Proven Literacy Intervention for students in years 1 to 4.
Canberra Learning and Development Centre is pleased to be able to offer its students a much lauded, evidenced-based program called RAVE-O (Retrieval, Automaticity, Vocabulary, Engagement with Languages, Orthography). The RAVE-O Program was carefully designed over many years by Professor Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. It is designed to increase reading achievement in younger students, aged between six and eight (although it may not be suitable for all children in this age range, and could suit others who are slightly older or younger).
RAVE-O is a unique literacy intervention. It shares many similarities with popular multisensory learning programs such as the Orton-Gillingham approach, in that it explicitly teaches students about graphemes and spelling patterns in a structured and sequential manner, utilising the auditory, visual and kinaesthetic senses. However, unlike other programs, RAVE-O teaches students about every aspect of language relating to a word as it is encountered, creating connection to the brain to enhance students’ ability to decode and read fluently, and to comprehend and analyse texts. For example, in one unit of RAVE-O students learn about the words bat, pat, ham and tag. In each lesson related to these words, students will learn about: the phonemes that can be heard when the words are spoken; the symbol or graphemes used to represent those sounds; the onset and rime of each word (e.g. b/at) and other members of the word’s ‘rime family’; semantics, including homonyms, and related words and concepts; grammar, including the parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.); and morphology, for example how the suffix –s can change a word. Students are then encouraged to use their learning to read short “minute stories” to build accuracy and speed.
RAVE-O is presented in a fun and supportive way. Students learn as they meet various characters from RAVE-O Town, all of which have their own special tips to impart. Ms MIM, for example, is in charge of teaching students about the Many Interesting Meanings (MIMs) that words can have, and the Jam-Slam Man teaches students to jam together phonemes to make rimes, and slam together starters (onsets) and rimes to create words.
The RAVE-O Program works equally well for small groups and one-on-one tutoring. Come and explore RAVE-O Town with us!