The Method Behind the Magic of Breaking into Reading
FALL.2011
WHITE PAPER
THE METHOD BEHIND THE MAGIC ON OOKA ISLAND
By Dr. Kay MacPhee
President/Founder – Ooka Island, Inc.
Download The Method Behind the Magic White Paper (500 KB)
WHAT IS THE RATIONALE BEHIND THE LEVELING AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GAME?
The game starts with an essential pre-reading skill- alphabet recognition and sequencing. The introduction of the letters is done in groups of three-to-five letters, beginning with lower case, as these are the letters most frequently seen, and then moving on to upper case.
As the alphabet is being mastered, the sounds associated with letters are being introduced. The program starts with sounds that are easiest to hear and blend, /m/, /s/, /oo/ and /ee/. Each of these sounds can be lengthened or held- e.g. mmm…, so that a child can get a good grasp of the sound before blending it with another sound. Because of this careful ordering of the presentation of sounds, decoding a word such as “soon”, made up of three of the sounds introduced early in the game, is not a challenge for most young learners.
Consonant sounds, such as /d/ and /g/, are introduced later, as they cannot be held, and when said, have a partial vowel sound included, e.g. the “d” sound actually sounds like /du/. The more difficult vowels are also the ones that cannot be held, and are said very quickly, e.g., /_i_/ as in “dig”. All three of the sounds in the word “dig” are very brief and harder to hear and manipulate in a word. More skill is needed to separate the sounds and then blend them back together to decode a word. Because of the order in which the sounds are presented in the Ooka Island program, children are well prepared to work with these sounds by the time they reach them.
To ensure that a particular skill is truly mastered, the child is taken through the activities at each level three times, before moving on to the next level. If necessary, the child is directed to additional activities that will bring that particular skill to mastery. Without mastery, the foundation necessary for later skills will not be firmly established.
The immediate recall of the sounds of the letters, and the manipulation of the sounds, which includes segmenting words into sounds, and blending sounds into words, is preparing a child to effortlessly decode when reading. These skills must be automatic (almost without thought) for reading to be fluent- smooth and accurate. All of the activities in the game, in a very specific order of presentation, are leading the child to this point.
WHAT DOES EACH OF THE ACTIVITIES IN THE GAME TEACH?
I. Alphabet Mountain
- Identification and sequencing of first lower case, and then upper case letters of the alphabet
- Auditory recognition of single sounds
- Letter/sound correspondence
- Identification of initial and final consonant sounds in syllables and words
III. Clumsy Wacky
- Blending of onset and rime
- Blending sounds into words
- Rhyming syllables and words
- Recognition of letter-sound correspondence for the 44 sounds of the English language
V. Cake Factory
- Recognition of letter-sound correspondence for the 44 sounds of the English language
- Segmenting and blending sounds into syllables and words
- Decoding of syllables and words (e.g. /m/ /oo/ /n/ – moon)
VI. Word Ball
- Auditory discrimination of syllables versus words
- Decoding of syllables and words
- Recognition of the correspondence between vowel sounds and letters
- Identification of initial/medial/final vowels in syllables and words
- Recognition of letter-sound correspondence, and production of the 44 sounds of the English language
- 85 leveled books with activities- 35 Emergent, 40 Beginning, and 10 Fluency books, covering K-1, with activities focusing on the development of sight words, vocabulary, and comprehension, as well as story sequencing
- 10 additional fluency books (two sets of five books, each set with a common theme) to provide more practice for accomplished readers
- Twenty minutes of skill work (activities described above)
- New book in the Popcorn Library
- Read the book twice
- Do activities that accompany each reading
- Ten minutes of free play, when players can do any of the following:
- Read previously read books
- “Buy” items at the Mist Mart
- Play in the Pencil Playground
- Visit the Trophy Room
- Take a turn on the Dance Floor
- Revisit favorite activities
- Return to skill work
HOW DO THE LEVELED BOOKS BRING A CHILD THROUGH TO FLUENT READING?
In the early books, the use of speech balloons, in combination with the guiding narration and the highlighting of the words as they are read, allow beginning readers to use their knowledge of language to “read”. The very familiar situations and natural language used in the stories make it easy for children to predict what will be said, even though they are not actually decoding at this stage. As their phonetic skills are built up through the many levels of the game, and as they constantly add to the words that they know by sight, through reading and rereading the stories, true reading begins to emerge.
As children move along the book path, the familiarity of the characters and situations, along with the supportive narration, continued highlighting, and the careful leveling of the material, makes for a seamless progression toward independent reading. The activities that accompany each book add to vocabulary and comprehension development, and ensure that children focus on what reading is all about- getting meaning from print.
Reading isn’t “rocket science”, but neither is it a natural process that always develops optimally with limited guidance. The Ooka Island Adventure provides the essential guidance through all the foundational reading skills and reading experience, to make literacy development seem like child’s play.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Kay MacPhee is a lifelong educator who has devoted her life to teaching the key literacy skills needed to form the foundation for education. Her knowledge, passion and commitment have helped countless individuals become strong readers. Dr. MacPhee co-created the Ooka Island Book Series and is developing the company’s much-anticipated online game.
Inspired by her son who was born profoundly deaf, Dr. MacPhee – a former principal and teacher – spent 25 years developing techniques enabling the hearing-impaired to form language skills and learn how to read. She spent years continuously modifying and advancing her approach to literacy instruction and, in 1994, launched SpellReadTM, a reading intervention program designed to aid struggling readers of all ages. The program went on to earn a number one rating from the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse.
Dr. MacPhee combines her extensive experience as an educator and researcher with her knowledge of curriculum development to build the unique methodology and educational concepts behind Ooka Island. The innovative prevention program is designed to benefit all early readers, not just those with special needs.
Dr. MacPhee is a highly-accomplished professional with specialized accreditations from several educational institutions. She earned both her Honorary Doctorate Degree as well as her Level 5 Teacher’s Certificate from the University of Prince Edward Island. She also completed extensive course work in the area of speech and language at McGill University in Montreal and Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
For more information about Ooka Island, Inc. please call 1-877-307-3616 or visit www.OokaIsland.com
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