# data[].attributes.headline
Great articles highlighting the paradigm shift on all teachers being literacy teachers and providing access to the language of the subject area:

# data[].attributes.subject
Great articles highlighting the paradigm shift on all teachers being literacy teachers and providing access to the language of the subject area:

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nnstoy.org/stoyblog/yes-every-teacher-is-a-reading-teacher/

https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/best-practice/every-teacher-is-a-teacher-of-literacy-literacy-practice-across-the-curriculum/

https://isn.education/articles/open/all-teachers-are-literacy-teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Reading is making meaning from print. It requires that we do the following:

Identify the words in print: a process called word recognition

Construct an understanding from them: a process called comprehension

Coordinate identifying words and making meaning so that reading is automatic and accurate: an achievement called fluency

Sometimes you can make meaning from print without being able to identify all the words. Remember the last time you got a note in messy handwriting? You may have understood it, even though you couldn't decipher all the scribbles.

Sometimes you can identify words without being able to construct much meaning from them. Read the opening lines of Lewis Carroll's poem, "Jabberwocky," and you'll see what I mean.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Finally, sometimes you can identify words and comprehend them, but if the processes don't come together smoothly, reading will still be a labored process. For example, try reading the following sentence:

It isn't as if the words
are difficult to identify or
understand, but the spaces
make you pause between
words, which means your
reading is less fluent.

Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving together word recognition and comprehension in a fluent manner. These three processes are complex, and each is important. How complex? Here goes?

To develop word recognition, children need to learn:

How to break apart and manipulate the sounds in words - this is phonemic awareness
example: feet has three sounds: /f/, /e/, and /t/

Certain letters are used to represent certain sounds - this is the alphabetic principle
example: s and h make the /sh/ sound

How to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to sound out words that are new to them - this is
example: ssssspppoooon - spoon!

How to analyze words and spelling patterns in order to become more efficient at reading words - this is
example: Bookworm has two words I know: book and worm.

To expand the number of words they can identify automatically, called their sight vocabulary
example: Oh, I know that word - the!

To develop comprehension, children need to develop:

Background knowledge about many topics
example: This book is about zoos - that's where lots of animals live.

Extensive oral and print vocabularies
example: Look at my trucks - I have a tractor, and a fire engine, and a bulldozer.

Understandings about how the English language works
example: We say she went home, not she goed home.

Understandings about how print works
example: reading goes from left to right

Knowledge of various kinds of texts
example: I bet they live happily ever after.

Various purposes for reading
example: I want to know what ladybugs eat.

Strategies for constructing meaning from text, and for problem solving when meaning breaks down
example: This isn't making sense. Let me go back and reread it.

To develop fluency, children need to:

Develop a high level of accuracy in word recognition

Maintain a rate of reading brisk enough to facilitate comprehension

Use phrasing and expression so that oral reading sounds like speech

Transform deliberate strategies for word recognition and comprehension into automatic skills

But if reading isn't pleasurable or fulfilling, children won't choose to read, and they won't get the practice they need to become fluent readers.

Therefore, reading also means developing and maintaining the motivation to read. Reading is an active process of constructing meaning. The key word here is active.

To develop and maintain the motivation to read, children need to:

Appreciate the pleasures of reading

View reading as a social act, to be shared with others

See reading as an opportunity to explore their interests

Read widely for a variety of purposes, from enjoyment to gathering information

Become comfortable with a variety of different written forms and genres

So ... what is reading?
Reading is the motivated and fluent coordination of word recognition and comprehension.
Quite an achievement for a six year old!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Reading is a multifaceted process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency, and motivation. Learn how readers integrate these facets to make meaning from print.

# data[].attributes.body
Reading helps in the stages of literacy. The 5 stages are Emergent, Alphabetic, Words and Patterns, Intermediate, and Advanced. Reading builds upon each stage of literacy incrementally.

# data[].attributes.headline
What is the process and purpose of reading for middle school students?

# data[].attributes.subject
What is the process and purpose of reading for middle school students?

# data[].attributes.body
-The process of reading involves three stages: pre-reading (overviewing the text and making predictions), during reading (closely engaging with the text), and after reading (reviewing, discussing, and analyzing the text) (Sandhu, 2019).

- The purpose of reading is to understand and recall the information conveyed by the author. For middle school students, reading with a purpose helps direct information towards a goal and focuses their attention (Sandhu, 2019).

- Example: In a middle school history class, students engage in pre-reading by previewing a text on the Civil War, making predictions about its content. During reading, they actively think about the text, make connections, and ask questions. After reading, they review and discuss the key events and analyze the impact of the Civil War.

Citation:

Sandhu, R. (2019). What is Reading? - Definition & Process - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Study.com. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-reading-definition-process.html

# data[].attributes.headline
English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
Songs and poems, with their rhythm and repetition, are easily memorized and can be used to teach phonemic awareness and print concepts to ELLs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
August, D., Hakuta, K. (1997). Improving schooling for language-minority children: A research agenda. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. The Partnership for Reading: National Institute for Literacy; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and U.S. Department of Education.

Clay, M. (1993). Reading Recovery in English and other languages. Keynote address presented at the West Coast Literacy Conference, Palm Springs, CA.

Collier,V. & Thomas, W. (1992). A synthesis of studies examining long-term language minority student data on academic achievement. Bilingual Research Journal, 16(1-2), 187-212.

Cummins, J. (1989). Empowering minority students. Sacramento, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.

Cummins, J. (1992). Language proficiency, bilingualism, and academic achievement. In P. A. Richard-Amato and M. A. Snow (Eds.), The multicultural classroom: Readings for content-area teachers. White Plains: Longman.

Escamilla, K. (1987). The relationship of native language reading achievement and oral English proficiency to future achievement in reading English as a second language. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles.

Hiebert, E. H., Pearson, P.D., Taylor, B.M., Richardson, V., Paris, S.G. (1998). Every child a reader: Applying reading research to the classroom. Center for the Improvement of Earl Reading Achievement. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan School of Education.

International Reading Association. (2001). Summary of the National Reading Panel Report, "Teaching Children to Read." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Reading Association, Washington, DC, July 2001.

Moats, L.C. (1999). Teaching reading is rocket science: What expert teachers of reading should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers.

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (2002). Survey of the states' limited English proficient students and available educational programs and services, 1999-2001. Washington, DC: NCBE.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000a). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000b). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

National Reading Panel (2001). "Frequently asked questions." [Online]. Available: http:// www.nationalreadingpanel.org/faq/faq.htm

New York State Education Department, Office of Bilingual Education. (2000). The teaching of language arts to limited English proficient/English language learners: A resource guide for all teachers. Albany, NY: Author.

Peregoy, S. F. & Boyle, O. F. (2000). English learners reading English: What we know, what we need to know. Theory into practice, 39(4), 237-247.

Ramirez, J.D. (2001). Bilingualism and literacy: Problem or opportunity? A synthesis of reading research on bilingual students. A Research Symposium on High Standards in Reading for Students in Diverse Language Groups: Research, Policy, and Practice. Washington, D.C.: Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, U.S. Department of Education.

Rodriguez, A. (1988). Research in reading and writing in bilingual education and English as a second language. In A. Ambert (Ed.), Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language. New York: Garland Pub.

Snow, C., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

U.S. Congress, No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110), 2001.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out how teachers can play to the strengths and shore up the weaknesses of English Language Learners in each of the Reading First content areas.

# data[].attributes.headline
Combining morphological and contextual strategy instruction to enhance word learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Combining morphological and contextual strategy instruction to enhance word learning

# data[].attributes.headline
Simple Ways to support English learners Comprehension

# data[].attributes.subject
Simple Ways to support English learners Comprehension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
English Language Learners

Simple strategies-like providing visual cues-that teachers can use to help English learners improve their understanding in any class.

When facing challenges working with English learners (ELs), start with an empathetic approach. These students often feel overlooked, left out, and confused in school situations. Body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice can let them know that you care. Creating a welcoming environment provides a foundation for learning, and the once you've established that environment, you can support these students in their language acquisition with a few simple strategies.

4 Strategies for Supporting English Learners

1. A picture is worth a thousand words: A picture is understandable in any language. For English learners who may not comprehend everything a teacher says, an image will help clarify meaning and encourage understanding.

Whenever you introduce new vocabulary, couple a picture with each important word. For example, when I taught Romeo and Juliet, I gave my ELs a handout of five to six vocabulary words they would encounter in each scene we were studying. The handout had the word in English, a picture, and a place for students to write the translation of the word in their own language. I also projected the words and pictures on the board and explained each one. After we read the scene, I posted printouts of each word with its picture and added them to a word wall.

Long or dense texts may be overwhelming to ELs. Including images can boost comprehension and stamina. Consider adding images to assessments or any printed directions for activities.

2. Check for comprehension frequently: Often ELs will not tell you when they don't understand something because they don't want their classmates to know. Using quick formative assessments can help determine where more instruction is needed.

Turn and Talk is a useful strategy because it reduces the anxiety that ELs often feel when asked to speak in front of the entire class. Turn and Talk may be modified for ELs by providing a sentence starter or asking them to write down their answer before sharing it with a friend. Observing students during a Turn and Talk activity is useful for evaluating student understanding.

Exit tickets are short written activities usually given at the end of a lesson to check student comprehension. Including a sentence starter or picture support on an exit ticket is an easy way to scaffold learning for ELs.

In assessing student comprehension, it's important to check in frequently. After giving directions for an activity, check in with ELs and restate the expectations if needed. Model the task if it appears the directions were not sufficient. Checking for comprehension and providing clarification provides repeated language practice for students who are still developing proficiency with English.

3. Use sentence and paragraph frames: Many ELs in my classroom, especially less proficient learners, are shy about speaking in front of the class. In addition, they struggle to form grammatically correct responses to questions. To address this, I provide sentence frames during class discussion.

For example, if students are asked to give evidence, you can use the sentence frame "I know this because the text says _____."

If you want students to talk about causes of a historical event, a sentence frame could be:
"One cause of (the event) is _____" or (Event) happened because _____."

Sentence frames can also be helpful in writing activities. English learners often find writing activities daunting because of the high linguistic expectations of academic writing. Providing a syntactical model may lower anxiety.

For example, if you're asking your students to compare and contrast two characters or events, you might use a paragraph frame like this one:

I recently used a paragraph frame of cause-and-effect with fifth-grade ELs. Students had to use the signal words to infer whether to write a cause or an effect. We underlined signal words as a scaffold, but students needed to correctly identify causes and effects of a destroyed house. For students who can't write a cause-and-effect paragraph independently, this paragraph frame gave them the support they needed to communicate causes and effects.

4. Chunk texts: Reading academic texts is a challenge for ELs because of the complex academic vocabulary, complicated syntax, and density of text. One strategy is to chunk passages into short, manageable sections.

For each passage, choose two to three key vocabulary words and provide pictures of those items. Allow ELs to translate the words into their native language if they're unfamiliar with the terms. After each chunk of text, ask ELs to write a one-sentence summary of the section using the vocabulary words in their sentence. Then move on to the next section of text.

When I taught Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech to high school ELs, they found it challenging. I broke up the speech into five sections, and we spent one class period on each section, focusing on vocabulary and message. Each day, we worked together to find the most important quote from that section, rewrote the quote in simpler language, and illustrated it.

After five days, I gave the students a card sort with our five quotes, five paraphrased quotes, and five images and asked them to match the items. Then they had to write a summary of the entire speech. Breaking down the larger text made it easier for the ELs to build content knowledge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
4 Simple Ways to Support English Learners' Comprehension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Simple strategies-like providing visual cues-that teachers can use to help English learners improve their understanding in any class.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By definition, comprehension is a process of active engagement that leads to an accurate understanding and interpretation of what is read. It is a dance between the reader and the text involving thinking and reasoning. To be able to comprehend text, students must be able to decode words and understand the meaning of those words.

This "Simple View of Reading" is represented in Gough & Tunmer's equation, showing that students need both decoding and oral comprehension skills to have effective reading comprehension. Comprehension is the overarching goal of reading.

This visual representation is further extricated in Scarborough's Rope. It reminds us that reading comprehension is a complex behavior and relies on the orchestration of many strands of linguistic and cognitive processes necessary for skilled reading.

In addition to building a solid foundation in decoding and word recognition skills, there are other strategies that good readers use to monitor their reading and ensure that they understand what they are reading. These strategies allow readers to process text, extract meaning, and connect ideas in ways that make reading an enjoyable quest for knowledge, ideas, and information about virtually everything and anything!

Strategies that Enhance Comprehension

Visualizing

Reading fuels expansive imagery that carries the reader on a journey of learning, thinking, and experiencing the world. The sheer act of reading unleashes mental images that allow information to impact the senses and builds a "mind movie" that keeps the reader coming back for more. One good poem, story, or novel, and we are hooked! Unfortunately, not all students can experience the magic in written words or the power that reading has when it unlocks the imagination.

Various strategies can be incorporated to stimulate the visualizing process during classroom reading. Teachers should not be worried about "interrupting" reading. Modeling these strategies and taking time to focus on the thinking side of reading will enrich imagery and comprehension.

Try it:

Weave sensory-related questions throughout reading (What do you see/feel?)

Allow students to draw their images of the characters, setting, and event details

Share your own sensory images while reading to students

Look for evidence that students are comprehending the text. When comprehension is active, students will:

ask to keep reading,

laugh at appropriate times,

stop to ask good questions,

offer details,

read with expression, and

make sound predictions along the way.

Background Knowledge

Knowledge and comprehension are partners in reading. When students have experiences that enhance their knowledge about a broad range of topics, the text becomes easier to read, understand, and remember. These experiences may include family engagement, travel, multimedia exposure and early introductions to books and reading. These opportunities vary from child to child and compile the background knowledge essential for reading comprehension. Understanding what students know before reading begins can provide teachers will valuable assessment information. Teachers can introduce pre-reading strategies to boost students' schema when background knowledge is limited. Schema encompasses everything a reader brings to the text, all of their experiences, images, and memories about a subject. The use of graphic organizers is beneficial when modeling and building schema. Teachers can solicit ideas in the classroom and jot them on a thinking map, have students contribute to a K-W-L chart, or encourage information sharing with a turn-and-talk activity. When teachers recognize that schema needs to be activated prior to reading, they can select supplemental material such as images or videos, historical documents, storytelling, field trips, anticipatory guides, or virtual simulations to prime the student for reading. Building background knowledge can also positively affect other skills like inferencing, questioning, and summarizing.

Vocabulary

While research continues to investigate best practices for teaching vocabulary, numerous findings confirm the importance of word knowledge to the success of reading. Two types of vocabulary are necessary to generate comprehension. Print vocabulary refers to words the student can read or decode. Oral vocabulary refers to words the student understands when spoken. So, it is not enough to be able to read the word, the student must also know the word's meaning to generate an image in the context of the text. Researchers will agree that mental imagery is enhanced when the student has both a depth (extent) and breadth (broad range) of vocabulary knowledge.

Teachers will want to take advantage of many opportunities to teach new vocabulary across speaking, reading, and writing activities, including direct instruction, incidental teaching, and computer programs.

Text selection matters. Teachers will want to be intentional in their choice of reading selections. The best text provides an array of rich, sophisticated vocabulary, complex sentence structure, varied discourse, related academic language, and plenty of opportunities to mentor grammar instruction.

Read-alouds are a necessary instructional opportunity to ignite the students' love for reading while providing language experiences that focus on individual words, word-learning strategies, and word consciousness. Other key instructional practices for vocabulary development can be found in the previous article on Vocabulary .

The grammatical and structural basis of written language can lead to a breakdown in comprehension. Weave grammar instruction into reading opportunities and engage in deconstruction activities using mentor text from read-alouds to demonstrate how words work together. Understanding how the parts of speech, phrases, clauses, and syntax affect our reading will lead to improved comprehension.

Metacognition

Metacognition is the process of thinking about how we think and learn. Often referred to as "thinking about thinking", it is essentially exercise for the brain. In addition to helping the reader make connections to self, other text, and the world, metacognition allows for the reader to plan, monitor, and activate strategies when new information is presented. The engagement between our thinking, reflecting, and verbalizing leads to a deeper understanding of the text. Through the think-aloud process, the reader examines the mental images that are directly connected to life experiences, background knowledge, and memories. Teachers need to be intentional when providing students with "process time" to be able to read, talk, write, and think. Research indicates that good readers take time to think.

Teachers can facilitate modeling and questioning by explaining their own thinking processes. This practice is especially helpful when tasks involve planning multiple steps, selecting the right strategy, or a problem is encountered. For example, a teacher may model metacognitive thinking by making the process of checking for understanding visuals to the students. During a read-aloud, teachers should verbalize examples of their thoughts, "This part is a little fuzzy for me, so I am going to reread this part and then try to visualize what is happening before I read on."

In addition to modeling the process, teachers promote growth mindset, reminding students that experiencing confusion and mistakes is an inevitable and acceptable part of learning.

When teachers focus on metacognition in the classroom, they create a culture of thinking that increases students' flexibility, productivity, and overall independence. When practiced as an integral part of learning, metacognitive strategies can have a profound and pervasive effect on a student's self awareness-leading to improved comprehension.

Questions

Questions help the reader clarify ideas while they deepen our understanding of the text. Research indicates that good readers pose questions before, during, and after reading.

Their minds are full of wonder and their questions are the outcome of active cognitive engagement. Teachers should model questioning right from the start.

Calling students' attention to the cover of a book while asking, "What do you think this book will be about?" prompts predictions and inquisitive curiosity. The classroom is rich with reading opportunities, so pre-planning guiding questions will foster inquiry, heighten understanding, and ensure a transfer of learning.

Teaching students to ask the right questions can make a big difference. QAR (Question-Answer-Relationship) is a strategy that improves comprehension by teaching students that the answers to some questions can be found "right there" in the text, while others require the reader to "think and search". Being able to find a keyword or words within a question can assist students in scanning a passage more effectively and efficiently. Often, the keyword in the question is a clue that matches a word or words within the text, making it easier for students to hone in on answers.

The use of this strategy will promote self-monitoring when used during and after reading. The QAR strategy can be taught and modeled within whole group lessons to boost comprehension and test-taking skills.

Students can write after-reading questions on an exit ticket at the end of the day or before class lets out. Using the students' lingering questions is an excellent segway to summarize the end of a chapter and will prompt new predictions for the text to come.

Activities to Extend Comprehension Beyond the Classroom

Modeling and teaching students about comprehension in the classroom is vital to reading success. However, there are ways to keep students thinking, activating, and sharing their strategy-use outside of class.

The Fab Four

Reciprocal Teaching is a comprehension strategy that involves and engages students in the reading experience. Through a gradual release approach, students are exposed to the four building blocks of comprehension: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. Lesson plans are easy to implement in small or whole group and can be modified for different grades.

Sketch Poetry

This activity allows students to demonstrate their interpretation and understanding of an author's use of descriptive and figurative language by drawing a picture that shows their mental image of a poem or short story.

Students can compare and contrast their sketches in small or whole class discussion.

Family Book Club

Teachers can assign a grade-appropriate book to be read at home with family members. Encourage all participating family members to journal their thoughts, wonders, and questions in a notebook as they read. Students can share their experiences and collective metacognitive processes with each other.

Brainstorming Kits

Create in-class or take-home kits that give students access to the various materials that support the use of comprehension strategies. Model how-to use sticky notes for brainstorming, note-taking, and thought jots. Include highlighters for annotation and ah-ha moments during writing. Students love a collection of miniature notebooks and notepads that can be used in the same way that a good detective gathers clues or a journalist notes important thoughts and observations to reflect on at a later time.

Author It

Keep a selection of wordless books around for students to practice being the author. Wordless picture books allow students of all ages to build comprehension while combining illustrations with their imagination and background information.

Without text, students must activate inferencing skills to understand the story structure and plot. Activities using wordless books can also provide practice that enhances language, vocabulary usage, fluency, grammar, and application of punctuation.

Dialogic Reading

Provide educational resources to caregivers to introduce effective discussion prompts that will encourage students to think about text on a deeper level.

This is a great way to share the reading journey and encourage a love for reading during the early years.

Resources for Teachers

The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Hennessy

Reciprocal Teaching at Work: Powerful Strategies and Lessons for Improving Reading Comprehension by Lori Oczkus

Find a list of the 30 Best Wordless Picture Books at https://imaginationsoup.net

Find downloadable handouts in many languages about Dialogic Reading at https://www.readingrockets.org

Check out the rest of the series:

1. The Essential Components of Literacy Instruction, Part 1 of 6

2. What Is Phonological Awareness? Part 2 of The Essential Components of Literacy

3. What Is Phonics? Part 3 of the Essential Components of Literacy

4. What Is Vocabulary? Part 5 of The Essential Components of Literacy

5. What Is Comprehension? Part 6 of The Essential Components of Literacy

Please connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , LinkedIn , and Pinterest to get tips and tricks from your peers and us. Read the IMSE Journal to hear success stories from other schools and districts, and be sure to check out our digital resources for refreshers and tips.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Is Comprehension? Part 6 of The Essential Components of Literacy - IMSE - Journal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By definition, comprehension is a process of active engagement that leads to an accurate understanding and interpretation of what is read.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Morphology: Enhancing Vocabulary Development and Reading Comprehension

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Morphology: Enhancing Vocabulary Development and Reading Comprehension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
September/October 2011 Link Lines

Decoding and vocabulary development are pivotal to developing strong reading skills. Indeed, the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHHD], 2000) has identified them as two of the five critical components of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). Other instructional resources (e.g., ICAT Resources®) have identified decoding and vocabulary development through word recognition/meaning and word study as two of seven dimensions of reading instruction (comprehension, metacognition, language and prior knowledge, word recognition and meaning, word study, fluency, and responding). Morphology is a critical element of successful vocabulary development and accurate decoding. Awareness of morphology has been shown to be a strong indicator of and positive influence upon reading comprehension (Soifer, 2005). Subsequently, weakness in decoding and vocabulary skills is noted as a potent inhibitor to fully comprehending text.

An examination of the Virginia Standards of Learning reveals a vertical alignment of standards from kindergarten through eighth grade focusing on decoding and vocabulary development, more specifically, on morphology. The results of the Virginia high-stakes assessment indicate a weakness in vocabulary development for all Virginia students, thus suggesting a need to provide more intense vocabulary instruction with direct instruction in morphology.
What Is Morphology?
Morphology, a word of Greek origin, combines "morphe," meaning form, and "ology," meaning the study of. Morphing conjures mental pictures of children's toys such as Transformers™ that transform from one form to another through the child's manipulation of the parts. Morphology works in much the same manner, with students manipulating the parts of words to create new meanings or altered, but similar, meanings.

Morphology relates to the segmenting of words into affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots or base words, and the origins of words. Understanding that words connected by meaning can be connected by spelling can be critical to expanding a student's vocabulary. Further, parts of words (affixes) can have separate meanings that can transform or morph word meaning. Finally, as shown in Table 1, the sound sequences, letter patterns, and morphemes depend, to a large extent, on word origin (Henry, 2003).
Table 1 Word Origin and Word Structure Matrix (Henry, 2003)

Anglo-Saxon

Closed: bat
Open: baby
VCE (vowel consonant e): made
Vowel digraph: boat
Consonant-le: tumbler-controlled: barn

Compounds: hardware, shipyard
Affixes: read, reread, rereading;bid, forbid, forbidden

Latin

Same as Anglo-Saxon but few vowel digraphs

Use of schwa/ǝ/:
direction, spatial, excellent

Closed: spect
VCE: scribe
r-controlled: port, form

Affixes: construction, erupting, conductor

Greek

ph for /f/ - phonograph ch for /k/ - chorus y for /ǐ/ - sympathy

Closed: graphOpen: photoUnstable digraph: create

Compounds:microscope, chloroplast, physiology

Understanding the meaning of prefixes, suffixes, and roots enhances the comprehension of text being read. The manipulation of affixes can impact the part of speech that a word denotes. Having this knowledge enhances text comprehension as well. Direct instruction of morphology is an effective means to help with understanding and applying word structure for decoding, spelling, and vocabulary study (Wilson, 2005). Specifically, students can be taught strategies to segment or manipulate words according to their affixes and roots. As a result, students may be able to recognize an unfamiliar word simply by identifying the affixes and the remaining base word or root (Carreker, 2005).

Textbooks and student writings in the early grades typically use words of Anglo-Saxon origin. Typically, these words are one- to two-syllable, high-frequency words (Berninger & Wolf, 2009). Textbooks and student writings in the upper grades more frequently use words of Latin and Greek origin. In addition, the number of syllables in these words increases and unique spelling patterns emerge. Therefore, the recommended instructional sequence for teaching word origins, affixes, and roots is Anglo-Saxon before Latin and Greek.
Classroom Instruction in Morphology
Prince (2009) suggested four main instructional strategies from Lesaux's work with morphology:

Morphology should be taught as a distinct component of a vocabulary improvement program throughout the upper elementary years.

Morphology should be taught as a cognitive strategy to be learned. In order to break a word down into morphemes, students must complete the following four steps:

Recognize that they do not know the word.

Analyze the word for recognizable morphemes, both in the roots and suffixes.

Think of a possible meaning based upon the parts of the word.

Check the meaning of the word against the context of the reading.

Students also need to understand the use of prefixes, suffixes, and roots, and how words get transformed.

Students who have knowledge of Spanish can use cognates, words that share a common origin.

Multisensory Introduction of Affixes
A multisensory-guided discovery approach, as well as the use of an affix card deck, are recommended for teaching affixes. Using this approach, the teacher reads a series of derivatives that have a common trait (e.g., joyful, careful, helpful, graceful, cheerful). The students "discover" the similar sounds and then visually discover the sound-symbol correspondence. The similar sounds and letters are then identified as a prefix or suffix, and the student verbalizes these discoveries to anchor the learning.

Finally, the teacher writes the affix on a card that is added to the affix card deck that is reviewed in a systematic manner, daily, weekly, and periodically thereafter (Carreker, 2005).

Yoshimoto (2009) suggested the use of a foldable model for the study of affixes and roots. In the example shown in Figure 1, the root "port" was used as the central focus, and adjustments were made to the prefixes and suffixes added. "De-port-ment" was created in the photo model. Other arrangements that might be created by sliding the inserts to new positions include "trans-port-ation" and "im-port-ance."
Figure 1. Foldable for teaching affixes.

Matching Games ( http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/PDF/G4-5/45VPartTwo.pdf)

A number of matching and memory games may be found on the Florida Center for Reading Research website (follow the link above). Templates are included with directions for assembly. The games include Affix Concentration - an activity that involves matching affix and meaning; Meaningful Affixes - a foldable to assemble with affixes, roots, and definitions; Word Dissect - an activity that involves discussion and discovery with partners; and Make It Meaningful - an activity that involves an affix and root meaning discovery within the context of a sentence.
Benefits of Morphology Instruction
Students who understand how words are formed by combining prefixes, suffixes, and roots tend to have larger vocabularies and better reading comprehension than peers without such knowledge and skills (Prince, 2009). Nagy (2007) proposed that the teaching morphological awareness and decoding in school may be the way to narrow the achievement gap for children whose families differ in education and income levels, and ethnic or racial backgrounds. A deep and full knowledge and understanding of vocabulary will improve outcomes for students who struggle.
References
Berninger, V. W., & Wolf, B. J. (2009). Teaching students with dyslexia and dysgraphia: Lessons from teaching and science. Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes.

Carreker, S. (2005). Teaching reading: Accurate decoding and fluency. In J. R. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (2 nd ed., pp. 43-81). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Henry, M. K. (2003). Unlocking literacy: Effective decoding and spelling instruction. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Nagy, W. (2007). Metalinguistic awareness and the vocabulary-comprehension connection. In R. K. Wager, A. E. Muse, & K. R. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Vocabulary acquisition: Implications for reading comprehension (pp. 52-77). New York: Guilford.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research Literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction - Reports of the subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/Publications/publications.htm

Prince, R.E.C. (2009). Usable knowledge from Harvard Graduate School of Education - Morphological analysis: New light on a vital reading skill, HGSE Nonie Lesaux. Retrieved from http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/teaching/TC102-407.html

Soifer, L. H. (2005). Development of oral language and its relationship to literacy. In J. R. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (2 nd ed., pp. 43-81). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Wilson, B. A. (2005). Instruction for older students struggling with reading. In J.R. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (2 nd ed., pp. 319-344). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Yoshimoto, R. (2009, November). MSL/Orton-Gillingham, From sounds to syllabication to morphology: An integrated approach. Presentation at the International Dyslexia Association Conference, Orlando, Florida.
Resources
Reading in the Disciplines, Final Report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy: http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/PDF/tta_Lee.pdf

Florida Center for Reading Research, Advanced Phonics, Morpheme Structures: http://www.fcrr.org/FAIR_Search_Tool/PDFs/4-5AP_018.pdf

Florida Center for Reading Research, Vocabulary, Morphemic Elements: http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/PDF/G4-5/45VPartTwo.pdf

Birsh, J. R. (Ed.). (2005). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (2 nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Morphology: Enhancing Vocabulary Development and Reading Comprehension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
September/October 2011 Link Lines Decoding and vocabulary development are pivotal to developing strong reading skills. Indeed, the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHHD], 2000) has identified them as two of the five critical components of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

# data[].attributes.headline
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

# data[].attributes.subject
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

# data[].attributes.body
Phonemic awareness is difficult for ELLs because they may not yet have enough experience with English to be able to distinguish sounds that differ from their native language

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As a classroom teacher, I was largely ignorant of, and definitely suspicious of, research. I believed that researchers could make their studies come out any way they wanted them to, and that a good teacher who reflected on her own teaching knew much more about how to be effective with her students than any researcher did. Later, as a university professor, I learned how important good research can be, and how difficult it is to do really good experimental research in a field such as education, where it is impossible to control all the variables.

For that reason, I was pleased in 1997 when Congress funded the National Reading Panel (NRP) to evaluate research about teaching children to read. The panel's charge was to review existing studies, choose those that were well designed and well implemented, and synthesize their findings. The results were published in 2000 (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), and became the basis of the Reading First grant program included in the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001. Although there was initially a good deal of controversy about the findings of the report, all U.S. elementary school teachers were soon very aware of the five "essential elements" of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

Teachers of English language learners (ELLs), however, were left to wonder if and how the findings of the NRP applied to their students. How do you teach phonemic awareness and phonics in English to students who can't yet hear and distinguish the sounds? How do you teach fluency to students whose control of the structures of the English language is still limited? How do you teach them grade-level vocabulary when their vocabulary knowledge starts so far behind that of their English-speaking peers? How do you teach reading comprehension in English when they don't yet comprehend the English language?

Now there appears to be help. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority and Youth to survey, select, and synthesize research on teaching language-minority students to read and write. Their report was published recently (August & Shanahan, 2006).

How much help will this report provide for teachers of ELLs? A preliminary review of the Executive Summary (August, 2006) and the section of the full report on "Educating Language Minority Students" reveals these four potentially important general recommendations:

Literacy in the native language is an advantage.

We already knew this (see, for example, Collier & Thomas, 1997), and it doesn't help teachers working in situations where literacy instruction in the native language is not possible.

Substantial coverage of the five essential elements of reading instruction helps.

However, this finding is based on only 14 studies that looked at instruction of the essential elements of reading with ELLs. Because of the small number of studies, this recommendation is based on the fact that there is nothing in these 14 studies that contradicts the findings of the numerous studies of native speakers that were reviewed by the National Reading Panel. Also because of the small number of studies, no specific practices could be advocated for teaching the essential elements of reading to ELLs.

Reading programs for ELLs should include intensive language development as well as instruction in literacy strategies and skills.

This recommendation is not based specifically on the research, because there were no studies that addressed the inclusion of intensive language development in reading instruction for ELLs. It is instead a hypothesis drawn from several other findings: (1) native speakers benefit more from instruction in the essential elements than do ELLs; (2) ELLs with greater language proficiency benefit more from instruction in the essential elements than do those with less proficiency; and (3) instruction in the essential elements with ELLs has a greater effect on decoding and fluency than on comprehension.

Instruction needs to be adjusted to meet the needs of ELLs.

The report, however, states that there is not enough research to be able to identify specifically how those adjustments should be made. I could find only seven specific suggestions that would be useful to teachers of reading classes that include ELLs:

Provide additional work on English phonemes that are not present in the students' native language.

If students are literate in their native language, focus on differences between that language and English, with less attention given to elements that will transfer.

Provide extra practice in reading words, sentences, and stories.

Use cognate words in the native language as synonyms when teaching vocabulary.

Identify and clarify difficult words and passages.

Consolidate knowledge of the text through the use of summaries.

Find appropriate ways to use the native language.

These seven findings do not constitute a reading program for ELLs. We obviously need much more research. However, given the fact that teachers cannot wait until research catches up with their needs in order to implement effective practices with their ELL students, I think it is important to look not only at the research that is available, but also at what experienced, reflective teachers of ELLs (and observers of those teachers) consider to be best practices. The rest of this article will discuss the implications of available research on instructional practices in the teaching of the five essential elements of reading to ELLs, based on the findings of the National Literacy Panel as much as possible, but also drawing on information from reliable sources such as The Knowledge Loom: Spotlight on Elementary Literacy (The Education Alliance at Brown University, n.d.), as well as my own experience.

Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness is difficult for ELLs because they may not yet have enough experience with English to be able to distinguish sounds that differ from those of their native language. There are three aspects of phonological awareness when learning to read in a second language that are important for teachers of ELLs to remember and incorporate into their instruction:

ELLs cannot develop phonological awareness in English until they are familiar with the sounds of English.

This means that before explicit instruction in phonological awareness begins, children should have extensive experiences with fun and appealing songs, poems, chants, and read-alouds that will allow them to hear and reproduce the sound patterns of English.

Once explicit instruction has begun, modifications must be made to allow for more practice with sounds that can potentially cause confusion.

These are sounds that either don't exist in the native language (most of the short vowel sounds of English don't exist in Spanish, for example), or sounds that are perceived as different in English but the same in the native language (such as /r/ and /l/ for speakers of Japanese, or /b/ and /v/ for speakers of Spanish). Because these differences vary from one language to another, teachers will have to become familiar with which sounds of English will need extra practice, depending on the language backgrounds of their students.

Once phonological awareness has developed in any language, it transfers to other languages that are learned.

Therefore, students who are literate in their native language will not need to develop this skill again in English; they will only need to become familiar with the sounds of English and to learn to discriminate sounds that are different between their native language and English.

Phonics

Phonics can be problematic because ELLs often have difficulty discriminating between similar sounds, and because the English language does not have a regular system of correspondence between letters and sounds. Here are some issues related to phonics instruction for ELLs, with discussion of their implications:

Systematic phonics instruction can be very effective in helping ELLs, even those at fairly low levels of language proficiency, learn to decode words.

However, this skill does not facilitate reading comprehension if students' oral language proficiency is not developed to the level of the texts they are expected to read. For this reason, reading instruction should be combined with intensive development of the oral language needed to understand the text.

The most effective reading programs for ELLs combine systematic phonics instruction with a print-rich environment that provides exposure to appealing reading materials in varied genres.

Skills practice that is embedded in meaningful texts helps ensure that decoding skills don't progress beyond students' ability to comprehend the text.

Many of the components of phonics instruction need to be modified to meet the particular needs of ELLs.

For example:

Before phonics instruction begins, students must have the phonemic awareness skills they need in order to perceive individual sounds in words. This is particularly important for sounds that are problematic because of the native language.

Teachers must be aware of whether a students' native language uses a non-Roman alphabet or is non-alphabetic. Even if ELLs have had no instruction in reading in the native language, environmental exposure to a different writing system can negatively affect the ease with which they learn to recognize the letters of the English alphabet.

ELLs must be able to hear and reproduce English sounds with a degree of accuracy commensurate with their pronunciation abilities, before they are taught to make associations between those sounds and particular letters.

It is helpful to explicitly point out different letter combinations that have the same sound, and provide extra practice with them. Multiple spellings of the same sound can be very confusing for ELLs, particularly if they have had some reading instruction in a language such as Spanish, which has almost completely regular sound-symbol correspondences.

Teachers must pay attention to the meanings of the words used to teach phonics skills. Teaching students to decode words they don't know only reinforces the idea that "reading" is pronouncing sounds out loud rather than creating meaning.

Automatic recognition of frequent words is very important for ELLs, whether the words follow phonics rules or not. Although ELLs may develop good decoding skills, their lack of total proficiency in the English language will always slow them down somewhat. Automatic recognition of words can help mitigate this difficulty.

Most ELLs will need additional time to master phonics. Given the need for extra practice to learn to hear and produce the sounds of English, to learn the meanings of the words used in phonics instruction, to learn the multiple combinations of letters that make the same sound, and to learn many more sight words than English speakers need, additional time for phonics instruction should be built into reading programs for ELLs.

Fluency

Fluency is difficult for ELLs because their lack of proficiency in English slows down their ability to decode words and hinders their ability to understand the meanings of the words and how the words combine to produce meaningful sentences and discourse. These suggestions will help teachers adapt fluency instruction for ELLs:

ELLs cannot achieve fluency in oral reading before they have achieved fluency in speaking.

Repeated readings of texts that contain unfamiliar vocabulary and sentence structures will not increase fluency. When working on developing fluency, be sure that students are reading texts that they are familiar with and can understand. Students' own language experience stories are a very good choice, as are read-alouds that students have heard several times and discussed.

ELLs' normal self-consciousness about accents and errors can affect their reading fluency, especially if they are asked to read aloud in front of the entire class.

This effect will be magnified if students are openly corrected or criticized. Fluency practice for ELLs can be facilitated by having them read along with the teacher, or by reading chorally with a group. If individual oral reading is necessary, provide an authentic purpose for the reading (such as a theatrical performance, or delivering information that the rest of the class needs), and let students practice first with a partner.

Decoding skills, fluency in oral reading, and reading comprehension interact in various ways.

The ability to decode words easily is obviously necessary for fluency, and it also facilitates comprehension by allowing the reader to pay more attention to meaning. Comprehension, in turn, facilitates fluency by making it easier to recognize new words. Effective instruction for ELLs integrates these three elements of reading (plus vocabulary learning) into the same lessons using the same text, as each element helps build and reinforce the others, producing a multiplier effect.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is difficult for ELLs; even for quite proficient learners, the extent of their knowledge of vocabulary is only a fraction of what it is for native speakers of English, and the failure to understand even a few words of a text can have negative effects on comprehension. There are many things teachers can do to help ELLs improve their reading vocabulary, including the following:

ELLs need more vocabulary instruction than their native-speaking peers.

If a native-speaking child enters kindergarten knowing about 5,000 English words, and an ELL with no previous exposure to English enters the same class knowing no English words, it's obvious that the same instruction for each of them will not produce the same results. Everything a teacher of ELLs does should revolve around vocabulary acquisition-explaining, demonstrating, drawing, repeating, reading, writing, and playing with words throughout every aspect of instruction.

ELLs need instruction in different vocabulary words than their native-speaking peers.

ELLs lack many of the basic words that native speakers know, so just teaching the vocabulary words that are suggested in the reading materials you are using will not be sufficient. Here are some of the many types of words that need to be explicitly taught:

words that are crucial for understanding a text;

words that are encountered in a wide variety of contexts;

frequently used words that contain word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes) that can help students analyze other unknown words;

words with multiple meanings, whether spelled differently (homophones such as to, two, and too) or spelled the same (such as a dining room table and a multiplication table);

figurative language and idiomatic expressions;

academic words that indicate relationships among other words (such as because, therefore, and since to indicate cause and effect).

ELLs need different vocabulary teaching techniques and strategies than their native-speaking peers.

Handing out a list of definitions or asking students to put the words into sentences won't help ELLs learn the meanings of the words. Here are some things to keep in mind:

ELLs who are literate in a language that has many words that are similar in meaning and form to English words should be taught to recognize these cognates and use them to create meaning.

The meanings of words are acquired through multiple opportunities to hear, say, read, and write the words in slightly different meaningful contexts. Teachers will have to create these contexts in the classroom, since incidental learning of vocabulary cannot be relied on for ELLs.

Explicit explanations of unknown words should include contextual support through real objects, pictures or drawings, gestures, examples, demonstrations, or experiments that accompany the verbal explanations.

The use of context clues to infer meaning is not always successful with ELLs because they may not understand the context well enough to infer an accurate meaning.

Having to explain what a word means to other students helps develop comprehension of the full meaning of the word.

Comprehension

Reading comprehension is more difficult for ELLs than for native speakers for various reasons. Three of the most important reasons are discussed here:

ELLs are more likely than native speakers to lack the background knowledge necessary for understanding texts.

ELLs' prior educational experiences may have been substandard or interrupted, so reading texts that assume certain prior knowledge becomes difficult. Even for students with good educational backgrounds, cultural differences and culturally based assumptions can result in a lack of background knowledge and thus loss of comprehension. Whatever the reasons for a lack of necessary background knowledge, before asking ELLs to read a particular text, teachers must identify information that is prerequisite for understanding the text, evaluate students' prior knowledge of these prerequisites, and fill any gaps that are found. The best kinds of activities for building background knowledge are those that get students involved in manipulating language and concepts, rather than just receiving information from the teacher. These include experiential activities such as science experiments, classification activities, role playing, previewing a reading and generating questions about it, and sharing predictions about the answers to those questions.

The language level of the text to be read, compared with ELLs' language proficiency, is a major factor in how much they will understand of the text.

Even advanced ELLs and those who have been redesignated as fluent in English will experience difficulty with unusual vocabulary, figurative language, very complex sentence structures, or unfamiliar styles and genres (just as many native speakers of English do). For this reason, the integration of intensive language development with reading instruction is highly recommended for ELLs at all levels of language proficiency.

Reading comprehension instruction for ELLs needs to be modified to address their needs.

Asking ELLs to read the same texts and do the same activities as everybody else will only result in frustration for teachers and failure for students. This is not a matter of "dumbing down" the curriculum or applying different standards. It is a matter of implementing the curriculum at a language level that makes it accessible to ELLs, while at the same time working to develop their oral language so they will be able to comprehend texts at higher levels. Here are some general principles for modifying reading instruction for ELLs:

Provide as much nonverbal support for reading comprehension as possible, including pictures, diagrams, real objects, gestures, acting, and graphic organizers. The support can be used both for helping students understand a reading passage and for assessment, so students can show what they have understood in ways that are not entirely dependent on verbal ability.

Explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such as reader-generated questions, summarizing, and monitoring comprehension. Remember, however, that teaching strategies is not enough; students must practice them with texts that are accessible at their level of language proficiency. If students don't experience successful application of the strategies, they won't even try to use them with other texts.

Plan interactive activities around reading and interpreting texts. Sharing ideas, comparing perspectives, and coming to agreement (or agreeing to disagree) are all ways that students use the language of the text in meaningful ways, and thus progress to higher levels of language proficiency and reading comprehension.

Conclusion

The original intention of this article was to provide specific suggestions for modifying reading programs to meet the needs of English language learners, based on the findings of the National Literacy Panel. Because of the paucity of appropriate research studies, however, the recommendations made in the NLP report are not extensive enough to help teachers build appropriate reading programs for ELLs. I therefore looked beyond the NLP findings and included theory and experience as well as research.

I hope that readers will take this synthesis of research, theory, and experience and integrate it into their ongoing examination of what they do in their classrooms, what happens as a result of what they do, and why it happens. Research can tell us which kinds of practices are effective in general, but ultimately only individual teachers can determine what is most effective for them and the particular group of students they are teaching at the moment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As a classroom teacher, I was largely ignorant of, and definitely suspicious of, research. I believed that researchers could make their studies come out any way they wanted them to, and that a good teacher who reflected on her own teaching knew much more about how to be effective with her students than any researcher did.

# data[].attributes.headline
ELL Strategies and Best Practices: A Guide 

# data[].attributes.subject
ELL Strategies and Best Practices: A Guide 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This section provides specific ideas and strategies to support ELLs' language and literacy development, such as tips for planning lessons and the use of language objectives, as well as broader approaches such as using informal assessment and differentiation for varying language levels.

What You'll Find in This Section

Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs). They will be useful for a wide range of audiences, including new and veteran teachers of ELLs, paraprofessionals, tutors, and administrators at the school and district level.
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

Each student comes to school not only with unique academic needs but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

Here are some strategies for differentiating instruction for your English language learners, as well as ideas for taking students' level of English language proficiency into account when planning instruction.

Need some help finding ways to help your English language learners? Read these inspirational stories about English language learners, teachers and paraprofessionals who have overcome obstacles standing to achieve success.

What's even better than a bright idea? A bright idea that works! Educators from across the country have discovered excellent ways to tackle some common classroom stumbling blocks. Below are their step-by-step suggestions on how to handle issues like the fourth-grade slump or the development of critical thinking skills.

Project-based learning (PBL) offers many benefits to English language learners (ELLs), including hands-on activities, peer interaction, rich language use, and a chance to explore personal interests.

ELLs may need some additional support or guidance in order to make the most of PBL, and the following resources share ideas on how to make it a successful experience for all students.

Designing instruction based on student strengths (what the student can do) provides an important foundation for success and offers opportunities to build upon those strengths in order to address areas where the student is struggling. Learn more about this approach from the following resources and videos.

Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs). They will be useful for a wide range of audiences, including new and veteran teachers of ELLs, paraprofessionals, tutors, and administrators at the school and district level.
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

Each student comes to school not only with unique academic needs but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

Here are some strategies for differentiating instruction for your English language learners, as well as ideas for taking students' level of English language proficiency into account when planning instruction.

Need some help finding ways to help your English language learners? Read these inspirational stories about English language learners, teachers and paraprofessionals who have overcome obstacles standing to achieve success.

What's even better than a bright idea? A bright idea that works! Educators from across the country have discovered excellent ways to tackle some common classroom stumbling blocks. Below are their step-by-step suggestions on how to handle issues like the fourth-grade slump or the development of critical thinking skills.

Project-based learning (PBL) offers many benefits to English language learners (ELLs), including hands-on activities, peer interaction, rich language use, and a chance to explore personal interests.

ELLs may need some additional support or guidance in order to make the most of PBL, and the following resources share ideas on how to make it a successful experience for all students.

Designing instruction based on student strengths (what the student can do) provides an important foundation for success and offers opportunities to build upon those strengths in order to address areas where the student is struggling. Learn more about this approach from the following resources and videos.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This section provides specific ideas and strategies to support ELLs' language and literacy development, such as tips for planning lessons and the use of language objectives, as well as broader approaches such as using informal assessment and differentiation for varying language levels. Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A recent blog post by Tim Shanahan titled "What should morphology instruction look like?" reminded me how important it is to teach students about word parts (i.e., roots, prefixes, suffixes) as a useful tool for determining the meaning of unfamiliar words and growing academic vocabularies.

One of the five components of our Key Vocabulary Routine is Teach Word Learning Strategies, which includes how to look for clues outside the word (use of context) and inside the word (use of word parts) when encountering an unknown word while reading. Outside clues include rereading the sentences before and after the word and using the context of the text. Inside clues come from recognizing meaningful parts of the word, i.e., using morphological knowledge.
Morphemes and Morphological Awareness
Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. The dictionary defines a morpheme as "a word or part of a word that has a meaning and that contains no smaller part that has a meaning." Morphemes include base words and roots, prefixes, and suffixes. They can be combined in different ways to express particular meaning or to fill grammatical roles. Some morphemes are free - they can stand alone (e.g., cat, walk, govern). Other morphemes are bound - they cannot stand alone and must be attached to another morpheme (e.g., re-, un-, geo, phon, -ed, -ment). Here are some examples:

The word cat contains one free morpheme

The word cats contains one free morpheme (cat) and one bound morphemes (s)

The compound word sandbox contains two free morphemes (sand, box)

The word unfit contains one bound morpheme (un) and one free morpheme (fit)

The word transportable contains three bound morphemes (trans, port, able)

Morphology means the study of word parts, and morphological awareness refers to the ability to recognize the presence of morphemes in words. Research suggests that students can be taught various morphemic elements as a way to determine the meaning of new words (Edwards et al., 2004). Carlisle (2010) analyzed 16 studies about the relation of morphological awareness instruction to key components of literacy development. The findings showed that instruction about word parts was associated with improvements in word reading and spelling, and in determining the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Academic, School Morphemes
Academic vocabulary that must be learned beyond grade three often consists of words that combine a root, prefix, and suffix (e.g., poly + nom + ial = polynomial; manu + script = manuscript). In the upper elementary grades and higher, there are many opportunities to find words in content reading that contain Greek and Latin morphemes. Children in primary grades can begin to learn how morphemes combine by adding common prefixes and suffixes to short Anglo-Saxon words and also compounding them. For example:

jump, jumps, jumped, jumping, jumper

read, reread, reader, nonreader, reading

sunshine, schoolhouse, upstream

There are some limitations to morphemic analysis. Although it is useful, teachers must also make students aware that it doesn't always work. This is because some prefixes are not consistent in meaning (e.g., in- means both not and in). It is also because the meaning of many Greek and Latin roots have changed substantially over hundreds of years, so they no longer lend themselves to literal translation. For example, the literal translation of circumspect should be look around ( circum means around, spect means look), while the real meaning is to be cautious, careful.
Introducing Morphology
One way to introduce word analysis skills is to teach students how words are made up of word parts, and how words can be related in word families, such as the word family below for the Latin root port (to carry).

Keys to Literacy trainers often see examples of teachers using word families when we visit classrooms. Here are some examples:

Another instructional strategy is to have students build word families by providing a main root and then prefixes and suffixes that can be combined with the root to generate words. Word Matrix boxes such as the examples below can be used for this purpose. For more examples, visit Peter Bowers' website
convoy, envoy, convoys, envoys, convoying, convoyed, voyage, voyages, voyaging, voyaged, voyager, voyagers retake, retakes, retaken, retaking, untaken, mistake, mistakes, mistakable, mistakably, mistaken, mistakenly, mistaking, intake, intakes, overtake, overtakes, overtaken, overtaking, undertake, undertakes, undertaker, undertaken, undertaking, undertakings, uptake, uptakes, breathtaking, caretaker, caretaking, takes, taker, taken, taking, takeaway, takeover Teaching Morphology
Here are two additional suggestions from our Key Vocabulary Routine professional development program:

Find opportunistic moments: Often, unplanned moments come up during content instruction to provide examples of word analysis. Words from content vocabulary lists may include common word parts, or an opportunity to make a connection between the root of a new word and a word previously covered in class may arise. Content teachers in particular are in a position to point out examples of words that contain roots, prefixes, and suffixes from content reading material.

School-wide focus: Most of the general academic words that students need to learn are derived words with word parts. A school-wide approach to teaching academic vocabulary involves teachers from different grades and subjects agreeing to focus on a few root words and their associated word families each week or two.

A 2015 piece posted by the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education's blog suggests these strategies for teaching morphology in the classroom based on research by Dr. Nonie Lesaux:

1. Morphology should be taught as a distinct component of a vocabulary improvement program throughout the upper elementary years.

2. Morphology should be taught as a cognitive strategy to be learned. In order to break a word down into morphemes, students must complete the following four steps:

Recognize that they don't know the word.

Analyze the word for recognizable morphemes, both in the roots and suffixes.

Think of a possible meaning based upon the parts of the word.

Check the meaning of the word against the context.

Students also need to understand the use of prefixes, suffixes, and roots, and how words get transformed.
Lists of Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes
There is a significant body of research indicating that instruction of prefixes is beneficial, and many vocabulary researchers recommend instruction of the most common prefixes as the first and best component of word analysis (Graves, 2004; Carlisle, 2007). White, Sowell, and Yanagihara (1989) found that 20 prefixes account for almost 97% of the 2,959 prefixed words that most frequently appear in school reading materials. Given how often these 20 prefixes occur, it makes sense to teach their meaning and use. To access a free list of these prefixes, visit the Keys to Literacy free resources page at our website, and go to the Vocabulary section. You will also find free lists of the following:

Common Numerical Prefixes

Common and Useful Suffixes

Common Greek and Latin Roots

References:
Carlisle, J.F. (2010). Effects of instruction on morphological awareness on literacy achievement: An integrative review. Reading Research Quarterly, 45 (4) 464-487.

Carlisle, J.F. (2007). Fostering morphological processing, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. In R.K. Wagner, A.E., Muse, & K.R. Tannenbaum (Eds.). Vocabulary acquisition: Implications for reading comprehension. New York: Guilford Press.

Edwards, C.E., Font, G., Baumann, J.F., & Boland, E. (2004). Unlocking word meanings: Strategies and guidelines for teaching morphemic and contextual analysis. In James, R. Baumann & Edward J. Kame/ennui (Eds.). Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice. New York: Guilford Press.

Graves, M.F. (2004). Teaching prefixes: As good as it gets? In James, R. Baumann & Edward J. Kame/ennui (Eds.). Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice. New York: Guilford Press.

White, T.G., Sowell, J., & Yanagihara, A. (1989). Teaching elementary students to use word-part clues. The Reading Teacher, 42.

Joan Sedita

Joan Sedita is the founder of Keys to Literacy and author of the Keys to Literacy professional development programs. She is an experienced educator, nationally recognized speaker and teacher trainer. She has worked for over 35 years in the literacy education field and has presented to thousands of teachers and related professionals at schools, colleges, clinics, and professional conferences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Morphology to Teach Vocabulary - Keys to Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Suggestions for teaching vocabulary by analyzing word parts.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners 

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Note: This article originally appeared in ASCD Express: Vol. 5, Issue 11, “Reading to Learn.” Comprehension is the reason for reading, but it can be the most difficult skill to master — especially for English language learners (ELLs). ELLs often have problems learning science, math, or social studies concepts, for example, because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects.ELLs at all levels of English proficiency and literacy development will benefit from improved comprehension skills, which allow them to:read more accuratelyfollow a text or story more closelyidentify important events and concepts in a textmaster new concepts in their content-area classescomplete assignments and assessmentsfeel motivated to read in school and for pleasureThere are a number of ways to build ELLs’ comprehension skills. Often standard strategies that are used in mainstream classrooms are a good starting point — they just need to be tweaked with ELLs’ language and academic needs in mind! This article focuses on strategies that are part of three main approaches: building background knowledge, teaching vocabulary explicitly, and checking comprehension frequently.I. Build background knowledgeDraw on students’ existing knowledgeStudents may already possess content knowledge that they cannot yet demonstrate in English. Look for opportunities to make associations between students’ experiences and new content. Allow students to use their native language with peers for a quick brainstorm about what they know about a topic before presenting their ideas to the whole class.Related Videos Video bonus: See classroom videos and interviews about reading comprehension in our related resource section and classroom video library!Build students’ background knowledgeStudents with limited or interrupted schooling may not have that same level of knowledge as their peers, especially when it comes to historical or cultural topics. When starting a new lesson, look for references that may need to be explicitly explained.Take students on a “tour of the text”At the beginning of the year and each time you hand out a new textbook, take students on a “virtual tour.” Show them different elements of the text, such as the table of contents and the glossary, and discuss how these sections can be helpful. Explain how the text is organized, pointing out bold print, chapter headings, and chapter summaries. Once students learn how to recognize these elements, they will be able to preview the text independently. Remember that students need to know how to use a tool in order for it to be useful. Learn more about this strategy in Teaching ELLs to Navigate Textbooks Effectively.Use a “picture-walk”This strategy can be used for fiction or non-fiction books. “Walk through” the book with the students, pointing out pictures, illustrations, and other graphic elements. Ask them what they notice about the pictures and how they think those details may be related to the story or content.Use outlines to scaffold comprehensionProvide a brief, simple outline of a reading assignment or an oral discussion in advance of a new lesson. This will help ELLs pick out the important information as they listen or read.II. Teach vocabulary explicitlyFocus on key vocabularyChoose vocabulary that your students need to know in order to support their reading development and content-area learning. Provide student-friendly definitions for key vocabulary.Include signal and directional wordsRemember that students may also need explicit instruction in signal or directional words (“because” and “explain”), in addition to key content vocabulary (“photosynthesis” and “revolution”).Use a “picture-walk” for vocabularyOnce students know a new word’s definition, ask them connect those new words to the pictures they see in the text.Teach students to actively engage with vocabularyTeach students to underline, highlight, make notes, and list unknown vocabulary words as they read.Give student practice with new wordsEnsure that your students can:Define a wordRecognize when to use that wordUnderstand multiple meanings (such as the word “party”)Decode and spell that wordIncorporate new words into discussions and activitiesFor students to really know a word, they must use it — or they will lose it. Use new words in class discussions or outside of class in other contexts if appropriate, such as on field trips. Give the students as many opportunities to use and master the new vocabulary as possible.III. Check comprehension frequentlyUse informal comprehension checksTo test students’ ability to sequence material, for example, print sentences from a section of the text on paper strips, mix the strips, and have students put them in order.Test comprehension with student-friendly questionsAfter reading, test students’ comprehension with carefully crafted questions, using simple sentences and key vocabulary from the text. These questions can be at the:Literal level (Why do the leaves turn red and yellow in the fall?)Interpretive level (Why do you think it needs water?)Applied level (How much water are you going to give it? Why?)No matter what the proficiency level of the student, ask questions that require higher-level thinkingTo probe for true comprehension, ask questions that require students to analyze, interpret, or explain what they have read, such as:What ideas can you add to…?Do you agree? Why or why not?What might happen if…?How do you think she felt…?Use graphic organizersGraphic organizers allow ELLs to organize information and ideas efficiently without using a lot of language. Different types include Venn diagrams, K-W-L charts, story maps, cause-and-effect charts, and timelines.Provide students lots of different ways to “show what they know”Drawings, graphs, oral interviews, posters, and portfolios are just a few ways that students can demonstrate understanding as they are beginning to develop their reading and writing skills in English.SummarizeAsk students to use the following strategies to summarize what they have read (orally or in writing):Retell what you read, but keep it short.Include only important information.Leave out less important details.Use key words from the text.It may be challenging to get ELLs’ comprehension skills where you want them to be, but the extra effort it takes will be well worth it as you put them on the path to becoming successful readers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 ways to IMPROVE ENGLISH READING skills and comprehension | Learning English Technique Lesson

# data[].attributes.body
Incorporating movement, visuals, and manipulatives strengthens understanding. For example, clapping out syllables, using counters in Elkonin boxes, or tapping sounds helps connect auditory and kinesthetic learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Explicit instruction is a way to teach in a direct, structured way. When teachers use explicit instruction, they make lessons crystal clear. They show kids how to start and succeed on a task. They also give kids plenty of feedback and chances to practice.

Think about a time when you tried to follow a new recipe, only to find that a step is missing or unclear. You may have been able to guess what to do next. But without explicit instructions, you may have added the wrong ingredient or stopped cooking the dish altogether.

The same thing can happen when kids learn something new. Some can make inferences to figure out the next steps or to work through the unknown. But for kids who learn and think differently, one unclear direction or having too many things to remember can be a deal-breaker.

That's where explicit instruction comes in. It can be used with students of all ages. And it can be taught with a whole class, a small group of students, or one student at a time.

Dive deeper

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explicit instruction is a way to teach in a direct, structured way. Learn why explicit instruction helps students, how it works, and more.

# data[].attributes.body
Use magazines, teacher provided pictures and student drawings that connect to the content that students are learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A student's level of phonemic awareness when they enter kindergarten is a strong predictor of how easy it will be for them to learn how to read. All students in preschool and many in the primary grades are learning phonemic awareness skills. Teaching phonemic awareness skills to young ELLs is similar to their native English peers. Older ELLs may also benefit from short and targeted instruction and practice with the sounds of English.

What is Phonemic Awareness?

Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to identify and manipulate phonemes in spoken words. It is also the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words ( Reading Rockets.) Phonemic awareness activities are done without letters so that the focus is on sounds.

Components of Phonemic Awareness

Isolation

What is the beginning, middle, ending sound in cat?

Identification

Which word had the same beginning sound as cat? Dog, bug, cut (cut)

Categorization

Which word does not start with the same beginning sound, it does not belong? blue, black, red (red)

Blending

Put the sounds together to make a word. /c/ /a/ /t/ is cat. If a student struggle with blending each sound give them the initial sound (onset) and the rest of the sounds (rime) /c/ /at/.

A simple activity is to play a guessing game with students. Segment a word /t/ /r/ /e/. Students say the word and then look around and try and find it. This helps ELLs build their vocabulary as they are practicing sounds.

Segmenting

Say the sounds you hear in the word cat /c/ /a/ /t/. One way to help students with this task is to give blocks for them to move with each sound or tap their finger for each sound.

Deletion

Have students remove a sound to create a new word. Say blog. Now say blog without the /b/ log.

Addition

Have students add a sound to create a new word. Say at. Now say at and add /s/ to the beginning sat.

Substitution

Say mat. Change the /m/ to /r/. What is the new word? (rat)

Exposure to the Sounds of English

You can help ELLs strengthen their knowledge of the sounds of the English language through read alouds, songs, poems, and other word games. Choral reading is also helpful as it gives students practice pronouncing English words without the stress of people hearing if they mispronounce a word.

Focus on Sounds that are Different

Especially for older Ells, it is helpful to focus on the sounds that are different between English and their native language. Phonological awareness skills transfer from one language to another. If a student is literate in their native language then they only require instruction in sounds that are different.
English and Spanish similarities and differences
Use Pictures

ELLs need to understand the vocabulary words that are being used for a phonemic awareness lesson. Using pictures is a simple way to help students both learn new sounds and vocabulary.

Older Students

For older ELLs photographs are one way to keep instruction age-appropriate. Students can work on completing a picture alphabet book. Use magazines, teacher provided pictures and student drawings that connect to the content that students are learning. Students can sort the pictures based on the beginning sounds.

Resources

Phonemic Awareness Bundle - This set includes print and digital phonemic awareness games with pictures and rhyming puzzles.

A Fresh Look at Phonics
https://www.readnaturally.com/research/5-components-of-reading/phonological-awareness

The Big Five: Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Part 2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Phonemic Awareness with ELLs - A World of Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn ideas for teaching phonemic awareness skills to English Langauge Learners. For ELLs it is important to give instruction...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Full Breakdown of the Science of Reading Components | Lexia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.headline
Morphology and How It Helps with Vocabulary- IMSE Journal

# data[].attributes.subject
Morphology and How It Helps with Vocabulary- IMSE Journal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
English has the most words of any language and estimates range from 600,000 to more than one million words. English is derived from many languages, including Old Norse (the root of German, Dutch, Nordic languages, and English), French, Latin, and Greek, and other borrowed words from many other languages. All of this "borrowing" makes learning how to speak, read and write English quite challenging.

Parents, teachers, and reading specialists have long understood the power of phonics for young readers-in more technical terms: 'phonemic' and 'phonological' awareness builds on children's understanding of the individual sounds in words and the ability to manipulate them and larger units of sounds, including syllables.￼￼ Morphological awareness is also a key part of student development. A 'morpheme,' is the smallest meaningful unit of language that cannot be further subdivided.

Most educators are aware of the concept of morphology but do not receive adequate training to help their students recognize base words and patterns early on in literacy acquisition. Morphology teaches students how to unlock other related words <see example below> and broaden their overall vocabulary. It is also a bridge to other Latin-based languages. Students understand and use basic morphological knowledge as early as kindergarten and first grade.

In 2017, research by J. Kirby and P. Bowers, on Morphological Instruction and Literacy made the case for morphology being the one linguistic feature that links directly to orthographic patterns, pronunciation, and meanings of words. According to this view, better morphological knowledge gained through explicit instruction can be expected to increase not only morphological knowledge but also grapheme-phoneme and semantic (vocabulary) knowledge. This theory provides a way of understanding the literacy gains observed from early morphological instruction.

P. Bowers and J. Kirby identify nine key features of morphological instruction:

Integrate morphology with other aspects of literacy instruction.

Extend morphological instruction to include etymology.

Integrate morphological instruction with subject area learning.

Employ an inquiry-based problem-solving approach.

Target free and bound bases as well as affixes.

Teach morphological families using a matrix, rather than isolated morphemes.

Target instruction to reduce the effect that phonological and spelling shifts (suffixing changes) across morphologically related words have on reading and spelling.

While most states publish academic standards that require students to analyze the morphemes to determine word meaning, there is inconsistency between academic standards and teacher training. Morphology should be taught within the context of vocabulary instruction as a strategy for understanding the relationships among words based on their shared meaningful units - i.e., their bases, prefixes, and suffixes. For example, root and base words are two different concepts. A root refers to the original word such as the Latin root word 'placere'. Bases (either bound or free) are the morphemes derived from the original root. is the base that derived from the Latin root 'placere'.

Seeking root relationships in words helps develop curious learners. Over time, students begin to understand that most words are structured according to logical patterns of meaning and spelling. Consider that the 20 most common make up 97% of all prefixed words and the 14 most frequently used word roots provide clues to the meaning of over 100,000 words. The correlations between morphological awareness and success in reading, writing, and spelling are strong.

Whether a student is taking a science, math, or history class, morphology helps learners, including English language learners, make important connections among vocabulary words within the same , and transfer those ideas across content or subject areas.

For more information on Morphology training, please visit https://imse.com/training-descriptions/
Please connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest to get tips and tricks from your peers and IMSE. Read the IMSE Journal to hear success stories from other schools and districts, and be sure to read the OG Weekly email series for refreshers and tips.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Morphology and How It Helps with Vocabulary - IMSE - Journal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most educators are aware of the concept of morphology but do not receive adequate training on how morphology helps with vocabulary.

# data[].attributes.headline
Improving Language and literacy Outcomes

# data[].attributes.subject
Improving Language and literacy Outcomes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Best Practices for Improving Language and Literacy Outcomes for English Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As classrooms across the United States continue to change, it is critical that educators are able to successfully address the unique language and learning needs of English learners (ELs) and provide efficient and high-quality supports when gaps in achievement are identified.

# data[].attributes.headline
12 Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness

# data[].attributes.subject
12 Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness

# data[].attributes.body
These resources provide both research foundations and practical implementation strategies specifically designed for English learners.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
12 Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness - My Teaching Cupboard

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Looking for the most effective strategies for teaching phonemic awareness? If you want your students to reach their reading benchmarks and have success learning to read and write, you need to know the latest Science of Reading research and use it to effectively teach phonemic awareness to your kids.

# data[].attributes.headline
Phonemic Awareness with English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.subject
Phonemic Awareness with English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.body
Start with simpler tasks like rhyming and identifying beginning sounds, then progress to advanced skills like phoneme substitution. Scaffold with sentence frames, visuals, and word banks to support different proficiency levels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Support every student by breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An important strategy to help students build their vocabulary is use of context - i.e., using the clues or hints provided in the text that surround an unfamiliar word to help guess the meaning without depending on a dictionary. This can include words, phrases, or sentences that appear before, after, or close to the word. It can also include visuals or headings embedded in the text - basically anything that helps a reader understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Expository, non-fiction text tends to offer more context clues than narrative text.

The main goal for developing students' ability to use context is to aid comprehension, not to teach words in-depth. When students encounter and "stumble" over unfamiliar words that are essential to making meaning of a passage, their comprehension suffers. If the context provides clues to the meanings of these words, comprehension is aided.

Use of context does not come naturally to many students. It takes time to become proficient with this strategy - students benefit from explicit instruction and guided practice. Studies have shown that when students are taught to use context clues they become better at figuring out the definitions of words compared to students who are not directly taught this skill (Kuhn & Stahl, 1998). The first step is helping students recognize when they don't know the meaning of a word and the need to make reasonable judgements about how to address that lack of knowledge.
Types of Context Clues
There are categories of types of clues that are useful for teachers to know, described below with examples from classroom texts. Knowledge of these types of clues benefits the teacher in terms of finding examples in text to use for explicit instruction and practice. However, it is not helpful to expect students to identify the type of clue provided in text. Shanahan (2022) points out that the research synthesis noted above by Kuhn and Stahl determined persuasively that students benefit from instruction for use of context, but it was not category training that helped, only the actual practice in figuring out word meanings from context.

Synonym Clue: A word that is similar to he word is provided.

Example: Water soaks into the ground pores, or spaces, among the fragments of soil.

Example: It was a triptych, or three-paneled, painting.

Contrast Clue: The word is contrasted with another word, usually an antonym.

Example: Unlike a compound, an element cannot be broken down into simpler materials.

Example: Volunteering to join the army offers the choice that a draftee does not have.

Instruction Using Classroom Text Examples
Rather than using contrived examples on worksheets to practice use of context, instruction works best when explicit instruction and guided practice is provided on a regular basis using examples from text that is already being used in the classroom. Teachers should review text and be on the lookout for examples where context clues are provided prior to assigning text for student reading.

Graves (2006, p. 99) suggests teaching students the following four-step strategy for inferring words from context:

1. Read carefully and ask yourself, "Does this make sense?"

2. Notice when you don't know the meaning of a word and slow down. Read that sentence at least once more, looking for clues.

3. If necessary, go back and reread the sentences before and after, looking for clues that help you figure out what the word might mean.

4. When you figure out what the word might mean, substitute your guess for the difficult word and see if it makes sense. If it does, keep on reading. If it doesn't, try again.

Context Doesn't Always Provide Clues
It is important to emphasize with students that use of context doesn't always work! Research shows that sometimes when readers attempt to derive the meanings of words in context they may get them wrong (Pressley et al., 2007). This may be because the student does not have enough prior knowledge to make sense of the clues in the text, or it may be that the clues are misleading. Contexts vary in how much information they provide a reader. Sometimes the context provides a direct explanation of the meaning of a word as shown in the examples of types of clues above, and in this example where the meaning of photosynthesis is directly stated in the previous sentence:

Up to this point we have been referring to the process in which light energy is used to make food simply as the food-making process. But this important process has its own special name: photosynthesis.

Sometimes the context provides some information about an unfamiliar word, but not enough for the student to be aware of its full meaning, as shown in the example below where the student may guess that a vaccination has something to do with preventing disease, but there is not enough information to discern just what a vaccination is.

In order to gain active immunity to a disease, one of two things must occur - either you come down with the disease, or you receive a vaccination.

Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002) identified some text as "misdirective" (i.e., leading to a misunderstanding). Here is an example of a misdirective from their book Bringing Words to Life where the students might wrongfully assume that Ginny admired Sandra's dancing:

Sandra had won the dance contest, and the audience's cheers brought her to the stage for an encore. "Every step she takes is so perfect and graceful," Ginny said grudgingly as she watched Sandra dance." (p. 4)

Shanahan (2022) suggests including examples sometimes from real text where words can't successfully be figured out from context, rather than using contrived examples to avoid what he calls "over consistency". He points out that this is being realistic with students about how use of context really works in most reading situations.
Using Word Parts
Another strategy for determining the meaning of an unfamiliar word is to use knowledge of meaningful word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes), which is the subject of a blog post I wrote in 2018 titled Using Morphology to Teach Vocabulary. Carlisle (2007) maintains that incidental word learning through contextual clues and morphological analysis is the primary means through which students acquire new vocabulary. Frey and Fisher (2011) suggest teaching students to "Look inside the word and outside the word to see what you know." When used in tandem, use of word parts (inside the word) and use of context (outside the word) can be very helpful.
Additional Resources References

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

Carlisle, J.F. (2007). Fostering morphological processing, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. In R.K. Wagner, A.E. Muse, & K.R. Tannenbaum (Eds.). Vocabulary acquisition: Implications for reading comprehension. New York: The Guilford Press.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Word wise and content rich: Five essential steps to teaching academic vocabulary. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Graves, M.F. (2006). The vocabulary book. New York: Teachers College Press.

Kuhn, M.R., & Stahl, S. A. (1998). Teaching children to learn word meanings from context: A synthesis and some questions. Journal of Literacy Research, 30, 119-138.

Pressley, M., Disney, L., & Anderson, K. (2007). Landmark vocabulary instructional research and the vocabulary instructional research that makes sense now. In Richard K. Rosenshine, B., & Stevens, R. (1984). Classroom instruction in reading. In P.D. Pearson, R. Barr, M.L. Kamil, and P.B. Mosenthal (Eds.), Handbook of reading research, 745-799. New York: Longman.

Shanahan, T. (2022). Blog post: Teaching Students to Use Context

Joan Sedita

Joan Sedita is the founder of Keys to Literacy and author of the Keys to Literacy professional development programs. She is an experienced educator, nationally recognized speaker and teacher trainer. She has worked for over 35 years in the literacy education field and has presented to thousands of teachers and related professionals at schools, colleges, clinics, and professional conferences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vocabulary Strategy: Use of Context - Keys to Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An important strategy to help students build their vocabulary is use of context - i.e., using the clues or hints provided in the text that surround an unfamiliar word to help guess the meaning without depending on a dictionary. This can include words, phrases, or sentences that appear before, after, or close to the word.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Provide guided practice to students as they work with two or three more examples. (Teacher and students work together to locate clue words/phrases in the sentences that will provide clues to the meanings of unfamiliar words.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is a phoneme? A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in speech. There are approximately 45 phonemes in the English language, depending on different accents.

They can be put together to make words. Here is a chart of phonemes:

Phonics is the method used in schools to teach children how to read. Children will be taught to link the sounds of letters to the symbols we use to represent them, these symbols are called graphemes.

What are children taught about phonemes?

In reception, children start learning the letters of the alphabet and the sounds which the letters make. The next step involves children learning to read simple words, for example:

Teachers will help children do this by pointing to each letter of a word and getting the class to say them out loud one after the other. Then they will be taught how to blend the sounds together to make a word. For example:

The word 'dog' is made up of three sounds, "d", "o" and "g", blending these sounds together gives you the word 'dog'. The spelling of a word and the letters it is made up of is called its phoneme sequence.

Sometimes teachers will say a simple word to the class, such as 'tap', and ask children to think about which sounds make up the word and what letters are needed to form it. This is known as segmenting. Children will be taught other 'consonant-vowel-consonant' (CVC) words, such as 'hat', 'big', and 'fox'.

Teachers will introduce children to consonant clusters, this is when two consonants are placed together at the start or end of a word without making a new sound. For example, when saying the word 'stop', you say both the 's' sound and the 't' sound. They are blended together but no new sound is made.

Children will then move on to learning about the type of phonemes called digraphs, which are two letters placed together to make one sound. Digraphs can be vowel digraphs, such as 'oa' and 'ai', or consonant digraphs, like 'sh', 'ch' and 'th'. Consonant digraphs are different to consonant clusters because in digraphs the two letters join to make a new sound. Children will practice blending these with other sounds to make words, such as: 'shop', 'that', 'chat'.

Sometimes three letters are placed together to make one sound, these are called trigraphs. Examples include: 'ear', 'air' and 'igh'.

Next, teachers will show children that some sounds can be made in more than one way, such as the long vowel sounds 'ai' and 'ee':

Children will also learn how some letters and letter combinations can make more than one sound. For example, the letter 'y' can act as a consonant (e.g. the word ' yell'), or it can act as a vowel (e.g. the word 'happ y'). The letter combination 'ch' can also have different sounds, for example: 's chool', ' chef' and ' ch eck'.

Lastly, children will be taught about split diagraphs (also called 'magic e'). This means that the vowel sound in a word has been split by a consonant. For example:

'b ak e ' - (the 'ae' make one sound but the diagraph has been split by the 'k').

'h om e ' - (the 'oe' make one sound but the diagraph has been split by the 'm').

When a 'magic e' is added to the end of some 3 letter words, such as 'hug', the 'e' can reach over the consonant and change the vowel before it from a short sound to a long sound, like in the word 'h ug e '.

Why is learning phonemes so important?

A good understanding of phonics is vital in helping children learn to read.

At the end of Year 1, children will have a Phonics Screening Check. This is a small assessment which will show if a child is confident in the phonics skills they have been taught so far, or if they need a bit of extra help.

The check will present children with words and 'nonsense words' that a teacher will ask them to read one-on-one. The nonsense words will be made up of phonic rules children have been taught and teachers will see if children can read them with the correct sounds. This will show if they understand the phonics rules. Example nonsense words might be 'fim', or 'dat'.

How to help children with phonemes?

When reading with your child, it is a good idea to ask them to sound out a few new words which they come across, as it will help them practice their phonic decoding skills. If they are struggling to sound out the word, you could ask them to write it down on a piece of paper and then mark under each sound with a line or a dot. For example:

This exercise will help children practice blending individual sounds together. If children struggle to hear all the sounds in a word, encourage them to think about the movements that their mouths are making. Looking in mirrors can help with this.

It can also help children if they draw pictures of a familiar image which sound like the phoneme sound. For example, they could draw a bee to represent the phoneme 'z', as it sounds like the noise made by a buzzing bee. Drawing pictures will help make phonemes more memorable for children.

How does Learning Street help children with phonemes?

By introducing children to new words through spelling groups among other methods, it allows them to breakdown the word in order to understand, helping them to practice their phonemes. Also, through the use of paired reading in our course, you are able to help them practice their phonic decoding skills with any words they don't know, helping them with their phonemes.

With a test at the end of year 1, and the skill vital in helping children learn to read, it is important that children have a good understanding of phonemes.

Our Courses

Click through to review the courses we have available

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is a phoneme? A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in speech. There are approximately 45 phonemes in the English language, depending on different accents. They can be put together to make words. Here is a chart of phonemes: Phonics is the method used in schools to teach children how to read.

# data[].attributes.headline
Seven Strategies for Reading Comprehension

# data[].attributes.subject
Seven Strategies for Reading Comprehension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension. These seven strategies have research-based evidence for improving text comprehension.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Strategies to Help Struggling English Language Learners - BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Looking for ways to help struggling English language learners be successful in your classroom? Explore these 10 strategies to support your students and improve learning outcomes.

# data[].attributes.headline
Key components for effective comprehension

# data[].attributes.subject
Key components for effective comprehension

# data[].attributes.body
Comprehension of any text, and particularly scholarly journals, is a complex process that involves a combination of foundational skills and active strategies. It is not simply about recognizing words, but about constructing meaning. Scholarly research has identified several key components that contribute to effective comprehension, often categorized by different models.

1. The Simple View of Reading (SVR)

One of the most foundational and widely cited models is the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986). This model posits that reading comprehension is the product of two core components:

Decoding (D): The ability to translate printed words into spoken language. This includes skills like phonological awareness, phonics, and sight word recognition. Without the ability to accurately and fluently decode the words on the page, a reader cannot access their meaning.

Language Comprehension (LC): The ability to understand spoken language. This is a broad category that includes vocabulary, grammar, background knowledge, and the ability to make inferences and understand sentence structure (Hoover & Gough, 1990).

The model is often expressed as an equation: Reading Comprehension (RC) = Decoding (D) x Language Comprehension (LC). This relationship highlights that a deficit in either area will significantly impair comprehension. As students get older, the relative importance of language comprehension increases (Lonigan, Burgess, & Schatschneider, 2018).

2. Strategic and Active Reading

Beyond the foundational skills of the SVR, effective comprehension of academic texts requires a strategic and active approach. This involves a metacognitive process of "thinking about thinking" (Reading Rockets).

Previewing/Skimming: Before diving into the details, a reader should survey the text to get a general overview. This includes reading the title, abstract, introduction, headings, and conclusion. This helps to create a mental map of the article's structure and main argument (Ohio Wesleyan University).

Questioning: Generating questions before and during reading helps to create a purpose and focus attention on key information. A common technique, like the SQ3R method (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review), encourages turning headings into questions to guide the reading process (Robinson, 1970).

Connecting to Prior Knowledge: Good readers actively link new information to what they already know. This "provides a framework for any new information they read" (Read Naturally). Scholarly articles, in particular, assume a level of background knowledge, so a strong foundation is crucial for making sense of the content (McNamara et al., 2011).

Making Inferences and Visualizing: Comprehension often requires "reading between the lines." Readers must draw on their prior knowledge and contextual clues to infer information that is not explicitly stated. Additionally, visualizing the concepts and creating mental images can improve recall (Pressley, 1977).

Summarizing and Monitoring: The ability to summarize the main ideas in one's own words is a key indicator of comprehension. Throughout the process, effective readers monitor their understanding and use fix-up strategies (like rereading or looking up a word) when a breakdown in comprehension occurs.

3. Critical Reading

For scholarly journals, comprehension must also be critical. This means not just understanding what the author says, but also evaluating the validity and implications of their claims.

Evaluating the Argument: Critical readers identify the author's thesis, the evidence provided to support it, and the logical links between them (Cleveland State University). They ask questions about the methodology, potential biases, and the limitations of the study.

Analyzing Textual Features: This involves examining how the author presents information. This includes evaluating figures, tables, and the use of language to see if the data supports the conclusions (Pennsylvania State University).

Synthesizing Information: Critical readers connect the findings of one article to other research in the field. This helps to determine how the new information fits into the broader scholarly conversation and whether it confirms, refutes, or extends existing knowledge.

These components—from the foundational skills of decoding and language comprehension to the active strategies of critical reading—are all interdependent and necessary for achieving effective comprehension of scholarly works.

Citations:

References

Cleveland State University. (n.d.). A Guide to Critical Reading.

Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6-10.

Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2(2), 127-160.

Lonigan, C. J., Burgess, S. R., & Schatschneider, C. (2018). Reading development from preschool through Grade 3. In The Oxford Handbook of Reading: The Development of Reading, The Oxford Handbook of Reading. Oxford University Press.

McNamara, D. S., Ozuru, Y., & Floyd, R. G. (2011). Comprehension. In Reading research quarterly, 46(3), 226-248.

Ohio Wesleyan University. (n.d.). Reading Strategies.

Pennsylvania State University. (n.d.). Critical Reading.

Pressley, M. (1977). Children's use of imagery from an imagery-based memory skill: a comparison of a training study with a review of the literature. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1(1), 1-19.

Read Naturally. (n.d.). Connecting to Prior Knowledge.

Reading Rockets. (n.d.). Comprehension Strategies.

Robinson, F. P. (1970). Effective Study. Harper & Row.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
12 Ways Classroom Teachers Can Support ELLs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you are a classroom or content-area educator trying to figure out how to teach English language learners (ELLs), you are not alone! You are off to a good start by looking for ways to support your students!There are many things you can do that will make a big difference to ELLs, and they often prove helpful for other students in the class as well.Here are some ideas to help you begin. Look for a few ideas you can try and one or two topics where you would like to learn more information.Note: This article also includes some research-based recommendations offered by Dr. Diane August in her 2018 American Educator article, Educating English Language Learners: A Review of the Latest Research.Getting Started1. Get to know your students.ELLs are a tremendously diverse student group. In order to serve your students effectively, it will be helpful to:build relationships with studentsget to know their strengths and interestslook for ways to make students feel welcome and comfortable in the classroom.In addition, it’s helpful to know more about their home language, literacy skills in that language, prior schooling, and current levels of English proficiency (keeping in mind that students’ levels may have changed during the pandemic since the last time they were assessed).You don’t have to do this all at once and it’s best not to overwhelm students or families with a lot of questions at the beginning, but taking some small steps early on can make a big difference throughout the year. Learn more from the following:10 Things You Need to Learn About Your English Language Learners Videos: Why building relationships with ELLs matters 2. Be mindful of your communication.In order to communicate effectively with your students:Speak clearly and naturally, without going too quickly or slowly.Simplify language without “dumbing it down.“Be mindful of your body language.Encourage your students through positive body language and expressions, especially when they make mistakes.Be patient and encourage classmates to do the same if needed.Encourage students to raise their hand if they don’t understand a word.Avoid slang and idiomatic expressions.Video: Why positive body language matters when working with ELLs 3. Create a language-rich environment.ELLs will benefit from increased exposure to print and language. A print-rich environment will include access to books and reference materials, labels (in students’ languages and English) and posters, and student work on bulletin boards. Word walls are also a great support for ELLs, and may be organized around a number of concepts, including:the alphabet and phonetic soundsnew vocabulary wordssight wordsgrammar rulesconversational phraseswriting structures.Video: Using sentence frames with ELLs 4. Learn how to plan lessons that incorporate best practices for ELLs.Take a look at our article on lesson planning for ELLs for ideas on how to:identify background knowledge needed to understand the lessonconnect content to students’ experienceidentify content and language objectivesidentify key vocabulary and academic language needed for the lessonscaffold and differentiate instructionincorporate peer learning into your instruction.Video: Teaching ELLs the names of all 50 states Language and Literacy Instruction5. Learn some basic information about how students acquire a new language.A good place to start is a basic overview of the process and stages of language acquisition. It’s also important to learn about the four key domains, or skill areas, of language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students need instruction and practice all four of these domains.Drs. Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove include “interaction” in that list for the helpful acronym SWIRL:SpeakWriteInteractReadListenImage credit: Input and output in language development. WelchEducation.com. Used with permission.Keep in mind the following:Students are assessed in the four language domains each year through their English language proficiency (ELP) assessment, although that assessment may have been disrupted or done under difficult circumstances during the pandemic. Your ESL colleagues should have access to that data and you can check your students’ proficiency levels across different domains.Students may be stronger in one domain than another. For example, a student may be more proficient in speaking than writing.ELLs need explicit language instruction, scaffolding, and modeling in across all four domains.Related resourcesTeaching ELLs Online: How to Develop Students’ Language Skills10 Things You Need to Learn About Your English Language Learners6. Teach academic oral language skills.Oral language skills are an essential part of a student’s language and literacy development. Students will need guided practice and modeling to develop the academic language needed for classroom discussions and presentations. You can see more ideas for how to do so in the resources below:Oral Language Development and ELLs: 5 Challenges and SolutionsHow to Stop Ourselves from Doing All of the Talking (ELL blogger Valentina Gonzalez)Wait Time Can Make or Break Your Lesson (ELL blogger Valentina Gonzalez)12 Fun Speaking Games for Language Learners (Edutopia)Video Series: Engaging ELLs in Academic Conversations (Teaching Channel)7. Expand ELLs’ access to grade-level literacy instruction.In order for ELLs to access grade-level content, they may need additional literacy support and instruction. Here are a few initial steps to take; much more information is available in the links below.Learn more about students’ literacy skills in their home language and in English. If students need to develop their foundational skills, work with an ESL teacher and reading specialist together to identify some helpful strategies and resources to use.Provide students with opportunities to engage more deeply with grade-level text. Some strategies for doing so are available in the resources below, but you may wish to request additional training for staff in this area since it takes some practice.Give students numerous opportunities to write across content areas and for a variety of audiences. Ideas for scaffolding ELLs’ writing follow below.To see some related strategies in action, take a look at our Classroom Video library. Many of these videos and classroom materials were developed as part of our Common Core and ELLs project developed with Dr. August.Related resourcesReading 101 for English Language LearnersReading Comprehension for ELLs: Skills and StrategiesIncreasing the level of text complexity with ELLs (video and discussion questions)Supporting ELs with Close Reading (American Institutes for Research Webinar Series)Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan (book study videos are available online!)8. Try only one new thing at a time.Teaching multiple new things at the same time often doesn’t work! When introducing new material, remember the following:If you are teaching new language, use old content.If you are teaching new content, use old language.Video: Try one new thing at a time Students’ Home Languages as a Resource9. Draw upon students’ home languages as a resource.Students’ home languages are a valuable resource. Even if you don’t speak those languages and are not working in a bilingual setting, there are way to tap into them to support instruction.For example, Dr. August shares a number of research-based strategies that draw upon the home language such as the following:using bilingual glossariesproviding background information in students’ home languagespeer work in students’ home languagesexplicit instruction in how to use cognates or build on their own skills in their home language.Related resourcesLearn more about what using students’ language can look like in this related series from Larry Ferlazzo on Education Week, this resource guide on translanguaging, and these recommendations from Tan Huynh.Learning about students’ home languagesLearning more about students’ languages can help educators understand how that student learns English, patterns, or aspects that might be present such as phonetic sounds, pronunciation, grammar, word order, or sentence structure. For example, in Spanish, the adjective often follows the noun, so a student may write, “We are a family happy.” In Somali, there is one sound for b and p — it is mixed. Somali students need to be taught this sound explicitly as two distinct sounds. Otherwise, they may ask for a can of “pop” and it sounds like “bob.“Home language may also influence students’ vocabulary as they translate words or phrases from one language to another. Perhaps a vocabulary word has multiple meanings, a different meaning in each language, or the concept doesn’t exist in one of the languages. In addition, educators and staff who work regularly with ELLs, as well as bilingual families, may be a valuable source of information about their languages and be able to share their language through a few words, songs, or rhymes.Recommended Resource: One useful tool is a book written by Jeffra JoAnn Flaitz about immigrant/refugee students. This title includes profiles of the most common countries of origin for ELLs in the U.S. with information about culture, language, education, teaching styles, and classroom behavior. A sample chapter about El Salvador is available online.Monitoring Student Progress10. Use informal assessment on a regular basis.It’s important to use informal tools to monitor student progress in addition to more formal measures. That might mean something like quick comprehension checks during a lesson or exit tickets. You may also wish to use tools such as graphic organizers. More ideas are available in the resources below.Coming up with a correction/feedback policyWhile it is difficult to know when to correct students, constructive and effective feedback is essential to student progress. Nevertheless, it is important to balance between encouragement and error correction. One way to do this is to focus on one or two concepts at a time when listening to or reading student work. Let students know what you will be focusing on so that they in turn can focus on those particular concepts in the assignment.Another strategy is to circle errors in writing assignments, and have students try to figure out what the mistakes were. Most of the time students are able to correct their own writing errors once they focus on the circled area. If they are still stuck, try giving them the answer and asking them to explain why it is correct. If they don’t know the answer, ask them to consult with a classmate. If no one else knows the answer, review the structure as a group.Related resourcesUsing Informal Assessments for ELLsReading Comprehension Strategies for English Language LearnersFormative Assessment Choice Board (SupportEd)EL Formative Assessment Checklist (SupportEd)Video: Assessment for ELLs 11. If a student is struggling, proceed with care.If a student is struggling, it’s important to proceed carefully and in collaboration with colleagues. Discuss your concerns with an ESL teacher to identify some targeted areas of instruction and ideas for progress monitoring. (Dr. August shares some ideas towards the end of the her research review for this kind of monitoring.) In addition, talk with the student’s family to determine whether there is any important information you should know about factors that might impact the student’s learning.Keep in mind the following:Nationwide, ELLs are both over-identified and under-identified for special education. Over-correction in one direction can lead to misjudgments in the other.There is no single checklist or factor that can determine when a student needs extra support and what kind of support that might be, which is why it is imperative to work in close collaboration with ESL educators, family members, special educators, and reading/speech specialists if you are reviewing a student’s situation.The types of support that students receive in special education are different than those that students receive in ESL classes. Referral to special education is not a silver bullet where students will “at least get some help.” A special education referral is a step that should only be taken after careful progress monitoring and targeted instruction (in the absence of an immediate and obvious need for services) and in consultation with a team that includes ESL educators and the student’s family.Related resources5 Myths About English Language Learners and Special EducationA Word Beginning with “T”: MaestraMTSS and English Language LearnersVideo: Having enough data to look at progress over time Tips for Collaboration12. Reach out to your ELL colleagues for ideas.Don’t hesitate to reach out to ELL colleagues in your building or district (they may have a wide range of titles). They are experts in supporting ELL instruction. Even if schools have not made formal collaboration time a priority, you can start with small steps. A concrete question or example is often a very good place to start collaboration.If you find the collaboration helpful, share your successes with colleagues and administrators — you may be able to advocate for more collaboration time in the future! While it may be difficult to find time to meet on a regular basis, increased collaboration among all of the educators working with ELLs will improve their chances for success.Video: Collaborating to support an ELL with special needs Closing ThoughtsThere is a lot of information here, but remember that it’s ok to start with small steps. And when something doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to go back to the drawing board! Make some adjustments and try again, and if it still doesn’t work, move on to a new strategy. You will soon find what works for your students and will come to appreciate the privilege to be a part of their journey.Video: When new strategies don’t work Discussion QuestionsWhat are some strategies that you can try here on your own?What are some topics you would like to learn more about in professional development?What is an example of a lesson you might teach differently in the future?What are some ways you can try collaborating with your other ESOL or bilingual colleagues?Recommended ResourcesVideo: What to Do FirstVideo Interviews: Advice for New Teachers of ELLsNew to Teaching ELLs?Do’s and Don’ts for Teaching ELLs (Edutopia)HELP! I’m teaching ESL next year. What can I do now to prepare? (Valentina Gonzalez)6 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners (Edutopia)12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom (Cult of Pedagogy)10 Ways to Value ELs’ Language Assets (Tonya Ward Singer)5 Strategies to Position English Learners for Success This Year: Blog Post + Infographic (SupportEd)Education English Language Learners: A Review of the Latest Research (American Educator)

# data[].attributes.body
Connecting activities to familiar names, objects, and cultural experiences increases engagement and lowers barriers to learning. This also builds a bridge between school literacy and home knowledge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Culturally Responsive Teaching — National Equity Project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When we attend to healing, we expand our ability for ourselves, our organizations, and our movements to evolve and grow. Learn why healing is capacity building!

# data[].attributes.headline
Rethinking Vocabulary Development: Unlocking the Power of Morphology

# data[].attributes.subject
Rethinking Vocabulary Development: Unlocking the Power of Morphology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rethinking Vocabulary Development: Unlocking the Power of Morphology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning the structure of words through morphology can transform a student’s reading and writing skills. Morphology – the study of word parts, including prefixes, suffixes, connecting vowels and bases – is an essential component of Structured Literacy. It not only builds vocabulary but also fosters comprehension and em

# data[].attributes.headline
Essential Components of Reading - Picture

# data[].attributes.subject
Essential Components of Reading - Picture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Infographics & Resource Guides | Multilingual Students with Exceptional Needs

# data[].attributes.headline
The 5 Essential Components of Effective Reading 

# data[].attributes.subject
The 5 Essential Components of Effective Reading 

# data[].attributes.body
Effective comprehension strategies include teaching students to generate and answer questions, which helps them focus and deepen their understanding of complex texts. Readers are encouraged to monitor their comprehension and use techniques like summarizing, recapping or rereading to clarify confusion. Having students show their understanding is crucial to helping them be successful. Collaborative learning and the use of visual organizers further support comprehension by allowing students to explain ideas and organize information clearly. When teachers provide clear, repeated instruction and guided practice, students gradually learn to apply these strategies independently, therefore becoming confident readers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Home Language: An English Language Learner’s Most Valuable Resource

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Dr. Fred Genesee discusses the research supporting the importance of a child’s home language. In addition, Dr. Genesee explores the question of why an approach that is well-supported by research has been largely ignored in the era of “research-based” policy.OverviewWebcast: ELLs and ReadingLearn more about using the home language to support ELLs’ reading instruction in our Teaching ELLs to Read webcast featuring Dr. Genesee!The education of English language learners (ELLs) is one of the most important issues facing U.S. educators. ELLs are a large and growing proportion of the school-age population — according to National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2007, about 10.8 million (or 20%) school-aged children in the U.S. spoke a language other than English at home (Planty, Hussar, Snyder, Kena, Kewal Ramani, Kemp, Bianco, & Dinkes, 2009). This situation is not likely to change because ELLs are currently the fastest growing population in U.S. schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004), with the number of ELLs expected to increase another 50% by 2025 (Passel & Cohn, 2008).The importance of the issues goes beyond the sheer number of ELLs, however. It has been shown in numerous national studies and surveys that, on average, ELLs under achieve in comparison to their English-speaking peers in academic domains and that the achievement gap tends to increase the higher the grade level (e.g., Fry, 2007; Rumberger, 2007; McNeil et al., 2008). As we consider ways to help ELLs increase their academic achievement, then, it is clear that educators need all the resources at their disposal to meet these challenges.Policy and Home LanguageUntil recently, significant efforts were made to enhance the educational outcomes of ELLs by offering alternative forms of education that incorporate use of ELLs’ home language (Genesee, 1999, for a review). These programs were justified on the grounds that educating ELLs in English only posed a triple threat to their educational success since it would require that they simultaneously:learn academic English to high levels,master challenging academic skills and content taught through English,adopt new social skills that would permit them to integrate with their English-speaking classmates and teachers.However, in recent years, recent political and legislative initiatives that disfavor bilingual education have made these educational options difficult to access, despite evidence of their success (Goldenberg, 2009). Along with these politically-motivated changes, it would appear that educators and policy-makers no longer recognize the native language skills of ELLs as an important educational resource and, indeed, it would even appear that they discredit it having any role in the education of ELLs.What does the research say?At the same time that the role of the home language is diminishing in public education policy, there have been growing political and legislative expectations that educational policies and classroom practices be backed up by scientific, empirical evidence. With respect to ELLs, there is undeniable and growing evidence that the home language of ELLs is of considerable benefit to their overall academic success. There are multiple sources of such evidence. First, recent meta-analyses have shown that educational programs that systematically incorporate use of ELLs’ home language result in levels of academic success, including achievement in literacy and other academic subjects, that are as high as and often better than that of ELLs in English-only programs (Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, in press). In a review of these meta-analyses, Goldenberg (2008) notes “Readers should understand how unusual it is to have five meta-analyses on the same issue conducted by five independent researchers or groups of researchers with diverse perspectives. The fact that they all reached essentially the same conclusion is worth noting. No other area in educational research with which I am familiar can claim five independent meta-analyses based on experimental studies — much less five that converge on the same basic finding.” (p. 15).Second, in a study of ELLs in two-way immersion programs, Lindholm and Aclan (1991) found a significant positive relationship between individual student’s level of bilingual proficiency and their achievement in math and reading in English. Furthermore, the students who were classified as “high bilinguals” were able to attain grade level results by fourth grade in English reading and by third grade in English math.Third, a growing body of evidence from researchers around the world has shown that bilingual children exhibit significant cognitive advantages in comparison to monolingual children (e.g., Bialystok 2006; Chin & Wigglesworth, 2007; Kovaacs & Mehler, 2009). These advantages have been demonstrated in executive control processes related to selective attention and inhibition and monitoring of attention when, for example, children are engaged in problem solving.Fourth, and finally, extensive research, again from around the world, has found that children who are learning to read in a second language are able to transfer many skills and knowledge from their first language to facilitate their acquisition of reading skills in the second language. The best evidence of this comes from studies showing that students with strong reading skills in the home language also have strong reading skills in their second language. Much of this work has been done on ELLs in the U.S. (August & Shanahan, 2006; Riches & Genesee, 2006).What we see in the U.S., then, is a push for research-based policy but the creation of policies that contradict the research. Debate concerning the value of using ELLs’ home language in specially-designed programs, such as two-way immersion, will undoubtedly continue, and so it should since it makes little educational sense to diminish U.S. students’ opportunities to become bilingual in an increasingly globalized community.Back to topHome Language in the ClassroomIn the meantime, teachers and students can’t wait for these policy debates to be settled before deciding how or whether to draw upon ELLs’ home language. The question arises how can schools and teachers, even those who are monolingual, act on evidence that clearly shows the personal, cognitive, linguistic and educational value of using the linguistic resources that ELLs bring to school. There is no simple or single answer to this question, but a number of options are worth exploring that, at the moment, are often overlooked and discounted. Cloud, Genesee, and Hamayan (2009, Chapter 3) offer a number of suggestions:To encourage students to see connections between their languages and, thus, to better understand how languages are structured and organized, talk to ELLs about their home language — ask them:How is the home language the same and how it is different from English?Are there words in the home language that sound the same and mean the same thing in both languages?Are there words in the home language and English that sound the same but mean different things?As part of phonological and metalinguistic awareness exercises to facilitate reading acquisition, ask students:to say words that start with the same sound(s) in English or the L1.how words are changed and formed in the home language — singular and plural forms, present tense and past tense forms of verbs — to enhance their word knowledgewho are new to your class, to read books in their home language to show you what they know about reading.By using the collective skills and knowledge of all students (both ELL and English-L1 students) in the classroom, even a monolingual teacher can tap into these valuable language resources that ELLs have and do so with the confidence that these methods will promote their language development — in English as well as the home language.Back to topEducation for AllA hallmark of public education in the U.S. is respect for and appreciation of the individual skills and backgrounds of students as a foundation for furthering their education. Taking advantage of ELLs’ home language resources is asking no more than the same respect and appreciation for this group of learners. At the same time, parents, teachers, educational leaders in local school districts, and politicians should discuss how best to provide all students in the U.S. with high quality educational programs that promote competence in additional languages. At stake is not only the competitiveness of individual students once they enter the work force but, indeed, the ability of the U.S. itself to compete in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural world.Back to topVideo: Using the Home Language as a ResourceDearborn Public Schools ELD Director Rose Aldubaily discusses the value of using students’ home language as a resource. About the AuthorFred Genesee is Professor in the Psychology Department at McGill University, Montreal. He has conducted extensive research on alternative forms of bilingual and immersion education for language minority and language majority students. His current research interests also include language acquisition in pre-school bilingual children, internationally-adopted children, second language reading acquisition, and the language and academic development of students at-risk in bilingual programs. He is the recipient of the Canadian Psychological Associate Award for Distinguished Contributions to Community or Public Service and the 2-Way CABE Award of Promoting Bilingualism. Publications include:Genesee, F., Paradis, J., & Crago (Eds.) (2010). Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning, 2nd Edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Brookes Publishing.Cloud, N., Genesee, F., and Hamayan, E. (2009). Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners: A Teacher’s Guide to Research-Based Practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Back to topAcknowledgementsOur policy section is made possible by a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The statements and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Van Cleave - Morphology Matters: Using Bases & Affixes to Develop Vocabulary in Students of All Ages

# data[].attributes.headline
9 Components of Effective, Research-Supported Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
9 Components of Effective, Research-Supported Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
Effective reading instruction combines phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, writing skills, spelling, ongoing assessment, and fostering a love of reading to build strong, motivated, and skilled readers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Adams, M., Treiman, R., & Pressley, M. (1998). Reading, writing and literacy. In I. E. Siegal and K. A. Renniger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Child psychology in practice (5th ed., Vol. 4, pp. 275-355). New York: Wiley.

Bear, D. Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (1996). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (1991). Conditions of vocabulary acquisition. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), The Handbook of Reading Research (Vol. 2, pp. 789-814). New York: Longman Press.

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Omanson, R. C. (1984). The fertility of some types of vocabulary instruction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., Hamilton, R. L., & Kucan, L. Getting at the meaning: How to help students unpack difficult text. American Educator, 22, 66-71, 85.

Beck, I. L., McCaslin, E. C., & McKeown, M. G. (1980). The rationale and design of a program to teach vocabulary to fourth-grade students. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center.

Berninger, V., Vaughan, K., Abbott, R., Brooks, A., Abbott, S., Reed, E., Rogan, L., & Graham, S. (1998). Early intervention for spelling problems: Teaching spelling units of varying size within a multiple connections framework. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 587-605.

Berninger, V., Vaughan, K., Abbott, R., Abbott, S., Brooks, A., Rogan, L., Reed, E., & Graham, S. (1997). Treatment of handwriting fluency problems in beginning writing: Transfer from handwriting to composition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 652-666.

Durkin, D. (1993). Teaching them to read (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Ehri, L., & Soffer, A. (1999). Graphophonemic awareness: Development in elementary students. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 1-30.

Fletcher, J. M., & Lyon, G. R. (1998). Reading: A research-based approach. In W. Evers (Ed.), What's gone wrong in America's classrooms (pp. 49-90). Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.

Graham, S., Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Abbott, S., & Whitaker, D. (1997). The role of mechanics in composing of elementary school students: A new methodological approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 170-182.

Learning First Alliance (1998). Every child reading: An action plan. Washington, DC: Author.

Moats, L. C. (1995). The missing foundation in teacher education. American Educator, 19(2), 9, 43-51.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Fluency. Chap. 3 in Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: Reports of the subgroups (pp. 3-1-3-43). Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

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

National Reading Panel. (2000). Text comprehension. Part 2 of Chap. 4 in Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: Reports of the subgroups (pp. 4-39-4-118). Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Vocabulary instruction. Part 1 of Chap. 4 in Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: Reports of the subgroups (pp. 4-15-4-38). Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

Pressley, M. (1998). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching. New York: Guilford Press.

Scarborough, H., Ehri, L., Olson, R., & Fowler, A. (1998). The fate of phonemic awareness beyond the early school years. Scientific Studies of Reading, 2, 115-142.

Snow, C., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children (pp. 80-83). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Treiman, R. (1993). Beginning to spell. New York: Oxford University Press.

In addition to their mention in Every Child Reading: An Action Plan, these components are commonly delineated in documents such as research reviews, state standards on instruction, the Reading Excellence Act funding criteria, curriculum guidelines, and teacher instructional manuals.

Of course, as the National Reading Panel notes, "phonics teaching is a means to an end... . In implementing systematic phonics instruction, educators must keep the end in mind and ensure that children understand the purpose of learning letter sounds and that they are able to apply these skills accurately and fluently in their daily reading and writing activities" (Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Health, 2000, p. 10). The panel's report also states that, notwithstanding the fact that explicit, systematic, synthetic phonics is the most effective approach, there remain unanswered questions on how to make this instruction as effective as possible. For example, the panel notes that more research is needed on questions such as how long single instruction sessions should last, how many letter-sound relations should be taught, and how many months or years a phonics program should continue. Moreover, some children will learn and appropriately apply phonics skills quickly and effortlessly, while others must be taught slowly, step by step. The individual variation in any group remains a continual challenge to teacher judgment, resourcefulness, and program management skill.

In the standardization of the Texas Primary Reading Inventory, these subtests combined predict the likelihood of success or failure with about 90 percent accuracy.

The readability of text, as reflected in sentence complexity and frequency of vocabulary, can now be assessed with software. Readability formulas tend to have more validity for children who have attained a reading level above 2nd grade than they do for those who are just beginning to read, and readability does not reflect the extent to which a text is decodable on the basis of what a child has been taught.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 Components of Effective, Research-Supported Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We know from research that an effective reading program must address several aspects of reading. Among others, these aspects include the alphabetic code, fluency, comprehension, and motivation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Home Language Video (English with Subtitles)

# data[].attributes.headline
The Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
The Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
iunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1991). Tracking the unique effects of print exposure in children: Associations with vocabulary, general knowledge, and spelling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 264-274.; Fielding, L. G., Wilson, P. T., & Anderson, R. C. (1986). A new focus on free reading: The role of trade books in reading instruction. In T. Raphael & R. E. Reynolds (Eds.), The contexts of school-based literacy. New York: Random House.

2 Herman, P. A., Anderson, R. C., Pearson, P. D., & Nagy, W. E. (1987). Incidental acquisition of word meanings from expositions with varied text features. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 263-284.; Nagy, W. E., Anderson, R. C., & Herman, P. A. (1987). Learning word meanings from context during normal reading. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 237-270.; Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1985). Learning words from context. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 233-253.

3 Krashen, S. (1993). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

4 Carver, R. P. (1994). Percentage of unknown vocabulary words in text as a function of the relative difficulty of the text: Implications for instruction. Journal of Reading Behavior, 26, 413-437.; Carver, R. P., & Leibert, R.E. (1995). The effect of reading library books at different levels of difficulty upon gain in reading ability. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 26-48.

5 Shefelbine, J. L. (1990). Student factors related to variability in learning word meanings from context. Journal of Reading Behavior, 22, 71-97.

6 Guthrie J.T., Schafer, W.D., Wang, Y., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). Relationships of instruction to amount of reading: An exploration of social, cognitive and instructional connections. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 8-25.

7 Guthrie, Schafer, Wang & Afflerbach, 1995.

8 Dickinson, D.K., & Smith, M.W. (1944). Long-term effects of preschool teachers' book readings on low-income children's vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 29, 104-122.

9 Stahl, S.A., Richek, M.G., & Vandevier, R. (1991). Learning word meanings through listening: A sixth grade replication. In J. Zutell & S. McCormick (Eds.) Learning factors/teacher factors: Issues in literacy research. Fortieth yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 185-192). Chicago National Reading Conference.

10 Dickinson & Smith, 1994.

11 Graves, M.F., Juel, C., & Graves B.B. (1997). Teaching reading in the twenty-first century. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

12 Brice Heath, S. (1983). A lot of talk about nothing. Language Arts, 60, 39-48.; Brice Heath, S. (1983). Ways with words: Language, Life, and work in communities and classrooms. New York: Cambridge University.

13 Stahl, 1999.

14 McKeown, M. G., Beck, I. L., Omanson, R. C., & Pople, M. T. (1985). Some effects of the nature and frequency of vocabulary instruction on the knowledge and use of words. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 522-535.

15 Scott & Nagy, 1997.

16 Graves et al., 1997.

17 Nagy, W. E., Winsor, P., Osborn, J. & O'Flahaven, J. (1994). Structural analysis: Some guidelines for instruction. In F. Lehr & J. Osborn (Eds.), Reading, language, and literacy: Instruction for the twenty-first century (pp. 45-58). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

18 Anderson & Nagy, 1991; Sternberg, R. J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. In M. G. McKeown & M. E. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 89-105). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

19 Stahl, 1999.

20 Stahl, S. A., & Fairbanks, M. M. (1986). The effects of vocabulary instruction: A model-based meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 56, 72-110.

21 Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C. A., & McKeown, M. G. (1982). Effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 506-521.

22 Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, (1982).

23 Stahl, S. A., & Clark, C. H. (1987). The effects of participatory expectations in classroom discussion on the learning of science vocabulary. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 541-556.

24 This sample lesson is adapted from Stahl, 1999.

25 Wixson, K.K. (1986). Vocabulary instruction and children's comprehension of basal stories. Reading Research Quarterly. 21, 317-329.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Effective vocabulary instruction begins with diverse opportunities for word learning: wide reading, high-quality oral language, word consciousness, explicit instruction of specific words, and independent word-learning strategies. This article explains how these opportunities can be created in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Leveraging students’ home language knowledge to support literacy learning | IES

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the first of a two-part conversation, REL Midwest literacy coach Christina Grayson and speech-language pathologist Dr. Ryan Lee-James discuss the importance of incorporating and celebrating students’ diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds into literacy instruction.

# data[].attributes.headline
Implementing Phonemic Awareness with English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.subject
Implementing Phonemic Awareness with English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.body
Breaking down phonemic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Implementing Phonemic Awareness with English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching phonemic awareness with English language learners is important. Phonemic awareness is a foundational cornerstone for students’ future fluency.

# data[].attributes.body
Use fun games like rhyming, “I Spy” with beginning sounds, or phoneme bingo to help English learners practice manipulating sounds in an engaging way.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Blending: guess-the-word game

This activity, from our article Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines, is an example of how to teach students to blend and identify a word that is stretched out into its basic sound elements.

Objective: Students will be able to blend and identify a word that is stretched out into its component sounds.

Materials needed: Picture cards of objects that students are likely to recognize such as: sun, bell, fan, flag, snake, tree, book, cup, clock, plane

Activity: Place a small number of picture cards in front of children. Tell them you are going to say a word using "Snail Talk" a slow way of saying words (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/). They have to look at the pictures and guess the word you are saying. It is important to have the children guess the answer in their head so that everyone gets an opportunity to try it. Alternate between having one child identify the word and having all children say the word aloud in chorus to keep children engaged.

​Blending: robot talk

See all Blending/Segmenting Activities from the University of Virginia PALS program.

Blending slide

Oral blending activity

Sound blending using songs

This activity (see Yopp, M., 1992) is to the tune of " If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands."

If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word,
Then tell me what you've heard,
If you think you know this word, shout it out!

After singing, the teacher says a segmented word such as /k/ /a/ /t/ and students provide the blended word "cat."

Segmenting cheer activity

This link provides teachers with information on how to conduct the following segmentation cheer activity. See segmenting cheer activity

Write the "Segmentation Cheer" on chart paper, and teach it to children. Each time you say the cheer, change the words in the third line. Have children segment the word sound by sound. Begin with words that have three phonemes, such as ten, rat, cat, dog, soap, read, and fish.

Listen to my cheer.
Then shout the sounds you hear.
Sun! Sun! Sun!
Let's take apart the word sun.
Give me the beginning sound. ( Children respond with /s/.)
Give me the middle sound. ( Children respond with /u/.)
Give me the ending sound. ( Children respond with /n/.)
That's right!
/s/ /u/ /n/-Sun! Sun! Sun!

Segmenting with puppets

Teaching blending and segmenting

Learn more about teaching phoneme blending and segmenting in this skill explainer from our sister site, Reading Universe. You'll find classroom videos, lesson plans, student practice activities, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Blending and segmenting games and activities can help students to develop phonemic awareness - the ability to hear the individual sounds in spoken words. Begin with segmenting and blending syllables, and then move to working with individual sounds (phonemes). Learning to blend and segment sounds is key to learning to read.

# data[].attributes.body
Rhymes, chants, and culturally familiar songs make sound practice memorable and fun. Poetry and nursery rhymes highlight rhythm and phonemic patterns.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Phonemic awareness is the ability to understand how sounds work in spoken language. Here are 10 fun activities to build your child’s phonemic awareness.

# data[].attributes.body
Digital apps and interactive platforms provide immediate feedback and allow students to practice at their own pace. Use tools that reinforce blending and segmenting skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learn to Read with Phonics | Starfall Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Starfall’s movies, games, and ebooks create an environment where children have fun as they learn to read. We use a proven sequential phonics method.

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher should choose and design instruction based on their students' levels and based on the text that students are reading and learning about.

This article showcases ways in which we as teachers can help our students constructively understanding literacy better.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Is Effective Comprehension Instruction?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Effective comprehension instruction is instruction that helps students to become independent, strategic, and metacognitive readers who are able to develop, control, and use a variety of comprehension strategies to ensure that they understand what they read. To achieve this goal, comprehension instruction must begin as soon as students begin to read and it must: be explicit, intensive, and persistent; help students to become aware of text organization; and motivate students to read widely.

# data[].attributes.body
Partner or small-group activities encourage peer modeling and practice with phoneme manipulation. This builds confidence and oral language skills in a supportive setting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Colorín Colorado is a national multimedia project that offers a wealth of bilingual, research-based information, activities, and advice for educators and families of English language learners (ELLs). Colorín Colorado is an educational service of WETA, the flagship public broadcasting station in the nation’s capital, and receives major funding from our founding partner, the AFT, and the National Education Association. © Copyright 2023 WETA Public Broadcasting.

# data[].attributes.body
Use quick checks like phoneme segmentation fluency probes to track growth. Monitoring progress helps teachers adjust instruction to meet student needs.

# data[].attributes.body
Move from sounds to print by linking phonemes with graphemes. Tools like Elkonin sound boxes and magnetic letters make this bridge concrete and visual.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kindergarten and First Grade | Florida Center for Reading Research

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kindergarten and First Grade Student Center Activities Phonological Awareness | Phonics | Fluency | Vocabulary | Comprehension

# data[].attributes.headline
The components of effective comprehension> What are they? by: Clifford Sanders

# data[].attributes.subject
The components of effective comprehension> What are they? by: Clifford Sanders

# data[].attributes.body
In a blog by Highland Literacy: Literary learning for Practitioners, the article identifies what it calls the supersix. You may ask, what is the Supersix?

The Supersix:

Making Connections, Predicting, Questioning, Monitoring, Visualising and Summarising . . . better known as the ‘Super Six’! The ‘Super Six’ are strategies which can be used to teach the skill of comprehension.

Many of you may already incorporate these into your reading and listening/talking programs, but just in case you have not.

Specifically, making connections argues that learners make personal connections from the text with something in their own life-text to self, or text to another text-text tot text. Predicting argues that learners use information from graphics, text and experiences to anticipate what will be read/viewed/heard and to actively adjust comprehension while reading/viewing/listening. Now questioning states that learners pose and answer questions that clarify meaning and promote deeper understanding of the text. Monitoring argues that learners stop and think about the text and know what to do when meaning is disrupted. On the other hand, visualizing tells us that learners create a mental image from a text read/viewed/heard. Visualizing brings a text to life and engages one's imagination thus using all of the senses. Finally, Summarizing occurs when learners identify and accumulate the most important ideas and restate them in their own words.

Clifford Sanders