INTRODUCTION

If your child is lucky enough to find the right combination of teachers in grades K through 12, high-level academic success can become a reality. The trick is finding those dynamic, dyslexia-knowledgeable, and dyslexic-friendly teachers throughout those grades.

Thomas Keeler

HELLO

My name is Thomas Keeler. I am an elementary school teacher who specializes in reading instruction for struggling readers.

I have developed a unique and extremely successful method of reading instruction that works for all learners. My reading program provides reading instruction through a mathematical, logical, and rules-based strategy, rather than the traditional phonics-based method, because not all students can learn to read phonetically.

This is why I teach all of my students how to read through a rule-oriented, logical, sequential, and mastery-based reading program:

  1. All students need in-depth reading instruction that contains deep structure.
  2. All students need instruction that is concrete and unfailing.
  3. All students need rules for reading that are consistent and rules that specifically tell them when letters have variations in their sound.
  4. All students need instruction that is systematic, retains clarity, and never fails.
  5. All students need Instruction in phonological awareness and sight word mastery that follows a scope and sequence that progresses from simple to complex.

READING INSTRUCTION

Reading instruction in my classroom follows a structured foundational skills scaffolding. My reading instruction is systematic and mastery-based. My daily instruction follows a routine that is consistently repeated across lessons.

Before new decoding concepts are introduced, previous concepts are first reviewed, and explained how they apply and connect to the new concept.

This daily routine allows my students to comfortably focus a significantly greater amount of their energy on learning, because dyslexic students desire and thrive in a calm, consistent instructional atmosphere.

If your child’s teacher isn’t providing rules-based, specific, systematic, and mastery learning-based reading instruction, you need to ask why not? If your dyslexic student isn't receiving in-depth reading instruction that contains deep structure, or instruction that is concrete and unfailing, you need to ask why not?

The window to reading recovery is limited. Intervention is needed immediately. Time is of the essence. Differentiated instruction must be sought out now.

TEACHING EXAMPLES

These are examples of the detailed scope and sequence I use with just one of my grade-level readers (Kindergarten group) to introduce beginning reading skills to emergent readers:

  1. Reading instruction for struggling readers must be rules-based. Students need to see that words belong to word families and have patterns and logic in their spelling and decoding.
  2. Struggling students must be taught to read in a sequential order, regardless of the pace of the other students in the class.
  3. There can be no missing tools in a struggling reader’s reading toolbox. There can be no holes in their learning. Every hole must be filled in with the specific skill and knowledge that is missing. This requires individualized reading instruction from your child’s classroom teacher.
  4. Each reading skill-set must be taught to mastery. One reading skill set cannot be introduced unless the previous reading skill set has been mastered.
  5. Struggling readers cannot learn to read phonetically. That is why reading instruction must be differentiated from traditional classroom reading instruction (“Differentiated Instruction” means using different materials and different teaching methods to reteach the original concepts).
  6. Reading is taught phonetically to all students in classrooms across America every day.
  7. All words are sight words until the reader understands and masters the rules of phonics and spelling. Not all words are created equally.

Sight word memorization is one of three components of daily reading instruction.

PHONICS, TEXT READING, AND SIGHT WORDS

The sight word mastery paradigm is:

  • One-letter sight word memorization first,
  • Two-letter sight word memorization next,
  • Three-letter sight word memorization next, and so on. You see the pattern.

If your student is struggling with reading, I understand this battle firsthand. Not all students can learn to read phonetically; I could not! Let's get to work and resolve the mysteries of reading together.

Together, through a logical, rule-based reading strategy, we will get it done. It works. It really is this easy.

Thomas Keeler

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