The Edmark Reading Program Functional Words Series–Second Edition: Signs Around You teaches 100 functional sight words to students who have a variety of learning differences and disabilities, including students with autism spectrum disorders, developmental disability, intellectual disability, hearing impairment, reading disability, and learning disability, as well as learners of English as a second language. Particularly for individuals with severe disabilities, the ability to function independently is influenced significantly by the functional words and phrases the individual recognizes and is able to read. The Functional Words Series can be implemented as part of a functional living and community skills program or as a supplement to other reading programs.

The Functional Words Series uses a word recognition method, involving repeated exposure to target words. Every lesson targets one or more functional vocabulary words and engages students in a variety of learning activities. The Functional Words Series lessons are carefully sequenced, moderately paced, and repetitive. Signs Around You teaches 100 words that will help students read commonly occurring signs, such as First Aid, Taxi, Do Not Enter, No Smoking, and Poison.

What’s New in the Second Edition:

• The addition of Stories and Stories Activities represents a significant enhancement to the Functional Words Series. Students can experience stories with carefully controlled vocabulary words used in real-world contexts. The Stories are in a standard paperback format. Each of the five Stories books contains 10 stories, one story for every two words taught. Additional sets may be purchased for use with multiple students. The stories throughout the series include a common cast of characters, with a few other characters introduced to facilitate various story lines. Character Illustrations are included as printable PDFs on the CD-ROM. Students may use the illustrations of the story characters to follow the various people they read about and as an aid to comprehending the stories.
• The Lesson Plan/Record is revised and expanded to provide simplified continuous progress monitoring combined with an easy-to-use lesson planning format. Posttests are included following every 10 words taught in the Word Recognition books.
• Reading and Social Skills Games with student learning objectives have been added to provide opportunities to practice reading and to learn word meanings in an interactive context.
• Photo Cards, featuring 100 four-color photographs with target words printed beneath the images, are included in each kit and can be used to introduce students to each new word. The photos reinforce the target words in a realistic way and aid in vocabulary development.
• Word Cards, feature 100 words taught in the program in a handy playing card format.
• A CD-ROM contains the reproducible Lesson Plan/Record, Vocabulary Exercises, Stories Activities, Character Illustrations, and files to use with the games (see Appendix D).

COMPLETE PROGRAM INCLUDES: Teacher’s Guide, 100 Word Recognition Lessons, one 5-book set of Stories, Board Game, pack of 100 Photo Cards, pack of 100 Word Cards, and a CD-ROM, all in a sturdy storage box. ©2013

Previous edition #10595

Program Components

The program includes the following items:

• Teacher’s Guide—This detailed program guide addresses the research supporting the program and fully describes the program components and how to implement them. The Teacher’s Guide also includes answer keys for the Stories Activities and the Reading and Social Skills Games lesson plans.
• Lesson Plan/Record—This reproducible guide for lesson planning also provides for continuous progress monitoring for the individual student. The Lesson Plan/Record is useful in adjusting the pace of instruction to meet the needs of individual students.
• Word Recognition—Two spiral-bound books contain the target words in order of presentation. Target words are first introduced within the Word Recognition activity.
• Posttests—The Posttests measure retention of each group of 10 words and are included in the Word Recognition books.
• Vocabulary Exercises—Vocabulary Exercises reinforce recognition and understanding of the meaning of the target words through matching words to illustrations. These 300 reproducible activities are presented in a variety of formats.
• Stories and Stories Activities—Five storybooks containing 50 stories allow students to practice using the newly learned target words while listening to, reading, and discussing the stories. Character Illustrations aid in comprehension. Stories Activities provide pre-reading and post-reading exercises to strengthen comprehension at the sentence, paragraph, and story level.
• Reading and Social Skills Games—Games reinforce the functional vocabulary and promote generalization by requiring students to use reading skills in a social setting. Students also develop social skills and a basic understanding of various game playing procedures. The Games include a full color game board, playing pieces, and dice.
• Photo Cards—100 full color photo cards reinforce vocabulary, comprehension, and extend students’ understanding of the newly learned words.
• Word Cards—100 word cards are included in each kit. The lesson numbers are in the upper right corner.
• CD-ROM—includes printable files for:
  • Lesson Plan/Record
  • Vocabulary Exercises – 300 reproducible pages per kit
  • Stories Activities and Character Illustrations
  • Reading and Social Skills Games lessons and materials
  • Word Lists

Additional Resources / Components available: