One of the single most important things we can do to help low-progress readers is to hear them read every day, for a little as 15-20 minutes, using a set of tutoring strategies known as MULTILIT Reinforced Reading (Revised).
We call it Reinforced Reading for three reasons:
- first, because the reader and the reading is supported or reinforced by a trained tutor;
- second, the low-progress reader is positively reinforced for good reading by means of highly specific and contingent tutor praise; and
- third, the learning of sight words and word attack skills is reinforced by the supported reading of real words in real text in context.
MULTILIT Reinforced Reading (Revised) is predicated on the set of tutoring strategies for use with low-progress readers known as Pause, Prompt and Praise (PPP), a technique used and researched extensively since the early 1980s. The new model of MULTILIT Reinforced Reading (Revised) represents a major updating of, and extension to, the original Pause, Prompt and Praise strategies. This new model of Pause, Prompt and Praise has been revised in the light of current research and the findings of the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy. Our research has repeatedly shown that most low-progress readers can make major gains when this essentially very simple procedure is employed properly on a regular basis.
In addition, free resources for supporting and encouraging the implementation of MULTILIT Reinforced Reading in homes and schools have been devised by MULTILIT and have made available in the MULTILIT Toolbox on our website.