New Century Education

Go Beyond Decoding to Fluency and Reading Books

Chapter book based reading intervention for students with dyslexia.  This on-line reading program was developed with Sarah Blodgett, the developer of Noah Text, researchers at Michigan State U. and Orton Gillingham trained reading specialists.  The Results – Students begin to enjoy reading and often complete their first chapter book.  This curriculum is designed for use at home and in school.

The Noah Text®-New Century program is a curriculum that builds upon early vocabulary and decodable text, and helps older students (functioning at grade level 4 and up) to build the larger vocabulary, the stamina, and the fluency to read and understand their first chapter books. With fluency, they are more able to develop the reading skills (literal comprehension, main idea, and inference) to better understand what they are reading. Most importantly, students develop an interest in reading. Pre and post testing demonstrates that students improve their fluency in plain text.

Noah Text® was designed based on the fact that the English writing system is one of the most irregular and complex writing systems in the world, requiring two to three times more reading instruction time and practice compared to most other languages. Studies also show this complexity leads to much higher rates of dyslexia. Noah Text® simulates predictable writing systems by guiding the reader toward the most critical patterns in English, bringing predictability to a system that is otherwise very complex.  Noah Text® is a patent pending method that alleviates the burdens an irregular writing system puts on working memory, while increasing fluency and speed, creating a more fluid and relaxed, independent reading experience.  

Reading specialists have used books written in Noah Text® for the past 4 years to convert students with dyslexia to become readers of books.

Key Lesson Elements Helping Your Student to Read Books

  • Phonological Awareness: Words are pronounced and re-articulated when clicked.  Word patterns are also enunciated, and the student is asked to pronounce patterns in words to better recognize them in exercises decoding larger words.  
  • Phonics: Noah Text® helps students to see patterns in words that help them decode more complex vocabulary.  They spend less cognitive effort decoding and can focus more on understanding what they are reading. Within reading passages, the more difficult, highlighted words are pronounced when clicked.
  • Vocabulary: Words that will appear in the next chapter are introduced with definitions and used in exercises with synonyms and antonyms to help students fully understand word meaning.  Each key word is supported by a visual image to help students understand the word. Vocabulary reviews are also provided after every 5 chapters to help “firm” new words.
  • Fluency: Using Noah Text®, students spend less cognitive effort decoding and begin to understand more of what they are reading.  They begin to enjoy reading chapter books.  Often students read their first chapter book in Noah Text®.  Teachers and parents are encouraged to have students read aloud and help with pronunciation and expression.  
  • Comprehension: The lessons include pre-reading, reading and interactive close-reading exercises to help students develop better skills in literal comprehension, inference and main idea.  Prompts are provided for discussion with the student or group to focus them on a deeper understanding of the story and personal relevance to the text.
  • The chapter books: “The Mystical Years of Franklin Noah Peterson” are engaging, and students, including adults, look forward to the next lesson with the next chapter.
  • Supporting Working Memory: The structured literacy approach of the lessons help support working memory, often a challenge for students with dyslexia, and a key step for both decoding and developing stamina for reading books.

Mapping Sound to Print – Noah Text®

Reading requires individuals to map sound to print. Strong readers do this efficiently and effortlessly.

Basic words are easier to map out, such as can, man, bat, fat.  Complex words require more cognitive resources and good working memory – this is where struggling readers and those with dyslexia need assistance.

Noah Text enables individuals to map sound to print by providing a road map highlighting the most critical features of English that are readily recognized by science.

Noah Text is a specialized print system, not a font. However, it can be applied to most any font.

Noah Text is not a special code with tons of markings; it is simply a reading scaffold providing a way for ALL readers to enhance their reading skills while providing access to the very complex code we inherited – English print!

Reading specialists report that students, including adults, often complete these books as the first chapter books they have ever read.

“Noah Text® is innovative and a real “game-changer” for those who struggle to read the printed word. Just like large printed books, Noah Text should be available for all printed materials to alleviate the pain of reading for those with dyslexia.” – Reading Consultant


Dr. Troy Mariage of Michigan State University describes the results of a study of middle school students using our Intelligent Tutoring System for dyslexia.

Running time: 18 Minutes. This is just the results section of a longer presentation that he delivered in a conference. As you will see, after only two weeks, dyslexic students improved significantly in decoding, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary.

Group 6 CopyCreated with Sketch.

More Information?

Fill out your details and we will get back to you as soon as possible.