Phonics and Semiotics for Early Intervention

Abstract

Clay’s Reading Recovery has been one of the most effective one-to-one tutorial sessions. To make the daily lesson more interesting and fully engage the at-risk readers, the author modified Clay’s Reading Recovery Program by conceptualizing phonics and semiotics into early intervention. In this case study, three at-risk first graders formed an authors’ circle and constructed a variety of signs such as drawing, role playing, storytelling, invented spelling, and kinesthetic movements to expand their potential for understanding and communicating their transaction with the text. The research results positively reflect that phonics and semiotics-based early intervention foster the at-risk early readers' break through the bottleneck to literacy and ensure them on the right track to educational success.