Task 1: Conducts a Curriculum Analysis
MSCIN Program, Western Governors University
Designing Curriculum and Instruction I — D630
Conducts a Curriculum Analysis
A1: Identify Curriculum
The Take Flight curriculum is a comprehensive, structured language therapy program
specifically for students with dyslexia. It was developed by Karen Avrit, Clayton Allen, Kathleen
Carlsen, Maria Gross, Debra Pierce, and Mary Rumsey at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas,
Texas. It is designed for small group instruction for 45 minutes, 5 days a week, or 60 minutes, 4
days a week, by a Certified Academic Language Practitioner or Therapist (CALP, CALT). There
are seven books to complete the program of 132 lessons.
B1: Identify Content Area
Books 1 and 2 instruct students in grapheme introduction, phonemic awareness, and spelling. In
Book 3, the grapheme-phoneme introductions continue and alternate with review lessons,
comprehensive strategies, and oral reading of connected text. Book 1 begins with an introduction
to all the consonant sounds in a multisensory way (discovering if the mouth is open or blocked, if
the sound is voiced or unvoiced, and a stop or a continuent sound). Books 2 and 3 continue to
introduce consonant sounds, grammar, and moves deeper into suffixes, prefixes, and spelling
rules with suffixes. Books 6 and 7 focus on the meaning of words by introducing Latin and
Greek roots and combining forms while continuing to review spelling and reading rules. (Avrit,
Karen (2006). Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, Etheridge
Printing Company of Dallas, Texas, pg iii) The recommended grade level for students receiving
this curriculum is mid-2nd grade and up. Usually, Take Flight is taught between 2nd and 5th grades.
, There are supplementary Take Flight books in fluency and comprehension. Lessons in these
subject begins at the end of Book 2 and are taught the last 15 minutes of lesson instruction.
B2: Explicit Curriculum
Take Flight promotes itself because it claims to teach the 5 pillars of reading (phonemic
awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) in an explicit, multisensory way,
which it does but at the expense of non-academic skills. This paper will specifically focus on the
first 3 books in the curriculum (units 1-3) and books 6 and 7 (unit 4), where the focus is on the
morphology or meaning of words and word parts (Roots and Combining Forms).
St an da rd s a dd re sse d i n Bo ok s 1- 7 ac co rd i ng to th e C ol or ad o D ep
ar t me n t o f Ed uc a t io n : R ea di ng , Wr it i ng , a nd Co mm un i c at i ng St
an da rd s h t t p s : / / ww w. c d e . s t a t e . c o . u s / c o r e a d i n g w r i t i n g :
3rd grade: Understand how language functions in different contexts, command a variety of
word-learning strategies to assist comprehension, and make effective choices for meaning
or style when writing and speaking.
MSCIN Program, Western Governors University
Designing Curriculum and Instruction I — D630
Conducts a Curriculum Analysis
A1: Identify Curriculum
The Take Flight curriculum is a comprehensive, structured language therapy program
specifically for students with dyslexia. It was developed by Karen Avrit, Clayton Allen, Kathleen
Carlsen, Maria Gross, Debra Pierce, and Mary Rumsey at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas,
Texas. It is designed for small group instruction for 45 minutes, 5 days a week, or 60 minutes, 4
days a week, by a Certified Academic Language Practitioner or Therapist (CALP, CALT). There
are seven books to complete the program of 132 lessons.
B1: Identify Content Area
Books 1 and 2 instruct students in grapheme introduction, phonemic awareness, and spelling. In
Book 3, the grapheme-phoneme introductions continue and alternate with review lessons,
comprehensive strategies, and oral reading of connected text. Book 1 begins with an introduction
to all the consonant sounds in a multisensory way (discovering if the mouth is open or blocked, if
the sound is voiced or unvoiced, and a stop or a continuent sound). Books 2 and 3 continue to
introduce consonant sounds, grammar, and moves deeper into suffixes, prefixes, and spelling
rules with suffixes. Books 6 and 7 focus on the meaning of words by introducing Latin and
Greek roots and combining forms while continuing to review spelling and reading rules. (Avrit,
Karen (2006). Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, Etheridge
Printing Company of Dallas, Texas, pg iii) The recommended grade level for students receiving
this curriculum is mid-2nd grade and up. Usually, Take Flight is taught between 2nd and 5th grades.
, There are supplementary Take Flight books in fluency and comprehension. Lessons in these
subject begins at the end of Book 2 and are taught the last 15 minutes of lesson instruction.
B2: Explicit Curriculum
Take Flight promotes itself because it claims to teach the 5 pillars of reading (phonemic
awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) in an explicit, multisensory way,
which it does but at the expense of non-academic skills. This paper will specifically focus on the
first 3 books in the curriculum (units 1-3) and books 6 and 7 (unit 4), where the focus is on the
morphology or meaning of words and word parts (Roots and Combining Forms).
St an da rd s a dd re sse d i n Bo ok s 1- 7 ac co rd i ng to th e C ol or ad o D ep
ar t me n t o f Ed uc a t io n : R ea di ng , Wr it i ng , a nd Co mm un i c at i ng St
an da rd s h t t p s : / / ww w. c d e . s t a t e . c o . u s / c o r e a d i n g w r i t i n g :
3rd grade: Understand how language functions in different contexts, command a variety of
word-learning strategies to assist comprehension, and make effective choices for meaning
or style when writing and speaking.
