Sue's Strategies

How to Increase and Accelerate Literacy

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 15:35:54 GMT

How to Increase and Accelerate Literacy

Best Practices Techniques for the Science of Reading

Susan Kahn’s first-grade son did not learn to read in 1977. How did she react to this school failure? She became an Orton-Gillingham language therapist and taught her son to read in 4 months. Yes, the Science of Reading method for phonics has been known but seldom used for almost 100 years. Few universities offer courses in How To Teach phonics, morphology, or grammar. As a result, almost 70% of 4th and 8th-graders do not read at grade level. However, good news for MA families just arrived: the MA Senate and House have unanimously passed literacy bills, and Governor Healey is offering 25 million dollars to train teachers in the Science of Reading instruction.

After Mrs. Kahn taught her dyslexic, ADD son to read, she returned to graduate school, took 33 advanced credits in special education, and changed her career from elementary school teacher to Special Needs educator. After fifty years of teaching special education students from age 6 to 60 in both public and private settings, what effective teaching methods will Mrs. Kahn share to improve literacy? Here they are!

Simplify the language. For example, teachers often show students how to divide words into syllables by using the VCCV rule or the VCV rule. The similarity of letters confuses many students. Mrs. Kahn suggests practical names that suggest the action needed. The SHARE strategy informs the student to share consonants standing between 2 vowel sounds. Just this change of name enables students to read words like supper, monster, and diphthong. The 3/4 or DONUT strategy replaces the VCV rule by teaching children how to divide words when only one consonant stands between 2 vowel sounds. Three times out of four, the vowel sound should end the syllable, and the extra consonant should move to the next syllable on the right: do nut, po ta to, and sai lor.
Use three or more memory tactics to teach each skill. Researchers agree that most students remember better and longer when facts are augmented by pictures, patterns, and stories. By using all three mnemonics, the teacher is supporting a variety of different learning styles and equalizing educational opportunities. If students also communicate accurately in speech and writing what they learned, two more memory tactics are added. Now the brain is learning to read from five different stimuli. No wonder reading progress accelerates!

Show students an animated, instructional video for each skill. The video does not produce long-term memory because practice leads to mastery. However, the videos attract and maintain attention. They present the strategy in an appealing way. Teachers can use the videos to explain new skills and/or to review them.

For over fifty years, Ms. Kahn’s special education students have achieved 90% reading accuracy within one academic year. In addition, most of these students showed improvement in reading comprehension of two to three grade levels. If teachers were trained to simplify their language and provide several mnemonics for each skill, couldn’t 90% of our MA students read at grade level?

EXAMPLE OF TEACHING WITH MEMORY TACTICS

PURPOSE OF LESSON:

When does C make an S sound and when does C makes a K sound?

The Story memory tactic:

Ms. Kahn created the smart tree story. Since ordinary trees grow only one fruit, the SUPER-SMART C tree grows 3 letters: E, I, Y. If C precedes E or I or Y, C makes an S sound. All other C’s make a K sound. While some students cannot remember such facts without a story, bright children make up their own stories for this phonetic fact and share their stories with classmates.

The pattern memory tactic combines with an illustration of the Super - Smart C Tree . Picture a huge capital letter Y as a tree with two branches. On one branch grow E’s; on the other branch, I’s. The trunk of the tree grows Y’s. Next, say: C before E, C before I, C before Y make the S sound like center, circle, and cycle. Other C’s make the K sound like cap, cop, cup, clap, crop. Also, ask students to stand and extend their arms up high like the branches of a tree. Then the children should trace in the air the E, I, and Y. They should also communicate the C strategies.

Did Ms. Kahn say three memory tactics? Using the body adds a kinesthetic memory and speaking t he rule enhances long-term memory. Mrs. Kahn just demonstrated five memory tactics. What about the corresponding, animated, instructional videos? Check out YouTube Sue’s Strategies Episode 1, “C Makes S & K Sounds,” and Episode 44, “C sounds like S or K.” By teaching C Makes 2 Sounds with six different memory strategies , learning accelerates.

Pass the “Right to Read” bills in 2025: SD 1761 & HD 2329

susanbkahn@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 15:01:39 GMT

How can you help?

“ The best way to teach reading is phonetic instruction” reported Dr G. Reid Lyon from the National Institute for Health for Children and many other professionals. However, forty districts in MA have refused to convert to effective, phonetic instruction. On the 2024 standardized tests from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 31 percent of MA fourth graders were reading at grade level. Why are we allowing 69 percent of our children to fail when the cure is available and inexpensive?

What is phonetic reading instruction?

Phonetic reading instruction refers to learning the sound or sounds that correspond to each letter or team of letters. C makes two sounds; CH, three sounds; Y, four sounds. Children need to learn the different sounds and when to use them. Phonetic instruction includes syllabication of words according to Dr. Orton’s researched rules. By dividing a word into small segments, a child can sound out a word accurately without memorizing it. Many children who lack this instruction begin failing at reading when the words become too large for them to remember. Phonics also includes spelling strategies.

What are some negative effects for children who don’t read?

school failure, school dropouts, the pipe-line to prison;

anxiety, depression, bullying, low self-esteem, alcoholism, drug addiction;

difficulty earning money after school ends & turning to crime.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Contact your state senator & representative to ask them to vote for SD 1761 & HD 2329 Use this link to find them: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

Sample letter:

"Dear [Senator or Representative],

I want MA children to learn to read well. Thus, I support phonetic instruction beginning in grade one, and I am asking you to vote for literacy bills SD 1761 and HD 2329. As your constituent, I appreciate your taking literacy seriously.

Sincerely,

[Your name, and city or town where you live]

Support our 2025 MA “Right to Read” bills: “‘To promote high quality comprehensive literacy instruction in all MA schools.” SD 1761 & HD 2329

susanbkahn@gmail.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:04:04 GMT

We need your help!

REASONS WHY

While the brain is hard-wired for speech, reading must be carefully taught based on the Science of Reading, but 40% of MA schools continue to use harmful, “3 cueing” methods of instruction. Passing these bills will stop poor instruction and replace it with evidence-based, explicit, sequential teaching in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, grammar, and morphology.

White and Asian populations scored above 50% on the MCAS tests; black, Latino, and low-income students scored in the 20th percentiles; students with disabilities, 14%; English learners, 10%.

The new bills require districts to evaluate student progress, report results to parents, and provide programs for at-risk children.

Only 1/3 of MA 4th graders & MA 8th graders read at grade level on the 2024, National Assessment of Educational Progress tests.

Researchers claim that 98% of children can learn to read.

BENEFITS OF THE “RIGHT TO READ” BILLS

Children who read at grade level or above graduate from high school and become productive citizens.
At-risk children may experience bullying, anxiety, depression, acting-out, addiction, and other family problems over school. Some enter the pipe-line to prison. If MA educated these children successfully, the state would avoid paying to care for these unfortunate people.
Reading is a civil right, and we owe it to our children to provide all of them with the best possible reading instruction.

Please, contact your state senator and state representative now to pass the new “Right to Read” literacy bills.

40 states have passed literacy laws recently, and scores improve.

Parent & Teacher Training Programs in Phonics now booking

susanbkahn@gmail.com — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 16:24:11 GMT

Learn to teach Science of Reading Phonics the Sue's Strategies way

Are you a parent or teacher looking to help your child build strong reading skills? Join our "Phonics for Parents" class. Sue's Strategies "Phonics for Parents" class, a 10-session course designed to equip you with the tools and strategies to teach phonics effectively at home. Whether you're new to phonics or looking to refresh your skills, this class will guide you through easy-to-follow lessons on letter sounds, syllabication, and reading techniques. You'll gain confidence in supporting your child's literacy journey and be able to create a fun, engaging learning environment. Sign up today and take the first step toward empowering your child's reading success! Sessions begin on Monday January 13th, 2025 and repeat every Monday through March 24th, 2025.

Click HERE to sign up.

We may be personally defeated, but our principles never! William Lloyd Garrison

susanbkahn@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 14:58:52 GMT

We may be personally defeated,

but our principles never!

William Lloyd Garrison

Although our bills to provide high-quality literacy instruction in all MA schools were not passed on July 31, 2024, we must continue the fight to legislate Science of Reading Instruction. Because we know that students learn best from explicit, sequential, direct teaching of phonics, we should thank our legislators for supporting these bills and entice them to work with us until we create an equal opportunity for all to learn. Four months remain in 2024. Ask our legislators to support families now!

I became an advocate for children in the 1970’s because my son was born with dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder. In those days, schools blamed the child’s failures on bad parenting. Therefore, some slow progress has been achieved. Most young children today are screened in Kindergarten or first grade for at-risk learning traits. Three-year-olds can qualify for free, speech therapy. Special Education programs are mandated through state and federal laws for children needing special services. Unfortunately, many of these programs have proven ineffective due to: lack of money; lack of beneficial, teacher training; lack of materials; and lack of motivation. Delayed intervention impedes optimal recovery and often leads to emotional and/or anti-social problems. Therefore, we must continue working together to create more powerful, timely interventions.

Look what has been achieved! In the 20th century, Dr. Samuel Orton demonstrated that combining visual, auditory, and kinesthetic input for a single concept greatly increases learning potential. Sue’s Strategies®, by adding memory tactics of pictures, patterns, and stories to Dr. Orton’s methods, accelerated the acquisition of language skills. Animated videos now attract and maintain student attention for learning new skills and/or reviewing them. Mark Seidenberg and Stanislas Dehaene researched and published how the brain reads. Thirty-seven states have passed literacy laws mandating the Science of Reading. Hopefully, the federal government will pass a law requiring these methods for all children.

Thank you for your energetic support for better language programs, and keep up the pressure. Join me in continuing the fight to educate all our children in the Science of Reading.

Susan B. Kahn, MEd, CEO of Sue’s Strategies, LLC

You can help pass literacy bills!

susanbkahn@gmail.com — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 14:13:55 GMT

Tell our legislators to vote on the literacy bills now!

Why contact your state representative & senator?

The bills that can require MA schools to teach reading with phonics are sleeping in the Ways & Means Committee, but caring citizens could pressure their representatives and senators for an up or down vote on the floor. Hopefully, the Ways & Means Committee will soon release bills S263 and H579 for voting by all legislators. The bills are named: An Act to Promote High-Quality Literacy Instruction In All MA Schools.

Why are these bills important?

Recent surveys published in the Boston Globe said that most families and educators want phonetic reading instruction. Mississippi recently mandated phonetic teaching of reading, and now their students outperform ours. Thirty-seven states have recently passed literacy laws because scientific research proves that children learn best from evidence-based, Science of Reading instruction.

Benefits of an Effective, Phonetic, Reading Program

Most students will achieve reading proficiency on standardized tests and graduate high school.
Schools will save hundreds of thousands of dollars on special education programs because children will read on or above grade level.
Fewer children will suffer from anxiety, depression, or bullying due to their inability to read and their ensuing lack of self-esteem.
The pipeline to prison will be reduced since readers can usually qualify for paying jobs instead of turning to crime.

Susan B. Kahn, MEd, CEO Sue’s Strategies LLC

Does a child need help with reading?

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 04:49:03 GMT

DOES THE CHILD MISREAD WORDS BY

subtracting letters?
adding letters?
substituting letters?
reversing letters?

DOES THE CHILD GUESS AT WORDS BY

using the first 2 and last 2 letters?
suggesting a word that starts with the same letter and looks the same size?
using the words he/she knows to figure out the words he/she doe not know?
using picture clues?

DOES THE CHILD MISREAD VOWELS BY

not knowing how to syllabicate words?
not knowing the sounds of the letter or letter team?

DOES THE CHILD SKIP WORDS HE DOESN’T KNOW?

Sue's Strategies provides solutions to all of the above problems within 1 year.

HOW?

SUE'S STRATEGIES PHONETIC FLASHCARDS TO REMEMBER PROVIDES THE ESSENTIAL 99 SOUNDS AND SUFFIXES NEEDED FOR READING SUCCESS FROM GRADE 1 TO 12.

After learning the sounds that match each letter or letter combination and when to use each sound, a person can scientifically sound out millions of words one syllable at a time. Susan has recorded all the flashcards on four, free, YouTube videos so that parents and teachers will learn how to teach the sounds and how to pronounce the sounds .

SUE"S STRATEGIES PSS FOR PHONICS , provides an illustrated guide to dividing words into syllables and then using the position of a letter or group of letters to determine the correct sound for those letters that make multiple sounds. Ms. Kahn has created free, animated You Tube videos to teach each strategy in the PSS text.

SUE"S STRATEGIES SYLLABLE PRACTICE FOR READING ACCURACY & FLUENCY include 6 workbooks. Students will begin practice with 2 syllable words in Book 1 and finish book 3.5 with 5 and 6 syllable, high school words. Workbooks 1, 1.5, and 2 are suggested for beginning readers; workbooks 2.5, 3, and 3.5 are recommended for intermediate and advanced readers.

NOW THE STUDENTS SHOULD READ WITH 90% ACCURACY.

Does a child need help with Grammar?

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 03:07:53 GMT

Does the Student Know the Following?

what is and is not a sentence?
which pronoun is the right one to choose?
the definitions for the parts of speech?
3 ways to write phrases?
3 ways to write clauses?
how to punctuate?

SUE’S STRATEGIES® PROVIDES METHODS TO LEARN ALL THE SKILLS LISTED ABOVE WITHIN 1 YEAR. HOW?

ALL GRAMMAR TEXTS TEACH THE SKILLS LISTED IN THE QUESTIONS ABOVE:

For children in elementary school, GRAMMAR THE EASY WAY, 10 MINUTES A DAY ;
For children in middle school, HOW TO CREATE EFFECTIVE SENTENCES ;
For high school and college students, WRITE TO BE RIGHT .
28 GRAMMAR FLASHCARDS provide an excellent review for students of all ages.
Sue’s Strategies’ three workbooks Grammar Practice for Effective Writing & Reading , enable students to practice their skills.

WHY IS GRAMMAR IMPORTANT?

to express ideas clearly and correctly;
to improve reading comprehension;
to improve reading fluency.

WHAT MAKES SUE’S STRATEGIES® GRAMMAR PROGRAMS SO SPECIAL?

Memory Tactics: Susan links colorful card symbols of hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds to the definitions and usage of adjectives, nouns, verbs, and adverbs to enable students to quickly learn and use these parts of speech.
Simplified Language: Susan substitutes concrete, image producing words for abstract language.
Twofer: Susan’s practice exercises contain information about American heroes, history, government, and culture so students simultaneously improve their language skills and their background knowledge.

Why Massachusetts needs a Literacy Law?

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 04:07:53 GMT

Why Massachusetts needs a Literacy Law?

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

68% of our 4th and 8th graders have failed for many years to pass proficiency tests in reading, and 30% of these children lack basic reading skills. These statistics come from NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tests 4th and 8th graders every year.

WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM?

INEFFECTIVE, FAULTY READING METHODS!

Emily Hanford of American Public Media presented the facts clearly in her six, 2023 podcasts. Despite research by Stanislas Dehaene and Mark Seidenberg on the Science of Reading, educators continued to teach various forms of “3 Cueing” reading methods like those of Lucy Caulkins, Fountas & Pinnell, and Reading Recovery. Educators, including university professors, also ignored advice from the National Reading Panel of 2002 and the the National Institute of Health for Children because these institutions found that the best way to teach reading is with phonics. What a tragedy!

HOW CAN YOU HELP SOLVE THE READING CRISIS?

SUPPORT THE NEW BILLS ABOUT PHONICS NOW IN THE MA LEGISLATURE BY CONTACTING YOUR MA STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND YOUR MA STATE SENATOR TO VOTE FOR THESE BILLS.

Both S 263 & H579 are called: “An Act To Promote High-Quality Literacy Instruction in all MA Schools.” These two bills will enable our MA children to receive the same benefits as those children in 31 other states that recently passed a similar law.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A NEW LITERACY LAW?

66% or more of our students will read at grade level or above.
Special education costs will drop dramatically because fewer students will require costly support programs.
Children will obtain an equal opportunity to learn to read through phonics, a civic right.
Bright children will no longer say, I’m stupid because I can’t read.
Children will not develop anxiety and depression because they cannot read.
Children will not be bullied and threatened because they cannot read.
Children will not misbehave intentionally to avoid reading and homework.
Children will not be high school drop outs to avoid failing MCAS tests.
Children seeking to solve their academic problems through addiction to alcohol and drugs will be reduced if school failure were the root cause.
End the “pipeline to prison” because non-readers cannot earn money.

TOGETHER WE CAN PASS THIS LAW TO BETTER EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.

PSS for Phonics

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 04:07:53 GMT

THE IMPORTANCE OF PHONICS

After phonemic awareness, the most important skill set from the Science of Reading is phonics. This subject includes sound to symbol correspondence which translates to: learn the sound or sounds of each letter or letter combination and learn when to use that sound. Then blend sounds into syllables to achieve reading and spelling accuracy. Sue’s Strategies® provides the best and quickest ways to reach reading and spelling literacy. In addition to offering free, instructional videos and blogs, Sue publishes many texts: Phonetic Flashcards to Remember contains 99 illustrated flashcards for sound to symbol correspondence and usage; PSS for Phonics explains and illustrates the patterns based on position that a letter or letter combination will follow; Syllable Practice for Reading Accuracy & Fluency provides practice exercises at 6 different levels, from 2 syllable words to 6 syllable words. How does anyone know how to spell the “K” sound if four options exist: C, K, CK, CH? Kick Kyle, the cat, off the couch. Teach him to behave before Christmas. Sue’s Strategies® techniques reveal the answers. Does your school teach phonics?