Does Noah Text® Create an Atomic Habit for Proficient Reading in Those That Struggle?

According to James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, “an atomic habit is a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but is also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.”

This might seem like an odd way to think about a reading system like Noah Text®, but when I was reading James Clear’s book, the idea crystallized.

What is Noah Text?

Noah Text® is a specialized text that simulates predictable writing systems by highlighting critical word patterns, enhancing reading fluency, speed, and confidence, while building reading skill. It was designed based on the fact that English has one of the most COMPLEX writing systems in the world, requiring 2-3 times more reading instruction TIME and PRACTICE of our students. As a result, we lose a lot of individuals that are simply overwhelmed and don’t have the stamina to become solid, proficient readers. In other words, we’ve inherited a flawed, exhausting system. As James Clear further states in Atomic Habits, “energy is precious, and the brain is wired to conserve it whenever possible. It is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort, which states that when deciding between two similar options, people will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.”

Noah Text, A Typeface for Struggling Readers

Noah Text is a specialized text designed to help new readers, struggling readers, and those with dyslexia. It increases both reading fluency and speed, allowing individuals to have a more relaxed reading experience. At the same time, it enhances reading skill.

Noah Text in Books a Succes

A novel by Sarah Blodgett

Noah Text® was released to the world three years ago in a series of books, and the feedback since (from students, teachers, parents, and individual users) has been phenomenal. As the designer of Noah Text®, I was not too surprised, but I didn’t feel as though I was fully capturing what was going on with these readers. Thus, I decided to dig deeper. Over the last several months, I started working with students and teachers more directly. At the same time, I happened to be reading Atomic Habits and that’s when the lightbulb went on!

Noah Text Helps Readers Build Strong Reading Habits

You see, when I dug deeper, I found that Noah Text® was breaking bad habits and replacing them with good ones! Observing students read over a period of time allows one to witness the transformation. Often, you will see struggling readers randomly guess at unknown words, skip over them, or anxiously use decoding strategies that don’t work (bad habit). This habit is even more obvious when you have students read from pseudoword lists. Noah Text®, however, enables readers to see patterns in a clear, simple way for better decoding, which you can see enhances their word analysis skills (good habit). In other words, they’re utilizing the right system.

Teacher Observations

Thus, the teachers and I concluded the following:

Noah Text® anchors readers to the print, thus breaking the bad habit of guessing, skipping over, or anxiously decoding in the wrong way when challenged with unknown words.
Noah Text® creates a new habit of properly analyzing word structure – taking them from decoding words with simple word structure to complex word structure.
This new habit of word analysis spills over to plain text reading. Students have reported visualizing Noah Text® to decode unknown words when reading in plain text.
The pattern exposure with Noah Text® adds to the readers’ lexicon, enhancing the overall reading skill.

Summer Code Breakers Group with author Sarah Blodgett. This class read Sarah’s novel The Mystical Years of Franklin Noah Peterson written using Noah Text.

Noah Text® highlights orthographic long vowels, linguistic rimes, and syllables while keeping words intact. The awareness of these word components has long been known to enhance phonological awareness, decoding, and fluency. The chart below gives you an idea of how it works. However, to fully understand the program, I recommend you go to www.noahtext.com.

(Notably, Noah Text® can be used as a short-term tool or long-term tool, depending on the reader’s individual needs. My mission is to make Noah Text® available in ALL print media for ALL readers to excel in life! As people often say, “it’s so simple, it’s genius!”)

Click Here for a free Noah Text download

About this Blog’s Author

Sarah K. Blodgett is the creator of Noah Text. Sarah created this typeface to assist struggling students with their reading. Sarah’s son struggled to learn to read, so she became an advocate for reading reform in the public school system he attended. As a school volunteer, she saw so many kids struggle with reading. She especially worried about the ones that didn’t have the support at home to get them through. Not everyone has the luxury of time and money, or the research skills to figure things out. So, she felt compelled to share her resources and help them. She strongly believes every kid deserves a shot. And, she strongly believes we need to do everything we can to support our teachers.

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