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Quick video to get started.

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Claims, Transitions, Counterclaims, Sources, and the stems we use to organize our ideas. Gold for our students!

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Email: tharper@aisa.sch.ae

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrharper/

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Tom Harper - American International School in Abu Dhabi | LinkedIn

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Leading with a strategic vision in educational leadership, my tenure at the American… · Experience: American International School in Abu Dhabi · Education: University of Northern Iowa · Location: United Arab Emirates · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Tom Harper’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.

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Interested in working with EKC? Learn more here!

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Interested in working with EKC? Learn more here!

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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EKC provides literacy consultants, consulting services, and literacy professional learning for schools.

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Teacher 1: The Common Core highlights that every teacher is a reading and writing teacher in their discipline. I think this idea is important in combination with the best practices for content area learning. My main interest in this is based on helping students who struggle to learn to read in early grade levels, and, as a result, can quickly get behind when "reading to learn" in the secondary grades. Teacher 2: What is the place of disciplinary literacy in elementary school? I am also aware of the work of Nell Duke and the importance of informational text with young children as well as the significance of teaching academic vocabulary and scaffolding its use by the children. Teacher 3: I very much like your explanation of Content Literacy vs. Disciplinary Literacy. With this in mind, how would you best support kindergarten-first grade teachers in the area of Disciplinary Literacy? Non-fiction informational texts, read alouds, inquiries, academic vocabulary, learning to read charts, photos etc. ...The ways to scaffold Disciplinary Literacy are much more clear to me as the children move up the grades. Teacher 4: What would you say are some current best practices for secondary content area literacy?
Shanahan responds:

One hears the term disciplinary literacy a lot these days. That's because the Common Core standards (CCSS) address the teaching of disciplinary literacy (as do non-CCSS states like Texas and Indiana).

Of course, the term is often misused. Disciplinary literacy is based upon the idea that literacy and text are specialized, and even unique, across the disciplines. Historians engage in very different approaches to reading than mathematicians do, for instance. Similarly, even those who know little about math or literature can easily distinguish as science text from a literary one.

Fundamentally, because each field of study has its own purposes, its own kinds of evidence, and its own style of critique, each will produce different texts, and reading those different kinds of texts are going to require some different reading strategies. Scientists spend a lot of time comparing data presentation devices with each other and with prose, while literary types strive to make sense of theme, characterization, and style.

The idea of teaching disciplinary literacy is quite different from the long promoted content area literacy teaching. The latter has often championed the disciplinary literacy notion, but the result has been an emphasis on general comprehension skills and study skills, rather than apprenticing young readers into reading like disciplinary experts. K-W-L, three-level guides, Frayer model, 4-squares, etc. are all great teaching tools-they can enhance kids learning from text, but you are unlikely to find chemists or historians who use those approaches in their work. Thus, content area reading aims to build better students, while disciplinary literacy tries to get them to grasp the ways literacy is used to create, disseminate, and critique information in the various disciplines.

This can get pretty confusing. Educators have a tendency to latch onto new terms without developing much of an understanding of them. These days many teachers think disciplinary literacy is just the cool new term for content area reading. Even some "scholars" are playing this game; grabbing onto family resemblances and seeing identical twins.

For example, Cyndie Shanahan and I studied chemists and learned the key information that they looked for when reading chemistry text and some of the techniques they used for making sense of that information. They even provided us with cogent explanations of why their approaches were beneficial, given the purposes of their inquiry and the nature of their texts.

We turned that into a method that chemistry students could use to summarize information in a chemistry-centric way. Some "scholars" decided such charting made disciplinary literacy the same as content area reading (since it often recommends charts, too), ignoring that the categories of disciplinary-specific information were the essential element, and not the piece of paper on which the kids were recording the information (Dunkerly-Bean & Bean, 2017).

Not surprisingly, since disciplinary literacy is a relatively new thing for schools, there is a flood of questions about it. And, because the research is lagging classroom demand, there is only a trickle of research-based answers to provide. Much of what O will write here will be based on my own personal experiences (teaching and co-teaching middle school and high school classes in various disciplines).

So what are the big issues in implementing disciplinary literacy?

First, reading has to be a big part of students' disciplinary classes. I can't think of anything more fundamental. If there are not real reasons to read in these classrooms, then there is no reason to teach disciplinary literacy or for kids to try to learn it. I do not believe that teachers of biology, algebra, American History, British Literature, economics, or any other subject in the curriculum should be deterred from teaching their subject matter. But part of that teaching should come through text.

What too many teachers do is to seek ways to avoid text. A biology textbook is hard to read, 15-year-olds struggle with it, so teachers present the pertinent information some other way: Powerpoint lectures, dumbed-down study sheets, etc. Those teachers often tell me that students have the option of reading-though why they would, given that all the test answers are provided fully digested, I can't imagine.

Even math classes should include reading. I don't mean story problems, though they have their place. I mean that kids should be reading theorems, problem explanations, formulas, proofs, and whatever mathematical information is appropriate. "But my students aren't good readers?" I get it... and, yet, it is hard to see how avoiding math reading could possibly improve that situation.

In the elementary grades, making sure that kids are reading about geography, economics, history, culture, biography, environmental science, life science, physical science, music, art, and current events is really important. Building kids' stores of knowledge in those areas and giving them practice dealing with that kind of language and content is imperative. Stories are great, but a narrow diet of stories alone can make you sick.

Second, if students are to read, there needs to be text... disciplinary appropriate text. That means in a history class it is essential students be given opportunities to pore over conflicting evidence and alternative points of view. That doesn't mean that history textbooks have no place, only that students need chances to evaluate primary and secondary texts, too.

Science reading is less about alternative perspectives and more about accurate information carefully grounded in the observations and experiments that identified it. Accordingly, science information tends to be expressed in a multiplicity of forms (e.g., prose, tables, charts, formulae, photos), often within the same account-in part this is done because of the inadequacy of language to precisely summarize findings.

Students need opportunities to work with these alternative forms and to see more than science textbooks (not for alternative information, but to see how scientists report their findings). I taught a group of high-schoolers to read Watson & Crick's landmark report of their discovery of the structure of DNA. Man it was tough slogging-for them and for me, but we got there, and the kids were enthusiastic about results (they asked their real teacher if they could do more of that).

A counter-example. Last year, I was co-teaching some math classes. The math textbook had been written purposely to place as little reading demand on students as possible. The math book was largely a collection of math problems, without explanation (the teachers capably provided that). That book not only failed to provide kids with opportunities to read math, but the parents hated it because if their children didn't understand the math, they couldn't help them to figure it out.

Elementary textbooks and tradebooks often report content information, but they rarely do so from a disciplinary perspective. Historical accounts tend to tell stories rather than revealing controversies, disagreements, or the use of evidence. Science accounts often provide terrific explanations of scientific phenomena, but without much revelation of how this information came into being. And, how often are younger children exposed to literary criticism as opposed to literature.

My point isn't necessarily that such texts should be included in the elementary curriculum, but if they aren't then it doesn't make a lot of sense to try to engage them in disciplinary approaches. Those only make sense when one is reading works that have a definite disciplinary cast or when one is engaged in disciplinary inquiry that includes reading. Until such texts become available-and that could be earlier, but often isn't until middle school-satisfy yourself with exposing students to lots of informational texts and the knowledge they represent.

Third, disciplinary classes should have a deep dedication to imparting the content of the subjects to students, including information about the nature of inquiry in those fields. What does it mean to work as a historian, scientist, geographer, mathematician, or literary critic? What do they read and why? How do they report their results? What constitutes evidence in their field of study? What does criticism look like?

Some curriculum experts believe that means students have to be engaged in inquiry themselves in the various fields. I like that idea, and it often makes sense. Labs are common in high school sciences, though the lab reporting too often seems distant from how scientists report their findings. In history classes, it has become much more common to see students reading text sets that expose them to conflicting accounts (e.g., History Scene Investigations), so kids can weigh in on contested issues in history.

But inquiry is not without problems (I've yet to see a text set that shows students how historians take into account the economic or geographic antecedents of historical events).

Inquiry can be cumbersome and time consuming; it always requires a wise balance of content coverage and the appreciations to be derived from hands-on investigation. And, there are disciplines that simply aren't amenable to inquiry-math is particularly knotty in this regard (making me wonder if math isn't different than the other disciplines in that having students acting like nascent mathematicians might not have the same payoffs as trying to read like scientists or literary critics).

In the elementary school, it makes great sense to emphasize learning as well, and there will be times when inquiry is the way to go. (There might be wonderful benefits for writing reports of various types, but such reports tend not to be disciplinary by nature-a report on photosynthesis written by a fourth-grader is going to be more about finding facts in various sources than about reporting scientific information in the way a scientist would).

However, again, that doesn't mean there is no place for such work in an elementary classroom. Engaging students in trying to solve various kinds of quantitative problems and writing about these explorations makes a lot of sense. Having kids observing some natural phenomenon or conducting an experiment and reading about the phenomenon understudy to combine this information coherently could be very powerful.

The point is that content and inquiry are the point-and that disciplinary literacy should emanate from the demands of that content and inquiry. There will definitely be more opportunities at some levels than at others.

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Teacher 1: The Common Core highlights that every teacher is a reading and writing teacher in their discipline. I think this idea is important in combination with the best practices for content area learning.

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Foreword by Carol Ann Tomlinson Chapter 1. Literacy Within the Disciplines The Problem With Reading Strategies Unpacking Disciplinary Literacy Deeper Learning and Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy and Standards The Role of the Teacher Disciplinary Reading, Writing, Inquiry, and Collaboration Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 2. Reading Within the Disciplines The Benefits of Reading Within the Disciplines Shifts for Reading Within the Disciplines Reading Within Science Reading Within Math Reading Within History and Social Studies Reading Within ELA Questions (and Answers) About Reading Within the Disciplines How to Get Students Reading in Every Discipline Every Day Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 3. Writing Within the Disciplines Benefits of Writing Within the Disciplines Shifts for Teaching Writing Within the Disciplines Writing Within Science Writing Within History and Social Studies Writing Within Math Writing Within ELA Questions (and Answers) About Writing Within the Disciplines How to Get Students Writing Within the Disciplines Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 4. Inquiry Within the Disciplines Inquiry and Disciplinary Literacy Shifts for Implementing Inquiry Within the Disciplines Inquiry Within Science Inquiry Within History and Social Studies Inquiry Within Math Inquiry Within ELA Questions (and Answers) About Inquiry Within the Disciplines How to Get Students Inquiring Within the Disciplines Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 5. Collaborative Learning The Power of Collaboration Collaborative Learning by Any Other Name Vocabulary: The Tool of Disciplinary Talk Shifts for Implementing Collaborative Learning Within the Disciplines Collaboration Within Science Collaboration Within Math Collaboration Within History and Social Studies Collaboration Within ELA Questions (and Answers) About Collaboration Within the Disciplines Activities for Collaborative Learning Within the Disciplines Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 6. This Is Disciplinary Literacy Enter: Food Lit Literacy Alive Campfire: Literacy and Food A Student Perspective Collaboration and Community Class Meals: A Metaphor for Community Service-Learning at Home Cross-Culture Connections An Administrative Perspective Students as Learners, Students as Presenters The Power of Disciplinary Literacy References Index

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This Is Disciplinary Literacy helps content area teachers put into action the key literacies of their specialties-taking students from superficial understanding to deep content expertise.

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Acknowledgments About the Authors INTRODUCTION What to Expect From This Book CHAPTER 1: DISCIPLINARY LITERACY AND COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: A PARTNERSHIP THAT WORKS Literacy Initiatives and PLCs: What Went Wrong? Collaborative Disciplinary Literacy Learning: A Story of Success Meet Our Disciplinary Literacy Learning Community Benefits of Collaborative Disciplinary Literacy Professional Learning Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning CHAPTER 2: UNLOCKING DISCIPLINARY LITERACY What Is Literacy in the 21st Century? Content Area Literacy Versus Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in Action Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning HOW TO CREATE A SCHOOL-WIDE CULTURE OF DISCIPLINARY LITERACY CHAPTER 3: CREATING A SCHOOL-WIDE CULTURE OF DISCIPLINARY READING Why Read in Every Discipline? Wide Reading in All Disciplines: There's No Downside Reading Strategies: When and How Vocabulary: The Key to All Content Reading Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning CHAPTER 4: CREATING A SCHOOLWIDE CULTURE OF DISCIPLINARY WRITING Exploring Disciplinary Writing Writing to Learn in the Discipline Areas Following the Pros: Disciplinary Mentor Texts Feedback: From Master to Apprentice Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning CHAPTER 5: CREATING A SCHOOL-WIDE CULTURE OF DISCIPLINARY THINKING Learning to Think in Disciplinary Ways Curiosity Drives Disciplinary Thinking Students and Teachers: Thinking Like Insiders Together Making Disciplinary Thinking Visible Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning HOW TO SUSTAIN A SCHOOL-WIDE CULTURE OF DISCIPLINARY LITERACY CHAPTER 6: BUILDING DISCIPLINARY LITERACY (DL) LEARNING COMMUNITIES The Problem With PLCs Fixing the Problem Through DL Learning Communities Tips for Creating Interdisciplinary Common Subject Literacy Learning Communities The All-Important First Meeting Supporting DL Learning Communities Moving Toward Collective Efficacy Sustaining DL Learning Communities Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning CHAPTER 7: WHAT MATTERS MOST IN A DISCIPLINARY LITERACY (DL) LEARNING COMMUNITY Collective Inquiry Autonomy and Authority Meaningful Collaboration Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning CHAPTER 8: FROM TEACHER LEARNER TO TEACHER LEADER Disciplinary Literacy Develops Deep Leadership Disciplinary Literacy Leadership Roles The Power of Disciplinary Literacy Leadership Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning CHAPTER 9: LEADING THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY CHARGE Administrative Leaders as Learners Disciplinary Literacy Coaching: The Glue That Holds It All Together Fostering Disciplinary Literacy Dialogue Resources for Continued Learning Coda Appendix A: Disciplinary Literacy in English Language Arts Appendix B: Disciplinary Literacy in Math Appendix C: Disciplinary Literacy in Science Appendix D: Disciplinary Literacy in Social Studies Appendix E: Disciplinary Literacy in Art Appendix F: Disciplinary Literacy in a World Language Appendix G: Disciplinary Literacy in Health Appendix H: Disciplinary Literacy in Music Appendix I: Technology or Digital Literacy Appendix J: Disciplinary Literacy in Physical Education References Index

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How do you get content area teachers on the same page about literacy? By trusting that discipline-specific literacy skills will naturally arise-or will they? With this book, you get a professional learning plan to assure they do. Field-tested for more than a decade, this is ready made PL at its best, sure to instill innovative reading and writing schoolwide.

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Use this tool, or something like it, to have students engage with the Math Claims from the Common Core.

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Use this tool, or something like it, to have students engage with the Math Claims from the Common Core.

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Claim, Evidence, Reasoning Graphic Organizer

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Claim, Evidence, Reasoning Graphic Organizer

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Scaffold to help students make sense of their mathematical argumentation.

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De-mystify disciplinary literacy in your middle school class. Give them sentence stems, so the mathematical thinking is the center of the work. The language does not have to get in the way!

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Assess CER in Math using this student-friendly tool. Challenge your students to become Math Wizards and Number Ninjas!

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Here are some rubrics that take a holistic picture of the Common Core Math Practices - consolidating from 8 to 3: concepts and procedures, problem solving, and communicating reasoning.

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As students work on fluency and more automaticity, here's a way to help them break it down. Part of mathematics is helping students get to the important and dump the un-important!

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Read, Filter, Write, Draw, Solve Strategy for Middle School Math Problems

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Using scientific language is hard! Remove barriers by providing sentence stems for claim, evidence, and reasoning, along with the language students need to synthesize their scientific thinking.

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Here's a Paul Andersen goodie for you, if you haven't seen it.

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MS Engaging in Argumentation from Evidence

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Good for science and math, too. Pair it with the sentence stems.

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NGSS Friendly Rubric for Constructing Explanations

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NGSS Friendly Rubric for Constructing Explanations

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Constructing Explanations  - Single Point Rubric - MS

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Don't forget to pair this with sentence stems and a graphic organizer.

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Texts are chock full of transitional words. Let's model for students what they mean and how to use them for deeper content understanding.

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Find a strategy here! Choose 1 and give it a go. From Lent and Voigt's Disciplinary Literacy in Action

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Before, During, After Reading AND Reciprocal Teaching

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Before, During, After Reading AND Reciprocal Teaching

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From Lent and Voigt's Disciplinary Literacy in Action. Attending to reading before, during, and after to see gains in understanding. Then, EMPOWER your students in Reciprocal Teaching for deep understanding and increased engagement.

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Get kids thinking about what's important in a text before they dive in. Tie it to big ideas that matter to them, even better!

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Help students extend meaning after they've read a rich text.

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Create opportunities for students to select important quotes or paraphrases. Hold them accountable for giving an interpretation and expressing their significance.

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Dr. Shanahan helps break down some options on when to best use the small group and whole class instruction when working with reading.

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I was curious what your thoughts are regarding small group instruction in Elementary school during the ELA block. I'm unaware of any definitive research on the effect size of small group instruction or the impact it has regarding student achievement in reading. There seems to be a few different schools of thought: direct whole group instruction for all components of reading, shortened whole group reading followed by differentiated small group instruction, whole group instruction followed by student work groups facilitated by teacher walking around. It seems all three could be effective depending on the students, the teacher and rigor of text or content being used. However, I'm curious if there is a research-based recommendation? Shanahan's response:
What a smart question.

Small group teaching is ubiquitous in elementary reading. Sixty-years ago (when I was being taught to read) the same was true-though since our classes then were so large, "small group" usually meant groups about the size of today's typical classroom enrollment!

A hundred years ago there was a great deal of within-class grouping, but that was due to the pervasive one-room schoolhouse. The "groups" were the "grades" that the kids were in (my dad, for years, bragged that he "graduated at the top of his class"-meaning that the other kid flunked).

When I was first exploring the idea of becoming a teacher myself, the lore of the time was that reading teachers always had three reading groups: the Robins, Blue Jays, and Crows. As a teacher's aide it looked that way to me, and I certainly wasn't surprised during student teaching when Mr. Krentzin had me take over his reading groups one at a time, so I could ease into it.

As a primary grade teacher, I always grouped my kids for reading instruction. (Studies since the 1960s usually report that more than 90% of primary grade teachers group for reading instruction, and the numbers are still high in grades 4 and 5, as well).

Nevertheless, I've been surprised recently by the odd practice of organizing instruction specifically around the idea of "small group" teaching. In the past, the grouping was to match book levels to the kids' reading levels (let's face it, the Crows just can't keep up).

But this is different: by organizing the schedule around "small group time" these schools are promoting the idea that small group teaching is valuable-no matter what the teacher may be teaching or what the kids' levels may be or what the materials are that they are using.

That makes your question especially timely. Does small group teaching advantage kids in learning to read?

John Hattie identified three meta-analyses on small group instruction and reported it to have a medium-to-large effect (.49) on learning. However, few of the studies in those meta-analyses focused on reading, they weren't always comparing small group teaching to whole class instruction, and some of the reading studies were from back in the day when 45-60 kids in a class was common practice. Several of the studies were based on secondary school and college teaching, too.

Robert Slavin also conducted a best-evidence synthesis of research on grouping back in the 1980s (effect size of .32). But at that time, he found no reading studies that compared grouping for reading instruction with whole class teaching.

Not exactly the evidence base I'd want to use for recommendations about elementary reading instruction.

However, even if we were to rely on those meta-analyses, the payoff of grouping for reading instruction had lower effects than was found for the other subjects (only .13), and it mattered a great deal how large the groups were-groups of 5 or larger received little or no learning benefit from within-class grouping (Lou, et al., 1996).

There are a couple of sizeable individual studies I think we need to consider, however.

For example, Kamil and Rausher (1990) conducted a study in which they compared whole class reading instruction with small group teaching in a large suburban school district. Surprisingly, they found that small groups "were not superior to whole class" teaching in terms of learning. There was just "too much variance within classrooms for the grouping patterns to have much of an impact."

Even more sobering is a large study of grouping in reading conducted by Sørensen & Hallinan (1986). They found that small group teaching was more effective than whole class instruction-that is, if one compares 30 minutes of small group teaching versus 30 minutes of whole class teaching, the kids in the small group tend to make larger learning gains.

However, they also found that small group teaching provides kids with fewer learning opportunities. Basically, teachers teach more when teaching whole class.

Comparing equal amounts of small group teaching with whole class teaching might make sense to researchers, but it has little to do with the actual circumstances of classrooms. If a teacher has three groups who each receive 20 minutes of teaching, this should not be compared with 20 minutes of whole class instruction... but with 60 minutes-the time it takes to teach the three groups (in fact, it might even be fairer to compare it with 65-75 minutes because it takes transition time to switch out these groups).

When one compares small group and whole class instruction in this more meaningful way, small group teaching loses its advantage; that is, no differences in average achievement.

But, that doesn't mean there's no impact. What Sørensen & Hallinan (1986) concluded was that the high groups tended to get more learning opportunities in small group instruction than the low groups. And, because race and SES are correlated with reading, Black kids and poor kids (and I imagine ELLs) are more likely to find themselves in the low groups. Thus, there is no overall or average learning benefit for small group teaching, but there is a bit of rotation that ensures that minority kids make the least progress.

My conclusion from this is that small group teaching is beneficial in that it improves the impact of a lesson on the kids who are taught the lesson. But that amount of instruction matters, too, and when kids are grouped they are necessarily going to get less teaching. It's a tradeoff at best. But we also need to be concerned about the lower readers who tend to be somewhat disadvantaged by this approach.

I'm not willing to give up altogether on small group instruction (or even individual teaching)-because there can be useful learning advantages from it. But I'd never organize classrooms in order to ensure that they specifically receive small group teaching. And, I'd always try to minimize small group teaching whenever possible for the sake of efficiency.

Never do with a small group, what you could be done as well with the whole class. I've observed the identical lesson being delivered repeatedly to groups of three, for instance. That is foolish-even if the curriculum director mandated small group teaching. Similarly, the idea that conferencing one-on-one about a book (for 2-5 minutes) is going to take kids to the same depth of interpretation with a text that a group or whole class discussion (for 30-60 minutes) is strikingly unconvincing.

Districts would be wise to provide teachers with professional development in the most effective ways to teach whole classes-including how to use grouping within those classrooms when it is sensible. Seatwork is necessary in both small group and whole class instruction. In the former, the assignments are aimed at keeping the kids busy while the teacher works with other groups, while in the latter the teacher is usually able to circulate among the kids while they work on the assignment (giving support and additional guidance as needed). Perhaps teachers would be better off teaching a whole class lesson, that was followed by individual work done in ability groups (in other words, three or four different follow up assignments based upon the lesson depending on the students' levels). Then the teacher could circulate, helping kids at all levels.

Last week I watched my friend, Catlin Tucker, showing how teachers how she organizes her classrooms by task. If kids are working on research projects, she groups them based on what part of the project they are focused on at a given time. That allows her to maximize the power of her instruction, without the inefficiencies of unnecessary grouping.

In other schemes, teachers deliver whole class lessons, monitoring kids success and then small group work is reserved for re-teaching as needed.

Of course, there are approaches like cooperative grouping that have good research records, but that allow for a mix of whole class, small group, and individual work without the large losses of time evident in most small group centered classrooms. Cooperative grouping, project based learning, and other similar approaches may be beneficial in part because they don't lock kids into reading levels-but encourage work with grade level texts or with a range of text difficulties.

Maximize the amount of learning opportunity that you provide to students. Use groups to focus on different learning tasks or to follow up whole class lessons as needed. Don't group for the sake of grouping and minimize grouping on the basis of reading level-at least beyond beginning reading.

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Should Reading Be Taught Whole Class or Small Group?

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I was curious what your thoughts are regarding small group instruction in Elementary school during the ELA block. I'm unaware of any definitive research on the effect size of small group instruction or the impact it has regarding student achievement in reading.

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Using MAP data, this is another way to think about your students as you consider differentiated practices. What's good for some is good for all.

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Above the 30-35th%ile cutoff, I would definitely just give these kids extra time with the demanding grade-level materials. Below that line, and I would want to provide at least some explicit instruction in foundational skills.

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Middle School Reflections - Electives AIS-R

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Rubrics for Disciplinary Literacy - Developed on AI

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I reviewed this content after school with MS Learning Leaders.

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7 minutes on close reading from EL Education. A great watch.

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When Kids Can't Read - What Teachers Can Do

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When Kids Can't Read - What Teachers Can Do

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Kylene Beers' text

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"Certain professional books are bedrocks of my teaching DNA-none more influential than When Kids Can't Read-What Teachers Can Do. Now twenty years later, and informed by the latest research, Kylene Beers has significantly updated this seminal work. Smart, practical, and relevant for teachers at all grade levels, this new edition is a masterclass in the teaching of reading. It receives my highest recommendation."
-Kelly Gallagher, Author of Deeper Reading and Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It
"Twenty years after her groundbreaking first edition, Kylene Beers once again empowers teachers to make reading accessible to all students through responsive instruction. Beers provides practical scaffolds that support all learners and insightful strategies for incorporating productive struggle in the classroom. With guidance from this text, all educators-from preservice to veteran-can improve their practice and help nurture independent readers."
-Carrie Beth Buchanan, Secondary ELA Specialist
"The first edition of When Kids Can't Read has been a trusted resource in my classroom through my last 12 years of teaching. With this updated second edition, Kylene provides teachers with extensions of her original work-rich with beautiful examples. I start every year by talking to my students about being responsible readers. A part of that responsibility is acknowledging when we struggle, the same goes for us as teachers. It is difficult to know where to start and where to go next. The way this text is organized provides teachers with a scaffold to better support their students and their own learning. More than just an update, the second edition of When Kids Can't Read brings new ideas and information to teachers. It is evident in reading and learning from Kylene that her primary goal is the reading success of all students; this book and the support it will provide teachers makes that goal more of a reality."
-Brent Gilson, MS/HS (and one-time elementary) teacher, Magrath High School (Magrath, Alberta, Canada)
"Reading is complex work, but more importantly, it's work that develops us as humans as we connect our own lives to the world within books. The second edition of When Kids Can't Read highlights for us that all children deserve the opportunity to develop as readers, ultimately leading to their development as people. Kylene Beers reminds us that the most important factor in that work is you, their teacher. This book will support you in the journey that is learning and loving to read."
-Andrew Jenkins, Lead Director, Region West, LAUSD
"This book will prove to be a gift to kids and a tremendous aid for their teachers. The new and revised thinking in the second edition, alongside the original ideas from what we've known When Kids Can't Read to be, make this book exactly what secondary teachers need. Beers takes on the complex anxiety teachers feel when teaching kids who don't have the reading expertise, experiences, stamina, or faith in themselves to tackle what school and society ask them to read, comprehend, and act upon. This book helps make that teaching anxiety feel like a solvable situation for teachers."
-Jennifer Ochoa, Secondary ELA Teacher; Author of Already Readers and Writers: Honoring Students Rights to Read and Write in the Middle Grade Classroom
"I consider teaching and learning my life's work. It's been approximately 20 years since I started teaching and ran across Kylene Beers' original When Kids Can't Read as a novice teacher. Now, I find myself serving as an Executive Director of Professional Development and Curriculum for a mid-size, high-needs, chronically underserved school district in Central Texas. Twenty years later, I have also been inspired to disrupt the deficit thinking that plagues most school communities. I appreciate Kylene's transparency and honesty about her 'work' and commitment to becoming more inclusive. Reflective ways of being and thinking are pivotal to empowering others to use literacy to leverage their life stories and to connect with others. According to Beers, 'Reading offers us that chance to revise our lives.' I could not agree more...reading was a game-changer in my life. The new edition of When Kids Can't Read will serve as a foundational text to build collective efficacy of high-impact literacy practices for our district, campus leaders, and teachers. As a result, we can establish structures and processes to better support literacy instruction and access for students."
-Dr. Keonna White, Executive Director of Professional Development and Curriculum, Waco ISD

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When Kids Can't Read-What Teachers Can Do, Second Edition

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When Kids Can't Read-What Teachers Can Do is an essential guide for educators who teach struggling readers. This updated edition by Kylene Beers offers practical teaching strategies and scaffolds for comprehension, vocabulary development, fluency, and engagement. Reading matters, and this book can help transform students' lives.

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Launch your content in creative ways! This is a way to "read aloud" and give your voice a break while scaffolding challenging material for your students. I can't wait to demo it!

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Google NotebookLM | AI Research Tool & Thinking Partner

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Meet NotebookLM, the AI research tool and thinking partner that can analyze your sources, turn complexity into clarity and transform your content.