How to Use the IMSE Reading Strategies Posters

 Have you downloaded the new and free IMSE Reading Strategies Poster Set and now are looking for suggestions on how to use them?  Let's talk!

First, I want to be clear that I am not associated with IMSE and the following are my own recommendations based on my experience, IMSE training(s), and reading specialist certifications.

With that being said, let's begin!

When I was teaching 1st grade I, like many other teachers, was using the "animal reading strategies" approach.  You know..."lips the fish", "chunky monkey", "stretchy snake", "tryin lion", "eagle eye", "flippy dolphin", and "skippy frog".  You may have seen other ones, but you get the idea.  These were not evil or meant to harm students in reading, but they did significantly fall short of giving students REAL reading strategies.  I'm sharing that I was falling short of helping those students in my class, but at the time I thought I was doing them a service.  I was actually doing them a disservice.  I was not a bad teacher, but I could have been better in this area....now I am.  The moral is when we know better, we can do better! 

Enter the new IMSE character posters.  First, it's all based on evidence based strategies for reading.  It is all based in phonics.  They made some cute characters and catchy phrases to use with students because visual cues support internalization.  The message is consistent with the IMSE protocol for teaching phonics and word study.  As an IMSE trained teacher I could not be more excited about this resource and I hope it inspires more teachers to become trained in the Orton Gillingham approach.

Here is how I plan on introducing and using these posters with my students.  This is the order in which I would teach them and the scenarios where I would use them with students.  Most of these will work in tandem, but we can't throw everything at students all at once so instead I will break them down one at a time.

Strategy #1  "Lefty Larry"

I would teach "Lefty Larry" first in the sequence.  It is a logical first step to teach students to start at the left but some students need more support with this than others.  I use catch phrases like "get your reading finger ready".  Early readers need consistent procedures and support to develop effective reading habits.  Have students show you where to start and maintain that practice consistently.  I would model this behavior as well.  Pictured is a decodable reader that I would use with students to teach this step.  These students would be working on simple CVC words with sounds they've already been taught.  You can find those readers in my TPT store by clicking on the photo.  

If you are working with emergent or early readers than this step is for you, but if you are working with transitional or fluent readers than you may not have directly teach this step.  Consider having those student explain this step to you instead.  That way you know they get the concept and you're not spending time on something they don't need (or may resent).  

Strategy #2 "Grapheme Grasshopper"

This strategy is simply teaching students to make each sound from left to right...this strategy can be taught WITH "Lefty Larry".  I would use phrases like "show me your reading finger like "Lefty Larry" and let's be a grasshopper across the sounds".  You are teaching students process and giving them tools to approach words with confidence.  I recommend teaching these strategies with decodable texts, at least to start.  Students have to see that these strategies are successful for them in order to want to use them repeatedly.  If you give them a book that has phonics patterns beyond their skill level, and ask them to use these strategies then you are potentially setting them up for failure.  We want to build on successes to help teach them perseverance and grit when reading.  These early decodable readers can be found in my TPT store Simply Primary by clicking on the picture.

Strategy #3 "Blendy Wendy"

How cute is "Blendy Wendy"?  Again, this strategy can be taught in tandem with "Lefty Larry" and "Grapheme Grasshopper" because they fit nicely together in a progression....start at the left, hop to each sound, blend the sounds together.  I still recommend using a decodable reader for this purpose.  I would also like to say a little something about "stretchy snake" here.  "Stretchy Snake" is the only hold out I would still use from the tired reading strategies.  After working with struggling readers and English Language Learners I have found that a number of students struggle with purely saying the sounds and then blending.  A number of students need to hear the sounds "touch" each other (enter stretchy snake).  Blendy Wendy will do just fine and I will be using her cue.  Just keep in mind that as you teach "Blendy Wendy" that some students will need more support in helping to blend the sounds and so you'll need to model stretching the sounds.  We could actually say "slow down Blendy Wendy" to make the sounds touch or something to that effect.  

Strategy #4 "Lucy Lightbulb"

This strategy is not directly related to phonics patterns as clearly as the others, but it serves a very important purpose.  Students need to listen to themselves and pay attention to what they are reading.  Reading is THINKING  and the ultimate goal is comprehension.  If what you are reading doesn't make any sense then what is the point of reading?  "Lucy Lightbulb" teaches students to listen to when they are reading and be mindful of how they have solved unknown words.  Rereading is a meaningful way of self monitoring.  We want students to be successful readers in our absence, that is why we give them meaningful strategies.  They need to be able to self-correct!  "Lucy Lightbulb" gives them power (no pun intended) to check their understanding and is a perfect fit after "Blendy Wendy" to check for successful decoding.

Strategy #5 "Syllable Sam"

"Syllable Sam" is where we have already taught students a syllable type through the OG phonics approach.  We have now grown out of the CVC words and are asking students to break apart words by the syllables or (syllabication).  There are a variety of syllable types and I'm not going to get into all of them here.  Suffice it to say that if you're teaching syllable types your are asking students to use "Syllable Sam".  Here I'm using another decodable reader, but this one is from the IMSE website.  They sell sets of decodable books as pdfs for higher level phonics instruction.  I use them every single day with my intervention groups.  (The ones that I am selling in my TPT store are for early phonics skills and come with many instructional supports.)  

Strategy #6 "Chase the Base"

If you've taught some syllable patterns (maybe not all) then you've probably also taught at least some inflected endings and are moving into more complex word structures.  Enter "Chase the Base".  Once you've taught inflected endings (think, -ed or adding -ing) then you can introduce this strategy.  Identifying the base word is the first step to making morphology connections in text.  If you are teaching prefixes and suffixes then "Chase the Base" is a perfect fit.  After students have mastered the fundamental phonics patterns they move into morphology instruction and a deeper understanding of the English language.  All of the Anglo Saxon, Greek, and Latin roots add not only to students' ability to decode text but also understand vocabulary and connectivity.  "Chase the Base" may be introduced with simple inflected endings but it can extend well into the word student of fluent readers.  In the example above I am using a chapter book with a word that has an     -ed ending.  For many students when the they try to make all of the sounds at once they can't conceptualize the whole word.  By helping them to identify endings, prefixes, or suffixes before hand then they are able to more successfully decode a word.  

I hope you found this helpful!  It was meaningful for me to sit down with the strategies and develop a sequence and approach for how I will be using them.  Thank you for coming along!  

Please visit my TPT Store Simply Primary to pick up my first set of decodable readers.  This pack comes with 5 early phonics readers with decodable text, fully developed lesson plans, before & after reading activities, and other teacher materials.  There is more in the works so stay tuned.  

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Thank You,

Kristin