory spelling process with instruction and daily practice on blending sounds to form words. This process is repeated daily in STEPS 9 - 25.

2. Helps students understand why they are learning the relationships between letters and sounds.

• STEP 8 begins the spelling instruction component of STEPS. Teachers use the WISE Guide, a collection of 2000 most commonly used words derived from work by Leonard P. Ayres. Packed with ideas for practice and arranged in order of difficulty, the list becomes the teacher's spelling program. The daily dictation continues throughout the remainder of the school year. Students learn to segment a word into syllables and then spell words sound by sound as they step toward becoming independent spellers. As students' spelling mastery rises and their ability to manipulate the phonemes into recognizable words improves, their understanding and desire to master the spelling process becomes self-motivating.

3. Helps students apply their knowledge of phonics as they read words, sentences, and text.

• The spelling component in STEPS 8 -25 instructs and allows practice in controlled application of phonics sounds and English rules. Words are formed as students say each sound and write each grapheme. Independent reading follows, as teachers model and teach the vital blending skill that is the direct opposite of spelling.

• A teacher learns to apply the STEPS process and vocabulary to broaden across curriculum lines, as she directly teaches a child how to "sound out" a word using the reverse of the spelling dictation in any subject area. "What is the first sound? Next? Next? Blend. Syllable? Next sound? Blend."

• Each STEPS student makes his/her own STEPS log, a reference source containing examples of applications of each spelling rule. Daily spelling words are also stored and studied from this personal log. Students build the log in class and are taught to use it in all curriculum areas for reference.

4. Helps students apply what they learn about sounds and letters to their own writing.

• STEPS 3 and 4 begin the process of writing by making the multi-sensory link between the written and spoken sound. Students are taught to directly link the two by voicing the letter sound as they write the grapheme. They are taught to correctly write the letter, stroke by stroke, moving left to right and top to bottom. This intense early instruction in writing, unique to STEPS among phonics programs, plays a definitive role in preventing and remedying reversals and confusion seen in many learning disabled students. STEPS teachers report that students whose writing mechanics become automatic show an ease and confidence with writing and are more able to express themselves in writing.

5. Can be adapted to the needs of individual students, based on assessments.

• STEP 2 is a comprehensive series of diagnostic tools. Students take a Monthly Spelling test to monitor their grade spelling status. A Baseline Writing prompt measure is provided. Recommendations are made concerning keeping "cold" comprehension measures throughout the year. Fluency rates are taken on grade appropriate texts and compared to national norms. Tools are included to ease record keeping and to encourage a teacher to maintain data. Teachers use these scores to determine where in the WISE Guide to focus instruction. Coupled with the daily spelling test scores after STEP 8, teachers constantly monitor and adjust the number and complexity of words for both individual students and the class as a whole. This STEPS feature allows a teacher to gear her instruction to any grade level, thus teaching below or above grade level according to her students' needs within a given school year.

6. Includes alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, and the reading of text, as well as systematic phonics instruction.

• STEPS 1 - 18 concentrate on the skills of alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, and the reading of text, both within the STEPS program and in other curriculum areas. STEP 13's activity is to begin the Vocabulary Section of the STEPS Log. This section of the reference log allows teachers to link the reading skills in STEPS with other curriculum areas as students store knowledge such as number words, states and capitals, and science vocabulary.

• STEPS 19 - 25 are an in-depth study of individual words and word learning strategies. Students learn to use affixes, base words, and word roots according to the English spelling rules. Upon completion of STEP 24, students will have transformed their STEPS Log into an analytical tool that takes them through a series of questions to determine how to add endings to change the meanings of words.