History
During her years as a teacher of special needs children in the 1970’s, Marie Carbo created a method of recording that enabled her students to read fluently, easily, and with good comprehension reading material that was well above their reading level. Marie’s students began to read better than ever before, in minutes. Dr. Carbo experimented with this technique for two years and then described her work in three articles which were published in The Reading Teacher (1978, 1981) and Teaching Exceptional Children (1978). By 1984, Dr. Carbo was presenting at seminars across the U.S., teaching educators how to use her method. Now the National Reading Styles Institute has about 800 books and stories recorded by Marie Carbo and Bob Cole that are used in schools across the U. S. and abroad.

The Carbo Method Marie Carbo’s special method of recording differs from others. Only very small amounts of text are recorded on a tape side or CD track, with a special pace and phrasing that synchronizes the spoken and written word for struggling and emerging readers. She divides high-interest books, stories, magazine articles, or other reading materials into short segments. Each segment is recorded on a separate tape side or CD track, in short phrases, at a slightly slower than usual pace but with good expression. Hear Carbo Method

Why the Method Works
The key to the effectiveness of the Carbo Method is expert modeling of high interest readig materials. Good modeling is a missing element in the lives of many at-risk readers. When reading is modeled well, a good reader reads first and the student imitates that model when he or she reads. Another important component of the Carbo Method is that of stretching the child by using recorded material somewhat above his or her reading level. A third component of the method is repetition, which enables the student to master the reading material. And the fourth vital component of the Carbo Method is accountability. At regular intervals, students read back and discuss selections; the readback and discussion insures that the students have mastered and understood the reading material.

What the Student Does
The student listens to the recorded passage two or three times while following along in the text and, soon thereafter, reads the passage aloud to a teacher, peer, or tutor. The repetition of small amounts of text greatly facilitates word retention. The short, natural phrases translate the printed page into meaningful segments, and the pauses and good expression help to increase word retention and comprehension.