Teaching Multiple Levels at the Same Time Made Easy

Teaching Multiple Levels at the Same Time Made Easy

Meet Xander who was beside himself when he got to join in the Silent Elephant “e” ™lessons with his sisters.

It was a happy day for Xander when he was able to begin HIS Silent Elephant “e” ™ reading lessons like his two older sisters. He had watched his sisters have so much fun learning to read. He had even been able to join in some of the multi-sensory introduction activities like writing his letters in pudding as they practiced their sight words, but finally the day had come when HE got to have HIS lessons to learn to read, write and spell.

He eagerly listened to his mom explaining phonemic awareness with the Caterpillar Game and the colored squares. He listened intently as his mom said the sounds in “fan”, he repeated them listening intently to HIS voice and then carefully moved the colors squares to indicate the number of sounds he was hearing. He beamed with pride!
 
Suddenly he had a great idea! His brain was transferring his knowledge! He shot off to his room, returned with his toy cars, began lining up his tiny cars to match the colors of his squares, and moved his CARS to indicate how many sounds he was hearing in a word.
 
He was having FUN while learning and transferring his knowledge.
 
Learning to read, write and spell should be fun and Silent Elephant “e”™ is all about the fun!
 
Silent Elephant “e” ™teaches entirely using multi-sensory and whole-body instruction, so children are actively learning at all times. 

Xander is Wendy’s third child to begin learning to read, write and spell with Silent Elephant “e”™.
 
Wendy has honed her method of teaching 3 different ages at the same time and making sure they are always successful. Silent Elephant “e”™ makes this easy for her.
 
Here is the Silent Elephant “e” ™method for teaching multiple ages. You and your children will enjoy success using these: 

1. Since every Silent Elephant “e” ™lesson has leveled materials, begin every new concept with the multi-sensory introductory lesson with all your kids. This gives them a sense of learning community as they are actively learning the same concept.

1. After the active multi-sensory introduction, move your kiddos to their personal practice pages which are leveled:

• Level 1 introduces the phonics rule – these practice pages are for your child that is just beginning to learn to read.

• Level 2 provides developing vocabulary and independence in using all the phonics rules – these practice pages are for your child that has completed Level 1 and is reviewing each phonics rule.

• Level 3 contains multi-syllabic words for advanced independent reading using the phonics rules – these practice pages are for your child that has completed Level 1 and/or Level 2. (Some children can move right into Level 3 upon completing Level 1. Other children may need more review after completing Level 1, so it’s best to have them excel in Level 2 before moving to Level 3.)

As continual assessment is a built-in integral part of Silent Elephant “e”™, Wendy KNOWS when each of her children have mastered a concept and she knows if she needs to reteach a concept before moving on.  It’s easy for Wendy to meet each of her child’s individual needs to be sure they are succeeding.
 
And they ARE succeeding! Her 7-year-old won an award for reading the most books at her library this past summer and her 9-year-old is blazing a trail through Nancy Drew mysteries. 😊 And Xander is eager to join them.

As always, check out more info at silentelephante.com, email us at silentelephante@gmail.com

or call us -
Linda    208-859-4406                   Nina    208-860-3125

LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS! You write a reading program for ALL children!

LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS!
You write a reading program for ALL children!
😊😊

I have a passion for teaching children with learning differences. I never thought of leaving a child behind. I always wanted to make sure EVERY ONE of my students was learning.

However, that desire became stronger and more personal when I first discovered that my own daughter is dyslexic.

When she was three, I began noticing in her drawings how she was struggling with directionality.

One warm summer day as I weeded a flower bed, she sat under her favorite tree drawing. Suddenly, she jumped up and danced over to me to share her artwork.

As I looked down at her drawing, I asked her in my happiest “Wow! That’s beautiful!” voice to tell me about her drawing.
She joyfully exclaimed, “I drew my first picture of our family!” She pointed to each person in the drawing telling who they were.
Again, I asked with my cheeriest voice, “How are we all feeling?”
She looked up at me with the biggest smile and said, “We’re all happy!”
“How do you know we’re happy?” 
“Look at our big, happy smiles!”
“You drew a beautiful drawing of our family! I love it!”
She happily skipped back to continue drawing.

As I stood there watching her dance away, my thoughts began to spin. She had not drawn happy smiles. She had drawn frowns, but SHE was not seeing the difference.

That was the moment I knew she was dyslexic.

My husband is dyslexic, and he struggled in school. He was even retained in third grade.

I felt a little scared. My thoughts were whirling. I didn’t want my little girl to feel the unhappiness my husband had felt in school.

I knew she was going to face many struggles as she tried to learn to read. I stood there wondering how I, her mom, was going to help her meet all those struggles. What could I do? How could I help?

I promised myself that day, that very moment that I discovered she was dyslexic, that I would learn the best way to teach her and any other children with learning differences, because I knew they all had a long, hard road ahead of them.

As I set about learning even more about the best practices and strategies to teach all people with learning differences, I thought to myself, “Wait! I’m bouncing around hoping these strategies will work when what I really need to do is ask them! I need to ask my daughter, my husband, and my students, whether they have learning differences or not, for their help. I need to ask them questions, so I understand exactly what really works for them.”

I began to ask questions and I didn’t stop. I asked:
“What helps you learn to read, write and spell?
What did I do today that helped you learn more easily?
What did I do today that didn’t help you learn easily?
How can I teach differently to help you learn more easily?”
I asked these questions the day I first taught a lesson, a few days later, a week later, a month later, and several months later.

I began to notice a pattern.
EVERY ONE of them, whether they had learning differences or not, learned best and retained information best when I taught using “whole-body” and “multi-sensory” instruction.

I realized that “whole-body” and “multi-sensory” instruction was the best for ALL learners!
This knowledge guided every word and every activity in Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.

Their answers to my questions and the research that supports whole-body and multi-sensory instruction, guided me to write activities that introduce every vague phonics concept with rich multi-sensory activities that stimulate all parts of the brain in every learner, whether they have learning differences or not.

This knowledge guided me to create Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ™that teaches phonemic awareness and all phonics rules in a way that ALL children are immersed in learning the concepts and easily move from concept to concept because the rules are made tangible for them.

As I look at other reading, spelling, and writing programs, I realize even more why Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ™is so powerful – it’s the ONE that was developed by asking the learners how they learned. I’m very proud of Silent Elephant “e”™.

 
My entire Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ™program (Parts 1-14), the posters, the picture book My Awesome Grandma, and the videos are 25% off through December 31st, 2021. You can purchase the program as a whole or by parts. Click here for the store.

As always if you have questions, contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com

Keep a song in your heart!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

2,600 Pages In One Month!! She Beams With Pride

She is Beaming With Pride! 

I became a teacher because I wanted to help ALL children learn. Even in when I was in elementary school, I loved helping my friends with their homework and teaching them new things!

 
When I began teaching, I dreamt of parents sharing that I had made a difference in their child’s life. “Because of you,” they would share, “our child now loves curling up with a book in bed, reading until we say, ‘Lights out,’ and on several occasions, we’ve caught our kiddo reading under the covers with a flashlight not wanting to put their book down!”
 
Well, dreams do come true. 😊
 
Recently, I received this letter from a sweet, lovely young lady who began learning to read with her mom homeschooling her using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.
 
Hi Miss Linda,
I was in the summer Reading Program, and I was selected as a Top Reader!! I read over 2,600 pages in one month. Thanks for helping me learn to read. I’ve enjoyed all the stories I’ve got to read and look forward to many more. 
Love,
Audrey
Age 8
P.S. Here’s my picture of me when I received my certificate for Top Reader.

I was so excited to get this wonderful email from Audrey and the darling picture! Audrey looks so proud of herself! Her “buttons are popping!”
 
I immediately wrote back:
Dear Audrey,
I love your beautiful smiling face as you hold your wonderful award! Your T-shirt is awesome too! I’m so happy for you and so proud of you! 
 
Every time I can help a child learn to read using Silent Elephant “e”, I am thrilled! I’m one step closer to helping ALL children.

Wondering how Silent Elephant “e” will work with your children? Contact either of us. ;)  
Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

This Little Kindergartener Rocked It!

This Little Kindergartener Rocked It!

My editor, Nina Henson, has always said that Silent Elephant “e” is really for all children.
“Yes,” she says, “it teaches THE WAY dyslexics learn and it teaches using strategies for success of ELL students and any student at risk.

“But,” she continues, “the truth is that Silent Elephant “e” teaches the way every child deserves to learn to read. It involves the whole child; it teaches the way they process concepts. It’s fun. It teaches them to think about how they are learning and think about how they are processing concepts. It teaches them to express their knowledge and to express how they know what they know. It ensures success for all.”

I know all of this is true because I wrote Silent Elephant “e” for the whole child—integrating the whole learner into every lesson. Silent Elephant “e” stimulates thought and learning through multiple interactive multi-sensory activities in every single lesson.

As you know, I wrote Silent Elephant “e” because my daughter is dyslexic and I needed to learn how to best help her process and retain the concepts in reading, writing and spelling. It needed to be sequential: beginning with phonemic awareness and then moving step by step through all phonics concepts. It had to be taught the way she learns. I needed to support her learning from pre-k through college.

Silent Elephant “e” does that.

Until this last school year, all my tutoring students have had learning differences, many profound. I have seen amazing results for all of them.

This last school year, I had the delightful pleasure of experiencing what Nina believes: Silent Elephant “e” is the way every child deserves to learn to read, write and spell. I had the privilege to teach the Kindergarten sister of one of my third graders.

My third-grade student is profoundly dyslexic, but her little sister, “Lisa”, isn’t. Their Mom asked me to tutor Lisa as well because she was concerned about her missing out with their online schooling.

During the 11 months I tutored Lisa, I watched with awe as she picked up concept after concept so quickly and transferred what she was learning into other areas. She asked questions and made statements like: “This must be a word family, because there’s only one vowel in the middle of the word but it’s a long sound like the “i” was long in “find”. We need to put a purple wall after the long “e” sound in “before” just like we put a purple wall after the long “o” sound in “over”, because long vowels have long legs to see over the purple wall!”

It was thrilling to watch her mind absorb the concepts quickly and be ready and eager for more.

In our short time together, Lisa mastered all 700 Fry list words and finished her kindergarten year reading on a 4th grade level. I was amazed and delighted, yet not surprised.

Now because of this sweet, little one I have experienced how quickly Silent Elephant “e” supports the learning of every child.

She opened my eyes again to the power of Silent Elephant “e”.

If you have any questions about Silent Elephant “e” contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

A Stress toy - Who Knew Something So Simple Made So Much Difference

Something So Simple Made All the Difference 

I watched the peace and calm of my concluding tutoring session fly out the door as a new family happily bounced nosily in. They brought smiles to my face. I loved their joyful eagerness to begin tutoring!
 
After everyone introduced themselves, my departing family beamed saying, “See you next week!”
 
I welcomed “Amy”, her dad, her mom, and her older sister to have a seat in the office area of my home.
 
We settled down to get to know each other. I introduced my service dogs Sundance and Kona; they told me about their much-loved dog “Scooter”. We shared our favorite and least favorite colors, food, subjects in school, hobbies, and interests.
 
As we progressed through my “Get to Know You Session”, Amy and her mom became more and more restless. Amy repeatedly jumped up, ran all around my home, jumped on the couch, rocked powerfully on the rocking chairs, and rolled on the floor. She was obviously feeling tension about beginning tutoring. Her Mom kept jumping up trying to rein Amy in while smiling uncomfortably, giggling nervously, and making excuses for Amy’s behavior.
 
I knew immediately that Amy and her mom had ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

I’ve taught many such students during my classroom and tutoring teaching career. I was not concerned. I knew I could help Amy learn to read.
 
But to begin helping her, I needed to administer phonemic awareness and reading assessments. It definitely was a challenge to gently, positively and lovingly settle Amy in a chair and get her to focus long enough to complete the assessments.
 
We finished the phonemic awareness assessment during this first tutoring session and completed the other assessments during the second session.
 
She achieved 30% accuracy in her initial assessment in phonemic awareness and did not know most letter names and letter sounds. She was a nonreader.
 
No wonder she was feeling so much fear and tension about beginning tutoring--she knew she was a nonreader.
 
That was four years ago when Amy was in second grade and already 2 years behind in reading.
 
She had good reason to be frustrated and concerned about learning to read, as she hadn’t been able to so far.
 
Adding to Amy’s severe ADHD, she is also profoundly dyslexic. She has been on medication for the past 3 years for ADHD but she is still hyperactive during reading as her medication is wearing off by the time we have tutoring late in the evening.
 
Amy began to feel success almost immediately when we began tutoring together with Silent Elephant “e” thus helping her relax a little.  Even with all her learning challenges, she works very hard with a positive attitude. It only took her a year coming to tutoring twice a week to master phonemic awareness. And in 2 years she caught up and surpassed her grade level in word recognition and reading comprehension. She is so proud of herself.

I am still tutoring Amy, as her parents feel I provide her security and stability.

Presently she is 2 years ahead of her grade level in reading. Her word recognition is superb. Her reading expression is outstanding. She does struggle with sequencing and maturity of thought in comprehension. Thus, our tutoring sessions focus on these skills.
 

Here’s why I’m eager to share Amy with you: suddenly two months ago, her comprehension achieved a 180 degree turn around in an extremely positive direction!
 
Even though I tutor on Zoom, I could visually see a different young lady on the screen--a relaxed young lady ready to read. I could hear a calm voice (not the nervous, silly giggle I most often hear). As usual, she read the pages in the book beautifully.
 
Then I began to ask her questions about what she had just read, and this is where I became speechless. She always does beautifully answering simple recall questions: characters, setting, problems, and solutions. However, when we move to higher level questions: sequencing, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, her weaknesses quickly become apparent. As I mentioned above, she struggles with sequencing and maturity.
 
But on this particular day two months ago, she sequenced the story she’d just read into thirteen steps using her own words in great detail in complete sentences! No detail was missed or out of order! I was shocked! Nothing even close to this had ever happened before!
 
When I began asking higher level questions requiring maturity of thought, a calm, confident Amy I’d never seen before self-assuredly answered every question! I couldn’t believe it!
 
I told her how proud I was of her explaining beautifully in great detail everything she’d just answered for me. Then I asked, “How do you feel? Are you proud of yourself? What’s different about you today?”
 
She said, “I feel good! The only thing I can think of that is different is that I have this fidget ball in my hand.” She held it up for me to see.
 
Could this small ball in her hand make such a difference?
“Tell me about it,” I implored.
 
“My mom got this and 3 other kinds of fidgets (not the spinning kind), stress relievers and neato sensory toys from a teacher supply store. My sister is using them too.
 
“When I squeeze the neato over and over again, I just feel so relaxed. I’m not so nervous. I can think better. What I’m reading makes sense! I feel happy!” She was beaming from ear to ear!
 
I could hardly believe this was the same little girl I’ve been teaching for 4 years! I was thrilled, but afraid to get too excited.
 
And here is why I’m eager to share with you: this wonderful transformation has continued throughout each tutoring session for the last 2 months.
 
After a month, I called her mom to share our wonderful experiences, Amy’s explanation for the change and to ask mom to share her thoughts.
 
Mom was thrilled to hear of the transformation. She said that Amy was using the stress relievers while doing her on-line school lessons now and when doing homework. The stress relievers were helping her sister too.
 
I am so pleased by Amy’s transformation and her newly found way to succeed. I believe Amy won’t need my tutoring services after this school year. She’s unquestionably a successful, advanced reader now. I couldn’t be happier.

I wanted to share Amy’s transformation with you because I want to try these stress relievers with 2 other children I tutor. It might just be what they need to help them relax and understand what they are reading.
 
As you read this, maybe you are thinking of some kiddos in your life that might benefit from fidgets (not the spinning ones), stress relievers and neato sensory toys.
 
If you have any questions or experiences you would like to share, contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                               Nina Henson

Answering Your Questions

Answering Your Questions

Classroom Educator

With the purchase of the Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” reading program and the purchase of my exceptional 9-hour personal training workshop, I will teach you all of the “bells and whistles” of Silent Elephant “e”. You will discover how students learning with at least 2 hours/week of instruction with Silent Elephant “e” rapidly become successful, proud, competent readers, writers and spellers.  

You can relax knowing that the program you are using WILL meet the individual needs of ALL your students.  

You can relax knowing you have the materials, instructions and support that will make it easy for you to teach with Silent Elephant “e”. 

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is a solid, researched based program with strong data that supports its effectiveness.  

I’m sure you are wondering how much you will invest to begin teaching with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. (This investment would be tax deductible for you.) Here are the details:  

The full program cost is $2217.

This is what you will receive when you purchase:

·       Your teacher’s copy of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers containing over 1800 pages of instruction in 14 user friendly spiral bound books.

·       Over 100 instructional videos that I created so you can have an at-your-fingertips reminder of how to teach the lessons.

·       44 colorful posters and the picture book My Awesome Grandma. 

There are a few other materials for you to make or collect before beginning tutoring:

·       Magician hat

·       Elephant hand puppet

·       Magic wand

·       Tiny star wands in boxes of a dozen in pink, green, blue, silver – You will need one star wand for each of your students.

·       1 cat toy mouse per student

·       1 individual hand-held mirror (check the Dollar Store)

·        Make a set of twenty-one 1” colored copy paper squares; three squares of each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and brown and laminated them – one set per student

·       Plastic zippered bags to store the 21 squares

·       Copy the 6 game boards from Part 1and laminate them – one set per student

·       Pocket folder per student

·       1-3 oz. paper cup per student

·       Box of 8 Crayola colored pencils per student

·       Box of 8 Crayola water markers per student

·       Copy the 6 paper masks from Part 4 and laminate them

·       Set of orange, tactile, glittered construction paper letters for consonant digraphs for Part 4 

There you have it!  

You will be able to start teaching in your classroom, or on-line, with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” for a little more than $2217. You will not need to purchase any other phonemic awareness and phonics materials ever! Silent Elephant “e” is for pre-school to college.

Here’s a bonus! You can get a group of friends who purchase the program to take the workshop together and share the $1000 cost. You’ll have FUN learning together!

What if you have already purchased Silent Elephant “e” and want to take the workshop?  That’s an easy answer, just contact us and we’ll get you in.  

AND, MY FRIENDS, I HAVE TO END WITH THIS:

If YOU teach with Silent Elephant “e”, WE will be one step closer to fulfilling my dream":

ALL children become confident, successful readers, writers and spellers!

This is a very exciting thought!

If you are pondering questions that need answers about the workshop and/or the program, just contact either Nina or myself and we will happily help you make an informed decision about becoming a member of our Silent Elephant “e” community.  

Contact us even if you are just curious. 😊 You will not regret it. 

Linda Jones    208-859-4406    silentelephante@gmail.com

Nina Henson   208-860-3125     nhenson1@msn.com 

Nina and I look forward to hearing from you!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jone Nina Henson

A Workshop to Get You Started on The Right Foot

A Personalized Training That Gets You Started on The Right Foot

Classroom Educator 

As you know, Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is the program that teaches learners the way they love to learn. It is systematic, language-based, multi-sensory, and FUN! It’s fun for learners and teachers! It engages the whole learner and accelerates ALL children’s learning, even if they are dyslexic or have any other learning difference. Learning to read, write and spell with Silent Elephant “e” is a given.

With the goal of ensuring your children’s and students’ success in mind, we designed a comprehensive 9-hour online workshop (click here for details) so we can effectively instruct you on how to teach Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in your classroom, or if you are virtual, right from the comfort of your own home.  

The Silent Elephant “e” workshop will set your reading, writing and spelling program on solid footing.

When you have Silent Elephant “e”, you have all of your step-by-step, thoroughly researched lesson plans at your fingertips and with the online 9-hour workshop you can relax and know you will truly be ready to enjoy teaching with Silent Elephant “e” as right before your eyes you watch every child in your classroom having fun rapidly and easily learning what they may have just a short time ago, struggled with.

You will learn how enjoyable and easy it is to ensure that your students are thoroughly and systematically learning phonemic awareness and phonics quickly while having fun – even electronically. 

During our 9 hours together (click here for details), we will cover everything you need to begin teaching students from preschoolers to adults to read, write and spell with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers! 

With Silent Elephant “e”, everything you need will be at your fingertips. You’ll have the textbook, posters, picture book and videos as your incredible teaching tools with precisely sequenced, step-by-step, easy to follow directions guiding you to ensure the success of ALL of your students at their personal pace. During the workshop, we will cover how I use all of these components to ensure the success of my students.

It’s important to me that you know the quality of the program you will be learning and teaching. Let’s review some of my Silent Elephant “e” data.

 These are some of the outcomes you can expect with students of all ages with all types of learning differences:

·       Progress one full year in reading with every 2 months of instruction with just two one-hour sessions per week

·       Advance to their age-appropriate grade level in 4 months (some in as little as 2.5 months)

·       Advance 4.5 grade levels with 6 months of instruction

·       Master Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months.

Just think—because you will be teaching your kiddos every day, not just two days a week, you could double their learning and progress! 

More data that makes my heart sing:

·       Our Silent Elephant “e” students’ lives begin to change immediately. ALL students begin to experience success right away. Even within the first couple of weeks of tutoring, profoundly dyslexic learners and struggling learners begin to feel differently about themselves and begin seeing themselves as able and successful readers, writers and spellers.

·       In the last eight years, 9 of my students have successfully exited out of Special Education! I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: this is unheard of! 

This short workshop will take you from:

“I’m not sure how to teach reading, spelling and writing with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.

To:

“This is doable.

I have the tools.

I have the knowledge.

I CAN successfully teach reading, writing and spelling while having lots of FUN.

My students will become successful readers, writers and spellers.

I KNOW where to go for support.

I’ve got this!

What a relief!”  

When you have completed the workshop, I will certify you as an instructor of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

You will be able to confidently and easily teach your students, and you will be certified to tutor hundreds of children and adults if you would like. You can begin your own part-time tutoring business from home! 

Click here for the Workshop page.

Last thought—I always want to be available to promptly answer your questions, but if I’m tutoring, I’ll refer you to my editor and colleague Nina Henson.  She taught with me for twenty-five years. She knows Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in her sleep!  

You can email me at silentelephante@gmail.com or call me at 208-859-4406 or call Nina at 208-860-3125 or email her at nina_henson@yahoo.com. 

We look forward to helping relive some of the stress of this time by helping you relax and achieve success in teaching reading, writing and spelling using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” with every child your heart touches! 

You are in our hearts and our minds. You are important to us!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson