REWARDS -- Anyone have trouble getting going with this program?

[Shari]

I bought REWARDS Intermediate with an eye towards helping my younger ds improve his reading fluency and speed. On the PreTest, he scored 73% correct on word parts, 55% correct on complete words, and had an oral reading speed of 72 WPM.

The problem is that every time I sit down to start teaching this program, I feel *underwhelmed* (is that a word??). I just cannot seem to stir up any enthusiasm to jump in. Maybe it's the boring black & white text. I am also concerned that teaching the word parts the way they are presented -- with the asteriks over what are supposed to be long vowel sounds -- will be confusing to my ds, who already has issues with spelling.

I bought REWARDS off the strength of recommendations on this board and I have yet to hear any negatives about it. I'm sure the problem is me, not the curriculum. Can anyone share ideas about getting going with REWARDS, or how to make the lessons interesting (or -- gasp! -- fun?)?

Thanks for any advice or ideas.

[lisabees]

Hmmm...we didn't have trouble getting going. In fact, it's because of the explicit and repetitious lessons that he did so well. He needed that.

I don't have my books anymore. But, the asterisks are over word parts to remind your ds to use a long vowel, right? He'll get used to that. I do remember thinking it might mix my ds up, though. Just remind him that these are parts of words.

As far as making it fun, this just wasn't a program I tried to make fun. It was hard work. It was repetitious work. Once ds knew what to do without me guiding him, then I knew it all sunk in. Can you use a white board for parts of it?

When I used this program, I also used the Blend Phonics Reader, Reading Horizons free trial and reviewed phonograms daily for weeks.

http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/blend_phonics.html

http://www.readinghorizons.com/community/workshop/promotional.aspx

I hope it works out for you. Like any new program, have a little faith for a while and see if it clicks. I find I always have natural resistance in a new program.

[NCW]

Well, we do (some days) try to make it fun. I feel free to deviate from the script whenever I want. All of the auditory exercises are extremely easy for ds, so they bring out laughs as he blurts out answers before I can finish the sentence...it's nearly like a contest. We also sometimes make word plays out of the vocab or word list words - especially if there are homophones or homographs. We can't do this always, because it turns into a delay tactic. Once or twice we've used timers to see if we can "beat the clock" when reading a boxed list, sometimes we read the lists in unison, or try to read them rhythmically. Any box he stumbles frequently in or reads very slowly, he knows to expect to read again the next day. Oh, and he loops and marks all of the word boxes - this really helps him a lot. We don't mark the word parts, but I've noticed that flexing the word parts is definitely easier than when we began - we're over halfway through the book now.

I do think it is a good program, but I also can't see any problem with you bending it to work well for one child - since it's written for a classroom, it could be very dull if used verbatim, imho.

[Laurie4b]

I bought REWARDS Intermediate with an eye towards helping my younger ds improve his reading fluency and speed. On the PreTest, he scored 73% correct on word parts, 55% correct on complete words, and had an oral reading speed of 72 WPM.

The problem is that every time I sit down to start teaching this program, I feel *underwhelmed* (is that a word??). I just cannot seem to stir up any enthusiasm to jump in. Maybe it's the boring black & white text. I am also concerned that teaching the word parts the way they are presented -- with the asteriks over what are supposed to be long vowel sounds -- will be confusing to my ds, who already has issues with spelling.

I bought REWARDS off the strength of recommendations on this board and I have yet to hear any negatives about it. I'm sure the problem is me, not the curriculum. Can anyone share ideas about getting going with REWARDS, or how to make the lessons interesting (or -- gasp! -- fun?)?

Thanks for any advice or ideas.

The lessons don't need to be fun. They need to be done.

And if you follow the scripting, it won't be painful, just matter of fact. . Break the lesson into two days, and keep the pace brisk. That should take about a half hour each day. I can do a whole intermediate lesson in less than 45 min. with a really compliant, eager, low-income kid I tutor. My own ds complained (as he did about everything), but did it. I've never had a kid complain in tutoring because they feel so successful.

It's scripted because it works well that way. It will help your ds's spelling, not hurt it. When you have an open syllable (which is all the word parts with the asterisks) the vowel sound is long. The asterisk is just a cue. That word part will be used later in the lesson as part of a whole word.

So if I were your friend IRL, I'd tell you to suck it up and do it the way it's written. You'll be done in a couple months and your ds will most likely be 2 or more years above where he is now. How's that?