Sounds In Syllables
Sounds In Syllables (S.I.S.) is a researched-based language training program designed for students who struggle with decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling). It is a multi-sensory, systematic, diagnostic, structured approach, where the teaching plan is based on continuous assessment of the student's needs. Sounds In Syllables provides the foundation for successful reading, writing, and spelling remediation for persons with dyslexia and related disorders.
Originally developed in a public school Language Clinic for dyslexic middle school and high school students, Sounds In Syllables has been used for over 25 years in public and private schools and clinics to successfully remediate dyslexic children and adults.
The trained dyslexia therapist can apply the S.I.S. principles and procedures as an intensive remedial therapy for students of any age who need more than the usual amount of structure and practice with basic sounds and symbols while learning to apply concepts, procedures, and rules which govern the written language.
Additionally, S.I.S. provides an excellent introduction to the structure of the English language for reading and spelling for students who will benefit from explicit instruction in small groups and classrooms.
With Sounds In Syllables, the student develops understanding of the orthographic and phonologic structure of words, taking comfort in the realization that there truly is order to the English language. "It's not just a jumbled mass of letters out to trick them."
Sounds In Syllables language re-training therapy helps the student develop an efficient schema for reading and spelling, thus giving him a sense of power over words, not vice versa.
Sounds In Syllables adheres to the elements and principles of instruction outlined by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council, (IMSLEC).
A Therapy Model
Most students who exhibit difficulty learning to read and spell will be helped by good teaching using a sequential, multi-sensory structured phonics approach. This could be accomplished in a one-to-one setting, small group, or whole classroom. However, some bright students, with more severely disorganized language systems need more than good multisensory teaching or order to be successful.
The structured procedures in Sounds In Syllables were developed to change the way the student processes the sounds and symbols of language. The visual image, auditory response, and the motor skills involved, including left to right visual tracking, smooth blending of sounds, paired with a written response, are tightly integrated and practiced to ensure that the student reads what his eyes are seeing. The procedures must be applied consistently and automatically, with no hesitations, delays, or self-corrections. When these procedures are adhered to with absolute fidelity, even the most severely dyslexic students have made significant progress.
Some Unique Features of Sounds In Syllables
S.I.S. allows for the presentation of material in very small steps linked by tightly structured motor-learning principles. It begins by teaching each consonant and vowel in closed syllables, one at a time, providing reading and spelling practice with each, and then copious practice again after folding the new information into that which has been previously learned.
All of the English phonograms, the six syllable types, and reading and spelling rules are taught and practiced in the five levels of the program. When and if it is found that the very small steps are no longer needed, larger steps can also be made. Sounds In Syllables is very flexible and very responsive to individual needs.
From: Multi-Sensory Language Training Institute of New Mexico
A program that includes the following elements has been proved to have the most success with students who display Dyslexic traits:
- Multi-sensory Instruction: Teaching includes seeing (visual), hearing (auditory), doing (kinesthetic) and feeling (tactile). Intergrading all these modalities at the same time improves memory, language learning and focus.
- Systematic and Cumulative: Instruction must follow the logical order of the language. The sequence must start with the easiest concepts and progress methodically to the most difficult material. Each step must be based on steps already learned and practiced to automaticity moving as quickly as possible and as slowly as necessary to master the basic elements.
- Direct Instruction: Reading, spelling and writing skills are directly taught and modeled by the teacher with continuous student-teacher interaction.
- Diagnostic Teaching: Based on continuous assessment of individual’s skills that were directly taught, teachers address student errors and create lesson plans to ensure mastery before progressing to the next step.
- Synthetic and Analytic Instruction: Synthetic instruction (i.e., decoding) teaches how parts of the language work together to form a whole and Analytic instruction (i.e., encoding) presents the whole and teaches how language can be broken down into parts. This “thinking” approach discourages guessing or skipping words and reveals the predictability (85%) of the English language through rules and generalizations which enables mastery over language learning.
- Comprehensive and Inclusive: From the smallest unit- sounds (phonemes) to the social uses of language (pragmatics), all levels of language are addressed.