How Did
English for Life®—The Madsen Method® Come to
Be?
I, Anna
Sharon Madsen, am the author and field-testing director
of English for Life®—The Madsen
Method®. I have been a language arts
teacher of regular and special needs students of all
ages since 1966. Early in my language arts
teaching career I saw my efforts (and others’ efforts)
to produce students with reading, spelling, grammar, and
written composition proficiencies fail despite training,
degrees and experience. I conceded my students’
failures as my own and embarked on a quest to discover
what had been omitted from my training and what
works. Along the way, I joined many fellow
researchers and teachers. Others were looking
too!
Our
investigations included a study of many sound-symbol
languages, like English, and how they are, and were,
taught. We discovered the majority of modern
teaching methods are in fact variations of one method—a
visual memory method. They were rearrangements of
the same furniture in the same house!
We clearly
discerned English “content”—it is what it is.
However, viewpoints on how to teach it, how much
to teach, when to teach it and how long
to take were plentiful.
Modern
materials and programs portrayed a variety of layouts,
colors, fonts, sequences of activities, etc.; however
three central observations were clear.
1.
Content was generally
incomplete.
2.
Activities were often
disconnected.
3.
The method of instruction was largely the
same.
Observing
this incompleteness, lack of continuity, but similarity
in methodology, we, like eight-year old Anna in Mr. God,
This Is Anna, reasoned two things:
1.
Folks give out answers when they don’t know the
questions.
2.
Asking good questions is the path to good
answers.
To
understand why so many similar programs are used despite
an extreme rise in illiteracy and with an eye to solving
the illiteracy problem by presenting teachers a
user-friendly guide, one that incorporates
evidence-based methodology and content, together we
posed these “good questions”:
1.
Is there a traceable correlation between high illiteracy
and widespread use of the
“workbook/worksheet method of instruction,” the one
commonly used in beginning
instruction?
2.
Is there another “method of instruction,” and if so,
what is it?
3.
Does it work with all learning styles and in all
educational situations?
4.
Are there, in fact, many learning styles that require
many teaching methods?
5.
Does an identifiable teaching method exist, that makes
one-on-one and small group as
well as classroom teaching
possible and practical?
6.
Is there a “scope and sequence of content” that makes
acquisition of English
language arts sensible and retention and use of it
reliable?
We found
all the answers are there, researched and recorded,
evidence galore! Yes, there is a traceable correlation
between illiteracy and the workbook/worksheet method of
instruction. It began in the 1830’s (yes, that
long ago) and has worsened gradually, but continuously,
in every country and with every sound/symbol based
language where it has been used. As an aside, we
discovered the worksheet/workbook method is helpful only
when practicing what a student already knows but is, in
reality, detrimental for those learning something for
the first time—those in beginning
instruction!
Yes, there
is another method of instruction. It is the method
used in early American colonies when literacy was nearly
100%. It did not have a name and was not written
in a teaching manual but was passed on through practice
and was described in fiction and nonfiction books,
essays and letters written during that time.
Though nearly hidden, it has been unveiled and
named. We call it full spectrum
Neurological Response Instruction (NRI), or
simply, SAY & DO.
Yes, it
works with all students and in all educational
situations, since literacy was nearly 100% then, when it
was used, and now, when it is used. No,
there are not many learning styles or many
learning disabilities requiring many teaching
methods. There are, however, many
instructionally caused (therefore, instructionally
solvable) learning problems, which exhibit many
symptoms, but these symptoms cannot rightly be called
“learning styles” or “learning disabilities.”
Contrary propaganda relies on infrequent phenomena,
inventions and distortions. To begin your own
factual research, read Reading, Writing, and Speech
Problems in Children and Selected Papers by Samuel
Torrey Orton, 1937, PRO-ED Classics Series and The Magic
Feather-The Truth About Special Education by Lori &
Bill Granger, Dell Publishing, 1986.
Yes, there
is a distinctive method of instruction that makes
one-on-one as well as classroom teaching possible and
practical. It requires constant interaction with
one’s student(s). It is inexpensive. Anyone
who has learned to read and is old enough to work with
another can employ it. Though not adequately
written down in times past, we have, we believe, written
it down now.
Yes, there
is an “optimal scope and sequence of activities” well
suited to the goal of English proficiency.
Therefore, the purpose of field-testing was not to
provide evidence about what is already unmistakably
clear (when does one stop speculating and theorizing and
start believing), though we did amass a large amount of
harmonizing evidence. The primary purpose of
field-testing English for Life®—The Madsen Method® was
to collect teachers’ input on how to prepare a fully
scripted, complete language arts teaching guide
…
1.
…that integrates proven methodology along with complete
content.
2.
…that is exceptionally user-friendly.
3.
…that enables a prospective teacher (in all conceivable
situations) to
implement
proven methodology and students to master content simply
by following a
scripted presentation.
English for
Life®—The Madsen Method® is the result.
Teacher-researched, teacher/student-tested,
teacher/student validated, it is presented in a
scripted format unlike any other English language arts
curriculum, making the methodology, content and skills
that produced literate students by the scores then
accessible to you and your student(s) now. We invite you
to revisit and ride this wave of success with
us!
