Targeted Reading Improvement Program (T.R.I.P.)

By Walter C. Waid and Jordan H. Price

The Reading Solution

T.R.I.P. grew out of years of clinical work with students with reading problems. The same techniques used in one-on-one clinical sessions can now be done at home with parental guidance at far less cost with this computer interactive DVD program.

This is not the solution to all reading issues, but it does tackle some of the most common problems: reversals, directionality in both reading and writing, following directions, focusing, writing correctly what is heard, seen, and/or read aloud, and comprehension.

Many children who experience problems in these areas, simply need lots and lots of practice, especially practice that targets these areas specifically. And that is exactly what T.R.I.P. provides.

The DVD covers 160 of the most basic sight words to build fluency and accuracy in reading and writing. Words range from “a, the, on, and” to “school, because, people, should.” There are 20 lessons on the DVD, with four of those lessons serving as review.

Lessons all follow the same pattern: word list/word strips, flashing practice, and story card. A sample demonstration lesson on the DVD featuring Walter Waid and a student shows exactly how to work through the entire lesson.

At the beginning of each lesson, a word list is presented. Word lists print at the click of a single button, with each list covering a group of four lessons. The parent/supervisor will have the child read through words on the list to identify problem words. Those that a child misses are then written, each on a separate strip of paper for additional practice. A parent or other “supervisor” needs to be present to work with the child through this first part of each lesson.

Flashing practice comes next. This is likely to be the part children enjoy most. The program “flashes” geometric shapes, numbers, letters, or words for children to copy onto a piece of paper one at a time. There are three sets of flashing practice items for each lesson. Your choice of three speeds lets the child work at a comfortable or more challenging pace. After each group of ten items to copy, the screen shows all ten items at once as an answer key. The child compares what he wrote or drew against those on the screen. Note that a parent/supervisor should help with the comparison since a child with problems might make an error in comparing his answers with the screen, especially if the child has a reversal problem.

The story card is last. As with the word lists, each story card prints at the click of the button. The student needs to print it out to write directly on it. The computer program plays an audio script for the child to follow as they use the story card. They first work through a review of the word list on the top of the card, covering words and writing them without a visual model to copy. Then they listen as the story is read to them. Finally, they complete the fill-in-the-blanks comprehension exercise at the bottom of the story card. (The audio portion can be stopped and started but does not allow for short rewinds or fast forwarding.)

The program is very nicely done with bright, colorful graphics and a clean, easy to use layout. It should be easy for most children to find lessons, and work through appropriate lesson portions on their own. The one glitch might be at the very beginning. The program did not automatically open when I inserted the DVD. Instead the list of programs on the disc comes up. It’s not obvious, but the one you need to click to begin is trip.exe. (If someone doesn’t know this, trial and error will get them to the right file.)

T.R.I.P. is appropriate for children in the middle elementary grades (at least third grade) who have already begun reading yet struggle with any of the problems mentioned above.