Read Right curriculum

yes, I have really tried everything to make my students learn, I thought it would be easier for them to understand and speak the English language, if they know how to read but then it was a failure. So I have no choice but have them memorize conversation as I translate them in Thai Language. I hate the idea of memorization of conversation done in ESL, but I have no choice, I have to deliver. My students need to speak. I was trying to upload also books of Dr. Seus, but some of the books i found uploadable has no use to Thai students. arggh! Ideally I want my students to learn how to read.

I would really like to learn more about teaching ESL. The whole concept is fascinating to me. My big love is reading and the reading process. And anything even remotely connected. In some very basic ways, it seems to me that the very beginning of reading could be approached as a second language. I think that's why I think immersion in books and other reading is one of the best ways to learn to read. So I would have to wonder if learning more about the teaching of English as a second language might have implications to teaching reading.

Hi Mavic- I guess this curriculum isn't as popular as I had thought. I was under the impression it was somewhat well-known. I know it's supposed to be helppful for beginning readers. I think they also tout it for intermediate readers trying to improve their reading. I would think the theories behind it would apply to any language. I believe they just emphasize how much we use context clues when we read, we don't simply decode our reading by letters or symbols.

Unfortunately, it seems I've hit a brick wall with my research. The only information I can find about the program is what they've written themselves. I see no reviews, nothing to indicate anyone recommends it. Nothing. They say, on their website, that they've done research into the process of reading. They say that according to their research, as well as research from other studies, we learn to read by using context clues. They use an example of a paragraph written using many, many misspelled words. The words are in the right order. There are little words that are correct. The first and last letter of every word is correct. The letters are within the correct word. Otherwise, the letters are jumbled. For example, the word "tomorrow" might be written "trrooomw". The paragraph is amazingly simple to read. Their premise is that the reason it's simple to read is that we don't really read left to right. We strategically sample phoenetic clues and focus on what would make sense. They say that they don't ever use the strategy "sound it out". They focus more on always asking "what would make sense." They say that they have other activities and strategies they use to support this type of reading. What they say sounds like they have found tremendous success using the program. I want to know exactly what are their methods? How are they different from the standard way of teaching reading? I can see their research and probably get more information about their methods if I buy their book. I really don't want to do that. It sounds to me like they might be on to something. What they have written makes sense to me. But I need proof before I spend money on it.

I quite agree. However I'm involved in the field of teaching reading, and working on developing new reading methods for my own work. I'm interested in particular in this curriculum because they say they use "implicit procedural learning" as opposed to explicit skill instruction and they claim their curriculum focuses on comprehension of text versus decoding of text. I also believe comprehension should be more of a focal point than it is and I'm wondering what techniques they use and specifically what research they have that supports that use. I don't want to duplicate what they're doing, but I would like to learn from them if there is something there. I just want to know if anyone knows specifically about it, other than what's on their website, so I can begin to make my own determination if I believe they have anything of value to me and my teaching. I'm not interested in using the Read Right curriculum.

What is the background of your clients?

I work with a variety of different students of a range of ages (right now my youngest is 7 and my oldest is an adult) and differing subjects (mostly reading and math, but also some english and homework help and I've taught beginning computer use in the past), but the ones I'm interested on focusing on right now are the struggling readers and beginning readers. I've seen over and over how much poor reading skills effect later learning, especially when they have to start learning from textbooks. The struggling reader starts failing everything. Talk about a blow to the self-esteem. I have the qualifications of a reading specialist and I've been teaching reading for years. But I have to believe there's a better way to teach reading than I'm using now. I don't currently use any specific curriculum in my teaching. In less I see some pretty heavy research to support it and therefore change my mind, I don't think following a set curriculum is helpful in what I do. I prefer to individualize my instruction and use a little from here and a little from there. I rely a lot on authentic reading of books and things of their choice and I use a lot of Reader's Theatre. I also use whatever reading curriculum they happen to be using at school as well as some of my own materials. I've seen a lot of good things with these approaches, but I'm sure I can be a better teacher and use more effective methods. I just don't know what those methods are yet. I saw you posted the curriculum you use for reading. I didn't note what it was before I started to reply other than I was unfamiliar with it. Would you mind sharing a little about it?