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An overall awareness and understanding of how individual units of sound function in a language.

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Rhyming words are those words that have the same ending sounds. In classrooms, preschoolers and kindergarteners are made to play rhyming word games as part of their language-building skills. These games involve identifying rhyming words, forming sentences, matching words, and recognizing rhyming words' sounds - depending on the child's age and abilities.

Rhyming words are highly interactive because of the sing-song character they have. Rhyming games online are the perfect way to practice such words. Rhyming word games for kids help children form words, identify sounds and establish proper form and sequence in their speech and writing. These games also develop phonemic awareness, language development, and word and sound identification in the mind of the child.

Some other ELA games that you can explore are: reading games, writing games, letter tracing games, phonics games, sight words games, etc.

How Do We Introduce Rhyming to Kids?

Rhyming can be introduced to kids by explaining that rhyming words have similar sounds. For example: hat and cat, pot and hot, rock and block, etc. Children will begin to understand the similar ending sounds of such words. Rhyming word games for kids also enhances their phonological awareness. These games make learning and practicing rhyming words fun and easy.

How Can We Make Rhyming Fun for Kids?

Rhyming words online games can be used to make rhyming fun for kids. These games use engaging and interactive characters, fun audios, and colorful visuals that make practicing rhyming words a fun process.

How Do Games Help Children Better Understand Rhyming Words?

Rhyming games online help in improving children's language abilities that go a long way in building their confidence. These games enhance their reading prowess as well. Rhyming games for kids also develop oral language skills and help children to manipulate the language more creatively in their speech and writing.

Suggested Rhyming Words Worksheets

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Rhyming Games for Kids Online - SplashLearn

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Rhyming words are those words that have the same ending sounds. In classrooms, preschoolers and kindergarteners are made to play rhyming word games as part of their language-building skills. These games involve identifying rhyming words, forming sentences, matching words, and recognizing rhyming words' sounds - depending on the child's age and abilities.

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Instruction focuses on students being able to associate sounds with letters and
letter combinations. Ultimately, phonics skills allow students to be able to pronounce words
(decode) which may not be recognized at first
sight.

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Reading with accuracy, and an appropriate rate and with prosody.

Accuracy: Recognizing and decoding words correctly

Rate: The speed at which someone reads accurately

Prosody: Tone and rhythm when speaking/reading out loud

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Every word in a language that is used to communicate needs or thoughts

. Expressive: Language used to explain thinking. Used in writing or orally

. Receptive: Being able to process and comprehend what you are being told or what you are reading

Breadth: The variety and range of words that people know and use

Depth: The level of understanding and use of words

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The best approach to beginning reading instruction is one that incorporates explicit instruction in five areas: phonological awareness, systematic phonics instruction, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are known as the "5 Big Ideas" in beginning reading. While the research is clear on what to teach, figuring out how to teach these pieces can be challenging. This Educator's Toolkit provides practical ways to incorporate instruction in one of the 5 Big Ideas, systematic phonics instruction, within your classroom. Phonics instruction teaches the idea that letters, and groups of letters, match individual sounds in printed words. The ability to apply these predictable relationships to familiar and unfamiliar words is crucial to reading success. Systematic phonics instruction begins with teaching letter-sound correspondence and progresses to regular and irregular word reading.

Tips for Teaching Letter-Sound Correspondence

Letter-sound correspondence, or the relationship of the letters in the alphabet to the sounds they represent, is a key component of learning to read. To teach letter sound correspondence:

Work with a few sounds at a time by teaching each letter of the alphabet and its most common corresponding sound.

For each letter-sound relationship, instruction should include naming the letter or letters that represent the sound.

When introducing each letter-sound relationship in isolation (versus when reading connected text), associate a picture of an object with the target sound. Using picture cues helps students remember the relationship between the letter and the sound (for example, an image of a pig, the printed letter "p," and the teacher orally stating the sound for /p/).

Incorporating a short story that features the sound and has a picture of an object with the target sound and letter helps students remember the picture and the sound when they encounter the letter in print. For example, if students are learning the letter and sound for "p" with an image of a pig as the picture cue, the accompanying story may be "Polly Pig likes to eat pizza and play with her pals."

When teaching the relationship between each letter and its corresponding sound, introduce the letter in uppercase and lowercase.

Multiple practice opportunities with letter-sound relationships should be provided daily to teach new letter-sound relationships and to review letters and sounds previously taught.

Teachers often ask about the best order for teaching letter-sound correspondence. There is no specific agreed upon instructional sequence for introducing letter-sound relationships; however, relationships that enable students to begin reading words as quickly as possible should be introduced earliest in instruction. When teaching new letter-sound relationships:

Begin with letter-sound relationships of high utility (such as m, a, and s) so students can begin working with words as soon as possible.

Separate and stagger letter-sound relationships that are auditorily confusing (such as "b" and "v") or visually similar (such as "b" and "d") to promote mastery of one before introducing the confusing counterpart to students.

After students master sounds spelled with one letter, more complex letter-sound relationships such as "sh" for /sh/, "a_e" for /a/, and "igh" for /i/ can be introduced.

Regular Word Reading

Once students have learned a few letter-sound relationships, they can begin to read regular words containing the letters and sounds they have learned. Initially, students learn to decode words that follow phonetic rules and can be sounded out (e.g., cat, box, bet). Strategies for blending or reading words from left to right by linking each letter or group of letters to their sounds, can be taught to help students decode regular words. One such strategy is encouraging students to read words without stopping between sounds. Teachers can prompt students to "keep their motor running" (keep their voices on) as they say the sounds in a word to read it. After students have blended the sounds together to read the word, they should then read it the "fast way," or in a fluent voice without holding each sound. As students become more fluent, they should do the blending work in their heads without saying sounds aloud, and only read the word aloud in a quick, fluent voice.

Continuous and stop sounds contribute to the complexity of the blending task. Continuous sounds are sounds that can be held without being distorted (e.g., /n/, /s/ and /f/). Continuous sounds are easier to hold and blend together when students are first learning to blend sounds and read words. Stop sounds are made with quick puffs of air and cannot be held without becoming distorted (e.g., /b/, /p/, and /k/). Most students are successful with blending words containing both continuous and stop sounds, but some students may struggle with this.

To support the students who struggle, the following sequence explains the progression of blending from easiest (1) to most difficult (4):

Words that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern and contain all continuous sounds (e.g., man, run, rim, win);

Words that follow the CVC pattern with a stop sound at the end of the word (e.g., sap, mat, fit, lot);

Words that follow the CVC pattern with a stop sound at the beginning of the word (e.g., top, pan, big, ten);

Words that follow the consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant (CCVC) pattern with a blend at the beginning that includes a stop sound (e.g.; step, skit, spot, spun).

Using only words in one level and checking for student mastery before moving to the next level in the sequence will provide scaffolding for students who need additional support with blending sounds to read words.

Table 1: Sequence of Word Types for Blending

Words that Follow the CVC Spelling Pattern

Words that Follow the CCVC Spelling Pattern

All Continuous Sounds

Stop Sound at the End

Stop Sound at the Beginning

Beginning Blend Includes a Stop Sound

e. The lists above do not include all words for each level in the blending sequence, rather they are examples of some words for each level of the blending sequence. There are additional words that fit the spelling patterns and sound placements in the chart above that can be used in blending instruction. Words selected for blending instruction should be contingent upon the spelling pattern of the word (CVC/CCVC), type of sounds (stop and/or continuous) the word includes placement of those sounds within the word, letters-sound relationships students have learned, and the students' current level of knowledge within the blending sequence.

After students have mastered blending words that follow CVC and CCVC spelling patterns, words with more advanced spelling patterns, such as vowel-consonant-silent e (e.g., "a_e," "o_e") and vowel sounds spelled with more than one letter (e.g., "ai," "igh"), can be introduced. As more complex spelling patterns and words are learned, teach students to recognize the vowel pattern and corresponding sound in the word to assist with decoding the word.

Word-Building Activities

To build awareness of how letters and their sounds are connected to spelling and pronunciation, word-building activities such as word ladders (Figure 1.1) and sound boxes (Figure 1.2) should be integrated into literacy instruction. Begin with words that contain simple patterns such as VC (e.g., am) and CVC spelling patterns. After students master simple spelling patterns, gradually incorporate more advanced words as students learn more advanced spelling patterns (e.g., vowel- consonant-silent e, vowel patterns spelled with more than one letter).

When students receive systematic phonics instruction and can apply what they know about letter- sound correspondence to translate printed letters and letter combinations into the sounds they represent, they are able to accurately read a vast number of words, including words they have never encountered in text.

Figure 1.1

The instructor reads the words to the right of the ladder, starting at the bottom and working up to the top of the ladder. Students can complete this activity by using letter tiles or by writing the appropriate letters in the blanks.

Figure 1.2

Sound boxes can be used when students are learning words with two or three sounds using a set of boxes that matches the number of sounds in the word. If students do not yet know letter-sound relationships, disks can be used for this activity (see example a). Once students know letter-sound relationships, they can use letter tiles for this activity (see example b).

Tell students a word. Then have students repeat the word slowly as they pull a disk or letter tile into each box while saying the sounds in the word. After students have placed the disks or letter tiles in the boxes, have students slide their finger across the arrow under the set of boxes to read the word as a whole unit.

Suggested Citation

National Center on Improving Literacy. (2023). The Educator's science of reading toolbox: How to use systematic phonics instruction in your classroom. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from http://improvingliteracy.org.

References

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Abstract

This Educator's Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate instruction in systematic phonics instruction within your classroom.

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The Educator's Science of Reading Toolbox: How to Use Systematic Phonics Instruction in Your Classroom

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The best approach to beginning reading instruction is one that incorporates explicit instruction in five areas: phonological awareness, systematic phonics instruction, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are known as the "5 Big Ideas" in beginning reading. While the research is clear on what to teach, figuring out how to teach these pieces can be challenging.

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Even when students recognize many words automatically, their oral reading still may be expressionless, not fluent. To read with expression, readers must be able to divide the text into meaningful chunks. Readers must know to pause appropriately within and at the ends of sentences and when to change emphasis and tone. For example, a reader who lacks fluency may read, probably in a monotone, a line from Bill Martin Jr's Brown Bear, Brown Bear as if it were a list of words rather than a connected text, pausing at inappropriate places:

A fluent reader will read the same line as:

Brown bear/
Brown bear/
What do you see?/

The difference between fluency and automaticity

Although they terms automaticity and fluency often are used interchangeably, they are not the same thing.

Automaticity is the fast, effortless word recognition that comes with a great deal of reading practice. In the early stages of learning to read, readers may be accurate but slow and inefficient at recognizing words. Continued reading practice helps word recognition become more automatic, rapid, and effortless.

Automaticity refers only to accurate, speedy word recognition, not to reading with expression. Therefore, automaticity (or automatic word recognition) is necessary, but not sufficient, for fluency.

Fluency instruction

Fluency is not a stage of development at which readers can read all words quickly and easily. Fluency changes, depending on what readers are reading, their familiarity with the words, and the amount of their practice with reading text. Even very skilled readers may read in a slow, labored manner when reading texts with many unfamiliar words or topics. For example, readers who are usually fluent may not be able to read technical material fluently, such as a textbook about nuclear physics or an article in a medical journal.

It is important to note that fluency instruction should be with a text that a student can read at their independent level. It is at this level where students are able to practice on speed and expression rather than decoding. The chart below describes each reading level:

Independent Level

Relatively easy for the student to read (95% word accuracy).

Instructional Level

Challenging but manageable for the reader (90% word accuracy).

Frustration Level

Difficult text for the student to read (less than 90% word accuracy).

In an effort to help teachers gain knowledge on fluency instruction, researchers have investigated two major instructional approaches related to fluency. In the first approach, repeated and monitored oral reading (commonly called "repeated reading"), students read passages aloud several times and receive guidance and feedback from the teacher. In the second approach, independent silent reading, students are encouraged to read extensively on their own.

Repeated and monitored oral reading

Repeated and monitored oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement.

Students who read and reread passages orally as they receive guidance and/or feedback become better readers. Repeated oral reading substantially improves word recognition, speed, and accuracy as well as fluency. To a lesser but still considerable extent, repeated oral reading also improves reading comprehension. Repeated oral reading improves the reading ability of all students throughout the elementary school years. It also helps struggling readers at higher grade levels.

Traditionally, many teachers have relied primarily on round-robin reading to develop oral fluency. In round-robin reading, students take turns reading parts of a text aloud (though usually not repeatedly). But round-robin reading in itself does not increase fluency. This may be because students only read small amounts of text, and they usually read this small portion only once.

Researchers have found several effective techniques related to repeated oral reading:

students read and reread a text a certain number of times or until a certain level of fluency is reached. Four re-readings are sufficient for most students.

oral reading practice is increased through the use of audiotapes, tutors, peer guidance, or other means.

In addition, some effective repeated oral reading techniques have carefully designed feedback to guide the reader's performance.

Silent, independent reading

No research evidence is available currently to confirm that instructional time spent on silent, independent reading with minimal guidance and feedback improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement.

One of the major differences between good and poor readers is the amount of time they spend reading. Many studies have found a strong relationship between reading ability and how much a student reads. On the basis of this evidence, teachers have long been encouraged to promote voluntary reading in the classroom. Teacher-education and reading-education literature often recommends in-class procedures for encouraging students to read on their own, such as Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) or Drop Everything and Read (DEAR).

Research, however, has not yet confirmed whether independent silent reading with minimal guidance or feedback improves reading achievement and fluency. The research suggests that direct instruction in reading is the best predictor of reading achievement. However, it is important for students to be given time to apply their reading skills through silent reading with a book at their independent level (read with 95% word accuracy).

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Fluency develops gradually over time and through practice. At the earliest stage of reading development, students' oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" - to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

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The best approach to beginning reading instruction for students with or at risk for literacy-related disabilities incorporates explicit instruction in five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are known as the "5 Big Ideas" in beginning reading. While the research is clear on what to teach, knowing how to teach these pieces can be challenging. To start, there is overwhelming evidence that in order to maximize struggling readers' meaningful access to the 5 Big Ideas in the reading curriculum, teachers must provide systematic and explicit instruction in each area (Gersten et al., 2009).

Instruction that is vague and ambiguous may prove to be confusing to struggling readers. Providing explicit instruction in each of the 5 Big Ideas ensures equitable access for the range of learners in our classrooms. Put another way, not providing struggling readers explicit instructional supports to access the curriculum is unjust and inequitable (Fien, Chard, & Baker, 2021). This Educator's Toolbox provides practical ways to incorporate explicit vocabulary instruction within your classroom to ensure your vocabulary lessons are accessible to all learners.

What Is Vocabulary and Why Is It Important?

Vocabulary refers to the words we must know in order to comprehend and communicate effectively. In general, vocabulary can be described as either oral vocabulary or reading vocabulary. Oral vocabulary refers to words that we use in speaking or recognize when listening. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or use in print. The primary way that students develop a robust vocabulary is through wide and independent reading (Stanovich, 1986). However, we must also teach students vocabulary before they learn to read, and we must continue to explicitly teach vocabulary to students who struggle to learn to read in the early grades (Beck & McKeown, 2007).

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. Instruction and intervention in language- based skills, including language, vocabulary, and listening comprehension, should start at the very beginning of preschool and continue throughout the early elementary grades. This instruction is often a part of oral language activities in the early grades because emerging readers have a much more difficult time reading words that are not already part of their oral vocabulary (Fien et al., 2011). Vocabulary is also important for reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean. As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

How Do Students Learn Vocabulary?

Vocabulary learning occurs in different ways (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006). Children learn the meanings of most words incidentally, through everyday experiences with oral and written language. This indirect learning occurs in three ways: by engaging in conversations with other people-especially adults, by listening to others read to them, and by reading extensively on their own.

Although a great deal of vocabulary is learned indirectly, some vocabulary is also learned through direct, explicit instruction. Explicit vocabulary instruction helps students learn difficult words, such as words that represent complex concepts that are not part of the students' everyday experiences (Beck et al, 2002). Explicit vocabulary instruction relevant to a given text leads to better reading and listening comprehension (Fien et al., 2011; Marulis & Neuman, 2013). Students learn vocabulary directly when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies. A variety of direct and indirect methods of vocabulary instruction should occur in classrooms. This Educator's Toolbox focuses on one type of vocabulary instruction called specific word instruction.

Specific Word Instruction

Specific word instruction is the teaching of individual words. It can deepen knowledge of word meanings and help students understand what they are hearing or reading. It also can help them use words accurately in speaking and writing. Specific word instruction should occur before, during, and after reading. Before students read a text, it is helpful to teach them specific words they will encounter (Baker, Fien, & Baker, 2010). Teaching important vocabulary before reading can help students both learn new words and comprehend the text.

During reading, students should be provided with specific word instruction that allows them to actively engage with the words (Baker et al., 2013). The more students use new words in different contexts, the more likely they are to learn and retain the words (Santoro et al., 2016).

Infographic

This infographic illustrates how vocabulary can be introduced both before and during reading to help students identify real-life connections between a vocabulary word and how the word is used in a variety of semantic contexts, such as categories of words (e.g., do words, feel words).

Click to Enlarge

Steps of Specific Word Instruction

There are four steps to providing specific word instruction in the classroom.

Step 1: Select the Word

You won't be able to directly teach your students all of the words in a text that they might not already know. You should aim to thoroughly teach perhaps eight to ten new words per week, so you need to choose these carefully.

How should you choose vocabulary words to use for specific word instruction? If you are using a core program, you will first want to look at the vocabulary selections provided in the program and evaluate them for their utility and complexity. You will want to select the words that are Tier II words, or words that are likely to appear frequently in a wide variety of texts and in written and oral language (Beck & McKeown, 2004). Ask yourself these questions when choosing vocabulary words:

Is this word important for understanding a concept or the text?

Is this word useful for students to learn? Are students likely to see and use the word often across different contexts?

Is this word difficult for most of your students? Some types of words may be particularly difficult for students to learn, including words with multiple meanings and idiomatic expressions.

Flag the words from your core program's vocabulary list that you will use for specific word instruction. Next, look for additional words in the text you are using. Are there other words that are important, useful, or difficult? Flag any additional words that you will use for specific word instruction.

Step 2: Provide a Student-Friendly Definition

You will want to provide a student-friendly definition of each vocabulary word. For example, when explicitly teaching the meaning of the word gigantic, a student-friendly definition would be, "The word gigantic means very big."

Step 3: Illustrate the Word

It is important to illustrate the word with examples and non-examples to provide multiple contexts for the word. You can illustrate vocabulary words in different ways:

draw pictures

act out the word

write novel sentences using the word

share sentences from read-aloud texts containing the vocabulary word

share sentences from student texts containing the vocabulary word

Visual presentations of words are very powerful for students. For example, posting each vocabulary word in a classroom with a student-friendly definition and an anchor picture (a picture of the word that serves as a representation of that word) is an excellent way to help students reference previously learned words. Picture sorting can also be used to support vocabulary development (Diamond, L. & Gutlohn, 2006). For example, students can sort vocabulary picture cards to gain a sense of how words and concepts either relate or don't relate to one another.

Step 4: Check Student Understanding

Finally, check students' understanding of each vocabulary word taught. Ask the students questions that will prompt answers that demonstrate complete understanding of the use of the vocabulary word or its meaning. Ask students to generate examples or nonexamples to show that they understand the correct use of the vocabulary word. In addition, ask students to generate a sentence that includes the vocabulary word (Coyne et al., 2010).

Sample Vocabulary Routine

The following is an example of an instructional routine for specific word instruction (Center on Teaching and Learning, University of Oregon, 2013; Fien et al., 2015). In this sample, bold text provides teachers with the specific language of the instructional routine, including introducing the task ("You're going to learn the meaning of new vocabulary words..."), reading and defining the word for the students ("This word is..."), distributing practice to students ("What word?"), and conducting checks for understanding. The routine also provides specific information for the teacher about how to provide examples and correct student errors. As you gauge students' understanding, provide consistent and specific feedback to support their learning.

Vocabulary: Specific Word Routine

Materials: Vocabulary words with student-friendly definition to display for all students to see (e.g., written on cards, chart paper, sentence strips, displayed on white board and so forth).

Explain: You're going to learn the meaning of new vocabulary words, and you will practice using those words in sentences.

Practice for students only: Use the routine for each vocabulary word. *Have students sitting by their talk partners. Your turn.

*Routine for each vocabulary word

1. This word is [vocabulary word]. Introduce the new vocabulary word.

2. What word? Have the students repeat the vocabulary word.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for difficult-to-pronounce words.

4. [Vocabulary word] means [student-friendly definition]. Tell students the student-friendly definition for the word. Have students repeat the student-friendly definition with you (as you point to the words).

5. What word? Have the student repeat the vocabulary word again.

6. Provide Examples of the vocabulary word that will help your students understand the word. Here are some options:

Pictures

Acting out the word

Novel sentences using the word

Sentences from read-aloud texts containing the vocabulary word

Sentences from student texts that contain the vocabulary word

7. Check for understanding by asking students questions where they will have to use the vocabulary word correctly in their answers. Choose one to two of these options for the vocabulary word. Provide a sentence frame for student responses. For example:

Ask the students questions that will prompt a complete understanding of the use of the vocabulary word or its meaning.

Ask students to generate examples or nonexamples to show that they understand the correct use of the vocabulary word.

8. Ask students to say a sentence that uses the vocabulary word. Use steps 1 through 7 for each vocabulary word.

Correcting Student Errors

My turn. [Vocabulary word] means [student-friendly definition].

Provide necessary scaffolds to guide the student to develop a sentence that is the correct use of the vocabulary word.

If the student is still struggling or nonresponsive, give them a sentence example and have them repeat it. Use a lot of positive reinforcement to encourage the student to take risks when trying to use vocabulary.

Make sure the student uses the sentence frame and answers in a complete sentence.

Adapted From Enhanced Core Reading Instruction © 2013 by The Center on Teaching and Learning

Summary

Vocabulary plays a critical piece in both learning to read and comprehending what we read. Readers must know what most of the words mean in a text before they can understand what they are reading. Vocabulary can be developed incidentally when students engage daily in oral language, listen to others read to them, and read extensively on their own. However, some vocabulary words need to be taught directly. Specific word instruction is one way to explicitly teach individual vocabulary words that are important, useful, and difficult for students to learn. It also provides equitable access to the reading curriculum for our most vulnerable children.

Suggested Citation

National Center on Improving Literacy. (2023). The Educator's science of reading toolbox: Explicit vocabulary instruction to build equitable access for all learners. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from http://improvingliteracy.org.

References

Baker, S. K., Fien, H., & Baker, D. L. (2010). Robust reading instruction in the early grades: Conceptual and practical issues in the integration and evaluation of tier 1 and tier 2 instructional supports. Focus on Exceptional Children, 42(9), 1-20.

Baker, S. K., Santoro, L. E., Chard, D. J., Fien, H., Park, Y., & Otterstedt, J. (2013). An evaluation of an explicit read aloud intervention taught in whole-classroom formats in first grade. Elementary School Journal, 113, 331-358. https://doi.org/10.1086/668503

Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2004). Elements of reading vocabulary. Steck-Vaughn.

Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2007). Increasing young low-income children's oral vocabulary repertoires through rich and focused instruction. Elementary School Journal, 107, 251-271.

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. Guilford.

Coyne, M. D., McCoach, D., Loftus, S., Zipoli, R., Ruby, M., Crevecoeur, Y., & Kapp, S. (2010). Direct and extended vocabulary instruction in kindergarten: Investigating transfer effects. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 3, 93-120.

Diamond, L. & Gutlohn, L. (2006). Vocabulary handbook. Consortium on Reading Excellence, Inc. (CORE).

Fien, H., Santoro, L., Baker, S. K., Park, Y., Chard, D. J., Williams, S., & Haria, P. (2011). Enhancing teacher read alouds with small-group vocabulary instruction for students with low vocabulary in first-grade classrooms. School Psychology Review, 40, 307-318.

Fien, H., Smith, J. L. M., Smolkowski, K., Baker, S. K., Nelson, N. J., & Chaparro, E. A. (2015). An examination of the efficacy of a multitiered intervention on early reading outcomes for first- grade students at risk for reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(6), 602-621. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414521664

Fien, H., Chard, D., & Baker, S. K. (2021). Can the evidence revolution and multi-tiered systems of support improve education equity and reading achievement? Reading Research Quarterly.

Gersten, R. M., Compton, D., Connor, C. M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., & Tilly, W. D. (2009). Assisting students struggling with reading: Response to intervention and multi-tier intervention for reading in the primary grades: A practice guide (NCE 2009- 4045). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/

Marulis, L.M. & Neuman, S.B. (2013). How vocabulary interventions affect young children at risk: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 6(3), 223- 262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2012.755591

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Santoro, L.E., Baker, S.K., Fien, H., Smith, J.M., & Chard, D.J. (2016). TEACHING Exceptional Children, 48(6), 282-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059916650634

Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 360-407. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.21.4.1 University of Oregon. (2013). Enhanced core reading instruction. Center on Teaching and Learning.

Abstract

This Educator's Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate explicit vocabulary instruction within your classroom to ensure your vocabulary lessons are accessible to all learners

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The Educator's Science of Reading Toolbox: Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Build Equitable Access for All Learners

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The best approach to beginning reading instruction for students with or at risk for literacy-related disabilities incorporates explicit instruction in five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are known as the "5 Big Ideas" in beginning reading.

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Comprehension: The Goal of Reading

Comprehension, or extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading. Experienced readers take this for granted and may not appreciate the reading comprehension skills required. The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively reading text, readers must analyze it, internalize it and make it their own.

In order to read with comprehension, developing readers must be able to read with some proficiency and then receive explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies (Tierney, 1982).

​ Strategies for reading comprehension in Read Naturally programs

​General Strategies for Reading Comprehension

The process of comprehending text begins before children can read, when someone reads a picture book to them. They listen to the words, see the pictures in the book, and may start to associate the words on the page with the words they are hearing and the ideas they represent.

In order to learn comprehension strategies, students need modeling, practice, and feedback. The key comprehension strategies are described below.

Using Prior Knowledge/Previewing

When students preview text, they tap into what they already know that will help them to understand the text they are about to read. This provides a framework for any new information they read.

Predicting

When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information.

Identifying the Main Idea and Summarization

Identifying the main idea and summarizing requires that students determine what is important and then put it in their own words. Implicit in this process is trying to understand the author's purpose in writing the text.

Questioning

Asking and answering questions about text is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning of text. Teachers can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for finding the answers in the text.

Making Inferences

In order to make inferences about something that is not explicitly stated in the text, students must learn to draw on prior knowledge and recognize clues in the text itself.

Visualizing

Studies have shown that students who visualize while reading have better recall than those who do not (Pressley, 1977). Readers can take advantage of illustrations that are embedded in the text or create their own mental images or drawings when reading text without illustrations.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Narrative Text

Narrative text tells a story, either a true story or a fictional story. There are a number of strategies that will help students understand narrative text.

Story Maps

Teachers can have students diagram the story grammar of the text to raise their awareness of the elements the author uses to construct the story. Story grammar includes:

Setting: When and where the story takes place (which can change over the course of the story).

Characters: The people or animals in the story, including the protagonist (main character), whose motivations and actions drive the story.

Plot: The story line, which typically includes one or more problems or conflicts that the protagonist must address and ultimately resolve.

Theme: The overriding lesson or main idea that the author wants readers to glean from the story. It could be explicitly stated as in Aesop's Fables or inferred by the reader (more common).

​ Printable story map (blank)

Retelling

Asking students to retell a story in their own words forces them to analyze the content to determine what is important. Teachers can encourage students to go beyond literally recounting the story to drawing their own conclusions about it.

Prediction

Teachers can ask readers to make a prediction about a story based on the title and any other clues that are available, such as illustrations. Teachers can later ask students to find text that supports or contradicts their predictions.

Answering Comprehension Questions

Asking students different types of questions requires that they find the answers in different ways, for example, by finding literal answers in the text itself or by drawing on prior knowledge and then inferring answers based on clues in the text.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Expository Text

Expository text explains facts and concepts in order to inform, persuade, or explain.

The Structure of Expository Text

Expository text is typically structured with visual cues such as headings and subheadings that provide clear cues as to the structure of the information. The first sentence in a paragraph is also typically a topic sentence that clearly states what the paragraph is about.

Expository text also often uses one of five common text structures as an organizing principle:

Cause and effect

Problem and solution

Compare and contrast

Description

Time order (sequence of events, actions, or steps)

Teaching these structures can help students recognize relationships between ideas and the overall intent of the text.

Main Idea/Summarization

A summary briefly captures the main idea of the text and the key details that support the main idea. Students must understand the text in order to write a good summary that is more than a repetition of the text itself.

​K-W-L

There are three steps in the K-W-L process (Ogle, 1986):

1. What I Know: Before students read the text, ask them as a group to identify what they already know about the topic. Students write this list in the "K" column of their K-W-L forms.

2. What I Want to Know: Ask students to write questions about what they want to learn from reading the text in the "W" column of their K-W-L forms. For example, students may wonder if some of the "facts" offered in the "K" column are true.

3. What I Learned: As they read the text, students should look for answers to the questions listed in the "W" column and write their answers in the "L" column along with anything else they learn.

After all of the students have read the text, the teacher leads a discussion of the questions and answers.

Printable K-W-L chart (blank)

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers provide visual representations of the concepts in expository text. Representing ideas and relationships graphically can help students understand and remember them. Examples of graphic organizers are:
Tree diagrams that represent categories and hierarchies Tables that compare and contrast data Time-driven diagrams that represent the order of events Flowcharts that represent the steps of a process​
​

Teaching students how to develop and construct graphic organizers will require some modeling, guidance, and feedback. Teachers should demonstrate the process with examples first before students practice doing it on their own with teacher guidance and eventually work independently.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension in Read Naturally Programs

Several Read Naturally programs include strategies that support comprehension:

Read Naturally Intervention Program

Strategies for Reading Comprehension

Prediction Step

Retelling Step

Quiz / Comprehension Questions

Graphic Organizers

One Minute Reader Live:
A component of web-based Read Live for supplemental, independent reading that develops fluency with support for vocabulary and comprehension.

Take Aim at Vocabulary: A print-based program with audio CDs that teaches carefully selected target words and strategies for independently learning unknown words. Students work mostly independently or in teacher-led small groups of up to six students.

Main idea

Literal

Vocabulary

Inference

Vocabulary: Clarify target words

Vocabulary: Study word parts and review target words

Vocabulary: Apply the target words

Bibliography

Honig, B., L. Diamond, and L. Gutlohn. (2013). Teaching reading sourcebook, 2nd ed. Novato, CA: Arena Press.

Ogle, D. M. (1986). K-W-L: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text. The Reading Teacher 38(6), pp. 564-570.

Pressley, M. (1977). Imagery and children's learning: Putting the picture in developmental perspective. Review of Educational Research 47, pp. 586-622.

Tierney, R. J. (1982). Essential considerations for developing basic reading comprehension skills. School Psychology Review 11(3), pp. 299-305.

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To improve comprehension, students must have some reading proficiency and receive explicit instruction in skills and strategies for reading comprehension.

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Great Vocabulary Games, Apps, and Sites is a list of 19 apps, games, and websites curated by Common Sense Education editors.