Welcome to the Samuel L. Blumenfeld Reading Clinic
Sponsored by the www.donpotter.net website
Purpose: This webpage is dedicated helping parents, teachers, and tutors teaching their children and students to reading with Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics.
Experience: I have been an enthusiastic Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics teacher since 1993 when a homeschool parent loaned me a copy to review. At the time I was a bilingual resource teacher at the Burnet Elementary School here in Odessa, TX. I quickly experienced complete success with all my students.
Purchase: Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics (2005) from Chalcedon Ross House Books, P. O. 158, Vallecito, CA 95251-9989. Price $25.00 plus shipping and handling. 209-736-4365, ext. 12, or just click on the title to order.
Tutoring: You can contact Mr. Donald L. Potter for testing and tutoring by clicking Contact Me. I can also be reached at the Odessa Christian School, 2000 Doran, Odessa, TX, 432-362-6311.
Material from Donald L. Potter
Relating to Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics Instruction
1. Lesson Plans. These are the Lesson Plans I followed when I taught Alpha-Phonics during the 1999-2000 school year. They are suggestive of what can be done in a regular or bilingual classroom. Certificate.
2. "Total Recall of the Alphabet" for teaching the alphabet to beginning students.
3. Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics Progress Chart.
4. Word Analysis: 1983 Alpha-Phonics, 1997/2005 Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics.
5. The Cursive Road to Reading and Spelling Practice Sentences.
7. Here is an study I wrote, "Concerning the Wisdom of Teaching the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary."
8. Alpha-Phonics Phonograms. These Phonograms are similar to the ones Romalda Spalding developed for her Writing Road to Reading. They are not necessary, but I have found them helpful for some students. Here are a set of Phonogram Cards in Cursive.
6. We hope to have the 11 First Readers and Alpha-Phonics Card Decks ready shortly.
Essays and Information on Teaching Reading
by Samuel L. Blumenfeld
1. "Can Dyslexia Be Artificially Induced in School? Yes, Says Researcher Edward Miller." In March of 1992, Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld published this breakthrough article on whole-word dyslexia featuring the work of Mr. Edward Miller, the author of The Sight Word Eliminator and the Miller Word Identification Assessment MWIA). Here is the same article in Spanish.
2. In 1993 Mr. Blumenfeld updated his 1992 article "Further Investigation" regarding Mr. Miller's later research.
3. Here is another thought provoking article by Dr. Blumenfeld: Miscue Analysis: Training Normal Children to Read Like Defective Children.
4. In 1975 Mr Blumenfeld spoke at the Reading Reform Foundation Conference on "Twenty Years After Rudolf Flesch: Are the New Basal Reading Programs Doing the Job."
6. I You can read more of Sam's insights from this file: The New Illiterates - Quotes. I have also published Chapter 10: "How to Teach Your Preschool Child to Read at Home: A Primer.
7. In March 2009, Mr. Blumenfeld sent me his eye-opening 1988 article, Dyslexia: The Disease You Get in School.
8. Here is an important speech Mr. Blumenfeld delivered at the 1974 Reading Reform Foundation convention: Why America Still has a Reading Problem. And in 1975 Letter Precision.
9. Here is a recent article (2008) Sam sent me "Why Pictures in Reading Instruction Are Harmful."
10. This may be the most controversial essays Mr. Blumenfeld ever wrote. "How Should We Teach our Children to Write? Cursive First, Print Later! I think it is one of his most important.
Here is a comparative study of the 1983 Alpha-Phonics and the 1997/2005 Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics.
Testimony for Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics
Paul Lukawski's testimony concerning his years of using Alpha-Phonics.
Mr. Donald L. Potter
Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics Tutor