Secondary Student Presentation You will want to move quickly through these slides. They’re designed to get the student thinking about their journey through school and why they are going to participate with Fast ForWord. It’s intended for the student to remember their journey and for them to know that you understand the process in school that brought them to your class. Don’t spend a lot of time on these slides, they’re just for orientation to the topic. Hopefully, it will prevent the student from thinking that they are doing Fast ForWord because they are stupid or dumb (yes, we often hear that…especially phrased, “Am I doing this because you think I’m dumb or something?!)

How you learn and why some things stick… and some things don’t! Today, we’re going to learn some things about our brains and a computer program called Fast ForWord.

Kindergarten was fun… At first, school seems easy for a lot of kids but gradually, as the work gets harder and there is more to do, things aren’t always so easy.

Later, did you think that… School was hard work Later, did you think that… School was hard work? Learning to read wasn’t so easy? For some students, it really starts changing about third or fourth grade when you were expected to learn more independently. Or maybe you are trying to learn English and do the work at the same time which takes twice as much effort.

Now, are you concerned with … The burden of tests? How to hide your struggle to learn? Trying to keep up with your friends? We all want to fit in and be accepted for who we are. It’s hard sometimes if we learn differently than other kids or haven’t had the same experiences they have had in school.

Soon you may be thinking about… Is school worth it Soon you may be thinking about… Is school worth it? What will my future be like? Will I have a good career? Maybe you are at a point that you are thinking about your future and what it holds for you. A good education can make a difference in the years to come so you want to develop skills that will carry you into your life beyond school.

Why is learning to read so challenging? Sometimes learning to read is really difficult–especially with English. Reading is not something that the brain does naturally–it’s a system we’ve created that’s based on our language system in the brain.

The Learning Brain Proficient Reader Struggling Reader Thanks to technology, we can look at what happens in the brain when someone is reading. This is an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scan that provides pictures of brain activity. This simulation shows a student’s brain when reading is pretty easy. Notice the areas of activity in the reading brain. We can see tight areas of activation and those three areas are working in concert which means that those areas are connected during reading. (click) Now look at what a struggling reader’s brain looks like while reading. You can see that those key areas are not tightly activated in the same way or in the same places. There is nothing wrong with this brain–it isn’t damaged or anything like that. It simply hasn’t been activated yet to be a strong reading brain. The good news is that this brain can be exercised with a program called Fast ForWord to become stronger and a better reader and learner. Proficient Reader Struggling Reader

Research Validated – Fast, Enduring Results Brain Areas Critical for Learning Proficient Reader Struggling Reader before Fast ForWord Reader after Fast ForWord Stanford (2003) and Harvard (2007) researchers validate impact of the Fast ForWord® program. After eight weeks, brain activation patterns change and reading performance improves. And we have proof with studies from places like Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Boston Children’s, Cornell, Rutgers, UCSF Medical School.   Here is another fMRI image of the brain. Through research from Stanford in 2003 and Harvard in 2007, (click) you can see that Fast ForWord exercises created literal changes in the brains by building a new network of skills and neural pathways, or super highways, specifically in the areas of language and reading. After just eight weeks of use, weaker readers developed the brain activity patterns that resemble those of strong readers. As brain patterns change and are strengthened, learning becomes easier. Adapted from Temple et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, 2003 and Gaab, N., Gabrieli, J.D.E., Deutsch, G.K., Tallal, P., & Temple, E. (2007). Neural correlates of rapid auditory processing are disrupted in children with developmental dyslexia and ameliorated with training: An fMRI study. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 25, 295-310. 9

Scientific Study Researchers found this network of skills to be VERY important to your ability to learn: M A P S Memory Attention Processing Sequencing So what exactly is this ‘new network of skills’ I mentioned? Researchers have determined that there are four cognitive skills that are foundational to all learning and they are memory, attention, processing and sequencing. We use the acronym MAPS (click) to help us remember them. Let’s walk through these cognitive abilities to find out why they are important: Memory is about holding information and ideas short- and long-term. It is essential for word recognition, comprehension of complex sentences, and remembering instructions or information. Attention is the ability to focus on tasks and ignore distractions. Processing is the ability to process incoming information quickly (through written words and spoken language), as well as quickly recall information (related to working memory), and Sequencing is the ability to determine, recognize and remember order - of letters within words or sentences within paragraphs, but also placing details in the correct order as in following multi-step directions. These are the skills that help you learn and remember more of your school work.

Fast ForWord® Program - Facts used by over 3 million students benefits students, teachers, adults, everyone used in over 50 countries around the world not like anything you’ve done before Obviously, you are not alone nor are you the first to use the Fast ForWord program. Many journals and magazines have written about Fast ForWord and how it makes a difference for all different types of learners.

The Fast ForWord program makes your brain sweat! What is it about? The Fast ForWord program makes your brain sweat! Full court basketball drills are to the body what the Fast ForWord program is to the brain! Heart pounding aerobic dance is to the body what the Fast ForWord program is to the brain! How does Fast ForWord make these changes occur? It's about practice. Just like anyone good at a sport or musical instrument has to spend a lot of time practicing, Fast ForWord exercises help you practice skills important for learning. Practice is what builds those super highways in the brain.

So, what can you expect with the Fast ForWord program? Fast – You can make up to a 1 - 2 year gain in your reading skills within a school year Effective – You can improve your learning ability and classroom performance Enduring – You can strengthen learning skills that last a lifetime Fast ForWord is known for these three things. Students often make up to one or two years improvement in their reading and also do better in the classroom after using one or more Fast ForWord products. The changes last and carry over to other parts of your life like sports, work and just life in general.

Practice makes permanent! You need to… Be on time to class Start your work promptly Be respectful of your neighbor Wear your headphones properly Ask for help Equipment not working If you’re getting a lot of wrong answers (“bonks”) If you’re confused about how to do the work Look at your Percent Complete score It should be a higher number every day More important than points! These are the expectations for this class. Besides being here and getting your work done, the most important thing is making sure you improve your percent complete score each day. The more questions that you can answer correctly without missing one, the faster you will complete the exercises. More is better–if they’re correct answers!

So, what’s in it for me? After the Fast ForWord program, it should be easier to: Listen in Class Take tests Multiple choice Essay Read Remember what you read Pay Attention Remember and follow directions Complete homework Maintain a conversation Organize your thoughts There are so many benefits to working hard and completing the program. This is all about building an even better YOU!

How do we start? Demos―Get familiar with the work The words may sound like someone is talking under water Practice the exercises so that your scores go up faster You will be assigned to your own product There may be an assessment first so do your best Focus on building your skills and moving up each day Daily tasks Listen carefully Work hard Work smart Here's how we'll get started. We’ll go through some demos so you can understand what each exercise is about. After that, you’ll have an assessment called Reading Progress Indicator that comes up first. Just focus and do your best to answer those questions. Then as you begin your product, remember to keep working even when it seems repetitive and boring! It’s the practice that changes the brain.

Be on the Team—Just Do It  School gets easier and grades improve! Making Brains Stronger and Faster! Be on the Team—Just Do It  So, here is our goal–to make school easier and grades better. The way to do that is to jump in, do your best, let the Fast ForWord products do their thing and get it done. Join the team, come to practice, work hard and be successful! You’ve got this!