MKC5DG-0713

DEMO GUIDE

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Phonological Awareness is the ability to analyze and manipulate the sound structure of language. In Lexia Reading Core5, phonological awareness activities include identifying, segmenting, blending and manipulating syllables and sounds in words. Phonemic Awareness is a component of phonological awareness that focuses on individual sounds within words.

Beginning–Middle Kindergarten (Level 3)

Activity: Blending & Segmenting 2 (Phonemes)

Goal: This activity is designed to increase ability to blend and segment phonemes within a word. Developmentally, children find it easier to isolate and manipulate syllables than individual sounds. Thus, in the previous level, the focus was on the blending and segmenting at the syllable level.

Description: The first half of the activity focuses on blending phonemes. The student chooses the picture that matches the word pronounced in phoneme segments. The second half focuses on segmenting phonemes. The student hears a word and then pulls down a ball for each phoneme in the word. The activity begins with two phoneme words and increases in complexity up to four phonemes.

CCSS | Kindergarten Reading Standards:• FS.K.2c, F.S.K.2d, FS.1.2d – Blend onset /rime and single phonemes

to form words that segment words in 2–4 phonemes.

Pre–K (L evel 1)

Activity: Rhyming

Goal: This activity is designed to increase rhyme awareness and the ability to discriminate patterns of rhyme in spoken language.

Description: The computer names three pictures and the student chooses the two pictures that rhyme. The activity includes one syllable words as well as two syllable words ending in -ing and -er. Additionally, foils become more similar to the matching pair to make the sound discrimination more difficult and thus further enhance phonological awareness.

CCSS | Kindergarten Reading Standards:• FS.K.2a – Recognize and produce rhyming words.

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

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Middle-End Kindergarten (Level 4)

Activity: Ending Sounds

Goal: This activity is designed to increase students’ ability to identify ending sounds in words. Developmentally, ending sounds are harder to discriminate than beginning sounds, therefore this skill is introduced after beginning sounds have been mastered.

Description: The computer presents a consonant sound and then names three pictures. The student chooses the picture that ends with the target consonant sound. The activity begins with three phoneme words and increases in complexity up to five phonemes.

CCSS | Kindergarten Reading Standards:• FS.K.2d - Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final

sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC) words

• FS.K.3a - Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant

• L.K.2c – Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

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Beginning – Middle Grade 1 (Level 7)

Activity: Silent E Recognition

Goal: This activity is designed to introduce the student to the silent-e pattern and how this pattern changes the vowel sound from a short sound (/a/ as in cap) to a long sound (/ae/ as in cape). In phonics instruction, introduction of this pattern highlights a shift from word attack skills that only require left to right blending to word attack skills that include visual patterns where the important clue is at the end of word.

Description: The student is first introduced to the silent-e pattern (VCe) and the effect that the silent-e has on the vowel sounds. The student engages in a visual sorting activity that increases awareness of the pattern. The student then completes auditory sorting (a word is stated and the student chooses the VC or VCe box) to build recognition of long and short vowel sounds and their connection to the silent-e pattern. Finally, the student chooses the word that correctly spells the word they hear.

CCSS | Grade 1 Reading Standards:• FS.1.3c – Know final-e and common vowel team conventions for

representing long vowel sounds

Middle – End Kindergarten (Level 4)

Activity: Short Vowel Sounds

Goal: This activity is designed to introduce letter-sound correspondence for short vowels. While the activity focus is on vowel letter sound correspondence, phonological awareness for beginning sounds is also continually reinforced.

Description: The student either chooses the picture (3 presented) that begins with the vowel shown or chooses the vowel (3 vowels presented) that matches the beginning sound of a picture. The activity first focuses on one vowel per unit and then increases complexity by ultimately requiring the student to work with all five vowels at a time.

CCSS | Kindergarten Reading Standards:• FS.K.3b – Associate the long and short sounds with common

spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels

• L.K.2c – Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).

Phonics is a method for teaching word identification strategies based on the relationship between letters and sounds. In Lexia Reading Core5, phonics activities include the ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to reading and spelling words. In addition, phonics activities involve pattern recognition of syllable types, rules for syllable division and simple spelling generalizations that are based on letter-sound correspondence.

PHONICS/PA

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Middle Grade 2 (Level 11)

Activity: Syllable Division

Goal: This activity is designed to introduce the student to rules that explain how to divide words into syllables. Dividing a word into syllables helps a student to read two to three syllable words that are unfamiliar or not yet recognized automatically.

Description: A syllable division rule is presented and the student follows specific steps that require application of this rule in a systematic way to decode multi-syllable words. The syllable division rules that are easier to apply are presented first followed by the more complex rules.

CCSS | Grade 2 Reading Standards:• FS.2.3c – Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with

long vowels

CCSS | Grade 1 Reading Standards:• FS.1.3e – Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns

by breaking the words into syllables

PHONICS/PA

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Beginning – Middle Grade 3 (Level 13)

Activity: Spelling Rules 2

Goal: This activity is designed to introduce the student to two spelling rules, the doubling rule and the drop–e rule. These rules involve adding suffixes to a base word and continue to enhance awareness of the morphological structure of words. Other advanced spelling rules, such as the change y to i rule, are introduced in later levels within the structural analysis strand.

Description: The student is required to spell the dictated word in isolation through the application of a step-by-step checklist.

CCSS | Grade 3 Language Standards:• L.3.2e – Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other

studied words and for adding suffixes to base words;

• L.3.2f – Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words

Beginning Grade 2 (Level 10)

Activity: Simple Suffixes

Goal: This activity is designed to introduce the student to the morphological structure of words and improve automatic recognition of common suffixes within words. Advanced word identification strategies continue within the structural analysis strand in later levels.

Description: The student sorts written and dictated words based on their suffix. The student then chooses a suffix that completes a word within a sentence.

CCSS | Grade 2 Reading Standards:• FS.2.3d – Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes

Structural analysis enhances the ability to identify words as well as build vocabulary through analyzing the morphological structure of words in conjunction with the syllable structure. Morphological structure refers to the study of meaningful units of language or morphemes (e.g., prefix, root and suffix) and how they are combined to create words. In Lexia Reading Core5, structural analysis activities include work on recognizing meaningful parts of multisyllabic words derived from Latin and Greek.

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

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Middle – End Grade 5 (Level 18)

Activity: Greek Combining Forms 2

Goal: This activity is designed to reinforce the concept of morphological structure through increased exposure to Greek combining forms. This is the culminating activity in the structural analysis strand that focuses on meaningful word parts, both for word identification and for vocabulary development.

Description: The student learns the meaning of Greek combining forms and then uses this knowledge to construct words based on their definition. They also choose the appropriate word to complete a sentence.

CCSS | Grade 5 Reading Standards:• FS.5.3a – Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound

correspondence, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multi-syllabic words in context and out of context.

• L.5.4b – Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).

• L.5.2e – Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

• L.5.6 – Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

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Automaticity WARM-UP1. Activity: Beginning Letter-Sounds (Level 4)

Goal: This activity is designed to increase automatic recognition of beginning consonant sounds and letter-sound correspondences.

Description: The student chooses the consonant that corresponds to the beginning sound of a word as quickly as possible. The letter choices are moving across the screen quickly encouraging fast and accurate letter recognition.

CCSS | Kindergarten Reading Standards:• FS.K.3a – Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound

correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

2. Activity: Roots (Level 17)

Goal: This activity is designed to increase automatic visual recognition of Latin roots in words to improve automatic word identification.

Description: The student chooses the root that appears in a flashed word.

CCSS | Grade 5 Reading Standards:• FS.5.3a – Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound

correspondence, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multi-syllabic words in context and out of context

Automaticity is an inherent component of fluency. It involves the ability to identify letters, letter patterns and isolated words accurately and quickly. Fluency integrates automatic word identification with the application of intonation, rhythm (prosody) and phrasing at the text level. In Lexia Reading Core5, automaticity is systematically developed through a series of warm-ups and activities focused on speed of processing. Fluency is addressed through activities that involve analysis of sentence structure and ultimately the timed silent reading of passages

AUTOMATICITY/ FLUENCY

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Middle – End Grade 5 (Level 18)

Activity: Passage Fluency 7 (Maze - Fluency)

Goal: This activity is designed to increase speed of silent reading and enhance fluency at the multi-paragraph level while ensuring basic comprehension. The focus of the activity is on increasing both accuracy and rate. This activity begins at level 12 and passage length and complexity continues to increase as students move through the levels.

Description: The fill-in or cloze procedure task requires students to read a passage of grade level appropriate length and complexity and choose the appropriate word to fill in the blank as quickly as possible.

CCSS | Grade 5 Reading Standards:• FS.5.4a – Read on-level text with purpose and understanding

• FS.5.4c – Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary

• FS.5.4c – Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Beginning First Grade (Level 9)

Activity: Sight Words 4 (Automaticity)

Goal: This activity is designed to develop automatic recognition of high frequency words based on grade level. Once words have been mastered, they are systematically integrated into sentence and paragraph level activities in later levels. The Dolch and Fry word lists were referenced in the development of this activity.

Description: Before working on automaticity, the student first recognizes the dictated sight word in isolation, constructs the word and completes a sentence using the word. Then the student selects the dictated sight word from a group of falling words as quickly as possible to increase automaticity.

CCSS | Grade 1 Reading Standards:• FS.1.3g – Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled

words

CCSS | Grade 1 Language Standards:• L.1.2d – Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling

patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words

AUTOMATICITY/FLUENCY

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End Grade 2 (Level 12)

Activity: Similes & Metaphors

Goal: This activity is designed to enhance high order thinking skills as they relate to vocabulary development. The student must demonstrate understanding of similes and metaphors and construct similes and metaphors through the use of sentence-level context clues.

Description: The student chooses a phrase that completes a simile or metaphor by discovering the relationship between the two concepts or words that are being compared.

CCSS | Grade 2 Language Standards:• L.2.4a – Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning

of a word or phrase

• L.3.5a – Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

Middle – End Kindergarten (Level 4)

Activity: Combining Adjectives

Goal: This activity is designed to expose students to high-frequency adjectives that cross many domains by pairing them with commonly used adjectives. Students are expected to deduce the meaning of the more advanced word. This activity builds on prior levels that also address advanced vocabulary words and precedes vocabulary activities that focus on higher level thinking skills (e.g., antonyms, synonyms and analogies).

Description: The student chooses a picture that matches a dictated description that contains two descriptive words (e.g., white & fluffy). The target image contains both descriptors whereas each foil contains one of the descriptors. The foil design requires the student to think carefully about their selection.

CCSS | Kindergarten Language Standards:• L.K.5c – Identify real-life connections between words and their use

(e.g., note places at school that are colorful)

• L.K.4a – identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately

Vocabulary encompasses the knowledge of word meanings in a language system, as well as the relationships among those words (e.g., categories, analogies). It incorporates both the comprehension and use of words, and requires understanding of concrete and abstract meanings. The vocabulary strand in Lexia Reading Core5 is structured to teach word-learning strategies, to provide exposure to rich and varied vocabulary words, and to allow students to develop an awareness of word relationships and associations.

VOCABULARY

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Beginning – Middle Grade 5 (Level 17)

Activity: Shades of Meaning

Goal: This activity is designed to develop the student’s ability to determine somewhat subtle differences among words related in meaning. The student must understand the shade of meaning of each word (e.g., big, huge, enormous) as it relates to a concept (e.g., size). This skill helps strengthen vocabulary by increasing the specificity with which students can use words.

Description: The student chooses the word that does not belong to a category. Then the student sequences words based on increasingly subtle shades of meaning.

CCSS | Grade 5 Language Standards:• L.5.5c – Use the relationships between particular words to better

understand each of the words

• L.5.6 – Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships

VOCABULARY

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End Kindergarten (Level 5)

Activity: Sequencing Stories 2

Goal: This activity is designed to strengthen oral language comprehension skills with a focus on details and sequence in a narrative. At this level, the student is asked to identify what the story is mainly about. This activity builds on picturing and sequencing activities in previous levels by increasing the length and complexity of the text.

Description: The student listens to a story and then sequences pictures to match the story. The student then chooses the picture that represents what the story is mainly about.

CCSS | Kindergarten Reading Standards for Literature 3:• RL.K.3– With prompting and support, identify characters, settings

and major events in a story

• RL.K.7 – With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts)

• This activity also addresses standards: RL.K.1, RL.K.2, RL.K.7, RL.K.10, SL.K.1a,b, SL.K.2, SL.K.3, SL.K.4, SL.K.5, SL.K.6, L.K.1b, L.K.1d, L.K.1f, L.K.6

Comprehension is an active process that involves the understanding of spoken and written language. It involves not just the meanings of words in isolation but the relationship among words within sentences and paragraphs. In Lexia Reading Core5, comprehension activities develop the ability to understand information at a concrete level as well as an abstract level through the application of higher order thinking skills. Activities develop comprehension strategies through interaction with increasingly complex narrative and informational texts.

COMPREHENSION

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Middle – End Grade 5 (Level 18)

Activity: Passage Comprehension 7

Goal: This activity is designed to increase silent reading comprehension at the multi-paragraph level through questions that target higher order thinking skills. The students apply comprehension strategies to answer questions that become increasingly more complex with each grade level. Passages are a mix of narrative and informational text and cover a broad array of topics and content areas. This activity begins at level 12 and passage length and complexity continues to increase as students move through the levels.

Description: The student reads a passage silently and then answers comprehension questions. Questions focus on main idea, details, vocabulary, inferences, cause and effect, drawing conclusions, compare and contrast, author’s perspective, summarizing and paraphrasing.

CCSS | Grade 5 Reading Standards for Literature:• RL.5.10 – By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,

including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently;

CCSS | Grade 5 Reading Standards for Informational Text:• RIT.5.10 – By the end of the year, read and comprehend

informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently

• This activity also addresses standards: RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.4, RL.5.3, RL.5.6, RL.5.10, RIT.5.1, RIT.5.2, RIT.5.3, RIT.5.4, RIT.5.8, RIT.5.10, L.5.4a, L.5.6, SL.5.1, SL.5.2, SL.5.3, SL.5.4, SL.5.5 

Middle Grade 2 (Level 11)

Activity: Sentence Structure

Goal: This activity is designed to help students focus on the structure of a sentence to enhance comprehension and improve ability to answer questions about the content. This sentence-level activity prepares students to analyze and comprehend longer texts in later levels.

Description: The student is asked to analyze the sentence and choose the word or phrase that answers questions using the words “who, what, where, when, why or how.”

CCSS | Grade 2 Reading Standards:• FS.2.4a – Read on-level text with purpose and understanding

• FS.2.4c – Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary

CCSS | Grade 2 Reading Standards for Literature:• RL.2.1 – Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when,

why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text

COMPREHENSION

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StandardComposed of on-grade level material. All activities require the student to be at least 90% accurate at Standard in order to advance to subsequent units.

Guided Practice: Guided practice is a scaffolded version of the standard step. It removes a level of complexity by simplifying a task or embedding supports into the activity to help the student.

InstructionExplicit Instruction on the particular skill or content that the student is struggling with is presented. Students are then asked to apply the rule or skill by completing a simpler version of the task.

Lexia Reading Core 5 activities adapt based on a student’s performance. If a student is struggling with a particular skill, the program automatically reduces the complexity of the task for the student, providing scaffolded support designed to individualize instruction. The branching structure is composed of three steps: Standard, Practice and Instruction.

Blending & Segmenting Syllables: Level 3 90% accuracy required at Standard

1 Select Blending Activity* This will place you in Standard

2 Make 2 errors on 2 different items This will branch you to Practice

3 Make 1 error This will branch you to Instruction

4 Listen to Explicit Instruction

5 Get next 3 rounds correct This will branch you back up to Practice

6 Get next 3 rounds correct This will branch you back up to Standard

1 Open Level 16

Similes & Metaphors: Level 12

100% accuracy required at Standard

1 Select Similes & Metaphors Activity* This will place you in Standard

2 Make 1 error This will branch you to Practice (and to the

exact content that was errored on in Standard)

3 Make 1 error This will branch you to Instruction (and to the exact

content that was errored on in Practice)

4 Listen to Explicit Instruction

5 Get next 3 rounds correct This will branch you back up to Practice

6 Get next 3 rounds correct This will branch you back up to Standard

2 Complete final unit in Passage Comprehension

*Get 2 or 3 right to show how the program responds

Suggested Activities to Demonstrate the Instructional Branching

To Demonstrate Level to Level Transition & Awarding of Certificate

STEPS TO DEMO INSTRUCTIONAL BRANCHING

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Research has identified 6 instructional strategies* that can be effective in helping English Language Learners (ELL) develop basic reading and comprehension skills.

Suggested Activities to Demonstrate some of these Instructional Strategies

Picturing Details - Comprehension (Level 2 & 3 – Kindergarten)

Goal: These activities develop students’ understanding of narrative details by focusing on key word imaging.

Description: This activity uses structured modeling to encourage students to learn the process of creating mental images, rather than focusing simply on producing the correct answer. Unlike tasks focused on the answer only, or the product of comprehension, developing procedural knowledge allows ELL students to apply a strategy or skill across new contexts.

Idioms – Vocabulary (Level 13 & 16 – 3rd & 4th Grade)

Goal: This activity is designed for students to learn the difference between their literal and figurative meanings of common idiomatic phrases.

Description: Figurative language is a complex concept for non-native English speakers to understand and learn to use effectively. Basic vocabulary instruction is often focused on literal word meanings, so explicit work with idioms and other figurative phrases is necessary to develop fluent conversational and written language skills. This process of multiple and varied exposures to idiomatic phrases provides students with the repetition necessary to embed these figurative phrases into their working vocabulary.

Root Meanings – Structural Analysis (Level 15 – 4th Grade)

Goal: This activity is designed to build students’ knowledge of the meanings of Latin-based roots.

Description: Developing a student’s ability to analyze the morphological structure of unfamiliar words is an essential component of developing a strong academic vocabulary. This activity exposes students to both Tier III content-specific words, such as “photosynthesis”, and Tier II words that are involved in directions and tasks such as “describe” and “inspect.” Content-specific words and an understanding of high-utility words used in directions and across contexts are both components of a strong academic vocabulary.

1 Develop decoding skills with early, explicit and intensive instruction in Phonological Awareness and Phonics

2 Provide increased opportunities for ELLs to develop sophisticated Vocabulary knowledge including strong academic language

3 Use challenging narrative and expository texts to teach Comprehension strategies and skills

These principles, which focus on explicit instruction in phonological awareness and phonics, multiple and systematic exposures to new vocabulary, and opportunities to engage in both speaking and reading with appropriately complex topics and text, have been integrated throughout the design of Lexia Reading Core5.

4 Promote reading Fluency with a focus on vocabulary and increased exposure to print

5 Provide significant opportunities in the classroom to engage in structured, academic talk

6 Ensure that independent reading is structured and purposeful with a good reader-text match

* Francis, D. J., Rivera, M., Lesaux, N., Kieffer, M., and Rivera, H. (2006). Practical guidelines for the education of English language learners: Research-based recommendations for instruction and academic interventions. Center on Instruction.

DEMO ACTIVITIES FOR ELL STUDENTS