WEST PLAINS, MO – For some time, Shane Baker, an Ozarks native and semi-retired teacher, reading expert, curriculum director, and school consultant, recognized a need for additional phonics instruction in second, third, and fourth grades. When the pandemic first crippled people’s ability to go places and interact with family members and friends, Shane recruited his friend and soon-to-be business partner David Smith, an editor and graphics designer, to create a new tool for easy phonics practice in the classroom. Together, they enrolled in classes at the Ozarks Small Business Incubator (OzSBI) and, with the help of OzSBI’s business mentors and classes, they made their dream to improve student reading a reality by creating Phonics Companion.
Their first step was to write and illustrate more than 100 original stories emphasizing various digraphs, diphthongs, trigraphs, three-letter blends, and more. Both David and Shane wrote stories and shared their work over the phone and online, giving each other feedback and encouragement while perfecting the stories and format. Story topics include a wide variety of subjects including workday experiences, cultural celebrations, friendships, holidays, and even space travel. Their stories were well researched to ensure that the stories were accurate and factual.
The team expanded the project several times to give teachers more options, including easy and advanced vocabulary lists, vocabulary quizzes, and cloze reading practice, which is a teaching strategy that uses passages of text with missing words. The learner inserts the missing words using context clues and constructs meaning from the text. Phonics Companion lessons are designed to be flexible enough to be used with an entire class, in small groups, or even by homeschoolers.
To be sure the lessons would work in the classroom, Baker asked teachers in the Glenwood, Alton, and Howell Valley school districts to pilot the program with their elementary students. This real-world testing of the phonics lessons gave the team great insight into how to improve student learning and make the lessons easier for the teacher to use. As a wonderful addition to the phonics lessons, Baker and Smith have created individual take-home readers for each story so students can build a library at home where they can continue to read and practice their phonics skills. These two entrepreneurs are a perfect example of what can be accomplished when people take unexpected time off and put it to good use.
