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Finally, phonics materials for older, struggling readers!

Multi-syllable WordBuilder:

• helps students in third grade and above crack the complex codes of multi-syllable words;
• combines decoding assistance and vocabulary building;
  
• enables student to make the leap to proficiency.
  

Students unlock the advanced, two– and three-syllable words found in social studies, science and other texts.

Many students who have mastered the codes of one– and two-syllable words become confused by the new patterns which occur in three-syllable words. Multi-syllable WordBuilder is one of the few sets of teaching materials which teach these more advanced skills, using vocabulary geared to a wide range of ages and skill levels.

Multi-syllable WordBuilder provides:

• Clear instruction in each new pattern
  
• Structured practice in reading many examples
  
• A carefully constructed progression
  
• Simple dialogs for teacher instruction.
  

Each lesson builds upon patterns taught earlier so decoding becomes intuitive, rather than a set of memorized rules.

Research findings suggest an “interactive” process between meaning, phonetic structure and the familiarity of words. Because learning to decode the words is only part of the process of learning to read, Multi-syllable WordBuilder adds vocabulary development exercises (definitions and sentence completion tasks) to expand the struggling reader's ability to recognize words and their meanings. Rereading the words in order to answer questions about meaning serves to make each word more familiar. By carefully linking decoding with word meaning, each reinforces the other, and students learn to respond to both at the same time.

student page	teacher page

Multi-syllable WordBuilder Includes:

A Teacher's Manual to guide instruction and enable teachers to adapt the materials to students with varying vocabulary and skill levels;

Six books designed for individualized instruction in decoding and vocabulary development. Each student page includes six words which follow a single code pattern (or contrast two related patterns) using a progressively more difficult vocabulary. The facing teacher page contains a suggested dialog for presenting the material, along with questions to ensure the student understands the words being read.

An optional book of Word Lists, similar to those in the Fun Phonics Kits, presents the Multi-syllable WordBuilder words in a format more readily used with groups of four to six students. When using the Multi-syllable WordBuilder Word Lists, the dialogues and questions contained in the six Tutorial Books serve as the Teacher's Manual for presenting information.

For Whom is Multi-syllable WordBuilder Appropriate?

WordBuilder is for poor readers in third grade or beyond, who can read most one-syllable and two-syllable words. It reviews two-syllable words with specific phonic structures, and then teaches children to read the three-syllable words with that structure. Because of this built-in review, second or third graders who have not mastered reading two-syllable words with all structures can be included in groups using WordBuilder. Older poor readers, who often resent learning to sound out “baby” words, find WordBuilder a grown-up way to learn the skills they missed earlier. When students have successfully completed the WordBuilder books, if their listening comprehension skills are at the sixth- or seventh-grade level, they should be able to read successfully at a sixth- or seventh-grade level.

Overview of the Skills Taught

Multi-syllable WordBuilder continues and expands the skills learned in Fun Phonics Kits I and II. It reviews two-syllable phonic structures, and develops the ability to read words with more than two syllables. It teaches students how to divide long words into familiar chunks.  It stretches vocabulary and comprehension skills by teaching decoding skills with a continuously expanding vocabulary. The Fun Phonics series relies on the strategy of carefully planned, step-by-step decoding instruction. WordBuilder provides many experiences reading words that require children to apply each new decoding skill, along with supportive vocabulary-building and comprehension activities.