Implementing Visual Phonics With At-Risk Learners

The ability to read proficiently is essential to achieve academic success (Levy & Vaughn 2002). However the number of American children experiencing reading failure and subsequently school failure is staggering. The current investigation extended the initial efforts in using See the Sound/Visual Phonics (STS/VP) to teach phonemic awareness and initial phonics to older elementary children identified as at-risk for reading failure. There has been strong evidence for the effective use of STS/VP as an intervention tool for low-performing kindergarten children (Cihon Gardner Morrison and Paul 2008). The proposed study attempts to replicate the existing literature base on the effects of STS/VP on phonemic awareness and phonic skills for hearing children as well as extend it by looking at a new population older elementary children. Using a multiple baseline across sounds the current researchers taught two pairs of fourth graders letter-sound combinations either by explicit instruction alone or explicit instruction paired with STS/VP. Results indicated all four participants were able to acquire maintain and generalize the four taught letter combinations in both conditions.