Fix Reading Problems

Our Skill Builder software turns problem readers into capable readers.

A good reader processes basic reading skills automatically, without thought. Lack of automated processing is the most common cause of reading problems. Reading comprehension becomes compromised as a result.

Our intervention exercises focus on making basic reading skills automatic. These exercises are research-based and proven effective with problem readers. 

To read well one must master these basic skills automatically:

  • Letter recognition

  • Letter sounds

  • Combining letter sounds to form words

  • Rapid recognition of words

Start Fixing Reading Problems with Skill Builder Exercises

Reading requires a mastery of skills starting very simple ranging up to comprehension. Any failure up the ladder of complexity will block good reading comprehension.

Our exercises focus on strengthening basic skills up through rapid sight recognition of words and math facts. Our diagnostic software recommends a starting point for these exercises. 

  • Identify the most basic skill needing improvement

  • Target that skill at a level where the student can succeed

  • Student masters all exercises for that skill

  • Student moves to next basic skill needing attention

  • Materials appropriate for Kindergarten through College

RSL Skill Builder Exercises

Each skill builder exercise is organized into parts to be mastered. All exercises are grade-appropriate and will normally have multiple sets of equal difficulty. Students work on each page of a set. When a set is mastered, they move to the next set.

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How the Skill Builder System Works

The goal of a reading program is to make reading an automatic process; for people to know what a letter, word or math fact is without thinking. Our exercises develop this skill.

Here are the steps of our skill building system:

Select materials

Select the appropriate materials for the student to work with. A student repeatedly works with same set of materials 3-5 times per week. The report indicates when a set has been mastered.

Preview materials

The student looks at all of the items in the exercise. He or she should carefully look at each item. He/She may listen to or get the definition of any item. The student may take as much time as needed.

Timed
Practices

Items appear one at a time with the student speaking the word out loud and pressing SPACEBAR at the same time. Time taken is the time interval from word appearance to the SPACEBAR press. The response accuracy is manually scored. The test administrator can be a paraprofessional, a parent, or even fellow students who can take turns being the student or the test administrator.

Review mistakes

All of the items in the exercise are displayed. Those items mistakenly named are highlighted. Students can click on a item to listen to the item. This is a good time for a “teachable moment”.

Progress Reports

A report  shows speed and accuracy performance for current and previous sessions. You see trends graphed and observations about the trends. The report identifies when mastery has been reached, usually 95% accuracy and a speed of 60 items/min.

> View sample report

RSL Skill Builder Exercises

Each grade appropriate skill builder exercise is organized into chunks that are separately mastered. One exercise will normally have multiple sets of equal difficulty. The learner works on a set until mastered. Then the learner moves to the next set.

A set is divided into pages. One works with each selected page one at a time during a session.

  • Letter Naming
  • 3 Sets
  • 1 Pages/Set
  • 40 Items/Page
  • Word Families
  • 6 Sets
  • 4 Pages/Set
  • 40 Items/Page
  • Grade 1 Words
  • 2 Sets
  • 4 Pages/Set
  • 25 Items/Page
  • Grade 2-8 Words
  • 3 Sets
  • 4 Pages/Set
  • 40 Items/Page
  • SAT Vocab
  • 5 Sets
  • 4 Pages/Set
  • 42 Items/Page
For other subject matter (science, history, biology, literature and many more) item numbers will vary.

Our Skill Builder Exercises Improve Reading Skills in General:

  • Improve reading ability on practice material

  • Improve performance on materials they have never seen

  • Overall reading skills improve

The Skill Builder Designer Module

Customize a program that is right for your reader.

Our Skill Builder Designer Module allows you to add your own content for custom education. You can easily develop a Skill Builder that is suited to your reader’s needs. Materials developed with our Skill Builder Designer Module can be saved for personal use, shared within a unit (classroom, school), or saved into our Skill Builder Library for use by anyone using the Reading Success Lab software.

Custom Content Examples:

  • Materials requested by a teacher or tutor
  • Material drawn from graded reading texts
  • Grade-level vocabulary lists drawn from statewide curriculum standards
  • Beginning and end-of-year reading lists based on local curriculum
  • Foreign language content
  • Spelling lists
  • Vocabulary lists for statewide testing programs or for ACT or SAT preparation
  • Vocabulary lists based on specific licensure exams
  • Vocabulary found in assigned reading books

Diagnose | Fix | Track

In just five sessions with the Skill Builder Module I could hear a difference in the oral reading fluency of my three least confident readers. They’re highly motivated to improve with the Skill Builder Module Software. With the Skill Builder Module it is easy to keep track of each student’s progress to share with parents at conference time. No special expertise is required to work with the Skill Builder Module program. I’ve trained volunteers in fifteen minutes to effectively work with my most reluctant readers. I’m very excited about a new Designer Module that allows me to program the vocabulary I’ll be teaching in novels and other units, so that my students get to preview and practice these words. The Skill Builder Module software is making learning more accessible for my at-risk students every day.

Jon H., Grade 5 Teacher
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