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Answered by Nathalie Paquet-Bélanger
Learning disabilities (LDs) manifest in a number of different ways and with varying degrees of severity. For this reason, the following five tips may not apply to all students with LDs, however, they will have a positive impact on reading and writing acquisition for the majority of students.
Tip No. 1: Making Learning Accessible
Learning must be made accessible for intermediate students with LDs. An intermediate student with reading LDs may read fewer than 100 words per minute, whereas the average student reads around 150 words per minute. Such a student may have persistent difficulty in identifying certain words. When students are asked to work on non-specific processing skills (e.g. summarizing, making inferences, making connections, etc.) using long written texts, students with LDs may immediately be at a disadvantage and often lack the time to complete the task.

In order to make learning more accessible for students with LDs, educators can:

Suggest that instead of a written text, a student use another medium for working on these skills, such as listening to a story being read aloud or watching a video;

Encourage students to work in pairs;

Encourage the use of assistive technology such as text-to-voice applications.

By offering various media from which to learn, instead of using written texts exclusively, educators can avoid creating obstacles to school success for students with LDs.
Click here to access an article on the LD@school website entitled, "Assistive Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities: Information, Tools and Resources for Teachers", written by Cindy Perras. Tip No. 2: Strategies to Assist with Writing Tasks
According to Diane Wagner, LD@school expert, writing involves juggling many skills at the same time: grammar, spelling, letter formation, vocabulary, punctuation, capitalization, content, and following the directions of educators. All of these skills must be automatic for writing to be effective. As students move through to intermediate levels of schooling and beyond, the challenges relating to writing continue to increase; students become more involved in story writing, editing, research, note taking, and test/exam writing.

Students with LDs may experience writing difficulties related to handwriting (graphomotor difficulties) and/or written expression. It is important for educators to recognize where the breakdown in written language occurs, and to utilize appropriate and compensatory strategies.
Click here to access an article on the LD@school website, "Strategies to Assist Students with Writing Difficulties", written by Diane Wagner. Click here to read an article on the LD@school website entitled, "Explicit Instruction: A Teaching Strategy in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics for Students with Learning Disabilities", written by Jean Roger Alphonse and Raymond Leblanc. Tip No. 3: Strategies to Assist with Spelling
Students with LDs often have persistent difficulty with spelling. Both French and English languages are complex; spelling is not always consistent nor is it always contextual. According to Jeffrey MacCormack and Nancy Hutchison, there are several strategies that have been found to be particularly effective for students with LDs, including:

Technology to instruct (e.g. spelling software)

Technology to compensate (e.g. spell-check)

Multi-sensory training (e.g. computerized spelling toys, Speak and Spell)

Study and word practice

Explicit teaching of spelling rules

Click here to access an article on the LD@school website entitled, "Effective Spelling Programs for Students with LDs", written by Jeffrey MacCormack and Nancy Hutchison. Tip No. 4: Encourage Students to be Active Readers
Students with LDs have difficulty reading for a variety of reasons. For example, they may read too slowly, they may make frequent comprehension errors, they may have difficulty paying attention, or they may lack the motivation to read. Reading silently, on their own, struggling students do not have an opportunity to develop complex skills.

Fortunately, many practices are easy to use in an intermediate classroom:

Have students read a story in groups, in which each student "plays" a character; this will make reading more interesting and help the students to more fully understand the markers of dialogue;

Have students create a graphic organizer with the characters in the story and the connections between them. This will encourage students to take good notes and support reading comprehension.

Set the scene ahead of time, talking about the author and what he or she intended. This will spark the students' interest, ensure that they all have the same knowledge going into the task, and enable them to understand the issues.

Caution students about any challenges they may encounter with the story, such as the use of flashbacks, long descriptive passages or a large cast of characters. This will keep struggling readers from tuning out, thinking that they are the only ones who find the story challenging.

Click here to access an article on the LD@school website on the use of graphic organizers, written by Nicole Lauzon. Tip No. 5: Teach Reading Strategies
At the intermediate level, students are introduced to more varied and complex texts. The importance of reading strategies may not have been apparent to struggling readers earlier on, when the texts to which they were exposed were simpler. Educators can model strategies to understand what is being read before, during, and after reading and adapt these strategies to the type of text being read. By simply using effective reading strategies to support understanding, one can greatly impact school results.
Click here to visit the LD@school website and read a success story about a student with reading and writing disabilities.
Do you have a question about LDs? Click here to ask our experts!
Nathalie Paquet-Bélanger is the French Learning Disabilities Consultant of the LD@school team. She is completing a Masters degree in education science at the University of Quebec at Rimouski. She holds a bachelor degree in special education from the same university and a certificate in ICT integration in education (TELUQ). She is also a sessional instructor for the integration of ICT in education at the UQAR. Her current position is special teacher at the Charlesbourg Public Secondary School where she enjoys working with teenagers and a diversity of learning difficulties. Nathalie is glad to bring her contribution and expertise to the LD@school team and to network with teachers sharing the same passion for the success of students with learning disabilities.

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What strategies can be used for teaching reading and writing to intermediate age students with LDs?

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Answered by Nathalie Paquet-Bélanger Learning disabilities (LDs) manifest in a number of different ways and with varying degrees of severity. For this reason, the following five tips may not apply to all students with LDs, however, they will have a positive impact on reading and writing acquisition for the majority of students.

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The literacy at home page also has many resources about nourishing your child's reading skills, figuring out how to support from home and activities to practice with.

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Discover how to support your child’s growth as a young reader and writer. Here you’ll find our Reading 101 for Families guide, bilingual parent tips, ideas for building your child’s knowledge about the world, Q&A with experts, guidance on how to help a child who struggles, and ways to connect with y…

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touches on print awareness, phonemic awareness, decoding etc. As a JI Teacher I would probably direct parents to the fluency, vocabulary as well as comprehension guides.

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It's not an easy thing, learning to read and write. Discover what it takes to build important literacy skills, and how you can help your children grow as readers, writers, and thinkers!

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Science of Reading: A 3-Part Leadership Webinar Series

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From building comprehensive literacy plans to in-depth teacher training initiatives, these actionable conversations feature district leaders who have been there and have insights to share. Explore strategies and tips to help you create a culture of literacy excellence in your district.

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include resources that break down what the science of reading is, including the 5 pillars of reading instruction, the simple view of reading instruction, Scarborough's Reading Rope. The website

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5/10/2023

Every day in the U.S., school district leaders are coming to the realization that the way we've been teaching reading needs to change. According to the Nations Report Card (NAEP), only 33% of fourth-grade students and 31% of eighth-grade students performed at or above Proficient in reading in 2022. While this is the case, 95% of students are capable of learning to read proficiently when taught with a curriculum based on the science of reading.

As a result, during the last two years, almost 20 states have made moves to scrap literacy curricula in favor of those based on the evidence of the science of reading, with California, Ohio, and Georgia being the most recent to join the movement. While it is true that many states are developing their curriculum to align with the science of reading, implementing the science of reading can be complex.

Breaking down the science of reading into a set of components might seem like the most logical way to begin understanding it, but this actually reflects a misunderstanding of the science of reading at the highest level. There are no components to the science of reading, simply because it is not an approach or philosophy. Instead, the phrase "science of reading" represents decades of gold-standard research that shows us the science behind how the human brain learns to read.

What many people think of as the components of the science of reading are the skills and instructional methods that have been proven effective in teaching reading. Skills like decoding are a key component in literacy, and the science of reading is the body of research that proves the importance of explicitly teaching such skills.

In this article, we look at how the body of research that makes up the science of reading can be more easily understood through the following four frameworks and models, which are all interconnected:

The five pillars of reading instruction

Scarborough's Reading Rope

The Simple View of Reading

Structured Literacy

These approaches each have their own components and concepts to help us understand how we learn to read. When educators have a complete understanding of these instructional frameworks and models, they are able to effectively implement evidence-based practices in their classroom and help all of their students find reading success.

What are the Five Pillars of Reading Instruction?

The five pillars of reading instruction, also known as the five pillars of early literacy, are a set of key components developed by the National Reading Panel essential for reading proficiency. They include phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Each component plays a crucial role in developing strong reading skills, and educators who understand and effectively teach these pillars are increasing the chances their students learn how to read proficiently.

Research in cognitive psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience has provided a wealth of evidence-based strategies and practices for developing each of the five pillars of reading. Understanding the science behind these pillars can help educators design effective instruction that supports students in becoming strong readers. In the following sections, we'll dive deeper into each of the pillar components and explore how the science of reading informs our understanding of each one.

1. Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify, manipulate, and distinguish individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. It involves understanding that words are made up of separate sounds and being able to hear, blend, segment, and manipulate those sounds. Research has shown phonemic awareness instruction is most effective when students are taught to manipulate phonemes with letters, when it explicitly focuses on one or two types of phoneme manipulations (rather than multiple), and when students are taught in small groups.

2. Phonics

Phonics refers to the relationship between letters and sounds in language. It involves understanding how letters represent sounds and using that knowledge to decode written words during reading and encode words during writing. Many people have the misconception the science of reading is solely based on phonics, but phonics is just one piece of a very large and complex puzzle. Research shows systematic phonics instruction "provides beginning readers, at-risk readers, disabled readers, and low-achieving readers" with a higher chance of learning how to read proficiently in comparison to other forms of instruction.

3. Fluency

Fluency refers to the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression. It involves automaticity in word recognition, comprehension, and prosody. This study shows students with strong oral fluency skills are more likely to succeed in other areas of the literacy acquisition process. This is because fluency serves as a bridge between being able to read or decode words and being able to comprehend what is being read.

4. Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the words students must know to communicate effectively through reading and writing. It includes understanding the meaning of words, as well as how words are used in different contexts.

5. Comprehension

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand and make meaning from what has been read. It involves using background knowledge, decoding skills, vocabulary, and critical thinking strategies to construct meaning from text. Reading comprehension itself is the application of multiple skill components, and can be seen as the main goal of reading. The skills needed for reading comprehension can be broken down with the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough's Reading Rope.

The Simple View of Reading & Scarborough's Reading Rope explained

Scarborough's Reading Rope and the Simple View of Reading are two widely recognized models that explain the complex process of reading. While both models are similar in that they identify different components that contribute to reading proficiency, they differ in the way they conceptualize and prioritize these components. Both of these models are foundational ways of understanding the science of reading research explaining how the human brain learns to read.

The Simple View of Reading (SVR)

According to Gough and Tumner's (1986) Simple View of Reading (SVR), reading comprehension is conceptualized through the combination of two skills: word recognition and language comprehension. The model is represented as a multiplication equation, showing that neither of these concepts is sufficient on its own-a lack of understanding of one concept could lead to overall reading failure. This is why it is so important for students to develop both alongside each other.
Decoding (Word Recognition) x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension
In the SVR, decoding is comprised of the skill components: phonology, orthography and morphology. Language comprehension is comprised of the components of syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse. Struggling with any one of these subcomponents can lead to overall reading comprehension struggles.

Scarborough's Reading Rope

With a slightly different skill component breakdown, Scarborough's Reading Rope offers a visual of the different components that need to be woven together for skilled reading. These strands are separated into two categories: word recognition and language comprehension. These two sections (the same main components represented in the SVR) are further broken down into smaller "strands" that represent the different skills that go into each category. All of these strands are critical for skilled reading and are dependent upon one another.

Word Recognition is a combination of:

Phonological awareness

Decoding

Sight recognition

Of these three, decoding is the element that helps bring everything together when it comes to word recognition. Decoding is the process of linking printed words or letters on the page to their spoken equivalents. A student's ability to decode words begins with their understanding of the language sound system and then proceeds to have a grasp on the writing system through an understanding of phonology, orthography, and morphology.

Language comprehension is the other necessary component of reading comprehension, and it makes up the top half of Scarborough's Reading Rope. Language comprehension requires the combination of

Background knowledge

Vocabulary

Language structures

Verbal reasoning

Literacy knowledge

While these skill components differ from the SVR's underpinning components of semantics, pragmatics, syntax, and discourse, they both comprise the skills needed to understand language and sentence structure.

Where does Structured Literacy come in?

Structured Literacy (SL) is a phrase coined by the International Dyslexia Association® (IDA), and it refers to a specific way of teaching students how to read. This method of teaching has been shown to support all students, regardless of background or skill level. The SL approach to teaching reading is defined by these parameters:

Explicit

This means that concepts and skills being introduced to students are directly taught and practiced-educators should not assume students learn principles of literacy on their own or through exposure alone. The aim is to provide ample guidance and practice to help students acquire new literacy concepts. It is important to give immediate feedback to minimize the possibility of students learning and practicing concepts incorrectly.

Systematic and cumulative

Each concept students are taught should build on top of the previous concept they learned, and their teacher should explain how each new lesson fits into the whole. New skills should be presented in a logically ordered way, progressing from simple to complex. Each new concept builds upon the previous one, with teachers making sure to explain how each new lesson connects to the previous ones. The goal is to enable students to gradually develop automatic reading skills, which allow them to move from learning to read to reading to learn.

Hands-on, engaging, and multimodal

SL recognizes students learn best when they are engaged and active in the learning process. This combines listening, speaking, reading, and writing, which in turn develops a student's language comprehension skills and fosters multimodal learning.The goal is to foster language comprehension skills by allowing students to experience learning in a more interactive and engaging way.

Diagnostic and responsive

This means educators are responsive to the needs of individual students. They should be continuously assessing student progress and adjust their teaching accordingly. Pacing, presentation, and practice for new concepts should be adapted to individual students' skill levels and understanding, ensuring students who need more time and guidance get that support. By being diagnostic and responsive, SL ensures every student receives the support and guidance they need to develop literacy skills effectively.

A structured literacy approach will teach the skill components identified by the National Reading Panel, the simple view of reading, and Scarboroughs's reading rope in an explicit, systematic, and responsive way that effectively helps all students learn to read.

Implementing the Science of Reading Components

Components like phonics, vocabulary, or syntax are but a small piece of science of reading-based instruction. As an ever-growing body of research, the science of reading continues to deepen our understanding of how we learn to read. The five pillars of early literacy, Scarborough's Reading Rope, the Simple View of Reading, and Structured Literacy are all derived from the science of reading research. Educators can use the components within these frameworks and models to inform their teaching practices. By including explicit instruction in reading skills from phonemic awareness to vocabulary and semantics, teachers can make sure all students have the opportunity to achieve reading success.

For educators looking to strengthen their literacy curriculum, take a look at this webinar, "Decoding is Only Half the Story: Challenges with Implementing the Science of Reading." In it, Dr. Suzanne Carreker explores the challenges of implementing the science of reading in the classroom, and offers a breadth of knowledge and advice for educators looking to integrate the science of reading into their classrooms.

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A Full Breakdown of the Science of Reading Components | Lexia

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What are the components of the science of reading? It's not that simple. Learn more through a breakdown of the five pillars of early literacy, Scarborough's Reading Rope, the Simple View of Reading, and Structured Literacy.

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Cheap Book Program For Educators to Buy

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Books and Educator Resources Celebrating Diversity

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Share unforgettable books that celebrate diversity with your students! Shop First Book to find a handpicked and deeply discounted selection of diversity and inclusion books for children and teens, plus free downloadable diversity resources for teachers.

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Books that reflect different cultures and family experiences give all kids a window into the diverse world we live in. Exposure to a wide range of books helps build both empathy and background knowledge.

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We need diverse books because we need books in which children can find themselves, see reflections of themselves. I wrote a piece maybe 1990 it was published which I called "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors." And I think that's really why we - children need to see themselves reflected.

But books can also be windows. And so you can look through and see other worlds and see how they match up or don't match up to your own. But the sliding glass door allows you to enter that world as well. And so that's the reason that the diversity needs to go both ways. I mean it's not just children who have been underrepresented and marginalized who need these books.

It's also the children who always find their mirrors in the books and, therefore, get an exaggerated sense of their own self-worth and a false sense of what the world is like because it's becoming more and more colorful and diverse as time goes on. So, I think that's why.

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Learn more about why diverse books matter for all kids and how to find high-quality fiction and nonfiction books that explore and celebrate our diverse and multicultural communities.

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How are Decodables Different from Leveled Reading - Reading Teacher

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When teaching reading to beginning and developing students it is wise to know how are decodables different from leveled reading.

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You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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What Are Decodable Books and Why Are They Important?

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Decodable books play an important role in phonics instruction and building confidence in young readers. Learn more about decodable books, how they differ from predictable texts, and how to select high-quality texts that align with the scope and sequence of your phonics program.

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We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (1-4)

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We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (1-4)

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We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade—both of whom are Indigenous. This powerful story follows a young girl who takes a stand to protect her community’s water, drawing strength from Indigenous teachings and traditions.

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We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom READ ALOUD ~RING AROUND RONINA~

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The book the Water Collector by Peter H Reyolds is another great stroy with representation, that could also be brought into a phonics routine. Discussions around the cover (words), the meaning of the word collector/collection and what do students collect and then conversations about before you can be a word collector, you need to be a sound collector. Doing a phonics routine with blending board connected to this. Then playing the Magic Square phonics game together as a class to build words based on sounds we have "collected" (here is a version of the game, but not the one I use - you must choose outside, inside, outside to make a word -

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is great for vocabulary development and discussion - looking at juicy words in the texts, looking at their phonics patterns and breaking the words into syllables and discussing their meaning.  Creating a writing task about Saturday being the day they cherished in the book (after discussing the word cherish) and having students write a reflection piece on  the day that they cherish. This would be an easy book to make cross curricular - making puppets and doing story telling and dramatizations through puppets.

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is a great read aloud text for teaching about growth mindest, and gender equality. It could be used k-6 or even higher depending on the activity. It could easily be discussed through think pair shares for personal connections (what are students good at). Additionally a written reflection could be completed. It would also be easy to create an art assignment similar to the front cover with a self-portrait surrounded by illustrations of things the student themself is good at.

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It is about a young girl named Binny and her family, and how they celebrate Diwali. The book has a lot of vocabulary words and is a great way to teach students about a cultural celebration that they may not celebrate. I used this book in my grade two classroom, but I think it could be used anywhere from kindergarten to grade four.

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Culturally Relevent Books: Representation 

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Berry Song by Indigenous author and illustrator, Michaela Goade. 

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Berry Song by Indigenous author and illustrator, Michaela Goade. 

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This book is recommended by my board as a great resource that can be used to embed indigenous content into literacy, social studies, the arts, and outdoor learning. The story is inspired by Michaela’s own childhood and follows a young girl and her grandmother as they venture out into the forest in search of wild berries. Michaela provides an author’s note at the back of the book and shares key themes and connections to indigenous knowledge that are in the story. A key theme in the book is the importance of passing on ancestral knowledge and values from one generation to another as well as our important relationship to the land. Some questions to ask during or after the read aloud could be:

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By David A. Robertson

Illustrated by Julie Flett

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Winner of the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award!A young girl notices things about her grandmother that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully coloured…

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Fatty Legs written by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

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Fatty Legs written by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

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Fatty Legs is a true story written by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton about her experience and hardships of being at a residential school.

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Front Desk is written by Kelly Yang and does a great job representing the challenges and triumphs of a young Asian American girl working at her family’s motel.

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MAMA READS: Stolen Words  By Melanie Florence & Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

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Written by Una Malcolm, M.A., OCT
Introduction: Why Assess

Assessment for learning plays a critical role in informing and driving literacy instruction. Nearly all students are capable of learning to read; while specific numbers vary, estimates indicate that approximately 95% of students are capable of learning to read (Fletcher & Vaughn, 2009). Rigorous, systematic, and explicit instruction that addresses the essential components of literacy including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000), is key to allowing all children to reach their full potential. This instruction often referred to as structured literacy, must go hand-in-hand with a comprehensive assessment system to allow educators to adjust instruction to meet the specific needs of students (Spear-Swerling, 2018). Assessment is critical for students with learning disabilities (LDs) in terms of both the prevention of reading difficulties and intervention to remediate skill gaps.

Formative Assessment: Answering Questions

Assessment for learning plays a key role in meeting the needs of all students through the creation of equitable learning environments. Assessment for learning, "is used in making decisions that affect teaching and learning in the short-term future" (Growing Success, 2010, p. 30). Multiple research reviews and meta-analyses have identified that systematic formative assessment has consistent strong, positive effects on student learning (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986; Black & Wiliam, 2005; Hattie, 2009) across a variety of factors including student age, measurement frequency, and disability status. In essence, assessment for learning allows educators to identify where students are and inform plans to get students where they need to be.

Even within assessment for learning, multiple types of assessments exist. Growing Success (2010) distinguishes between formative and diagnostic assessments but emphasizes that "what matters is how the information is used" (p. 31). Assessment answers questions; different types of assessment tools answer different types of questions. In a Response to Intervention model, assessment purposes include universal screening, diagnostic assessments, and progress monitoring; all three of these purposes for assessment answer key questions about shaping instructional environments to meet students' needs.

1. Screening - Assessment for Learning

The development of skilled reading is a complex process that hinges on the development and the integration of cognitive and language skills. Many of these skills can be observed and measured well before children receive any formal reading instruction (Catts, 2015). With data indicating that reading trajectories are established early and are very stable (Juel, 1988), it is critical to identify reading difficulties early on in a student's academic career to inform support. Since reading remediation at an earlier age is more effective than later intervention (Lovett et al., 2017), screening plays an important role in preventing early reading difficulties from being exacerbated over time.

All students should be screened with universal screening measures three times per year (Good et al., 2011). These assessments are very brief, standardized measures that quickly and efficiently identify which children are at risk. Standardized assessments are tests that have specific procedures for administration and scoring, perhaps with scripted directions and specific scoring guidelines (Farrall, 2012). Students are assessed on several indicators of early literacy skills appropriate for their age and grade. For example, Kindergarten and grade one students may be screened on phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding, while older students may be screened on oral reading fluency (ORF) and retell for comprehension.

Universal screening measures are widely available and very accessible. Many of the universal screeners currently available are either low-cost or free. Often there can be a fee for training or optional computer data analysis systems, but many of the testing materials are very accessible.

These assessments are technically reliable and valid, and scores are interpreted in relation to a benchmark criterion. Benchmark cutscores are not determined arbitrarily but instead are derived from research; researchers use longitudinal studies to determine what threshold a child must reach to have a strong chance of meeting future reading goals. This means a child's score allows educators to predict future reading performance with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Students who fall at or below the cutscore are at risk and will likely need additional support to allow them to meet future goals. For example, a benchmark cutscore on Acadience Reading assessments is the score needed for a child to have an 80 - 90% probability of meeting successive reading goals (Good et al., 2011). In interpreting a child's score in comparison to a benchmark score, educators can quickly and efficiently assess the level of risk of future reading achievement or difficulty before difficulties emerge or worsen.

Screening allows educators to quickly and easily catch students who are at risk. Screening does not, however, give teachers a full understanding of what the underlying cause of a problem is. Screening is akin to a blood pressure or temperature check at a doctor's office; these are simple, efficient and cost-effective ways to find problems, but abnormalities on these screeners require additional diagnostic testing to decipher what exactly is wrong.

2. Diagnostic Assessment - Assessment for Learning

Diagnostic assessments allow educators to probe deeper into the learning profiles of students in question. For many students, universal screening three times per year provides all the assessment data necessary to ensure students are making sufficient progress. For students who are at risk, though, careful analysis of reading subskills must occur to differentiate instruction and plan intervention. These assessments allow educators to ascertain which specific skills or knowledge a student has mastered, and which skills or knowledge need to be taught.

If universal screeners are similar to a blood pressure or temperature check to identify problems in a brief and cost-effective manner, diagnostic assessments are similar to more comprehensive blood tests or diagnostic imaging to dig deeper into a problem. The information from these more investigative approaches directly informs treatment, similar to how diagnostic reading assessments allow teachers to differentiate classroom instruction or plan targeted interventions.

Diagnostic assessments are longer and more in-depth than screening assessments and are typically not standardized. While screeners are quick assessments of indicators of basic skills, diagnostic assessments can be thought of as inventories of skills that directly inform instruction. Can a child segment two, three, or four phoneme words? Can a child decode words with short vowels or consonant digraphs? Diagnostic assessments allow teachers to differentiate classroom instruction and plan intervention if necessary.

Diagnostic assessments should be selected strategically. The Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) indicates that reading comprehension, the end goal of reading, is a product of two sets of subskills, word recognition and language comprehension. When selecting diagnostic assessments, teachers can probe both areas of this model to clarify a student's specific patterns of strengths and needs. When weaknesses exist in reading comprehension, is this due to difficulties with word recognition, with language comprehension, or with both?

3. Progress Monitoring - Assessment for Learning

With screening and diagnostic data in hand, teachers can differentiate core instruction and/or provide targeted intervention through intervention supports. Progress monitoring assessments allow educators to quickly measure a student's response to instruction. Instead of waiting until the next benchmark assessment several months in the future, progress monitoring allows for more rapid adjustment of instruction. While universal screening measures students' skill level with grade-level material, progress monitoring is at an individual child's instructional level to directly measure response to instruction. A grade four child reading at a grade one level would be screened at the beginning, middle, and end of the year with grade four assessments. Progress monitoring assessment, though, would be at a grade one level in order to measure the child's response to intervention.

Many universal screeners also supply progress monitoring materials. These materials are often very similar to universal screening measures in that they are brief and standardized. When selecting an assessment for progress monitoring, it is important to consider practice effects. Progress monitoring assessments typically have multiple forms so students are not tested with the same material. Progress monitoring data are usually graphed so student growth can be compared visually to an aimline, or the line between a child's current score and the benchmark goal.

Progress monitoring assessments are purposefully brief. Depending on student age and needs, this assessment may take between one and three minutes. Struggling students need to catch up quickly; Torgesen (2004) describes the "devastating downward spiral" that occurs when students do not receive timely, evidence-based intervention. Struggling readers do not have time for a "wait and see" approach. Weekly or biweekly progress monitoring allows for enough data to quickly and clearly establish patterns. Educators can quickly judge if a child's rate of progress is strong enough to meet the goal. If not, there are several options that can be considered to intensify instruction:

Increasing frequency or length of support

Decreasing group size

Making groups more homogeneous

Increasing level of explicitness

Increasing opportunities for practice

To see an example of how the Thunder Bay Catholic DSB uses tier 1, 2 and 3 reading interventions, click here to view the LD@school video The Tiered Approach

In addition to informing instruction, progress monitoring data allow for insight into students learning profiles. Research indicates that data from a child's response to intervention can give important insight into whether a child may have a learning disability. Patterns of inadequate response to evidence-based instruction, established through progress monitoring data, are key factors to consider when evaluating for a learning disability (Miciak & Fletcher, 2020; Catts & Petscher, 2021).

4. Outcome Evaluation - Assessment of Learning

Outcome assessments measure student achievement. While progress monitoring assessments show if instruction is working, outcome assessments are assessments of learning and identify if instruction worked.

These assessments are typically comprehensive assessments that measure student mastery of provincial curriculum expectations or the specific learning goals outlined. Outcome assessments often occur at the end of a period of learning, including a unit of study, a term, or a school year, for example.
Evidence-Based Assessment in the Science of Reading: Cheat sheet - Comparing and Contrasting Assessment Purposes Click here to view and download the Evidence-Based Assessment in the Science of Reading: Cheat sheet
Assessment Data and Differentiating Tier 1 Instruction

Patterns in universal screening data can support teachers in differentiating classroom instruction. Instead of using student reading levels from a running record to group students for small group instruction, universal screening data allows educators to use reading skills to more specifically build homogeneous groups of students for instruction. A grade 2 teacher, for example, could split students into several groups based on their universal screening data:

Fluent and accurate readers needing continued content and vocabulary instruction to build comprehension

Students who read accurately but need fluency instruction

Students in need of word-level decoding and phonics instruction.

Data from screeners as well as diagnostic testing for deeper probing allows for more sophisticated and specific differentiation for intervention, instruction, or enrichment since it focuses on specific skills instead of generic reading levels.

Student vs. System Analysis to Strengthen Universal Instruction

One of the strengths of universal screening is it allows educators to analyze not only individual students' growth but also the strength of classroom core instruction. If more than 20% of students are below the benchmark on universal screening, it is a clear indication that efforts to strengthen core instruction should be made. Prioritizing intervention when a large proportion of the class is at risk misses out on a valuable opportunity to strengthen the universal tier of classroom instruction. With class-wide screening data, teachers are able to better differentiate instruction and potentially implement class-wide interventions, such as Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (McMaster & Fuchs, 2016). For example, a grade 3 teacher could implement a paired repeated reading instructional routine (Stevens et al., 2017) in response to weak fluency screening data. Instead of just problem-solving at individual student levels, teachers have the data necessary to develop action plans to strengthen core instruction for all students.

To learn more about Peer Assisted Learning, click here to access LD@school's article and video Peer-Mediated Learning Approaches.

Oral Reading Fluency and Running Records: Frequently Confused

Oral Reading Fluency assessments are commonly used in both screening and progress monitoring for developing readers. While individual assessments vary, generally Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) measures involve timed passage oral reading for one minute. Accuracy rates and words correct per minute scores are calculated and interpreted in relation to a benchmark score. ORF assessments are highly correlated with reading comprehension (Fuchs et al., 2001) and serve as a proxy for this critical outcome skill.

ORF assessments are often confused with running record assessments that are commonly used in literacy programs. While both assessments do involve the reading of connected passages, running records differ in that a text "level" is often indicated as a student's instructional or independent level based on the accuracy percentage. Fluency is typically assessed through teacher observation or rubrics. Running records do not meet desired characteristics for the selection of a screener. They do not act as brief, reliable and valid indicators of key early literacy skills, and they do not allow for interpretation of scores in relation to a benchmark criterion derived from predictive probabilities. In fact, Parker et al. (2015) found that a commonly used running record assessment had a .54 correlation with a district-provided criterion reading test. These data indicate that running records were only 54% accurate in predicting student reading performance, in comparison to the established technical validity and reliability of ORF measures.

Assessment for Learning: A Case Study
The following case study provides an example of how reading assessment can be used in the classroom to identify at-risk students, pinpoint the skills these students struggle with, and determine the appropriate intervention to get students back on track.
Maya is in grade two. As a part of the beginning-of-year screening process, her teacher administers a brief screening assessment that yields this data about Maya's reading:
Nonsense Word Fluency: Oral Reading Fluency:

Accuracy (passage reading accuracy): Below Benchmark

Words Correct (passage reading fluency): Well Below Benchmark

Maya's teacher, Ms. Kaur, recognizes that Maya is struggling and is not on track to meet future reading goals. Ms. Kaur realizes that Maya is having difficulty reading the ORF passage accurately and smoothly since she is not an accurate and fluent word reader. Based on these screening data, she decides to dig deeper with some diagnostic assessments to help her differentiate instruction. She decides to give Maya a decoding assessment to understand which specific phonics patterns she has mastered, and which patterns she needs to be taught. She learns that Maya hasn't yet mastered short vowel sounds. She also uses a phonemic awareness assessment to check her blending and segmenting, which shows skill gaps as well. Ms. Kaur realizes that Maya is having difficulty with word recognition skills. To check on her oral language skills, Ms. Kaur reads a story to Maya and asks her oral comprehension questions. Maya is easily able to answer questions about what she hears, indicating to Ms. Kaur that Maya's reading difficulties appear to be stemming from decoding and word recognition difficulties and not language comprehension difficulties.

Armed with this information, Ms. Kaur builds her small reading groups. Instead of using reading levels to group students, Ms. Kaur uses reading skills. She groups Maya with other students needing phonemic awareness and short vowel instruction.

As Ms. Kaur uses this screening and diagnostic data to plan her groups and instruction, she also continues to monitor Maya's progress using weekly Nonsense Word Fluency assessments. Since these progress monitoring assessments are one minute each, Ms. Kaur knows that this is a quick and efficient way to make sure Maya is responding to her instruction without having to wait until the mid-year screening time. If Maya is not making sufficient progress toward the benchmark score, she may need instruction to be intensified to allow her to reach the benchmark goal. Ms. Kaur graphs Maya's progress monitoring data, as well as the aimline which shows the path between Maya's current score and the benchmark. Ms. Kaur and her grade-level team can quickly and easily judge if Maya is progressing at a fast enough rate to close the gap.

About the author:

Una Malcolm is a doctoral student in Reading Science and also has a Master's degree in Child Study and Education. She is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. Una has trained extensively in several evidence-based teaching methods, such as Direct Instruction, Phono-Graphix and Lindamood-Bell. She is an Acadience Reading K-6 (formerly DIBELS Next) Mentor.

References

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7 - 74. doi: 10.1080/0969595980050102

Catts, H.W., Nielsen, D. C., Bridges, M. S., Liu, Y. S., & Bontempo, D. E. (2015). Early identification of reading disabilities within an RTI framework. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(3), 281-297.

Catts, H.W., Petscher, Y. (2021). A cumulative risk and resilience model of dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, doi.org/10.1177/00222194211037062

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: Reports of the Subgroups. U.S. Government Printing Office.

Farrall, M. L. (2012). Reading assessment: Linking language, literacy, and cognition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118092668

Fuchs, L.S. & Fuchs, D. (1986). Effects of systematic formative evaluation: A meta-analysis. Exceptional Children, 53(3), 199 - 208.

Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Hosp, M. & Jenkins, J. (2001). Oral reading fluency as an indicator of reading competence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5(3), 239 - 256.

Fletcher, J.M. & Vaughn, S. (2009). Response to intervention: Preventing and remediating academic difficulties. Child Development Perspectives, 3(1), 30 - 37. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00072.x

Good, R.H., Kaminski, R.A., Cummings, K.D., Dufour-Martel, C., Petersen, K., Powell-Smith, K.A., Stollar, S. & Wallin, J. (2011). Acadience Reading K-6 Assessment Manual. Acadience Learning Inc.

Gough, P.B. & Tunmer, W.E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6 - 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193258600700104

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning. Routledge.

Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of 54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 437 - 447. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.4.437

Lovett, M., Frijters, J.C., Wolf, M., Steinback, K.A., Sevcik, R.A., Morris, R.D. (2017). Early intervention for children at risk for reading disabilties: The impact of grade at intervention and individual differences on intervention outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 889 - 914. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000181

McMaster, K. L., & Fuchs, D. (2016). Classwide intervention using peer-assisted learning strategies. In S. R. Jimerson, M. K. Burns, & A. M. VanDerHeyden (Eds.), Handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of multi-tiered systems of support (pp. 253-268). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7568-3_15

Miciak, J. & Fletcher, J.M. (2020). The critical role of instructional response for identifying dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 53(5), 343 - 353. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219420906801

Ontario Ministry of Education. ​​(2010). Growing Success: Assessment, evaluation and reporting in Ontario's schools: Covering grades 1 to 12. Ministry of Education.

Parker, D.C., Zaslofsky, A.F., Burns, M.K., Kanive, R., Hodgson, J., Scholin, S.E. & Klingbeil, D.A. (2015) A brief report of the diagnostic accuracy of oral reading fluency and reading inventory levels for reading failure risk among second and third grade students. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 31(1), 56 - 67. doi: 10.1080/10573569.2013.857970

Spear-Swerling, L. (2018). Structured literacy and typical literacy practices: Understanding differences to create instructional opportunities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(3), 201-211.

Stevens, E. A., Walker, M. A., & Vaughn, S. (2017). The effects of reading fluency interventions on the reading fluency and reading comprehension performance of elementary students with Learning Disabilities: A synthesis of the research from 2001 to 2014. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(5), 576-590. doi: 10.1177/0022219416638028

Torgesen, J.K. (2004). Avoiding the devastating downward spiral: The evidence that early intervention prevents reading failure. American Educator, 28, 6-19.

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Evidence-Based Assessment in the Science of Reading

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Written by Una Malcolm, M.A., OCT Introduction: Why Assess Assessment for learning plays a critical role in informing and driving literacy instruction. Nearly all students are capable of learning to read; while specific numbers vary, estimates indicate that approximately 95% of students are capable of learning to read (Fletcher & Vaughn, 2009).

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Lexia: How to Use the Science of Reading for Student Assessment

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How can the science of reading be used to assess students? Here, we cover the simple view of reading and how teachers can use it in classroom assessments.

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Acadience Reading K–6 helps educators monitor reading proficiency across a variety of educational settings. Acadience Reading 7–8, with assessment materials and final benchmark goals for 7th and 8th grade,

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Reading Assessments, Tools, and Resources | Acadience Learning

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Unlock the potential in each student with Acadience Reading, because you know that reading proficiency correlates with greater success in school and life.

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student tries to read the same sentence but changes the punctuation of that sentence in order to notice how they would approach the different punctuations when reading orally. This could be a fun one especially if the punctuation doesn’t match the content of the sentence. I

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Let's talk about reading fluency!

I have a confession...I am a phonics girl through and through. It is by far my favorite subject to teach, which is probably a good thing since I teach first grade.

I honestly do not remember how I was taught to read, I may have been in the transition of whole-word into the explicit instruction way of phonics. But when I started teaching second grade, I seriously became a better speller. I had to learn the patterns to teach the patterns. Crazy, I know!

Now being in first, we love digging in deep and finding, reading, studying, singing those patterns.

But something I noticed was, we were studying the words and the patterns. When they saw a word, they could read it. But as soon as a sentences was in from of them, it became an overwhelming task.

Here are 5 tips to teaching fluency...

Repeated Reads

First things first, everyone knows to better your fluency, you have to practice it over and over! Picking a leveled text helps with this. This can be done with your schools' anthology, an easy reader, or a phonics book. I love to pick books that have the spelling pattern we are working on (again, I am such a nerd for phonics). I also like to use something interactive, because students start looking at me crazy if I tell them we have to read something again (they think reading can be so boring sometimes).

During our small-group time I use printable books so we can write, color, highlight, underline, circle all over that book and make it ours (confidence to read comes when students take ownership, printable books are helpful to give them a sense of "mine"). You can use decodables if they came with your districts' curriculum, we no longer order them in my district so I use these readers.

In my small group we read through a book once or twice together, then with a partner, then on our own. With these particular readers we then get to read through it again with a purpose (for example: finding the phonics sound, grammar skill, or answer to the comprehension question). This piece of interaction gets the students excited to "read again" without all the complaining. If you can't write on a repeated reading book you are using, you can always have them list search items on a paper or whiteboard, the hunt for anything keeps them engaged.

*Note: I always have my students read EVERY word when they are hunting for something. For me, it makes them practice again, but for them, they think if they do they won't miss a thing. I'm tricky like that.

Echo Reads

I LOVE ECHO READING. It makes my little soul happy. Here's why: it models fluent reading and it makes students sound like me.

Have you ever said, "Repeat after me" and they say every word and every intonation the same as you?? That is EXACTLY the point. And I think they sound adorable talking like adults.

Echo reading is precisely that, an echo. We all look at the same text, I read first, then my students read the same right after me. This gives them the practice of intonation as well as practice fluently reading something.

I really enjoy doing echo reading with poetry. These poems by A Teachable Teacher are quite the hit in our classroom. They love repeating after me and don't even realize they are practicing fluid reading!

Recorded Reads

Recorded reads are tons of fun! I let my students pick a book, practice reading it a few times, and record themselves on our tablets (you can use iPhones, iPads, chromebooks...).

I let my students record their story, then listen to it. Then I ask them if they felt that was a good read. If not, they practice practice practice again, to get an even better recording! They get so competitive with themselves, it's a great way to get them reading fluently!

A great app for this is Seesaw. Your students can record their voices as well as upload pictures of their work for a portfolio.

Reader's Theater

Reader's Theater is another great way to practice fluency. I have a handful of students who love to perform in front of the class, so I've harnessed that energy into performances of reader's theater. We are completely obsessed with Frog & Toad as of right now, so I've typed up some stories in a more scripted way and we grab partners to practice. We talk about how it's important to read fluently and read with expression because no one wants to watch a bunch of robots and no one can follow when you pause too much. It's tons of fun and again...gets the kids reading fluently! For great Readers' Theater plays, check out A Teeny Tiny Teacher!

Phrase Reading

You can practice fluent reading by reading short phrases. Short phrases are not so overwhelming. They tend to have common sight words in them that students are confident in. We use these Fluency Roll & Reads to practice our phrase reading.

First we read all the phrases together (sometimes we do echo reading here t00), we also practice reading them to our partner. Sometimes we even get to do a reading race, where you read the phrases in one column as fast as you can! That's always a hit.

Lastly (or sometimes we JUST do this step), we roll a dice, pick a phrase, read it to our partner and repeat! We enjoy anything with dice.

"Scooping" Method

I love this method from Snippets by Sarah (instagram linked). Students "scoop" phrases that go together so they can practice reading those phrases in a continuous way. Students go from word to word to small phrases to make fluent reading. Click the picture to be taken to the video on instagram where she explains.

If you are still looking for more ideas for reading and fluency, make sure to check out my reading pinterest board.

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Fluency Activities - Sparkling in Second Grade

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Teaching student to be fluent readers can be tough. Here are 5 fluency activities to engage your students in fluency practices in fun ways!

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They can re-record as much as they want in order to improve. It is also a great way for them to self-assess their fluency. I think I would also adapt this by first having the class listen to some short audio books while we follow along with the text and taking notice of the expressions used, intonations, appropriate pausing and pacing as a group. Then have them try to make their own recordings. I would think that the main challenge with this activity though would be the access to technology as well as potentially having multiple students recording at the same time. Perhaps the best way to approach this would be in centres so that only a few children are doing it at once and it would be easier to acquire tech for only a few students.

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Let's talk about reading fluency!

I have a confession...I am a phonics girl through and through. It is by far my favorite subject to teach, which is probably a good thing since I teach first grade.

I honestly do not remember how I was taught to read, I may have been in the transition of whole-word into the explicit instruction way of phonics. But when I started teaching second grade, I seriously became a better speller. I had to learn the patterns to teach the patterns. Crazy, I know!

Now being in first, we love digging in deep and finding, reading, studying, singing those patterns.

But something I noticed was, we were studying the words and the patterns. When they saw a word, they could read it. But as soon as a sentences was in from of them, it became an overwhelming task.

Here are 5 tips to teaching fluency...

Repeated Reads

First things first, everyone knows to better your fluency, you have to practice it over and over! Picking a leveled text helps with this. This can be done with your schools' anthology, an easy reader, or a phonics book. I love to pick books that have the spelling pattern we are working on (again, I am such a nerd for phonics). I also like to use something interactive, because students start looking at me crazy if I tell them we have to read something again (they think reading can be so boring sometimes).

During our small-group time I use printable books so we can write, color, highlight, underline, circle all over that book and make it ours (confidence to read comes when students take ownership, printable books are helpful to give them a sense of "mine"). You can use decodables if they came with your districts' curriculum, we no longer order them in my district so I use these readers.

In my small group we read through a book once or twice together, then with a partner, then on our own. With these particular readers we then get to read through it again with a purpose (for example: finding the phonics sound, grammar skill, or answer to the comprehension question). This piece of interaction gets the students excited to "read again" without all the complaining. If you can't write on a repeated reading book you are using, you can always have them list search items on a paper or whiteboard, the hunt for anything keeps them engaged.

*Note: I always have my students read EVERY word when they are hunting for something. For me, it makes them practice again, but for them, they think if they do they won't miss a thing. I'm tricky like that.

Echo Reads

I LOVE ECHO READING. It makes my little soul happy. Here's why: it models fluent reading and it makes students sound like me.

Have you ever said, "Repeat after me" and they say every word and every intonation the same as you?? That is EXACTLY the point. And I think they sound adorable talking like adults.

Echo reading is precisely that, an echo. We all look at the same text, I read first, then my students read the same right after me. This gives them the practice of intonation as well as practice fluently reading something.

I really enjoy doing echo reading with poetry. These poems by A Teachable Teacher are quite the hit in our classroom. They love repeating after me and don't even realize they are practicing fluid reading!

Recorded Reads

Recorded reads are tons of fun! I let my students pick a book, practice reading it a few times, and record themselves on our tablets (you can use iPhones, iPads, chromebooks...).

I let my students record their story, then listen to it. Then I ask them if they felt that was a good read. If not, they practice practice practice again, to get an even better recording! They get so competitive with themselves, it's a great way to get them reading fluently!

A great app for this is Seesaw. Your students can record their voices as well as upload pictures of their work for a portfolio.

Reader's Theater

Reader's Theater is another great way to practice fluency. I have a handful of students who love to perform in front of the class, so I've harnessed that energy into performances of reader's theater. We are completely obsessed with Frog & Toad as of right now, so I've typed up some stories in a more scripted way and we grab partners to practice. We talk about how it's important to read fluently and read with expression because no one wants to watch a bunch of robots and no one can follow when you pause too much. It's tons of fun and again...gets the kids reading fluently! For great Readers' Theater plays, check out A Teeny Tiny Teacher!

Phrase Reading

You can practice fluent reading by reading short phrases. Short phrases are not so overwhelming. They tend to have common sight words in them that students are confident in. We use these Fluency Roll & Reads to practice our phrase reading.

First we read all the phrases together (sometimes we do echo reading here t00), we also practice reading them to our partner. Sometimes we even get to do a reading race, where you read the phrases in one column as fast as you can! That's always a hit.

Lastly (or sometimes we JUST do this step), we roll a dice, pick a phrase, read it to our partner and repeat! We enjoy anything with dice.

"Scooping" Method

I love this method from Snippets by Sarah (instagram linked). Students "scoop" phrases that go together so they can practice reading those phrases in a continuous way. Students go from word to word to small phrases to make fluent reading. Click the picture to be taken to the video on instagram where she explains.

If you are still looking for more ideas for reading and fluency, make sure to check out my reading pinterest board.

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Fluency Activities - Sparkling in Second Grade

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Teaching student to be fluent readers can be tough. Here are 5 fluency activities to engage your students in fluency practices in fun ways!

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An activity that I found online that would be beneficial for reading fluency for grade 5 students is something called ‘Root Rap.’ It is a flash card activity that can help students gain speed and accuracy in reading and identifying roots or common prefixes of many words.

The activity involves two students working together with a set of flash cards. One student says a root and the other points to that flash card. The activity can be timed and peer evaluated, so students can see how many roots they identify in 1 minute. I think my students would like the aspect of trying to beat their previous record and keep trying to improve. The activity also includes a large list of words that use these roots, which students can use as an expansion to see those words in a real life context.

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Many children with literacy difficulties find it hard to blend phonemes together. Word Chains games allow a child to focus on sounds without the distraction of graphemes, as each sound is represented by a counter. A single phoneme is changed and the child 're-blends' to make a new word. The Word Chain lists progress from simple CVC words, like 'dog' and 'cat', to more complex words with initial and final blends, like 'stand' and 'crisp'. This allows targeted practice of a very specific skill in just a few minutes.

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Blending Phonemes - Word Chains - Dyslexic Logic

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Resources and word-chains (also called word ladders or word chains) to support teaching blending skills for children with poor phonological awareness, from basic CVC blends to CCVCC words with long and short medial vowels.

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Benefits of Using Readers Theater in the Classroom or Library?
Reader's Theater provides repeated reading practice-an important factor in building fluency. Repeated reading practice also improves students' confidence in, and enthusiasm for reading. It's an enjoyable change of pace from everyday reading group sessions. Students love it!
Reader's Theater helps to....

develop fluency through repeated exposure to text.

increase comprehension.

integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening in an

authentic context.

engage students.

increase reading motivation.

create confidence and improve the self-image of students.

provide a real purpose for reading.

provide opportunities for cooperative learning.

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Benefits of Using Readers Theater in the Classroom or Library? Reader's Theater provides repeated reading practice-an important factor in building fluency. Repeated reading practice also improves...

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The Best Reader’s Theater Scripts – ReadThinkWrite.org

Timeless Teacher Stuff: Reader's Theater Scripts

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We have launched the new ReadWriteThink.org and we would love to get your feedback: Give Feedback

Students become excited and enthusiastic about reading when they are presented with the opportunity to participate in Readers Theatre. In this lesson, students develop scripts, perform in groups, and practice using their voice to depict characters from texts. Through this activity, students have the opportunity to develop fluency and further enhance comprehension of what they are reading.

The use of Readers Theatre can offer a different context in which students are exposed to texts focusing on poetry, science, social studies, or other content-related topics.

Readers Theatre is another way to enhance comprehension of text, as well as to create interest in and enthusiasm for learning.

The Readers Theatre format provides an opportunity for students to develop fluency through multiple readings of the text by using expressiveness, intonation, and inflection when rehearsing the text.

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Chapter books or short stories that contain large sections of dialogue

Highlighters (various colors)

Music stands to hold scripts (optional)

Overhead projector, transparencies, and markers

Stools for Readers Theatre performers (optional)

1.

Choose a variety of above-level, on-level, and below-level scripts from Reader's Theater Scripts and Plays. It is best to select stories that are well known to students for the first session. Make multiple copies of the selected scripts (enough for each member of the cast and a copy for you).

2.

Review Aaron Shepard's RT Page and his RT Tips: A Guide to Readers Theatre in particular to develop a good understanding of using Readers Theatre in the classroom. You may also want to photocopy selected pages from these sites and distribute them to students as assigned reading the night before the first session.

3.

Assign groups to work with selected scripts, keeping in mind the students that should work with above-level, on-level, and below-level scripts.

4.

For Session 2, select one scripting sheet from Aaron Shepard's RT Scripting Sheets for each group. Make enough copies so that each member of the group has a copy of the scripting sheet. Choose one scripting sheet for modeling and create a transparency.

5.

For Session 3, select specific chapters or stories that contain large sections of dialogue from your collection of chapter books or short stories. Assign a different text selection for each group, keeping in mind appropriate levels. Make photocopies of the text selections for each member of the assigned group.

Conduct a lesson on the Readers Theatre Rubric. Give the students practice in scoring other groups using the sheet. Students can then assist with the evaluation of the final performances.

Have students perform plays from the PBS Kids ZOOM Playhouse.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Assess student copies of scripts to determine if the text was appropriately formatted for the performance.

Use the Readers Theatre Rubric to assess student performances.

Each student should complete the Readers Theatre Rubric to self-assess his or her own performance.

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We have launched the new ReadWriteThink.org and we would love to get your feedback: Give Feedback Students become excited and enthusiastic about reading when they are presented with the opportunity to participate in Readers Theatre. In this lesson, students develop scripts, perform in groups, and practice using their voice to depict characters from texts.

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I came across the scooping strategy to support students in my class who robot read to move to reading in phrases. Here is a video that shows how scooping can be used in a small group. The teacher models reading in a way where they pause between phrases and the student scoops on their paper. Scooping helps students move towards reading in phrases which will then support them in becoming more of a fluent reader. I curious to see if there any freebies similar to the page in the video.

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Sarah Paul | Science of Reading on Instagram: "Posting again hoping to get the whole video. Swipe to hear how I teach kids about scooping (3 swipes to watch the whole thing). 

Scooping is a fluency strategy to move kids from word to word reading to reading in phrases. I’m this video I show what to do before kids are able to scoop on their own. I read in a way where I pause between phrases and they scoop on their paper. 

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#iteachfirst #iteachreading #iteachphonics #iteach #iteachtoo #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #explicitphonicsinstruction #teacherideas #readingspecialist #readingcoach #phonicsfun #teacherstuff #ortongillingham #firstgradeteacher #elementaryteacher  #structuredliteracy #learntoread #iteach1st #readingintervention #scienceofreading #iteachsecond #iteach2nd 
#readingtutor #iteach3rd #fluencysnippet #readingfluency"

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821 likes, 50 comments - snippetsbysarah on November 7, 2022: "Posting again hoping to get the whole video. Swipe to hear how I teach kids about scooping (3 swipes to watch the whole thing). 

Scooping is a fluency strategy to move kids from word to word reading to reading in phrases. I’m this video I show what to do before kids are able to scoop on their own. I read in a way where I pause between phrases and they scoop on their paper. 

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#iteachfirst #iteachreading #iteachphonics #iteach #iteachtoo #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #explicitphonicsinstruction #teacherideas #readingspecialist #readingcoach #phonicsfun #teacherstuff #ortongillingham #firstgradeteacher #elementaryteacher  #structuredliteracy #learntoread #iteach1st #readingintervention #scienceofreading #iteachsecond #iteach2nd 
#readingtutor #iteach3rd #fluencysnippet #readingfluency". 

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Silly Voices: Silly Voices is a fun and engaging fluency activity where students read aloud using exaggerated or playful voices such as robot, pirate, or whisper. This encourages students to pay close attention to expression, punctuation and phrasing as they match their voice to the text.

Choral Reading: Choral reading is a fluency strategy where the teacher and students read a text aloud together, in unison. This approach helps build confidence, improve word recognition, and support expressive reading without putting individual students on the spot. It’s especially effective for practicing phrasing, rhythm, and tone.

Partner Reading: Partner reading is a collaborative fluency strategy where two students take turns reading a shared text aloud. One student reads while the other listens, offering support, feedback, or helping to decode unfamiliar words. Then, they switch roles. This approach builds reading confidence, strengthens decoding skills, and encourages peer support.

Echo Reading: Echo reading is a fluency strategy where the teacher reads a short section of text aloud with expression and proper pacing, and students "echo" by repeating the same section right after. This technique helps students develop oral reading fluency, especially in terms of expression, phrasing, and accuracy.

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fluency activity that allows students to record themselves and hear their own fluency, as well as for teachers to listen back to it and review it.

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With reader’s theater students work together to present an oral reading of a script, typically adapted from literature, plays, or other written texts. Reader’s theater is a an engaging activity used to promote reading fluency, especially oral expression.

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Key Information

When To Use This Strategy

Collect resources

Reader's theater lesson plans (with scripts)

Reader's theater scripts

See the research that supports this strategy

Children's books to use with this strategy

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With reader's theater students work together to present an oral reading of a script, typically adapted from literature, plays, or other written texts. Reader's theater is a an engaging activity used to promote reading fluency, especially oral expression.

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How to Build Fluency with Text in Your Classroom

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Importance of fluency in beginning reading and how to teach it in the classroom.

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Four Steps to Building Fluency with Text

Fluency develops through plentiful opportunities for practice in which the task can be performed with a high rate of success. Repeated readings, goal setting, corrective feedback, and graphing performance are four strategies that teachers can also use to build students’ fluency with text:

1) Repeated Readings

Read the same passage several times.

Aim to reduce the time and number of errors with each attempt.

Use this strategy with students individually, with a peer, or in small groups.

2) Goal Setting

Identify the number of correct words to read per minute.

Set a goal to read farther in the passage or make fewer errors.

Define weekly learning targets to monitor progress over time.

Identify an end-of-year grade level target for the number of words read per minute.

3) Corrective Feedback

Give immediate feedback if a student makes an error.

Have the student sound out and repeat the word.

Have the student go back and re-read the sentence.

4) Graphing Performance

Let students see their progress by having them graph their performance.

Have students compare their first read-through to the next read-through.

Have students track their targets and progress over time.

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How to Build Fluency with Text in Your Classroom

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Importance of fluency in beginning reading and how to teach it in the classroom.

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Posters to make and rules to go through

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Learn Spelling Rules | The CK Rule (Video + Poster)

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Learn Spelling Rules | The CK Rule (Video + Poster)

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Retention: the ability to perform a skill or to recall knowledge long after formal learning/training has ended
Stamina: the ability to maintain performance levels for extended periods of time
Generalization: the ability to combine and apply what has been learned to perform more complex tasks creatively and in new situations.

Fluent readers are better able to comprehend because their focus is on the text's propositions rather than the individual words .

The relationship between fluency and comprehension is attributed to proficient word recognition. Automatic word reading supports one's ability to pay attention to what the text means.

Fluency, also referred to as automaticity, refers to performing a skill without thinking about all of the steps involved. Reading proficiency requires automaticity of many sub-skills including: naming letters, knowing the most common letter-sound correspondences for all 26 letters, and blending these sounds to read real and nonsense words.

When administering an Oral Reading Fluency measure, analyze the results on three levels:
Accuracy (words correct per minute) identifies whether the student is reading the text at an independent level (98-100% accuracy), an instructional level (90-97% accuracy) or a frustration level (below 90% accuracy).
Reading rate (the number of words read correctly per minute - WCPM). See the updated fluency norms chart.
Prosody (phrasing and intonation) is a subjective measure that assesses expression while reading. See this fluency rubric.

The exact nature of the relationship is not completely understood because comprehension is very complex. One view suggests that automaticity of lower-level skills allows students to allocate limited processing capacity to higher-level comprehension demands. A student who struggles to read individual words has little attention left for comprehending and remembering the text. In contrast, the interactive model of reading proposes that higher-level processes are initiated simultaneously, rather than awaiting the completion of lower ones. This view offers the possibility that the relationship between reading fluency and comprehension may be reciprocal. Thus, a reader with poor word recognition ability may be able to use higher-level comprehension skills to compensate for weakness in foundational skills, and their reading fluency would be a reflection of comprehension ability rather than an indication of competence in basic reading skills.

Global processing speed, the ability to quickly process information, impacts how efficiently all the subskills involved in reading can be coordinated. The relationship between rapid automatic naming (RAN) - that is, rapid naming of letters or numbers - and global processing speed is not entirely clear. Some consider RAN to be one facet of global naming speed, while others believe that RAN makes a separate contribution to reading fluency. Regardless, it is well-established that slow naming speed is linked to difficulty in developing reading fluency.

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What is it?

Written expression refers to a highly complex, cognitive, self-directed process. Higher order components include planning, translating (drafting), reviewing and revising. The translation process includes lower-level transcription skills (i.e., handwriting and spelling) and text generation at three different language levels-word, sentence, and text.

What is it?

Written expression refers to a highly complex, cognitive, self-directed process. Higher order components include planning, translating (drafting), reviewing and revising. The translation process includes lower-level transcription skills (i.e., handwriting and spelling) and text generation at three different language levels-word, sentence, and text.

frequently asked questions

What are some important concepts to know about teaching writing?

Reading comprehension and written expression are reciprocal skills. Teaching writing has a positive impact on reading fluency and reading comprehension. It is also important to note that young children must automatize basic subcomponents (letter formation, spelling, spacing, etc.) before they can handle the mental juggling act of writing. The most effective method for facilitating handwriting fluency is to have children write frequently (Graham, 2009).

How important is handwriting instruction?

Handwriting is one of the building blocks of the writing process! Superficial handwriting instruction has long term effects. Handwriting automaticity frees up a student's cognitive energy to allow the student to be able to concentrate on transferring important ideas onto the page. Use explicit methods of teaching handwriting with lessons and practice that are brief (periods of 10-15 minutes). It is very important to give students opportunities to write connected text following this handwriting instruction.

I often hear "I don't know what to write about!" How can I help my students generate their own ideas?

Instruction on writing lists will help your students in the planning stage of their writing. Giving your students topics for list generation as practice will encourage them to generate ideas on their own. This practice will help them be able to quickly and automatically generate a list of ideas to choose from when they are gathering and organizing ideas for their own writing whether it's a paragraph or a longer essay.

Lessons on higher-order language components of writing (i.e., text generation at the word, sentence and discourse levels) need to be complemented by systematic instruction in lower level transcription skills (i.e., handwriting, spelling, writing conventions). For example, teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes, but also ensure that students become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing.

Read More to learn more

Graham, S. (2009). Want to improve children's writing? Don't neglect their handwriting. American Educator Winter 2009-2010, 20-27, 40.

Graham, S., and Hebert, M. A. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. A Carnegie Corporation Time to Act Report. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Hochman, J. & MacDermott-Duffy, B. (Spring 2015). Effective writing instruction. Time for a revolution. Perspectives on Language and Literacy 41 (3), 31-37.

Hochman, J. & Wexler, N. (Summer 2017). One sentence at a time. The need for explicit instruction in teaching students to write well. American Educator

Hotz, R.L. (April 4, 2016). Can handwriting make you smarter? The Wall Street Journal.

James, K. & Englehardt, L. (2012). The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children. Trends in Neuroscience, Vol. 1 (1), 32-42.

Spear-Swerling, L. (August, 2006).The importance of teaching handwriting.Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/spearswerling/ The_Importance_of _Teaching_Handwriting.

Tyre, P. (October 2012). The writing revolution. The Atlantic, 96-101.

Literacy How Professional Learning Series

The Literacy How Professional Learning Series translates the latest reading research into how-to instruction. The Knowledge to Practice book Series-Phonemic Awareness and Phonics, Syntax, Vocabulary, and Comprehension-is based on the current and comprehensive Literacy How reading model. It draws upon the authors' decades of expertise and experience working with thousands of general and special education teachers. The Series emphasizes Pre-K-3rd grade conceptual and skill development. Teachers of older emerging or struggling readers will also find these tools useful.

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Written expression refers to a highly complex, cognitive, self-directed process. Higher order components include planning, translating (drafting), reviewing and revising. The translation process includes lower-level transcription skills (i.e., handwriting and spelling) and text generation at three different language levels-word, sentence, and text. Written expression refers to a highly complex, cognitive, self-directed process.

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Academic Language, also referred as Academic or Standard English, is the language of the classroom and text. Students must have a command of Academic English in order to achieve in school.

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What is it?

Vocabulary refers to the body of words and their meanings that students must understand to comprehend text. Vocabulary knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension.

What is it?

Vocabulary refers to the body of words and their meanings that students must understand to comprehend text. Vocabulary knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is explicit instruction in vocabulary so important?

Students need to practice saying new words and using them in context to make them part of their lexicon (mental dictionary). Research shows that discussing unfamiliar words incidentally, a traditional approach to teaching vocabulary, doesn't work.

Do students learn the meanings of words from context?

Not always.Context clues can be misdirective or non-directive. In order to learn and maintain new vocabulary, many words must be taught explicitly in various contexts. This will help students develop a depth and breadth of word knowledge.

What are some research-based activities to further develop vocabulary?

Select and teach words that can be used in multiple contexts. Build word networks by connecting the new word to other words that the students have previously learned. Teach words that have multiple meanings, including words that are part of figures of speech and figurative language. Give students examples and non-examples of words.

Create an atmosphere of rich and varied language experiences that exposes students to words and phrases across all the domains of literacy- i.e., reading, listening, speaking and writing. Delve into different genres, such as prose and poetry, narrative and informational texts.

Our Word Selection Grid summarizes various evidence-based approaches to teaching vocabulary. Use it to help identify which words to teach and for what purpose-e.g., a specific activity or student need (English Language Learner).

Teach vocabulary explicitly using one or more of the basic evidence-based approaches to vocabulary instruction, which work in concert:

Additive: Teach individual words explicitly. Present student-friendly definitions (Collins Cobuild Student Dictionary), explore varied contexts, create student-generated definitions, facilitate instructional conversations with peers, and provide interactive and responsive engagement.

Generative: Teach word-learning strategies such as morphology, using context clues, how to use a dictionary and a thesaurus.

Multiple-meaning Words: Teach words that can be used as nouns or verbs and parts of idioms so students know how to use polysemous words in different contexts.

Academic language: Teach (a) academic vocabulary that students are likely to find in textbooks and on tests, but not hear in spoken language. These include "brick" words that are content-specific and tend to be found in bold-face print in text books and in glossaries (treaty); and the "mortar," that is, terms and phrases that are common across subjects and connect language to aid in comprehension (analyze, compare). These also include connecting words, prepositions and prepositional phrases. (b) Academic discourse provides additional mortar to hold together a strong vocabulary foundation. Click here for a sample academic word list.

Vocabulary instruction should occur throughout the day and in all content areas-language arts, math, science, social studies, etc.

Lead the creation of a culture of word learning in your school, such as word of the day or week, school announcements, word posters and family involvement.

Read More to Learn More

Adams, M. (Winter 2010-11). Advancing our students' literacy and language. The challenge of complex texts. American Educator, 3-11, 53.

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G. & Kucan, L. (Spring 2003). Taking delight in words: Using oral language to build young children's vocabularies. American Educator 27, 36-39, 41, 45-46.

Dutro, S. & Moran, C. (2003). Rethinking English language instruction: An architectural approach. In G.G. Garcia (Ed.) English learners: Reaching the highest level of English literacy, pp. 227-258. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Gillis, M., and Eberhardt. N.C. (2015). A Word Selection Grid: Choosing Vocabulary to Teach. Perspectives on Language and Literacy 41 (3): 49.

Hart, B. & Risley, T. (Spring 2003). The early catastrophe. The 30 million word gap. American Educator 27, 1-9.

Feldman, K. & Kinsella, K. (2005). Narrowing the achievement gap: The case for explicit vocabulary instruction. Read About: Scholastic professional paper.

Neuman, S. & Wright, T. (Spring 2014). The magic of words. Teaching vocabulary in the early childhood classroom. American Educator, 5-13.

Literacy How Professional Learning Series

The Literacy How Professional Learning Series translates the latest reading research into how-to instruction. The Knowledge to Practice book Series-Phonemic Awareness and Phonics, Syntax, Vocabulary, and Comprehension-is based on the current and comprehensive Literacy How reading model. It draws upon the authors' decades of expertise and experience working with thousands of general and special education teachers. The Series emphasizes Pre-K-3rd grade conceptual and skill development. Teachers of older emerging or struggling readers will also find these tools useful.

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Vocabulary refers to the body of words and their meanings that students must understand to comprehend text. Vocabulary knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension. Vocabulary refers to the body of words and their meanings that students must understand to comprehend text.

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What is it ?

Syntax, a linguist's word for sentence structures, is the rule system that governs how words and phrases are arranged into clauses and sentences. Grammar, though related, is not the same as syntax. It has to do with the function (i.e., role) of words and phrases in a sentence.

What is it ?

Syntax, a linguist's word for sentence structures, is the rule system that governs how words and phrases are arranged into clauses and sentences. Grammar, though related, is not the same as syntax. It has to do with the function (i.e., role) of words and phrases in a sentence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why teach Syntax?

Learning syntax and sentence structure helps students clarify meaning within and between sentences. Studies show a close relationship between an individual's syntactic awareness and reading comprehension; that is, as students learn to use more complex sentences in oral and written language, their ability to make sense of what they read increases as well.

What is the relationship between syntax and grammar?

Grammar refers to a set of rules for a language, including how words and sentences are formed and standards for correct usage. Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences. One way to relate the two is to think of grammar being to syntax as what letters are to words (Eberhardt, Perspectives, 2013).

How important is it to teach the proper names of the parts of speech?

Teachers should begin grammar instruction with young children by talking about the function of words. Eventually, however, it is important to teach the proper grammatical terms (e.g., noun, adverb, etc.). When students are explicitly taught the names for the parts of speech using child-friendly language, then given practice applying these terms in oral language activities, there is a common language of instruction.

Start with oral language activities to develop syntactic awareness in order to improve sentence comprehension.

Use this formal frame activity to help students produce competent verbal or written responses. These begin as sentence starters, but add critical grammatical and lexical clarification and support.

Use your knowledge of syntax to anticipate which sentences in an assigned text will be difficult for students to comprehend. Keep in mind key factors that impact sentence complexity:

Length

Distance (i.e., number of words) between the subject and the verb; Number of clauses (especially embedded clauses)

Advanced connectives that express more complicated relationships between sentence parts (e.g., however, despite, although)

Passive vs. active voice (i.e., any exception to the common word order of English sentences)

Pronoun references

Less common verb tenses.

Teach students to ask a series of questions about the function of words that will help them label the 'parts of speech'. For young children, we refer to the parts of speech as the building blocks of sentences. Here's a sample sentence: Our wet, hairy dog crawled under my bed during the thunderstorm.

Ask who or what did it? dog (looking for the namer/noun - the who/what)

Ask what did it do? crawled (looking for the action word/verb - the do)

Ask 'how many, what kind, which one? wet, hairy(looking for adjectives describing the namer)

Ask where, when,how, why? under the bed, during the thunderstorm (looking for adverbs that tell about the action)

Explicit instruction in function-based questions can improve both sentence-level comprehension and sentence writing.

Evidence suggests that studying syntax and grammar out of context through rote memorization does not result in improved performance. Integrate syntax/grammar instruction into the revision and editing process. Pull individual sentences from students' text as well as their writing to help them make sense of various sentence structures.

Provide adequate professional development time for teachers to learn how to observe students' oral language behaviors and analyze their written expression for signs of difficulties with syntactic awareness and sentence level comprehension skills.

Similarly, support teachers in their ability to analyze the texts that they're assigning students so they can learn to identify sentences in a text that might pose the greatest challenge to reading comprehension.

Literacy How Professional Learning Series

The Literacy How Professional Learning Series translates the latest reading research into how-to instruction. The Knowledge to Practice book Series-Phonemic Awareness and Phonics, Syntax, Vocabulary, and Comprehension-is based on the current and comprehensive Literacy How reading model. It draws upon the authors' decades of expertise and experience working with thousands of general and special education teachers. The Series emphasizes Pre-K-3rd grade conceptual and skill development. Teachers of older emerging or struggling readers will also find these tools useful.

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Syntax, a linguist's word for sentence structures, is the rule system that governs how words and phrases are arranged into clauses and sentences. Grammar, though related, is not the same as syntax. It has to do with the function (i.e., role) of words and phrases in a sentence.

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Learning 'b' and 'd' and Reading Short Vowel Words with Aiko, Second Grader
Linda Farrell: Okay. We're gonna have a lesson. And we are gonna have some fun ... Today reading expert Linda Farrell will be working with Aiko, a second grader here at Windy Hill Elementary in Calvert County, Maryland. Ms. Farrell will help Aiko with telling the difference between the letters 'b' and 'd,' keeping her eyes on the text rather than looking up to think of words, and reading words with short vowels. Linda Farrell: Do you ever get your 'b's and 'd's mixed up? Linda Farrell: Sometimes? Well, let's see if we can't fix that.
Linda Farrell: Aiko confuses 'b's and 'd's. She's in the second grade. And it's going to get in the way of her reading. So we have to fix that problem. Lots of children confuse 'b's and 'd's. They look alike. It's a ball and a stick. So we know we have to straighten that out, because that's going to hurt your reading because there are lots of words with 'b's and 'd's.
Linda Farrell: We're gonna work on fixing that. So we're gonna learn about our 'b' hand. Have you ever used your 'b' hand?
Linda Farrell: They have a 'b' hand. Their 'b' hand, it looks like a 'b.' Here's the circle. Here's the line. And we teach them to not guess and to slow down and compare your hand to the letter.
Linda Farrell: This is your 'b' hand, okay? So I'm gonna put this little rubber band on you, so you can remember which one's your 'b' hand. So which one's your 'b' hand? Aiko: This one. Linda Farrell: Okay.
Linda Farrell: I don't tell a kindergartener, a first grader, or a second grader, "It's your left hand," because they don't know which one is their left hand. Sometimes I don't even know which one's my left hand. When we first teach it, we put something on their hand. We might put a sticker. I put a rubber band on Aiko's hand so that when I say, "Where's your 'b' hand?" she's got something that reminds her. Three lessons she won't need the rubber band anymore. She'll know what it is. Some kids get it right away.
Linda Farrell: Would you put your 'b' hand up like this ... and make a fist. And then put your finger out. Okay? That is your 'b' hand. And I'm gonna show you why it's your 'b' hand. Go like this. We put this down here. And this letter is a 'b.' And your hand looks like this letter. Can you see that? We have the circle right here. Where's the circle on the letter? Point to the circle on the letter. And where's the circle on your hand? Yeah. Right there. Where's the stick on the letter? Show me a stick on your finger. This is your 'b' hand because the stick is on the same side of the circle as your finger. So your finger and your, and the stick are on the same side of the circle.
Linda Farrell: Lots of kids get 'b's and 'd's mixed up - kindergarten, first and second grade. It does not mean that they have dyslexia. Students who have dyslexia have phonological processing issues. They do not differentiate sounds easily. Their problems are primarily related to phonological awareness. 'B/d' is about shapes. That is not about sounds.
Linda Farrell: Will you put your 'b' hand by the 'b'? Yep. And is your finger on the same side of the circle as the stick or on a different side of the circle? Aiko: Same side. Linda Farrell: The same side. Yeah. Let's go down here. Is this a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: Okay. And when you answer, I want you to look down here and compare it. Here's what you did. You went [looking upward]. Well, you're not gonna figure it out unless you look and you compare. Okay. So you have to look and say, "Ooh, I can tell." So is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Ms. Farrell's explicit lesson about recognizing the shape of the letter 'b' will take some time to sink in for Aiko. And there's a common habit she'll need to deal with. When Aiko is working on identifying a letter, she often looks up to think, looking away from the letter.
Linda Farrell: The answer to what is an incorrect letter or an incorrect word is in the print. And we have to teach Aiko to keep her eyes on the print, on the words, when she's reading, or the letters. I've worked with many kids that have this same difficulty. And I'll say, "Keep your eyes on the words," and they can't do it, because their habit is so strong that they can't try to do what I'm asking them to do and remember to keep their eyes down. So we just practice keeping your eyes down.
Linda Farrell: We're gonna practice looking down here, okay? So I'm gonna ask you a question, and you can't look up until I go like this [pounds fist], okay? So you keep looking down. Don't look up. Look down. Look down. Look down. Look down. [pounds fist] Now you can look up. Okay. Let's try it again. Look down. Look down. Look down. [pounds fist] Eventually, Aiko will need to have images of words stored in her brain. This is critical to the immediate word recognition necessary for fluent reading. When students say a word without looking at it, they miss opportunities to develop those images. Linda Farrell: So hold your hand up here. So I'm gonna go 'a,' cause I don't need my 'b' hand. But do I need my 'b' hand for that letter? Linda Farrell: Yes, I do, cause that's a 'b' or a 'd.' So I have to put my 'b' hand and ... let me see. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Which one do you think? Ohp. Where are you gonna look? Linda Farrell: Yes. Okay. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: Let's try that. Put your 'b' hand next to that. Okay. Is your finger on the same or a different side? Aiko: Different. Linda Farrell: Different. So is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: Yes. And we're gonna keep looking down. Remember? You don't get to look up until I stomp. Okay? So now, I want you ... we're gonna go just right to here. Okay? So watch me. 'a, d, s, b.' You do it. Okay. Put your hand up here for the 'a.' Okay. Do it. Aiko: 'a, d, s, b'? Linda Farrell: Okay. Now. See how far away your hand is? You gotta go like this. And you know where you looked when you read? You looked at me. But where are you supposed to be looking? Linda Farrell: Yep. At the letter. So. Okay. So we did those four. You do these four.
Linda Farrell: And this is isolated practice. I see lots of teachers who use a 'b' and 'd' hand or a 'b' hand. But they only do it when the kid misses a word. So, "Oh, you read 'bog' as 'dog.' Use your 'b' hand." You don't have to use your 'b' hand. If it's not "bog," it's "dog." We've gotta have isolated practice to rewire the brain ... to stop guessing and start looking. And that's what we did with Aiko. Aiko has pretty significant 'b/d' issues. With this kind of practice, she could solve her 'b/d' issues, I believe, in three to four weeks if we did this every day.
Linda Farrell: You got it. Do you think you can do 10 in a row? Linda Farrell: I think you can. Let's try it. Okay. Aiko: 'x, b, d, a' Linda Farrell: [whispering] Hand down. Is your finger on the same side or a different side? Aiko: Different, so it's a 'd.' Linda Farrell: Yes. Okay. Aiko: 'o, b, c, d, j' Linda Farrell: Ten out of 10! That's ... After a little more practice with 'b' and 'd,' Ms. Farrell will help Aiko work on another skill ... reading short vowel words without sounding them out aloud first Linda Farrell: Can you just read these words right here? Linda Farrell: Could you read these words right here please? Linda Farrell: Could you check and see if that's a 'b' or a 'd'? Use your 'b' hand. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: It is a 'd.' So what's ... .Linda Farrell: Okay. Linda Farrell: What's the word? Linda Farrell: Look down. Always keep your eyes on the words. Linda Farrell: Okay. You got five words right. Can you touch and say that word? And Aiko will need to lean on her new skills ... distinguishing between 'b' and 'd' using her 'b' hand, and concentrating on looking down at the words while she thinks.
Aiko: 'd' ... did
Linda Farrell: [whispering] Mouth closed. Linda Farrell: Okay. Now. Two things: you got five right. Can you? What's that word?
Linda Farrell: It is hug. Read them all again.
Linda Farrell: [pounds fist] That was perfect. You kept your eyes down the whole time. Can you check and see if that's a 'b' or a 'd'? Use your hand. Use your 'b' hand. Linda Farrell: Yeah. So what's the word? Linda Farrell: It is. We're gonna go over here ... and again, don't look up until I stomp. So read those. Linda Farrell: You can use your 'b' hand, right there. In one short lesson, Aiko has made a lot of progress. She's learning to keep her head down as she reads, focusing on the letters. She's using her 'b' hand to help her identify her 'b's and 'd's more accurately. And she's reading words as a whole rather than sound by sound. As she practices and works toward mastery of these skills, her reading will get better and better.
Linda Farrell: Okay. You got six out of six right. When you read this word, you went /k - i - t/. Did you hear yourself do that? Okay. It's okay. I want you to do that in your head. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna close our mouth until we're ready to read the word. It goes like this. [pause] Did. [pause] Ad. I have to think those sounds in my head. So can you do that? Let's read these.
We'd like to thank the wonderful students and families at Windy Hill Elementary School in Calvert County, Maryland. We hope that sharing these experiences will help other children who are learning to read. Special thanks also to Kelly Cleland, Julie Donovan, Joanne Harbaugh, and their outstanding colleagues at Windy Hill Elementary ... and to Leanne Meisinger at Calvert County Public Schools. We are deeply grateful to Linda Farrell, Michael Hunter, and Nicole Lubar of Readsters for their invaluable contributions to this project.
Linda Farrell: It is kip. And the other thing is, you looked up. So we're gonna practice looking down. Okay. You're gonna look down, look down here until I stomp, okay? [pounds fist] You can look up. Okay? Do it again. [pounds fist] Now you're gonna read, and you can't look up until I stomp, okay? So remember, you're not gonna look up until I stomp, so I'll hold this, okay? So start reading.

Linda Farrell: Mud. You kept your eyes down and you got 'em all right! Six out of six! Yes!

Produced by Noel Gunther

Edited by Christian Lindstrom

Graphic Design: Tina Chovanec
For more information about teaching reading, please visit www.ReadingRockets.org
Camera: Richard Chisolm

Audio: Dwayne Dell

Reading Rockets is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C.

© 2019, WETA, Washington, D.C.

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Linda Farrell: Okay. We're gonna have a lesson. And we are gonna have some fun ... Today reading expert Linda Farrell will be working with Aiko, a second grader here at Windy Hill Elementary in Calvert County, Maryland.

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Phonics instruction is a way of teaching reading that stresses the acquisition of letter-sound correspondences and their use in reading and spelling.

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What is it?

Spelling, also referred to as encoding, is reciprocal to decoding. Spelling turns speech into writing (i.e., speech-to-print). In order to spell, we must first hear the individual sounds in a word, and then write the letter(s) that represent the sounds. When reading, we go from print to speech.

What is it?

Spelling, also referred to as encoding, is reciprocal to decoding. Spelling turns speech into writing (i.e., speech-to-print). In order to spell, we must first hear the individual sounds in a word, and then write the letter(s) that represent the sounds. When reading, we go from print to speech.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is invented spelling and is it OK to encourage my young students to use invented spelling in their writing?

Should I give my students a weekly spelling test?

Read More to Learn More

Berninger, V.W. & Fayol, M. (2008). Why spelling is important and how to teach it effectively. Encyclopedia of Language and Literacy Development (pp. 1-13). London, ON: Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network.

Gillis, M.B., and Moats, L., Theme Editors. (Summer 2020). The role of phonology and language in learning to read. Perspectives on Language and Literacy 46 (3).

Herron, J., & Gillis, M. B. (Summer 2020). Encoding as a route to phonemic awareness and phonics: A shift in literacy instruction. Perspectives on Language and Literacy 46 (3), 17-22.

Malatesha Joshi, R., et al. (Winter 2008-2009). How words cast their spell. American Educator, 6-16, 42, 43.

Moats, L. How spelling supports reading. (Winter 2005-2006). American Educator 29 (4), 12-43.

Oulette, G. & Sénéchal, M. (July/August 2008). Pathways to literacy: A study of invented spelling and its role in learning to read. Child Development 79 (4), 899-913

The Literacy How Professional Learning Series translates the latest reading research into how-to instruction. The Knowledge to Practice book Series-Phonemic Awareness and Phonics, Syntax, Vocabulary, and Comprehension-is based on the current and comprehensive Literacy How reading model. It draws upon the authors' decades of expertise and experience working with thousands of general and special education teachers. The Series emphasizes Pre-K-3rd grade conceptual and skill development. Teachers of older emerging or struggling readers will also find these tools useful.

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Spelling, also referred to as encoding, is reciprocal to decoding. Spelling turns speech into writing (i.e., speech-to-print). In order to spell, we must first hear the individual sounds in a word, and then write the letter(s) that represent the sounds. When reading, we go from print to speech.

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Teacher Tips on teaching

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Gr.1-12_DSBN Inquiry Continuum Cards (Experiments and Activities)

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Subject Area Indigenous Ed - Virtual Instructional Resource Centre

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Copy of Sample template for Long Range Plan 

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Teachers Pay teachers for longe range Plans

Two peas and a dog

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high key the scene is flooded with light, creating a bright and open-looking scene. diagetic non-diagetic sound that could logically be heard by the characters in the film the camera is above the subject. this USUALLY has the effect of making the subject look smaller than normal,

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Our 100 Most Popular Student Questions for Debate and Persuasive Writing

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Here are the 100 most-commented-upon questions we’ve ever asked that call for persuasive writing.

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Here are 500 student opinion questions that invite narrative and personal writing, all together in one place.

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Over 1,000 Writing Prompts for Students (Published 2018)

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Our biggest list yet, full of questions on everything from video games and fashion to smartphones and parenting.

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You get free picks from scholastic for teachers per month 

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You get free picks from scholastic for teachers per month 

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95 Phonics Core Program® available now for Grades 4 & 5!

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Literacy Through Language - Morphology Instruction

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Morphology is the binding agent between phonology, orthography, and semantics.
English is morpho-phonemic, meaning it represents both morphology and phonology within spellings; however, morphology is a central organizing element of written language. Because of this, the morphological structure of

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Literacy Through Language - Morphology Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Morphology is the binding agent between phonology, orthography, and semantics.
English is morpho-phonemic, meaning it represents both morphology and phonology within spellings; however, morphology is a central organizing element of written language. Because of this, the morphological structure of