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Nora Chahbazi

Nora Chahbazi

Founder, EBLI

How EBLI is Different from Traditional Instruction

EBLI is similar to traditional instruction in many ways: phonemic awareness and phonics instruction is structured, explicit, and systematic. Students immediately apply in reading and writing what was learned in the explicit instruction. Decodable stories are used for emerging readers and the students move to reading authentic text. Fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, spelling, handwriting, and writing are not just addressed but are taught explicitly. 

However, the many ways that EBLI is different both in teacher training and student instruction are covered in both the blog and video. These differences are what makes EBLI revolutionary and atypically effective (works well) and efficient (less time, more progress)!

 GENERAL EBLI
Print to SpeechSpeech to print
Provides instructional activities or materials but teachers rarely know the purpose of the activity or material to improve student literacy achievementProvides a bridge from the Science of Reading  to instructional activities to teach students in the classroom: the what, why, and how
Materials provided without teacher training or supportTeacher training and student instruction, including lessons and materials, are intertwined and teacher support is ongoing
Teachers are encouraged to teach by delivering materials and generalizing instructionTeachers are taught to teach to the students, provide immediate error correction, and differentiate within whole class instruction
Instruction focused either on classroom or remediation instruction  Skills, concepts, activities, and information are consistent across Tier 1, 2, and 3 (whole class, small group, or 1:1) and for all students  
Teaches one or a few of the essential components of literacySystematic, explicit instruction in the foundational skills of reading, writing, and spelling including: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, handwriting, spelling, and writing
The components of reading, spelling, and writing are taught as isolated activities; often what was taught is not applied to reading in text or writingEach EBLI activity explicitly teaches several components of reading, writing, and spelling. Skills and information taught explicitly are then immediately applied in reading and writing
Sight words are taught by whole word memorization on flash cardsSight words, and all words, are taught by sound
Reading and spelling are taught separatelyReading and spelling are taught simultaneously
Instruction is mostly visualMulti-sensory instruction with an emphasis on auditory first, then visual
Main focus is on letter namesMain focus is on sounds

PHONICS/PHONEMIC AWARENESSEBLI
Blending and segmenting taught in isolation and only orallyBlending and segmenting introduced in isolation (for emerging readers only) and infused and reinforced within the EBLI activities both with and without letters present
Advanced Phonemic Awareness skills (deletion, substitution) taught in isolation and only orallyAdvanced Phonemic Awareness skills (deletion and substitution) taught as a phased activity, scaffolding from letters to all oral; advanced PA is also reinforced and applied in the context of words in many EBLI activities as well as in reading in text
Letter names and/or sounds are taught in isolationSounds are taught in the context of words, including beginning reading instruction
Blends and word families taught and memorized /bl/ /ack/ or /c/ /at/, /b/ /at/Sounds are taught to the smallest unit for improved reading and spelling /b/ /l/ /a/ /ck/
Stories and songs are taught to try to explain the inconsistencies in the English codeInstruction is streamlined, explicit, and concise, teaching only essential information
Sound to symbol (phonics), syllable rules and exception to rules are taught to try to explain inconsistencies in the English codeTendencies and patterns are explicitly taught and applied, avoiding the need for rules that are inconsistent and difficult for students
Drill of rulesHands on, multi-sensory instruction where students are simultaneously seeing, saying, hearing, touching as they are learning
Instruction utilizes extensive worksheets and materialsInstruction utilizes whiteboards, markers, and books with few worksheets

BALANCED LITERACY/3 CUEING SYSTEMEBLI
Students are encouraged to guess words, skip words, or put in what they think makes sense for unknown wordsStudents are taught how to read words accurately then automatically, both in isolation and in reading connected text
Whole word memorization is taughtAll words taught by sound
Looking at the picture is encouraged to figure out the wordsReading the words on the page accurately is taught so students can read the text
3 cueing is used to figure out wordsAccurate word reading is taught for all words, leading to automatic, accurate reading
Taught to look for little words in big words (‘phone’ has ‘one’ and ‘on’), rhyming words or word families (tomb, comb, bomb), and skipping words then going back to themTaught to read all words left to right all the way through, that the same spelling can represent many different sounds, and that sounds can be spelled in many different ways
Students are taught to write without concern about spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, or error correctionsStudents are given explicit, simple to complex writing instruction and taught how to write accurately, with correct conventions; spelling and convention errors are corrected
Focus is on comprehension and assumes students will pick up the code mostly on their ownThe English Alphabetic code is taught explicitly then applied to reading and writing, with comprehension always being the end goal
Students teach and attempt to correct each other’s reading and writingComponents of correct reading and writing are taught and modeled; students are given support and continuous error correction to improve their reading and writing
For emerging readers, code instruction is largely skipped and pattern books are used to encourage reading by memorizing and looking at the picturesFor emerging readers, the code that is taught immediately is reinforced by reading decodable text that uses the code that has been taught
Reading and writing independently and extensively is how students are expected to learn to read and writeStudents are taught how to read, write and spell accurately, with the quantity of writing increasing as they learn more
Students are encouraged to read leveled booksStudents are encouraged to read decodable books and move to books about what they are interested in; they are given teacher support and error corrections as needed
Inventive spelling is taught and encouraged in writingStudents are taught how to spell correctly and spelling mistakes are corrected by the teacher and applied by the student

STUDENT GAINS

TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTIONEBLI
The goal is for students to make one grade level gain in one year of instructionStudents often make many grade level gains in a matter of hours of instruction
Students who struggle typically remain stuck at a 3rd grade level in readingLearners of all ages and ability levels improve their reading ability
The goal is for the student to reach grade level in readingThe goal is for learners to reach their highest reading potential, often above grade level

TEACHER TRAINING

TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTIONEBLI
Teachers given materials and instruction manuals that tell them what to do but often lack guidance and support about how to do it with studentsYear-long online teacher training and student instruction on a platform that includes example classroom instruction in schools as well as student instruction videos that teachers will play as they facilitate the instruction – gradual release of teacher learning
Scattered: many conflicting tools in your toolboxSystematic: All-in-one tool used across all instruction
Some students are not able to learn to readIf a student can talk, they can learn to read
Programs used that deliver materials that are unique to the programSystem of strategies and activities that are easily infused into all reading, writing, and spelling instruction with any content or curriculum
Provides repetition through worksheets and drillProvides repetition through explicit instruction then reinforcement in authentic reading and writing
PD consists mostly of delivery of information and materialsTeacher training/ PD is hands on and interactive
There is little or no support for teachers after the PD is finishedTeachers receive continuous follow-up support through their online teacher training and student instruction platform as well as live online coaching monthly and private social media EBLI pages
The focus is on delivery of prefabricated materialsThe focus is on teaching and supporting the teacher
What works for some students won’t work for othersAll students, from valedictorians to cognitively impaired students, are taught the same skills, concepts, and information to advance their literacy abilities; repetition and error correction varies to strengthen students’ weaknesses but the activity instruction is the same
If students don’t progress, they are labeled and/or expectations are decreasedIf students don’t progress, instruction is refined and they are given small group or individualized instruction, repetition, and focused error corrections

MATERIALS

TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTIONEBLI
There are lots of materials to purchaseVery few materials – a whiteboard, marker, eraser, and books – are needed to teach EBLI to students

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