Newell Literacy Programme (Revised Edition – 2023)

– A multi-sensory, phonetic, sequential and success-orientated programme to help improve child and adult literacy skills in reading, writing and spelling

The fully revised Newell Literacy Programme is a phonics-based programme that concentrates on fusing the sounds of individual letters into syllables and words for reading, writing and spelling. The revised edition uses Sassoon® Infant font throughout. The font, carefully chosen by the author, was researched with children, for children and developed specially for use in children’s reading books to improve legibility for large blocks of reading matter.

The programme mainly comprises of seven books (and eBooks), progressing in difficulty from level to level, each containing highly structured and finely graded lesson plans. The strategies used to teach the programme are a modified version of the Orton-Gillingham Approach. Each photocopiable book/eBook comes with a step-by-step description of the teaching methods and techniques, complete with a detailed listing of individual lessons. Importantly, the programme retains the flexibility for teachers to dip in and out of specific lessons as may be appropriate for diverse learning requirements.

The programme introduces only one phonic element at a time. It starts with the simplest skills and slowly progresses to more and more complex rules. Each lesson is based upon and linked to all the previous skills learned, so skills acquisition is cumulative. Less clutter and no unnecessary text make it easy to follow. A cognitive approach gives the students control over their own learning and they play an active role in building their own words and sentences. With no graphics, childish or otherwise, the programme can be used for all ages from 5 to adult and for those learning English as a new language.

A set of A5 flashcards and a tutorial video accompany the programme and are included with the full kit.

Flashcards and individual Books/eBooks can also be ordered separately – choose an option from the dropdown menu above.

The programme online video containing an introduction to the programme along with a tutorial by the programme director Anne Newell can also be viewed below.

Ages: 5-adult.

Book 1 [Sounds: A – Z]:

• The first principle of this technique is to teach the names and sounds of the letters and then concentrate on fusing the sounds of individual letters into syllables and words for reading, writing and spelling. Constant reinforcement comes through visual, auditory and kinesthetic linkages

Book 2 [Initial & Final Blends]:

• The names and sounds of all the letters of the alphabet are continually revised in this book. Final and Initial blends are introduced.

Book 3 [Sh, ch, th, wh, ing, ang, ong, ung, ink, ank, onk, unk, double ff, double ll, double ss, all, ck, and tch]:

• This book revises all the skills learned in Books 1 and 2 and introduces consonant digraphs e.g. sh, ch, th, wh and also ing, ang, ong, ung, ink, ank, onk, unk, double ff, double ll, double ss, all, ck, and tch.

Book 4 [Vowel, consonant, ‘e’ rule]:

• It introduces the v-c-e rule e.g. safe, Pete, pine, home, y as in fly, frosty and Flynn, syllable division e.g. den\tist, mis\take, dis\trict, con\crete, dish\cloth, hard and soft c, hard and soft g and also illustrates how to divide two syllable words like tulip, female and poet.

Book 5 [-ild, -int, -ind, -ost, -olt, -old.]:

• Revises all the skills learned in Books 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Book 6 [Vowel diphthongs or vowel digraphs]:

• The first lesson in Book 6 is the vowel digraph ee as in sheep, keep, sleep, feed etc.

Book 7 [Suffixes & prefixes]:

• The first lesson introduces the suffix ly, as in the word swiftly. When the name of a new suffix has been mastered using the flashcards, the student concentrates on fusing or adding the suffix to the base word to make words e.g.

VIDEO:

• Part 1: Overview of the Newell Literacy Programme
• Part 2: Video Tutorial (45 minutes) by Programme Director: Anne Newell