ELSB (Early Literacy Skills Builder) is a language-rich literacy curriculum for children ages 5 to 10 with moderate to severe developmental disabilties, including autism.
The Early Learning Skills Builder program incorporates systematic instruction to teach both print and phonemic awareness. ELSB is a multi-year program with seven distinct levels and ongoing assessments so students progress at their own pace.
Research
Dr. Diane Browder, principal author, directed an analysis of 128 studies on teaching reading to students with cognitive disabilities, which indicated the effectiveness of using systematic instruction techniques to teach sight words. ELSB research is through Project RAISE and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Two years of the ongoing five year research project are completed. Sixty students from the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System with moderate to severe disabilities receive daily instruction in the ELSB curricula. These students are being compared with a control group using a sight-word only approach. ELSB students have earned significantly higher scores on the pre/post test for the ELSB curriculum as well as the Nonverbal Literacy Assessment and receptive language measures.
Components
Implementation Guide
6 Teachers Manuals
6 Student Material Books
6 Student Assessment Books
Moe the Frog Puppet
All About Moe Stories
Communication Overlays
DVD for staff training
CDs with printable PDFs and other reproducible resources
