Secret Code Actions

by Nancy Young B.A. M.Ed., Dean Stanton (Contributor)

Children need to MOVE more! Children must learn to READ and SPELL! Secret Code Actions combines these needs – bringing movement into learning the “secrets” of the code!

Authored by Nancy Young (creator of the famous Ladder of Reading infographic), Secret Code Actions shows teachers ways

1) Weave creative MOVEMENT into any phonics instruction
2) Provide FUN ways to practice code-based skills (classroom, gym, schoolyard – or anywhere!)
3) Build knowledge of the FASCINATING English code

Secret Code Actions is not a step-by-step program but a tool to ENHANCE ANY PROGRAM!

As children are mastering the “secrets” of the code using movement, teachers can pepper the CLUES and ALERTS about English speech sounds (phonemes) and their written symbols (graphemes). Detective Enrichment extends the learning for all!

Secret Code Actions is a valuable addition to the toolbox of any educator providing phonics instruction from K up – whether brand new to teaching or highly experienced. It is a crucial resource for educators working with students diagnosed with DYSLEXIA (LD) and students who are ELL. Movement is especially important for students with ADHD.

Purchasers of this resource have access to download free supplementary materials created by the author, including an example of a sequence – instructional order – for those new to sequential instruction. (The concepts in the book are presented alphabetically as the book was created to be used to ENHANCE ANY PROGRAM.)

Secret Code Actions is grounded in research showing the need to be moving AND research showing most children need explicit instruction to learn to read. Moving while learning the code is a win-win! So much FUN too – for students and for teachers!

Genres: Teaching

370 pages, Spiral-bound

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Faith Borkowsky]

In the USA, over 60% of students are not reading proficiently. The underlying cause for many of these students is the inability to read words accurately. Schools across the country are teaching children to read using a whole word memorization approach. Instead of teaching children to sound out words, children are expected to figure out how to read unknown words through “word solving” strategies which encourage them to use pictures and context rather that sound and symbol correspondences. Even in schools that do provide phonics instruction, not enough time is spent on solidifying the sound and symbol connection, so children naturally revert back to using the other available cues. Teachers who have not been given proper instruction in how to teach reading will either avoid teaching phonics or do so inadequately, resulting in confusion and frustration for the children.

Here is the good news – teaching the sounds and symbols of the English alphabetic code does not have to be so difficult now that Nancy Young has provided us with her fantastic reference book, Secret Code Actions. This is not another reading program. Secret Code Actions can be used as a supplement to any reading program or as a stand-alone guide for decoding and encoding. Ms. Young incorporates tasks involving kinesthetic mnemonics to help children learn sound and symbol correspondences and cement the code in memory. Such engaging, easy-to-implement actions are fun for students and can be used throughout the school day, not just during the reading block. Teachers will find Secret Code Actions to be useful without adding “one more thing” to their busy list. Some features of the book include:
• Sound to print (phoneme to grapheme) instruction, as well as print to sound (grapheme to phoneme) instruction. Children will learn that a sound can be represented by more than one letter pattern, and a letter pattern can have more than one sound. This concept is the foundation for advanced decoding skills.
• Key words are attached to movement as a memory tool for sound and letter correspondences. In many programs, key words are tied to pictures, but many children have a stronger connection with a kinesthetic component.
• For a deeper connection, the key word for a sound is embedded in a silly story or poem. For children who have poor retention, multiple repetitions are required. The enjoyable movement activities that go along with the stories help children remember the code.
• Spelling rules are called MOTTs meaning Most Of The Time. I love this!! Since there are always exceptions, this is a clever way of letting children know that the rules are really generalizations that will help them most of the time. Struggling readers are sometimes not flexible in their thinking and need to be told this information up front. Many teachers avoid spelling generalizations because they believe that there are too many exceptions for this information to be worthwhile, or they just don’t know the rules themselves.
• Integration of sounding (phonology), spelling (orthography), and meaning (morphology) help children with retrieval of the code and automaticity. This is probably my favorite part of the book! As a former literacy coach, I wish I had Nancy Young’s book with me when I was working with teachers! The explanations she provides are truly golden nuggets for teachers, and it’s all easily accessible. Teachers will be thrilled to not only learn the “secrets,” but they will be able to share this knowledge with their students confidently.

Secret Code Actions will not collect dust; it will be a book that teachers will refer to again and again.

Faith Borkowsky, Certified Dyslexia Practitioner
Founder of High Five Literacy and Academic Coaching
Author of:
Failing Students or Failing Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction and Intervention
Reading Intervention Behind School Walls: Why Your Child Continues to Struggle

[Nancy]

Lots of great ideas for incorporating movement into reading and spelling practice. Would work well with most any program, but it's geared toward Orton-Gillingham-type lessons.