What are the components of the Early Reader Skills Scaffold?

Students considered as Early Readers (or Pre-Readers) by Amira will receive the Early Reader Skills Scaffold (ERSS) sequence of practice activities which are heavily scaffolded and research-based to enhance student literacy learning and growth.

Components of the Early Reader Skills Scaffold sequence are (1) reading a story with Amira (Echo Reading); (2) Word List; and (3) Letter Story.

Refer to the video below which models an Early Reader Skills Scaffold set of tasks with Amira reading aloud with a student (Echo Reading); the student completing a Word List; and the student reading a Letter Story.

Details for each component are noted below:

Introducing the Letter Sound

Amira tells the student what letter sound will be practiced during the set of practice activities (there is one letter sound per set of activities)
Amira shows and explains how to make the letter sound with a video of a human's mouth making the letter sound
The student practices making the letter sound

Reading a Story with Amira (Echo Reading)

Amira reads aloud a story while the student echo reads
The story has a cadence and rhyming similar to familiar nursery rhymes
The story has a picture on each page
As each word is read aloud, the text turns from black to gray
A progress indicator along the bottom of the screen shows how many story pages have been completed
A Wait and Your Turn indicator will be displayed below the words of the story
When the student is finished, Amira will explain that the work is being saved; will display a Great work! screen and progress to the next task (Word List)

Word List

The word list activity is an ordered list, and the purpose is to practice 1:1 correspondence, matching pictures, initial sounds, and recognizing sound patterns
Amira explains and demonstrates the task of saying aloud the word which matches the picture
The student says aloud the word
A progress indicator along the bottom of the screen shows how many words have been completed
A Wait and Your Turn indicator will be displayed below the word
Amira intervenes with micro-interventions, as appropriate
When the student is finished, Amira will explain that the work is being saved; will display a Great work! screen and progress to the next task (Letter Story)

Letter Story

Amira tells the student that the student is about to read a story with the same words and pictures which the student just practiced
Amira encourages the student to use letter sounds and pictures as the student reads aloud independently
The student reads aloud
A picture appears above the words
As each word is read aloud, the text turns from black to gray
A progress indicator along the bottom of the screen shows how many story pages have been completed
Amira will intervene with micro-interventions, as appropriate
When the student is finished, Amira will explain that the work is being saved and will display a Great work! screen