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The texts that are shown below were picked to show that all students have different needs. Not all students are going to be able to read in the same way, or at the same pace. Some students need many different techniques to help them learn. Differentiating material for them is extremely important. It is also extremely important for some students to have visuals. Some students need to watch a video before they read, some students need to do a movement break, or some students need to do some breathing techniques to prepare themselves for reading the book and to help them comprehend the book. The texts below all help explain how important this is for our students.

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Students are more likely to want to read something that they are interested in. Below, you will notice that I have inserted a video about how to get students interested in reading. One of the first things that it talks about, is removing screen time. This can be helpful, so students are doing more learning. Remember, that screen time can be very important, especially when it is educational. Is removing screen time completely the answer? No. Students still need screen time, but making sure that they are getting their time reading and making it interesting for them, is vital. Included is a book about Lions and a book about Sharks. It is important for our students to read books that are of interest to them. When doing a non-fiction unit, having students use strategies like picking out their own book that is about their favorite animal for example, is essential to help them get into reading.

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Sometimes, it may be argued that implementing read alouds into classrooms is just not necessary and that reading physical copies of books are more important. Students should be introduced to literature from a very young age, and this starts with read alouds. Even as students are getting older, they should still have this type of exposure. Then, when students are older and more fluent in reading, they can start reading to each other. This helps with many things, especially with students who do better with hearing a story read to them rather than just reading a physical copy of a book.

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It is essential that while our students are learning and reading, they need to have breaks throughout the day. There are multiple texts below explaining why brain breaks are important. We tend to push students very hard, especially when there is a lot of curricula to get through, but it is important that we are giving our students the breaks that they need. Too much learning all in one sitting is going to overwhelm children, they need time to just be children. Implementing brain breaks and movement breaks is very essential to allow students to learn the material they need for success.

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When students know and understand that reading is important, they should start doing it very often. Students should recognize that they will be reading everywhere, no matter where they are, so yes, reading is important. Below, you will find a quote that will encourage students to find a love for learning. Using quotes with big, bright colors will allow them to be drawn by the quote and show them how important it is to keep this quote in the back of their mind. Teachers should take a look at this insightful website that shows how we can help students develop a love for reading. If, as teachers, we can help students develop a love for reading, we have succeeded.

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It is essential that we encourage our students to ask questions. The texts below show how valuable it is for our students to ask questions. As important as it is for our students to ask questions, it is just as important for our students to answer questions. This allows them to think critically and really engage in what they are learning about. The Ted Talk that is posted really takes the time to show how important it is that we continue to ask questions. It is also important for this to be within our classrooms, so our students can carry this with them throughout their schooling careers and the rest of their lives.

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Teaching students is very hard, but it is very important to remember that while it is important to push our students to do their best, it is also important not to push them too hard, as it can do more harm than help.

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Sometimes, students struggle to want to read and to stay motivated. As teachers, it is our job to ensure that we help keep them motivated and interested. Reading is something that they are going to be doing for the rest of their lives, whether they want that to happen or not. We read a lot of things many times per day, so we need to make sure students have a good relationship with reading. The video below shows that there are many students who lack motivation, especially if they have ADHD, this is where we, as teachers come in. We need to help our students around this and keep them motivated.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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How to Get Kids Interested in BOOKS! Step by Step

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National Geographic Readers: Lions Read Aloud

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Differentiated Instruction

Whether students are ahead of their peers or behind, differentiation should ensure that all learners engage in critical thinking.

Imagine asking one of your students for advice about choosing a birthday present for a family member who's their age and shares similar interests. When they recommend what to get, could they also explain what options to avoid and why their suggestion is the best choice? Is it likely that any of your students could give gift advice in this scenario whether their academic success was high or minimal?

Their advice is critical thinking in action. They analyze the information about your family member's interests and evaluate the quality of the options, including their suitability as the best fit. How do we give all learners opportunities to engage in challenging content that is differentiated based on academic needs?

A common misconception is that an effective differentiation system for readiness (i.e., skill levels) can be based on the revised Bloom's Taxonomy or another framework, like Webb's Depth of Knowledge. The idea is that advanced learners get activities where they analyze, evaluate, and create, while struggling learners need to build knowledge and understanding through basic applications.

As a result, learners who struggle with a subject area are denied rich experiences that could help them see authentic uses of skills in the world outside of school. While they work on abstract school content, they see their peers engage in rich conversations, analyzing and evaluating concepts to create artifacts for a public audience. It's like watching a three-star chef prepare a savory banquet as you prepare to eat a white bread sandwich containing iceberg lettuce.

This oversimplified approach to differentiation denies struggling learners valuable experiences that are based on higher-order thinking, despite their capacity to analyze, evaluate, and create in their daily lives. But how do we give all learners opportunities to engage in challenging content that is differentiated based on academic needs?

Steps for Differentiating to Challenge All Learners

Start with the end in mind. Identify the core skills and concepts that make up the learning outcomes. Then collect information on your students' preparedness, from prerequisites and minor gaps to existing mastery. Combined with students' lived experiences, this data should inform you on how to revise and/or remix a planned complex activity.

Recorded readings. Oral understanding can aid reading material by improving access to the information.

Word journals. Provide a words/terminology bank for key concepts in the subject area. Students should routinely update and review their journals.

Collaboration teams. Use structured protocol strategies for learner groups to explore, process, and construct content.

Peer support. Other learners can serve as resources as the need arises.

Next, design the learning experience for all students to complete that includes a critical thinking challenge.

Learning stations. Have students participate in different stations where they work on prerequisite skills based on their current skill level. The teacher is one station to personalize support for students grouped by similar needs.

Independent work. Assign students work based on the prerequisite skills they need more practice with. The teacher meets with students for personalized support.

Remix the critical thinking activity. Review the activity and make a version that focuses on either fewer choices or fewer moving parts. Simplify without compromising the critical thinking experience. Or, create a version that focuses on the prerequisite skills without compromising the opportunity for critical thinking.

For students who can accomplish the skills with bridging supports,curate resources, guides, and tools that support learners' needs while focusing on the instructional outcome. Here are some examples:

For students who lack prerequisite skills or conceptual understanding,plan activities that include custom supports for skills and critical thinking experiences. Here are some examples:

For students who already meet learning expectations,introduce new knowledge, skills, and/or concepts that amplify their understanding. Add these elements into the prepared critical thinking experience for more seasoning and spice. This could be included in learning stations, independent work, and other activities.

Differentiation is about meeting needs for all learners through equitable critical thinking challenges.

If we routinely review and analyze student achievement data to monitor their progress, the information tells us the specific gaps or prerequisite skills each learner needs more practice with to learn. The steps shared above take that information and add adaptations or mirrored versions of the core assignment. A different series of learning activities do not need to be created-unless that is the direction you choose based on the learner achievement data.

Not limiting critical thinking opportunities for learners who struggle with the content helps them feel that they can do challenging work. This is an important goal for growing their self-esteem.

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Using Differentiation to Challenge All Students

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Whether students are ahead of their peers or behind, teachers can use differentiation to challenge all of them to think critically.

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When it comes to teaching reading, we believe that many of the disputes surrounding best practices are the result of taking what is appropriate for some children and applying it to all learners (Kuhn & Stahl, in press). For example, some children become readers with little or no explicit phonics instruction; however, the majority of learners benefit from some form of explicit decoding instruction and need such instruction to make sense of our alphabetic writing system. On the other hand, while some students (especially dyslexic students or those with specific learning disabilities) need a granular, structured focus on the mechanics of reading, most children do not need such an intensive approach, and teaching what has already been mastered makes poor use of limited instruction time.

According to Jeanne Chall (1979), it is "the teacher that makes the difference" (p. 6). That is because skilled teachers understand what their learners need at a given point in time. They know there are pieces that are critical for all students throughout their schooling and other pieces that are critical at various developmental points. Further, they know it is essential for teachers to differentiate within most classrooms to ensure they are maximizing their students' potential. To accomplish this, teachers need to think about language, vocabulary, content, and the mechanics of literacy development simultaneously, rather than in opposition to one another. Our goal is to provide an overview of what the research says about reading development and effective instruction, including the need to teach flexibly and respond to differing student needs, as a means of maximizing student learning.

What to teach when: Thinking developmentally

Discussions of reading instruction often target one component of reading at a time (decoding, comprehension, fluency, motivation, etc.) rather than thinking about how all the pieces fit together and how learners' needs change depending on where they are in their individual development (Stahl, 1998). This can lead to lopsided instruction, causing students to get stuck in their reading development rather than making the progress they should. For example, we have worked with young readers who can create a valid retelling of a story based on pictures or a sampling of words (e.g., reading "bug" as "butterfly"). However, students need to learn that the text's message is in the words, and they need to be able to decode those words if they are to progress as readers. On the other hand, some children are able to decode words accurately and automatically in isolation but are unable to read connected text fluently. Unless these learners are taught to apply their decoding skills to texts, it is unlikely they will move beyond this point on their own (Chall, 1995). As a counter to practices that are overly focused on certain components in readers' development, we argue that reading development is best treated as a holistic process in which some elements need to be consistently emphasized throughout (e.g., vocabulary, comprehension) while others (e.g., alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness) should take on greater or lesser attention depending on student needs (Paris, 2005).

Such a reconsideration involves looking at the ways various components of reading (and writing and language development) support each other (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998), beginning from a child's earliest interactions with text and continuing throughout a reader's life. Consider how much easier it is for you to comprehend a text about a subject you know something about than one on a topic completely unfamiliar to you. For example, Donna Recht and Lauren Leslie (1988) looked at readers' comprehension of a passage narrating a half-inning of a baseball game. What they found was that the students who had the strongest knowledge of baseball also had the best comprehension of the passage, regardless of reading ability - although the strengths or limitations of their reading skills would reappear once the topic changed.

Teachers need to think about language, vocabulary, content, and the mechanics of literacy development simultaneously, rather than in opposition to one another.

Further, while all the components of reading development are important to skilled reading, in terms of instruction, the emphasis needs to vary depending on where students are in their learning. Our interactive model of reading development (Kuhn & Stahl, in press) can help teachers think about how to address their students' needs as they move from emergent to novice, transitional, and, finally, post-transitional readers.

Emergent literacy

Reading development begins when children first interact with text (e.g., Chall, 1995; National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). For example, when children are read to at home, they develop important understandings that lay the groundwork for later successful reading experiences. Books for young learners often focus on the alphabet, rhyming words, and other components of language that contribute to their developing phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge. Additionally, children hear a broader range of vocabulary from most books, including picture books, than they hear in most daily conversations (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998). And when caregivers read to children, they show them how printed text works in general (e.g., that letters make up words and words are separated by spaces) and how books, in particular, work (e.g., that they begin with a title and author on the cover with the story proceeding as the reader turns the pages). All of these interactions help prepare children for their own book reading (Morrow, 2020; Yaden, Rowe, & MacGillivray, 2000).

When young children encounter texts, whether through lap reading or broad exposure to a literate environment, and whether at home or in their preK and kindergarten programs, they are more likely to succeed with the literacy tasks required of them in the primary grades. However, such experiences are not all that children need to become skilled readers (Reutzel, 2015). This is also the period when children develop alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness, both through intentional instruction (such as by encouraging them to stretch out the sounds in words, and helping them practice letter recognition) and through reading and play (such as coming up with rhyming words, engaging in playground clapping games, and learning nursery rhymes). Further, early writing practice can help students develop their understanding of the alphabetic principle, as they make connections between the letters they draw on paper with the sounds they make and the words they can be combined to represent.

Any emergent literacy instruction should also pay attention to oral language development (Hamilton & Schwanenflugel, 2011), which increases the likelihood that students will recognize and understand the words they encounter in print. However, oral language involves more than just vocabulary. Children also need to begin applying narrative structures in their thinking and social discourse (Nelson, 1996) by telling stories that incorporate a sense of the past, present, and future. This ability to understand temporal sequencing is a foundation of reading comprehension, especially for following narratives.

Young children also need to begin learning to broaden their knowledge through informational texts (Dreher & Kletzien, 2020). Recent research supported by federal Reading for Understanding grants confirms that informational texts can help young children read to learn and learn to read (Pearson et al., 2020). Children who are beginning to become familiar with the unique formats of these texts (such as tables of contents, indices, and headings) will be better able to successfully interact with them in the later grades. This does not mean informational texts should be the only, or even the primary, material read to children, although some children do prefer them. Instead, such selections should be included along with materials that are already commonly used during this period (e.g., stories, poems, nursery rhymes, and predictable books).

Novice readers

As learners shift from emergent to novice, the focus in terms of mechanics shifts from how letters, books, and words work to actual decoding (Kuhn & Stahl, in press). Developing word recognition is a multi-year process, and its instruction is especially critical at this point. Because most students need a lot of support learning to blend sounds into words, much of the reading at this point involves relatively simple material with an emphasis on familiar content, regular word patterns, and a limited number of high-frequency words (such as the and of).

While decodable texts are essential to reading instruction at this point, novice reading experiences should not be limited to them (Hiebert, 2017; Shanahan, 2019). Poems, texts with controlled vocabulary (i.e., books with a limited number of words repeated throughout the story), naturalistic selections (i.e., books that emphasize conversational language), and simple informational texts, among others, should all be used for a variety of instructional approaches. While all these texts should be available for novice readers, simpler selections (decodables, short poems, texts with controlled vocabulary, etc.) should be incorporated into lessons where students practice reading. More complex selections (picture or chapter books, more challenging informational material), on the other hand, should be reserved for read-alouds, both to expand learners' vocabulary and conceptual knowledge and simply for enjoyment.

Decoding instruction needs to be systematic and purposeful, yet flexible enough to meet the specific needs of individual learners. Because not all students benefit from the same instruction at the same time, differentiation is critical (Walpole & McKenna, 2017). A typical 1st-grade classroom is likely to include some students who are still establishing concepts of print and letter knowledge, some who are learning to recognize words based on common patterns (e.g., consonant-vowel-consonant words), and others who are already fairly fluent readers. Varying what is being taught to which children is an important way of maximizing each child's development. This can be done in multiple ways, from grouping according to specific skill requirements (e.g., students who need phonemic awareness instruction) to differentiating the scaffolding provided to students as they write a response to a shared book.

There are a number of effective decoding methods (including synthetic, analytic, analogy, or spelling-based); the National Reading Panel report's (2000) chapter on phonics instruction provides an overview of many decoding approaches. Which method a teacher uses should depend on teacher knowledge, experience, comfort with the material, and the needs of the students. Regardless of the method chosen, any decoding instruction needs to be combined with the reading of connected texts (i.e., text organized into multiple related sentences), much of which should be scaffolded. Research is clear that the progression from recognizing words in isolation to actual reading occurs most easily for learners when they spend substantial amounts of time in supported practice with connected text, and it may not occur at all for some students without such assistance (Kuhn & Levy, 2015).

It is also essential to continue expanding students' vocabulary, comprehension strategies, and conceptual understanding throughout this period by reading more complex material aloud to students and leading discussions about it (Chambre, Biemiller, & McKeown, 2021). Shared reading experiences can - and should - be built around high-quality literature and informational texts that consider student interests, build their knowledge, and introduce them to a range of genres, even as primary students are learning to decode (Pearson et al., 2020). This increases the likelihood that all the learners in a classroom will be motivated by some of the selections presented. Luckily, there are far more selections on a larger range of topics available for novice readers than there used to be, making it easier to lay the base for successfully reading an assortment of complex texts across a variety of categories.

Transitional readers

Transitional readers differ from novice readers in that they are solidifying their word recognition and developing their fluency (e.g., Kuhn & Levy, 2015). At this point, two essential aspects of fluency should be part of the instructional focus: First, students' word recognition needs to become automatic, and second, they need to learn how to apply prosodic elements (such as stress, pitch, and appropriate phrasing) while reading. Students often are taught to recognize words in isolation, but this ability does not necessarily transfer to skilled reading of connected texts without scaffolding, which can come in various forms of reading aloud - echoing a teacher's oral reading, reading with a partner, or reading together as a chorus. Becoming more automatic in word recognition frees up learners to focus more on meaning. But while automaticity is important, if reading instruction focuses primarily on speed, transitional readers will miss elements, such as pacing, that contribute to comprehension in unique ways. Unless instruction incorporates all the elements of fluency, some students will experience a new set of difficulties with their reading development. As is the case with any component, should students fail to become fluent, it is likely that will stall in their reading development; specifically, their decoding may remain slow and inefficient, their reading rate may not vary enough to allow for comprehension, or they may over-rely on context to aid their understanding to the (limited) degree possible.

The material being used at this point should continue to incorporate a broad range of genres, and challenging texts should be incorporated into the curriculum as part of the students' own reading, not just as read-alouds. Research (e.g., Kuhn, 2020) indicates that fluency development is most successful when the texts are at the upper end of students' instructional level (when they can read with 85-90% accuracy) and the reading of those texts is scaffolded (through echo, choral, or partner reading). And reading multiple texts, or wide reading, is at least as effective as the use of repeated readings when the amount of reading time is equivalent. Wide reading also serves to expose students to a larger number of words in a broader range of contexts than does repeated readings, and it may better ensure sight-word development for individual learners. Many teachers use text sets on a common topic or theme for wide reading to enhance word recognition, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary development as students connect what they learn from one text to the material in a more complex text on a related topic.

What is important at this stage is that students spend substantial amounts of time reading connected texts, with and without scaffolding, to ensure that they transfer what they are learning about word recognition to their reading. Depending on the students and the classroom structure, this can be accomplished through whole-class instruction, through large and small groups, in dyads and triads, and with individual learners who may read repeatedly, along with recordings, or simply read widely for their own enjoyment. These variations tie back to our initial premise that instruction can - and should - be flexible and based on student needs. For example, we have used scaffolded, shared reading as the basis of whole-class fluency instruction with 2nd-grade transitional readers. On the other hand, our research has used the scaffolded reading of challenging trade books with small groups of struggling 3rd-grade readers to help expand their social studies knowledge while simultaneously improving their reading fluency. Including explicit literacy instruction while reading and writing in the content areas enhances, rather than compromises, both literacy learning and knowledge development (Pearson et al., 2020).

Post-transitional readers

Reading development has often been described as a two-step process; first students learn to read and, once the mechanics are in place, they begin to read to learn. In practice, this meant students were rarely introduced to informational texts prior to 4th grade, and this lack of familiarity with informational texts created difficulties for many learners who had previously been successful readers (Chall, 1995). By integrating reading to learn and learning to read from the outset, it is possible to lessen or eliminate this slump. Introducing young learners to informational texts and text structures and teaching them a range of vocabulary and concepts they might find in such texts, while also teaching the mechanics of reading, can ease the transition to what we describe as post-transitional reading.

Post-transitional readers have become comfortable with their decoding and fluency and can demonstrate the skills generally required for success in the upper-elementary grades and beyond. At this point, students are expected to read independently, the amount of material to be covered increases, and the type of reading material assigned is increasingly content intensive. This means the overall literacy focus will be on vocabulary development and text comprehension in the subject areas. However, mechanics should not be entirely set aside. For example, an effective curriculum should include the way morphology, or the structure of words (e.g., the relationship between maintain and maintenance or the fact that every syllable in English requires a vowel), influences multisyllabic words (Bear et al., 2020) and the importance of situational fluency, or the variation of reading speed depending on the material and the purpose for reading (Kuhn & Schwanenflugel, 2019). However, such instruction is likely to take less classroom time than it would in the primary grades.

Remembering individual needs: Differentiation

When thinking of how readers develop, it may be tempting to assign readers of a certain age to a certain stage and instruct them accordingly, but individuals do not learn in a lockstep manner, moving in unison from one stage to the next on a set schedule (Willingham, 2008). And the various elements of reading instruction should not necessarily be consigned to a single developmental moment. Some elements need to be consistently addressed across readers' development, while others should be focused on according to learners' developmental needs.

While all the components of reading development are important to skilled reading, in terms of instruction, the emphasis needs to vary depending on where students are in their learning.

Further, relationships between aspects of reading development work reciprocally; spending a little time working with younger readers in a developmentally appropriate way on an element of literacy that is crucial for older readers can lay important groundwork while also helping young readers develop skills they need now. For example, the relationship between phonemic awareness and writing can be mutually supportive, which means there is no need to wait for phonemic awareness to be fully established before asking students to compose. In fact, allowing them to use inventive, or phonetic, spelling will increase their developing letter-sound knowledge.

At the same time, there is no sound reason to push instruction too early. For example, teaching the 100 most-common high-frequency words to four- and five-year-olds has become a goal in many preschools; however, this is developmentally inappropriate for most young students and can lead to frustration and even anxiety that hinders their development. While we agree that our ultimate goal is to ensure students are college- and career-ready by the end of high school, determining the appropriate level of challenge involves taking learners' individual needs and development into account, and pushing students to take on more advanced learning too early can do more harm than good in the long run.

In addition, because not all students develop in the same way, differentiation is critical across all stages of reading instruction. For example, when students are already reading in 1st grade, there is no reason to include them in whole-group decoding instruction that they have already mastered. Alternatively, some students in a classroom of mostly fluent readers may need additional support blending letter-sounds into words than do many of their peers. In both of these cases, small-group or individual instruction will be more effective than whole-class approaches. This does not mean there is no room for whole-class instruction; in fact, there are many lessons that will benefit all the students in a class. For example, there may be a book that you want all your students to read for a range of reasons (e.g., to better ensure students understanding of colonial America, to increase student knowledge of a weather phenomenon, or to help them develop an insight into a particular work of fiction). However, even in these cases, it is important to bear in mind the lessons' purposes and whether some students will benefit from additional support or opportunities for enrichment.

Given the complexities of learning to read, it is essential to consider how reading develops broadly, the role of each component of reading throughout a reader's development, and the reality that not all readers develop in every area at the same rate. A general understanding of the path learners follow as they grow from emergent to post-transitional readers is critical to understanding reading development and creating effective instruction across formal schooling. At the same time, differentiation and flexibility in the application of this knowledge can prevent the types of overgeneralizations that keep students stuck in place, whether it's because they need more support or because they're ready to leap ahead. By carefully considering both the reading process and the needs of learners, it becomes possible not only to improve reading instruction, but also to increase the likelihood that every student will develop into a skilled reader.
References
Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2020). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (7th ed.). Pearson.

Chall, J.S. (1979). On reading: Some thoughts on the old and the new. Bulletin of the Orton Society, 29, 6-16.

Chall, J.S. (1995). Stages of reading development (2nd ed.). Harcourt Brace.

Chambre, S., Biemiller, A., & McKeown, M. (2021). Vocabulary facilitation and instruction to support reading [White paper]. The Reading Forum.

Cunningham, A.E. & Stanovich, K.E. (1998). What reading does for the mind. American Educator, 22 (1-2), 8-15.

Dreher, M.J. & Kletzien, S.B. (2020). "I don't just want to read, I want to learn something": Best practices for using informational texts to build young children's conceptual knowledge. In M.R. Kuhn & M.J. Dreher (Eds.), Developing conceptual knowledge through oral and written language. Guilford Press.

Hamilton, C.E. & Schwanenflugel, P. (2011). PAVEd for Success: Building vocabulary and language development in young learners. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Hiebert, E.H. (2017). The texts of literacy instruction: Obstacles to or opportunities for educational equity? Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 66 (1), 117-134.

Kuhn, M.R. (2020). Whole class or small group fluency instruction: A tutorial of four effective approaches. Education Sciences: Special Issue Reading Fluency, 10, 145.

Kuhn, M.R. & Levy, L. (2015). Developing fluent readers: Teaching fluency as a foundational skill. The essential PK-2 literacy library. Guilford Press.

Kuhn, M.R. & Schwanenflugel, P.J. (2019). Invited commentary: Prosody, pacing and situational fluency (or why fluency matters for older readers). Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 61 (6), 363-368.

Kuhn, M.R. & Stahl, K.A.D. (in press). Teaching reading: What we know now. In A. O'Donnell, J. Reeve, & N. Barnes, (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology. Oxford University Press.

Morrow, L.M. (2020). Literacy development in the early years: Helping children read and write (9th ed.). Pearson.

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. National Institute for Literacy.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: Reports of the subgroups (00-4754). Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Nelson, K. (1996). Language in cognitive development: The emergence of the mediated mind. Cambridge University Press.

Paris, S.G. (2005). Reinterpreting the development of reading skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 40 (2), 184-202.

Pearson, P.D., Palincsar, A.S., Biancarosa, G., & Berman, A.I. (Eds). (2020). Reaping the rewards of the Reading For Understanding Initiative. National Academy of Education.

Recht, D.R. & Leslie, L. (1988). Effect of prior knowledge on good and poor readers' memory of text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (1), 16-20.

Reutzel, D. (2015). Early literacy research: Findings primary-grade teachers will want to know. Reading Teacher, 69 (1), 14-24.

Shanahan, T. (2019, February 9). Which texts for teaching reading: Decodable, predictable, or controlled vocabulary? [Blog post]. Shanahan on Literacy.

Stahl, S.A. (1998). Understanding shifts in reading and its instruction. Peabody Journal of Education, 73 (3), 31-67.

Walpole, S. & McKenna, M.C. (2017). How to plan differentiated reading instructio n (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Willingham, D.T. (2008). Ask the cognitive scientist: What is developmentally appropriate practice? American Educator, 32 (1), 35-39.

Yaden, D.B., Rowe, D.W., & MacGillivray, L. (2000). Emergent literacy: A matter (polyphony) of perspectives. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research, (Vol. III, pp. 425-454). Routledge.

This article appears in the May 2022 issue of Kappan, Vol. 103, No. 8, pp. 25-31.

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Teaching reading: Development and differentiation - kappanonline.org

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When it comes to teaching reading, we believe that many of the disputes surrounding best practices are the result of taking what is appropriate for some children and applying it to all learners (Kuhn & Stahl, in press).

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As a teacher, I have always loved reading aloud to my students, no matter what grade level I was teaching. I have done read alouds for second graders, middle schoolers, undergraduates, graduate students, and even principals. Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of our community and humanity. Christ, our greatest teacher, knew well the power of story to instruct. The act of reading aloud makes text come alive and produces its own kind of magic.

As a mom, I couldn't wait to read aloud to our daughter. I started reading aloud as soon as I found out as I was pregnant. Now that our daughter is three, every night she chooses the book she wants us to read to her from her bookshelf and if it's one that we've read a lot, she can "read" it back to us. Goldilocks and the Three Bears and are current favorites that she can recite by heart.

Teachers have been reading aloud to students for years and the research base on the power of read alouds is extensive and well documented. Research has shown that read alouds improve comprehension (Duke & Pearson, 2008), vocabulary (Massaro, 2017), and fluency (Trelease, 2001). Read alouds allow the teacher to model expert, fluent reading of the text. This liberates the students from having to do the work of decoding and allows them to focus on comprehension, acquisition of new vocabulary, phonemic awareness, etc. For this reason, teachers can select books that are above students' independent reading level but at their listening level. According to Massaro, "children listening to a reading aloud of a picture book are roughly three times more likely to experience a new word type that is not among the most frequent words in the child's language" (2017, p. 64). This is particularly important in early elementary classrooms to ensure that children become familiar with a wider range of words earlier in life, knowing that children come to school with varying levels of exposure to more complex vocabulary.

Read alouds also give children experience with decontextualized language-requiring students to make sense of ideas beyond the classroom and the here and now (see Beck & McKeown, 2001). A key aspect of this sense-making is the role of dialogue. Students need to engage in discussion with their teacher and classmates to make sense of the text. This emphasis on talk highlights the importance of careful planning of think alouds and questions.
To be truly powerful and magical, the practice of reading aloud is actually quite complex. The following steps are crucial to enacting a powerful classroom read aloud.

1. Set the stage

There is an artfulness to a good read aloud. Setting the stage is important. Consider where and how you will sit to make sure all students can see the book. Think about how you can create a sense of comfort and community so that students feel that read-aloud time is a sacred, ritual part of your classroom culture. Also, consider how you want students to sit in order to minimize distractions and maximize their focus on the book.
2. Plan to read aloud
The key to a successful and powerful read-aloud is careful, deliberate planning. The first step in planning is selecting what to read. Here are some tips for selecting great read-aloud books:

For emergent, early readers, choose books with powerful illustrations. These not only keep students' attention but also act as scaffolds to help students understand the text.

Expose students to a variety of genres. We all love reading great picture books with students. However, students also benefit from read alouds of informational text, chapter books, humor, etc.

Use books that develop specific literacy skills such as alphabet books, rhymes, sounds, phonemic awareness, and books that are rich in new vocabulary.

Choose books that serve as models for writing

Choose books that offer opportunities for new learning (new vocabulary, new concepts, new ways of thinking)

Choose books that lead to conversation so that students will have lots to talk and write about after the read aloud

Choose books from recommended book lists of high-quality literature

Choose diverse books that reflect the beauty and diversity of our global world

3. Establish a clear purpose
One of the most difficult aspects of planning and executing a read-aloud is focusing in on a single purpose for your read aloud. You can re-read the same book many times for different purposes. Being clear about your purpose will help guide decisions such as which questions you will ask, what think alouds you will plan, and how often you will stop to engage students in the story.
4. Practice before class
Remember, one of the most important goals of a read-aloud is to model fluent reading. Yet, many teachers choose books to read aloud without practicing and as a result, mispronounce names or words, stumble, make mistakes, and are caught off guard by unexpected events in the story (Fisher, Flood, Lapp, & Frey, 2004). Use Post-it notes to plan questions, think alouds, and identify key vocabulary you want to define as you read (see Shedd & Duke, 2008 for additional tips on planning). Use a specific planning template related to your purpose ( phonics, vocabulary, comprehension). Find a partner to read with and get feedback before reading to your class. This will help ensure that you can read the book, not just with fluency, but also with animation and expression.

During the read-aloud, be sure to start by explicitly sharing the purpose with students. For example, "We are going to learn new words from our story. Good readers learn as many words as possible so they can understand the story. After we learn new words, you can use them when you speak and write"(Taylor, 2011, p. 36).
5. Make it interactive!
A good read-aloud is interactive. Involve students in the story by asking them the open-ended questions you prepared, modeling your thinking, asking them to identify letters or words they know, clapping or putting their thumbs up when they hear a special word or a rhyme. Provide quick definitions or synonyms of unfamiliar words that might get in the way of students' comprehending the story.

6. Extending the read aloud

After the read aloud, consider how you can build on this modeling as you release students to guided or independent practice. For example, if your focus was on vocabulary, re-read the pages in the book that had your focus words. Have students repeat the words and engage in examples and non-examples of that word beyond the context of the story. Have the students try to use these new words in their own writing in response to the text. Extending the read-aloud will help avoid what Fisher et al. refer to as "channel surfing...it's like watching a TV when you don't control the remote. Things are happening, but they switch rapidly and don't seem to relate to one another" (2004, p. 14).

As we prepare to celebrate World Read Aloud Day on February 1st, I hope these tips help you plan and execute your best read aloud yet!

Happy Reading!

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The Power of Read Alouds // How to Perform an Effective Interactive Read Aloud

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As a teacher, I have always loved reading aloud to my students, no matter what grade level I was teaching. I have done read alouds for second graders, middle schoolers, undergraduates, graduate students, and even principals. Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of our community and humanity.

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Using Effective Questions to Engage Students | Center for Teaching Innovation

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Questions can do more than measure what students know. Appropriately challenging, engaging, and effective questions stimulate peer discussion and encourage students to explore and refine their understanding of key concepts.

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The value of asking questions | Karen Maeyens | TEDxUFM

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Brain Breaks: The Science Behind it and the Benefits - TeachHUB

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Unlock the power of short breaks! Learn how brain breaks in your classroom can boost student focus, improve learning outcomes, and more.

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Peanut Butter in a Cup | Songs For Kids | Sing Along | GoNoodle

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We all want what's best for our children. But our idea of what is best for them might not always jibe with theirs. Often parents will give a nudge towards the decision they think is correct, trying to find that delicate balance between encouraging and pushing too hard.

But what is pushing too hard? At its best, getting kids to do things that are challenging for them will teach them grit and flexibility while also widening their world view - whether it's participating in sports, trying out for a play or engaging in a new social situation. But at its worst, pushing children too far can cause them to retreat inward, become resentful or develop even greater anxiety about trying new things. It can be difficult to determine how much parental pressure on children is healthy and when you should back off.

"I think that pushing our kids is a matter of getting them out of their comfort zone, and then pushing the zone to be further and further out," says Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the founding president of the Child Mind Institute. "We know that being able to tolerate discomfort is a wonderful life trait, and in addition to that, it makes them grittier and more resilient."

What we push kids to do depends on our judgment of what's in their best interest, Dr. Koplewicz notes. "That could include pushing them while they're in school to study harder, to do better academically. And we push them to try new things that we think will enrich their lives and make them feel good." We might also push children to do things in the hopes that it will give them a competitive advantage on future college applications and scholarship s.

Janine Domingues, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, adds that encouraging kids to power through a tough situation can bolster their confidence.

" I think it gives them a sense of confidence to know that if there is a challenging moment, as a parent you're helping them to problem solve it through as opposed to completely removing it or taking the problem away," Dr. Domingues explains. "A child really does feel accomplished and good about the fact that they were able to get through it."

The most important factor in knowing when and how much to push is thinking about your child's personality. "The first step is knowing your kiddo," says Dr. Domingues. Particularly when it comes to pushing them to do extracurricular activities, consider your child's strengths and interests, and have them be part of the conversation about what might be fun to do outside of school.

Perhaps you think they play too many video game s and want them to be more socially engaged or physically active. "But if they're not into sports, then pushing them into team sports may not be the best thing," advises Dr. Domingues. Other activities - like a coding club or cooking class - may be more appealing while still hitting some of the marks you are looking for in an activity.

If you are meeting resistance, then it might be time to examine your own motivations for pushing your kid in a certain direction, says Dr. Koplewicz. "Are we encouraging or pushing our kids because it's in their best interest, or is it something we're doing for ourselves?"

Often our own childhood experiences greatly impact how we parent. "I think most parents want their kids to avoid the mistakes they made," Dr. Koplewicz reflects. So if a parent thinks they would have been more successful if only they'd done better in school or participated in a sports, chances are they will push their kids in that direction.

Alternately, if parents have great memories of something from their youth they may try to push their kids to do the same thing, whether it's join the track team or write for the school newspaper. But as Dr. Domingues warns, "I always tell parents the things that motivate us might not necessarily motivate them."

When kids don't respond to gentle pressure, it's important to consider what might be standing in their way. Is there some reason why your child isn't engaging academically or socially? Is something inhibiting your kid's ability to adapt or try new things?

"Sometimes when pushing kids you bump into a real limitation. It can be an anxiety disorder, or a learning disability," explains Dr. Koplewicz. "There's a real barrier there. It's not that they don't want to do it. They would love to do it. It's just too hard and unless you remove the barrier, encouraging and cheerleading won't work."

For example, if your child is perfectly happy on the basketball court or going to school dances but won't participate in the classroom, Dr. Koplewicz says the issue probably isn't social anxiety. Instead they may be having trouble reading or processing information, so it may be worth a closer look.

Sometimes our expectations can become outsized, too. Parents who are very motivated by the idea of getting their children into college might already be thinking of signing up for the right extracurriculars and getting the right GPA when their children are still several years away from filling out an application. Being pushed for a goal so far in the future, and hearing about it for so much of their lives, can make kids feel inadequate and resentful. If you think that your child might be feeling too pressured, it is important to take a step back.

Children who are feeling overwhelmed or burned out might benefit from an approach that focuses more on the present. Praise successes and new skills for their own sake. If your daughter is playing soccer and taking piano, perhaps it will help her later in life, but she shouldn't think that is the only motivation. If your son is struggling in math and needs a tutor, get one by all means, but explain that your goal is to help him understand what he is being taught - not to get him into Harvard.

When trying new things, Drs. Koplewicz and Domingues agree it's especially important that kids are encouraged to see them through. So if they sign up for eight tap dancing lessons, they know they have to finish the eight, even if they decide after one that karate would have been more fun.

"You are also trying to teach your child that if you make a commitment it's good to stick to your commitment," says Dr. Domingues. "Just because something happened that you didn't like on the first day, or whatever the case is, doesn't mean that it's going to be completely ruined for the rest of the time. So you're also teaching them to be flexible with their thinking of how it's going."

That said, if a child who was enjoying an activity suddenly hates it, it could be a sign that something troubling happened. They may be experiencing bullying, have had an embarrassing social mishap, or may not feel supported by the teacher or coach. "You want to take the time to hear them out," says Dr. Domingues, "and explore the options with them."

Of course, Dr. Koplewicz points out, parents can misread a situation. "Sometimes you make a mistake and have to regroup. You can't beat yourself up afterwards." He recalls sending his son to sleepaway camp when he was seven years old and making him finish the seven weeks even though his son was unhappy. When the boy came home, he said he really wished they hadn't made him stay, and Dr. Koplewicz realized he hadn't been ready for camp. So they took the next summer off, and the following summer eased back in with a short program that he ended up loving. It all worked out in the end.

Pushing your child to do something doesn't mean throwing them into the deep end of a pool and hoping they swim. There are ways parents preview, scaffold and support to help ensure that their kids are successful in their endeavors.

If a child is apprehensive about joining a sports team, for example, Dr. Domingues suggests easing them in. So before it begins they can meet the coach, visit the place where practices will take place, talk to someone who is already on the team, and read a book or watch a movie about a sports team. "There's some legwork to be done upfront to make it doable and approachable," says Dr. Domingues, "but you're still pushing them or having the expectation that they can get through it even if they're anxious about it."

For many kids having a time limit may help - so saying we'll try this activity for four sessions and then we can reevaluate and see what you like and don't like about it.

A lot of it goes back to knowing your kid. If they aren't ready for a big commitment, try starting off small. Rather than a camp that lasts all summer, maybe start with one that is a week long, for example. This way, Dr. Domingues explains that "they get a taste of doing something and they're also potentially gaining the experience of feeling accomplished with it. A positive experience with it can then lend itself to being committed to something for a longer period of time."

Often, a rewards system can be effective for helping to motivate your child. Dr. Domingues explains, "For starters, we want them to be motivated to do it. But especially if they're dealing with something like anxiety or depression - something that makes it really challenging - then you want to set up outside extrinsic motivation first until they feel the success of it and it becomes intrinsically motivating for them." She suggests figuring out what excites your child and setting up a reward menu based on their interests. You can set up small, weekly rewards and a larger one that they have to work towards. It can be anything from screen time to a trip somewhere fun.

And for kids who are struggling with academic pressure - maybe they've already been diagnosed with a learning disability and are feeling worn out from going to tutoring and learning specialist appointments - make sure they are getting opportunities to feel good about their achievements. Goals should be small enough to be attainable and build up their confidence. Remember also that for children who are struggling, it is even more important for them to find an outlet for their emotions and to help boost their self-esteem.

Modeling grit and resilience can be effective as well. "Parents can say, this is hard but we can do this," notes Dr. Koplewicz. "I'm doing it. I'm reading a book that's hard. Mom is doing exercises that are hard. You can do this."

Of course, there is such a thing as pushing your child too hard. "If a kid becomes too distressed or shows dysfunction, you've gone too far," says Dr. Koplewicz. Maybe it's age-related. Maybe he's not in the right developmental stage.

For instance, if a child who's afraid of clowns wants to avoid going to a birthday party, you might push him to go, since we know that yielding to fears reinforces them. "But if he can't tolerate the clown no matter what you do, and he's crying the whole time he's at the party, then you have to declare success very quickly. You have to say okay, you did it for two minutes. I'm really proud of you. Next time it will be a little bit longer, but clearly it's too painful."

"I think there are definitely times when maybe you're pushing too hard," agrees Dr. Domingues. "If you really do see a complete mood change, if they're more irritable more days than not, if there's extreme tantrums about just going, or if the fighting to get them there is excessive or outweighs all the other things, then it might be time to reassess."

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When to Push Your Children - Child Mind Institute

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We want to push children to try new things and get outside their comfort zone, but what is pushing too hard? Advice on avoiding negative parental pressure.