Start-to-Finish ™ Books Overview

1. Start-to-Finish™ Books Overview

2. Raising expectations that all students can develop literacy skills... “No student is tooanything to be able to read and write” Dr. David Yoder DJI-AbleNet Literacy Lecture ISAAC 2000

3. Overview Objectives Demonstrate benefits of Start-to-Finish Books Provide opportunities for experience with: • Becoming familiar with the three formats of Start-to-Finish books – computer book, paperback book, audiocassette • Using all the buttons on a page • Completing a chapter quiz • Setting teacher options • Gaining knowledge on the Start-to-Finish Books series • Using Write:OutLoud to import illustrations from the CD • Using Start-to-Finish Topic Dictionaries with Co:Writer 4000 Share ideas for classroom/curriculum integration Provide opportunities for self-assessment

4. Reading Statistics • 38% of the nation’s fourth-graders do not read at basic level, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) studies. • About 10 million children have difficulties learning to read. • In a comparison of 27 countries, the U.S. is ranked second in reading literacy scores for 9 year olds and ninth for 14 year olds. (Children's Defense Fund: State of America's Children, 2000.) • Most of the learning in middle and secondary schools is expected to occur through students’ reading.

5. The Circle of Literacy Learning™

6. Support Struggling Readers

7. Start-to-Finish™ Books • Scaffolds students to independent reading • Builds confident, motivated readers • Increases background knowledge and supports content-area learning

8. Three Formats Computer Book Paperback Book Audiocassette

9. Written for Success Formula • Written and edited by experts in the fields of language, learning and reading disabilities • 50 + guidelines ensure that vocabulary, idioms and sentence complexity are controlled and new words are introduced in a supported manner • Acknowledges the developmental sequence of acquiring language and learning to read

10. Written for Success Formula Examples from 50 guidelines (Gold Level): • Reduced dependence upon background knowledge • Uncommon words and misleading idioms are carefully introduced and explained in context • Simple, conversational vocabulary; simple suffix usage: • -ing, -ed, -s, -er, -est (exciting, lonely, destroyed) • Limited types of complex sentences • Adverbial clauses use when, while, after and because • Coordinated sentences use and, so, but • Word order matches order of events • Subject is not usually separated from verb

11. Written for Success Formula Examples from 50 guidelines (Blue Level): • Idiomatic language and similes and metaphors used often and with less direct explanation.When Penelope entered the great hall of the palace, the men fell silent marveling at her beauty. • More complex and abstract vocabulary; higher level suffix usage: -ment, -less, -ness, -ful (excitement, loneliness, destruction) • More varied types of sentence structure. Her name was Helen, and she was the wife of Menelaos, the king of the Greek city of Sparta. • More ideas incorporated into longer sentences. Beautiful Helen, the cause of all the long years of fighting, was captured and returned to her husband, King Menelaos.

12. Reading Comprehension • Customizable support provides the right scaffolds for each student • Unfamiliar and key words are supported in context • Digitized speech enhances meaning through correct intonation • Chapter quizzes provide motivation for rereading • PDF files support extension activities for comprehension • Two readability levels provide text written to meet student needs

13. Self-Selected Reading • Engaging topics match the interests and issues of the older reader • Two readability levelsprovide the right support for students at different levels • Three formats provide the necessary support for successful independent reading experiences

14. Teacher Options • Individual student data collection • Individual student reading preferences • Testing preferences • Access preferences • View and print reports

15. Engaging Literature • Literature • Classic Adventures, Classic Literature, Famous Short Stories • History • A Step into History • Mysteries • Nick Ford Mysteries, Sherlock Holmes Mysteries • Science and Nature • Natural Disasters • Sports • Sports Biographies

16. Off-computer Supports Teacher Materials • Words for review • Cloze comprehension • Multiple choice • Sentence completion

17. Reading and Writing Connection Import Topic Dictionaries to use new vocabulary from the story and write stronger sentences Import Start-to-Finish illustrations to enhance writing

18. Curriculum Integration • Reading—Use Start-to-Finish books as a supplement to or as part of your reading curriculum. • Social Studies—Using a Start-to-Finish History series book, students explain the impact a hero had on the way we live today. • Science—After reading a Start-to-Finish Natural Disasters book, students illustrate key facts from the book in BuildAbility. • Math—Students track their own scores from the quizzes by charting their score results. • Writing/Language Arts—Students write a draft comparing their own life to a main character’s life using one of the Start-to-Finish templates in Draft:Builder.

19. Student Outcomes • Students have increased motivation and positive attitude toward reading • Students read with improved fluency, intonation and reading rate • Students increase their reading comprehension skills • Students increase their knowledge in content-area subjects

20. 800.999.4660 www.donjohnston.com