Reading is like a marathon. Before you can do it, you need to train. You would not train for a marathon by repetitively running marathons.

Fast ForWord is a workout for the brain. Students go five days a week, 50-minute sessions, for a total of 250 minutes a week of “working out” their brain.

• Over 80% of classroom instruction is presented through talking

• Language processing, primarily at the level of phonology, is the primary cause of reading and spelling problems

?Oral Language

• Students need to distinguish speech sounds correctly

– learn the rules of language – associate sounds with letters

• Speech sounds can differ by as little as 10 milliseconds

• Computers can emphasize differences in sounds

Processing Speech

5

Different Brain Activity in Struggling Readers

6

100milliseconds

. . .Big Changes in Meaning

Small Changes in Timing

Normal Speech

Acoustically Modified Speech

When acoustic differences are stretched and emphasized, it is easier for students to perceive the differences.

Circus Sequence (62%)Phonic Words (99%)Phoneme Identification (38%)Phonic Match (55%)Old MacDonald's Flying Farm (57%)Block Commander (75%)Language Comprehension Builder (97%)

Before Basics

After Basics

• Results will appear in the classroom several weeks after the student completes the program.•Skills from the program must be reinforced after the program is over.•Fast ForWord is supported by research (which can be provided)