fbpx
EBLI is Different than Traditional Instruction
Picture of 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 quickly 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 Speech

Speech to print

Provides instructional activities or materials but teachers rarely know the purpose of the activity or material to improve student literacy achievement

Provides 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 support

Teacher 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 instruction

Teachers 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 literacy

Systematic, 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 writing

Each 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 cards

Sight words, and all words, are taught by sound

Reading and spelling are taught separately

Reading and spelling are taught simultaneously

Instruction is mostly visual

Multi-sensory instruction with an emphasis on auditory first, then visual

Main focus is on letter names

Main focus is on sounds

PHONICS/PHONEMIC AWARENESS

EBLI

Blending and segmenting taught in isolation and only orally

Blending 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 orally

Advanced 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 isolation

Sounds 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 code

Instruction 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 code

Tendencies and patterns are explicitly taught and applied, avoiding the need for rules that are inconsistent and difficult for students

Drill of rules

Hands on, multi-sensory instruction where students are simultaneously seeing, saying, hearing, touching as they are learning

Instruction utilizes extensive worksheets and materials

Instruction utilizes whiteboards, markers, and books with few worksheets

BALANCED LITERACY/3 CUEING SYSTEM

EBLI

Students are encouraged to guess words, skip words, or put in what they think makes sense for unknown words

Students are taught how to read words accurately then automatically, both in isolation and in reading connected text

Whole word memorization is taught

All words taught by sound

Looking at the picture is encouraged to figure out the words

Reading the words on the page accurately is taught so students can read the text

3 cueing is used to figure out words

Accurate 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 them

Taught 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 corrections

Students 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 own

The 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 writing

Components 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 pictures

For 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 write

Students 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 books

Students 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 writing

Students are taught how to spell correctly and spelling mistakes are corrected by the teacher and applied by the student

STUDENT GAINS

TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION

EBLI

The goal is for students to make one grade level gain in one year of instruction

Students 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 reading

Learners of all ages and ability levels improve their reading ability

The goal is for the student to reach grade level in reading

The goal is for learners to reach their highest reading potential, often above grade level

TEACHER TRAINING

TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION

EBLI

Teachers given materials and instruction manuals that tell them what to do but often lack guidance and support about how to do it with students

Year-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 toolbox

Systematic: All-in-one tool used across all instruction

Some students are not able to learn to read

If a student can talk, they can learn to read

Programs used that deliver materials that are unique to the program

System 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 drill

Provides repetition through explicit instruction then reinforcement in authentic reading and writing

PD consists mostly of delivery of information and materials

Teacher training/ PD is hands on and interactive

There is little or no support for teachers after the PD is finished

Teachers 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 materials

The focus is on teaching and supporting the teacher

What works for some students won’t work for others

All 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 decreased

If students don’t progress, instruction is refined and they are given small group or individualized instruction, repetition, and focused error corrections

MATERIALS

TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION

EBLI

There are lots of materials to purchase

Very few materials – a whiteboard, marker, eraser, and books – are needed to teach EBLI to students

Share this post

Recent Blogs