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On this website of Teachers pay teachers this resource is to quickly screen students on their reading. I like this resource because it seems quick and easy to gets to the point. There were other resources for inventories and assessments on teachers pay teachers but I liked this one and it seems like other people did as well with the high rating it got.
-Sentasia Floyd

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Teachers, paraprofessionals and parents will be able to quickly and easily estimate a student's reading skill using this IRI. Includes clear, easy-to-follow instructions! Grades preprimer to 5 included. Over 50 pages!

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Teachers, paraprofessionals and parents will be able to quickly and easily estimate a student's reading skill using this IRI. Includes clear, easy-to-follow instructions! Grades preprimer to 5 included. Over 50 pages!

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I found this website that lists some reading websites that students can get on and practice reading. Going through the list I know the very first one which is ABC mouse. My youngest sister had ABC mouse and she sprouted in reading using that website/ app. I think these reading apps are good for children to use to practice their reading skills on a deeper level.
-Sentasia Floyd

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Fluent reading may be the most important skill anyone can master. Just a few minutes a day helps build the reading fluency that provides lifelong benefits. Reading websites for kids are one way to support their reading journey.

How can reading websites help kids, parents, and teachers?

While reading books together is always an important activity, emergent readers also need other types of practice. They benefit from activities that focus more specifically on phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and other key parts of reading fluency. To learn more about these elements, explore the science of reading here.

Many reading websites offer games, exercises, and other activities that give kids a chance to develop these important reading skills. Studies show it only takes 15 minutes of practice each day to build reading fluency. When kids play interactive reading games online, or complete short lessons with follow-up activities, they get those 15 important minutes in an easy, effective way.

How To Use Reading Websites

Teachers can use reading websites as part of their lesson plans or as individual classroom activities. They can be a fun option for fast finishers or a good way to provide extra support for kids who need more practice on a certain skill. Many of the reading websites on our list provide free access for teachers who use the site in their classroom, making them a valuable resource for your toolkit.

At home, parents and families will also find a lot of value in reading websites. To make the most of them, it can be helpful to understand your child's current reading level first. Ask your child's teacher to share this information, and then learn more about how reading levels work here. It's also a good idea to ask your child's teacher if there are any areas they could use extra help with, and then look for games or activities to support those skills.

The goal of most reading websites is to make reading fun and exciting for students. Take advantage of that to make screen time more meaningful. Look for sites that your student actively enjoys using, and you'll find those 15 minutes of daily reading practice just fly by!

There are options for all ages, helping students learn to read, discover new books, track and share progress, and more. There's a big selection of free options, but there are some excellent paid sites that schools and parents may want to check out too.

These free reading websites give kids practice that won't break the bank. Get free e-books, games, activities, and more!

This site hooks kids through fun games that meet learning standards. In addition to reading, students can brush up on math, science, social studies, arts, and music. A free account gives you basic access with ads. Paid Premium Family and Classroom plans are also available. (Grades Pre-K-6)

Watch videos from the popular PBS series, including read-along folktales and fables, clever song videos of letter sounds, and more. (Grades Pre-K-1)

Think of this like Goodreads for kids. It's a safe place for reviewing and sharing books, making reading a social adventure. (Grades K-8)

This is another site that bills itself as "Goodreads for kids," and it offers similar features. Read kid-friendly reviews, post your own, find recommendations, track reading goals, and more. (Grades K-8)

This fantastic digital library service helps people with print-related disabilities read independently. (Grades Pre-K-12)

This library includes thousands of high-interest, standards-aligned reading passages and lessons. You can search for texts by book, genre, grade level, literary device, and theme. (Grades 3-12)

The kid-friendly news articles on DOGONews make it easy to assign reading. Each article has reading/interest-level guidelines, and you can access the site in English or Spanish. It's free to assign articles for reading. Paid plans provide discussion questions and quizzes too. (Grades 1-12)

If you're looking for reading websites with digital books, this site has thousands of them, along with audiobooks and videos. You'll find endless popular titles from your favorite publishers. Teachers can track student progress as they read too. Epic is free for teachers and classrooms, with paid plans available for parents. (Grades Pre-K-8)

Kids who love books will want to check out this site. They'll find fascinating facts about many of their favorite reads. (Grades 1-8)

Test your vocabulary while earning rice for those in need! Each time you play, you're helping the United Nations World Food Programme provide food to those around the world who need it. (Grades 2-12)

In addition to learning games and videos, Funbrain has a selection of free books to read online. You'll find favorites like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Judy Moody. (Grades Pre-K-8)

A no-frills site from the University of Maryland, ICDL has more than 4,000 free e-books kids can read online. There are a variety of books in languages other than English too. (Grades K-8)

Into the Book is a reading comprehension site that focuses on reading strategies teachers work on every day. Kids get practice using prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, summarizing, evaluating, and synthesizing. (Grades K-6)

This is one of the most well-known free learning sites around, and their reading and language arts courses are top-notch. There's nothing flashy, but kids will get good practice with accompanying lessons and quizzes. (Grades 2-9)

This reading app and site is designed especially for kids just learning to read. There are supplemental materials for parents and teachers too. (Grades Pre-K-2)

This amazing compilation of nonfiction has all the quality of National Geographic magazine, leveled and accessible for young readers. (Grades K-5)

Created by Oxford University Press, this U.K. site has plenty to offer for any kid learning to read. There are free e-books and games, plus tips for parents and teachers. (Grades Pre-K-2)

Reading Bear teaches beginning readers vocabulary and concepts while systematically introducing all the main phonetic patterns of written English. (Grades Pre-K-1)

Gain access to several thousand leveled books, including favorites like Curious George and the nonfiction National Geographic Kids titles. Teacher and classroom access is free. (Grades Pre-K-7)

Read Theory offers online reading activities for all ages and ability levels. The program adapts to students' individual ability levels and presents them with thousands of skill-building exercises that suit their needs. (Grades K-12)

Get literacy lessons that include comprehension and short passages to analyze. Use them online, via your classroom projector, or print to send work home. (Grades K-12)

Kids will enjoy the punctuation, reading, and spelling games on this cute, simple site. You'll also find online guided reading stories and lesson plans for teachers. (Grades Pre-K-2)

Students will love reading news articles written by other kids just like them! This regularly updated site includes articles on current events, with kid reporters from around the globe. (Grades 4-8)

Storyline Online features videos of read-alouds by celebrities with creative illustrations. Each book also has a supplemental curriculum for teachers and parents to use. (Grades Pre-K-4)

Get the experience of going to the library without leaving the house at StoryPlace. Find animated videos of stories, with activities, sing-along songs, and more. (Grades Pre-K-1)

What's better than a read-aloud? A read-aloud done by someone in space! This reading website features real astronauts reading books they love, often with a STEM theme. (Grades Pre-K-5)

TKN provides readable, teachable news articles for kids. You'll also find media literacy activities and tips on how to discuss challenging news topics with kids. (Grades 3-8)

Vooks bills itself as the first streaming service dedicated to animated storybooks. There's a small free collection of books, plus teachers get classroom access for one device at no cost. Parents can pay a monthly fee for access. (Grades Pre-K-2)

Sometimes it's worth it to invest in a learning program. These are some of the best ones around, according to teachers and parents.

ABC Mouse offers learning that spans the curriculum. Their reading program starts at the very beginning with the alphabet and takes kids through to fluent reading and writing. (Monthly or annual subscription after 30-day free trial; Grades Pre-K-2)

Brought to you by the same folks who created ABC Mouse, Adventure Academy offers reading practice for older kids. They can also work on math, science, and more. (Monthly or annual subscription after 30-day free trial; Grades 3-8)

Students take on a series of personalized quests as they learn and practice reading. The characters and story lines keep them coming back for more. (Contact them for pricing; Grades K-5)

HOMER promises to create a personalized reading program for every child, based on their interests and current skill levels. Membership also includes access to 200+ interactive animated stories, with a whole section dedicated to favorite Sesame Street characters. (Monthly and annual subscriptions after 30-day trial; Grades Pre-K-2)

IXL's personalized learning experiences cover a variety of subjects. Their language arts curriculum includes spelling, vocabulary, phonics, and more advanced topics. (Family, Classroom, and School/District pricing available; Grades K-12)

Kids learning to read can benefit from Lalilo's phonics and reading comprehension activities. The adaptive exercises provide an individualized experience for each student. (Free 60-day trial, contact for pricing; Grades Pre-K-2)

This collection of e-books includes titles from around the world in a variety of languages. It's always growing as publishers and authors upload their new books. (Individual and school subscriptions available; Grades K-8)

Teach younger students the right way to research with PebbleGo. You can be sure they're using safe, reliable resources as they learn about subjects like animals, biographies, and more. (Annual subscriptions by school; Grades K-3)

This site provides leveled books with interactive quizzes and other activities to reinforce reading comprehension. It includes books in English, French, and Spanish. (Annual subscription; Grades K-5)

Play games, sing songs, and practice reading, vocabulary, phonics, and more. Looking for help for older kids who need additional practice? Check out Reading Eggspress. (Monthly or yearly subscription after 30-day free trial; Grades Pre-K-6)

This site teaches children to read with the help of phonetics. Kids sing songs to help them learn and get lots of practice putting it all together. (Yearly membership fee; Grades Pre-K-3)

Help students make deeper connections to books with author interviews, read-aloud videos, activities, and more. (Yearly license fees; Grades K-12)

This is a cool reading website for schools, offering talking animated picture books that kids will truly love. School accounts provide access to every computer in every classroom. You can also offer home access through your school website. (Annual subscription; Grades K-8)

Give kids vocab practice with customizable word lists. Students can play games online, while teachers can get lessons and printables to support the learning. (One-time purchase; Grades K-5)

Get your students thinking with open-ended quiz questions that provide a strong alternative to multiple-choice questions. Students get feedback as they write, including reminders to cite evidence and answer all parts of the question. (Free basic trial membership, with premium annual subscriptions for teachers and classrooms; Grades Pre-K-12)

What's on your list of the best reading websites for kids? Share your ideas in our We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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40+ Best Free and Paid Reading Websites for Kids

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The best reading websites engage kids of all ages. Help them learn to read, discover new books, track and share progress, and more.

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I found this website that explains the 3 tiers of instruction. It gives detail and how to teach under these tiers. I like how it gives direct examples and resources on how to respond to intervention.
-Sentasia Floyd

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How to Identify Which Students Need Tiered Instruction

Charles R. Drew Charter School uses a universal screener -- a schoolwide Aimsweb Screening -- three times a year: in the first week of school, in December, and at the end of the school year.

According to India Kaufman, Charles R. Drew's math support teacher for third, fourth, and fifth grade, the screening "allows us to have data on every student in the building. And with that data," she adds, "we're able to formulate groups and target the students that will be in need of those interventions."

Generally, those who perform in the bottom 10 percent in literacy and the bottom 20 percent in math are in Tier 3. Those who perform in the bottom 25 percent in literacy are in Tier 2. All students are in Tier 1 instruction. This system also incorporates teacher feedback: what they know about their students and what they've seen in class.

Tier 1

Every student gets Tier 1 instruction, which is universal instruction for all students in their regular classroom.

Tier 2

Charles R. Drew Charter School uses two, grade-level-based methods of giving Tier 2 instruction:

Tier 2 Instruction K-2

Grades K-2 receive an hour-long intervention block in the mornings. These one-hour blocks are fixed into the schedule for lower elementary students, instead of regular instruction. During this time, the regular instruction teachers become Tier 2 intervention teachers, and students move from their homeroom teacher to an intervention teacher. Within each grade level, instead of providing a variety of interventions to numerous small groups, each teacher focuses on one intervention, like fluency or phonemic awareness.

During this block, the enrichment teachers -- P.E, visual arts, and music -- and their paraprofessionals assist the intervention teachers. "The certified teacher will provide instruction, and then the students will rotate through specific activities guided by each educator," explains Nicole Tuttle, Charles R. Drew's director of literacy. This practice creates a teacher-student ratio of about 1:5.

Lower elementary students who don't need Tier 2 instruction are grouped into independent projects that need little teacher supervision. For example, a group of students excelling in literacy might be formed into a book study group for independent reading and discussion.

Tier 2 Instruction 3-5

Grades 3-5 integrate Tier 2 instruction into regular classroom instruction. Grade-level teachers divide their students into small groups. Those who need more support do guided group work with the teacher. Those who have met or exceeded standards work independently in small groups, and the teacher checks in with them throughout the class.

"We are providing such intensive interventions at that K-2 level that students are getting caught up, and are not ending up in special education," says Tuttle. "We feel like the more interventions we can give kids in those early years, when they're learning to read and not reading to learn, then we're going to catch them before they get to third grade."

Tier 3: Creating Safe Spaces for Math and Literacy

All students at Charles R. Drew have two daily enrichment classes, such as art, music, and robotics. The staff uses this time to provide intensive interventions two to three times a week, pulling students from their enrichment classes instead of from regular classroom instruction.

"We did pull students from their grade-level [classes], and we saw tremendous gains," recalls Tuttle. "Students were going from reading 15 words a minute to 45 words a minute. We saw these kids make huge progress, and then when it came time for the students to take our state test, the CRCT, they didn't do well. We were frustrated. So we looked at what could we do to make sure that the students are still being instructed on those grade-level standards, but getting the interventions that they need."

To fix this, they began using one period of students' enrichment time for interventions. Students got the intervention support they needed and were able to stay in their regular instruction to meet their grade-level standards. Since that change, close to 100 percent of their students -- and sometimes 100 percent -- have been meeting or exceeding the state standards each year.

Treating Tier 3 Like an Enrichment Class

By creating the Literacy Center and the Math Lab, the school made Tier 3 instruction as fun and engaging as an enrichment class.

"Our goal is to make it a different enrichment option for them. We recognize that yes, it's serious work, and they need to learn to read [and to understand math], but it also has to be fun," emphasizes Dawn Stephen, Charles R. Drew's literacy teacher. "It has to be engaging, and they do have to burn some energy because it is their time away from the general classroom. So there have to be opportunities for them to talk, to move, to get up and down, and to touch materials that they wouldn't generally touch in the classroom."

Create Engaging Activities

Among the Tier 3 specialists' engagement strategies in the Literacy Center and Math Lab, they use a program called Phonics Splits, a quick-paced game where fourth- and fifth-grade students move colored tiles around the classroom, stretch, and do other kinesthetic activities. Kindergarten students sometimes write in shaving cream, in sand, and on tables.

Provide Positive Feedback

Small group work increases students' opportunities to receive positive feedback from teachers and peers. Charles R. Drew teachers make a point to support, encourage, and praise their students. They also set up achievable goals to boost student confidence.

Give Your Students Responsibility

The students are in charge of things like tiles and markers. "Everyone has a job in the group. The kids love that," says Stephen. "It's the small things that people don't think fifth graders would like, but they love that, especially if they have a hard time reading. That's their time to shine and be the best at something. That's their time to feel safe and in charge."

Reduce the Stigma of Tier 3

Sometimes it can feel stigmatizing when pulled out of class. How does Charles R. Drew address this issue?

Make It Fun for Lower Grades

"For the little kids, it's not stigmatizing at all," explains Stephen. "They see coming to the Literacy Center and [the Math Lab] as another enrichment period. They get free books and stickers. They love coming."

Be Direct With Upper Grades

For students old enough to understand why they need RTI, it can be an uneasy experience at first. To ease them into Tier 3, Charles R. Drew educators initiate one-on-one conversations to help them recognize their current skill level and emphasize how extra support will help them. For example, if a student is reading 50 words per minute but needs to be at 120 words, the teacher can explain this. Once a student understands that he or she needs more support, the teacher can say, "I'm here to help you, and this will be a safe experience for you."

The Math Lab and Literacy Center Structure

Create Small, Targeted Groups

Small groups can easily focus on improving specific weaknesses. The Literacy Center is staffed with one teacher for every five students, and the Math Lab with one teacher for every seven. If needed, those groups are broken down even further.

"I have groups within groups," says Kaufman. "Even though I may have seven children at one time, within that group I may break it down to two students or three students or four, depending on whatever skill they need to work on."

Staffing

Working with paraprofessionals offsets the cost of a small student-teacher ratio. The Literacy Lab has a staff of four and the Math Lab has three -- one certified teacher for each, and the rest paraprofessionals.

Utilize the Same Programs Across Tiers

Charles R. Drew uses Really Great Reading's Phonics Boost and Phonics Blitz as their upper elementary literacy programs, and Kendore Learning for lower elementary. Because the Literacy Center uses the same program that is used in regular instruction, students learn one methodology and get a double dose of their content to strengthen their learning skills.

According to Tuttle, "One thing that was so important, and has made our paras so successful, is that we choose programs that are easy to follow. They have a structured scope and sequence: lesson one looks like this, lesson two looks like this. And then we can come in and troubleshoot as we need, but they know what they're doing, from point A in the program to point Z."

Monitor Your Students' Progress

Charles R. Drew uses the benchmark screening results to set goals for each student and monitor their progress weekly using both Aimsweb's and the University of Oregon's DIBELS Data System progress monitoring tools. "That's how we know what we're monitoring, what skills and what strengths and what standards they need to master," says Kaufman.

"In kindergarten, we might do progress monitoring just on sound fluency," explains Stephen. "We might have them reading sounds for one minute, and then we'll graph how many sounds they're reading correctly as they get older. Or we might start with just letter fluency. As they learn to read, we'll move into reading. The older kids will note their own progress and chart their reading per minute."

The counselor, teachers, and intervention analysts, known as the Student Support Team, meet weekly to evaluate methods and results. They lay out the data, interventions used, and student progress. If the students aren't making progress, the staff adjusts the interventions. And if the students are making progress, they'll soon exit Tier 3 instruction.

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Personalizing Support With Response to Intervention

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Charles R. Drew Charter School uses a universal screener -- a schoolwide Aimsweb Screening -- three times a year: in the first week of school, in December, and at the end of the school year. According to India Kaufman, Charles R.

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Briana Perkins

This is a great online resource that students can use in the classroom or at home. I have seen this used on a Chromebook or tablets. This can be used during centers. This website can be purchase and is worth the money. Student can read books based on their level of reading. There is an option for the story to be read to them. There is quizzes at the end of the book. Students can practice their reading skills.

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Briana Perkins
This is a great resource that explains what response to intervention means and ideas of how to help students. It explains the three tiers that guide teachers to helping students meet reading goals.

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RTI and Reading: Response to Intervention in a Nutshell

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RTI is not a particular method or instructional approach, rather it is a process that aims to shift educational resources toward the delivery and evaluation of instruction that works best for students. This article provides a quick overview of RTI as it relates to reading.

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This website provides reading apps and websites for elementary schoolers. It gives students the opportunity to develop much-needed skills for comprehension and fluency. Most of the extensions are free.

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Elementary School Reading Apps and Websites | Common Sense Education

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Excellent edtech for building early literacy. Explore this Elementary School Reading Apps and Websites Top Picks list of 30 tools curated by Common Sense Education editors to find relevant and engaging edtech solutions for your classroom.

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Responses to intervention ideas- Cecily Anderson 

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Responses to intervention ideas- Cecily Anderson 

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This source has three essential practices (universal screening, progress monitoring and differentiation, and systematic skill instruction) based on the recommendations in the Practice Guide. The author goes over what each one is and the benefits of them.

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Response to Intervention in Primary Grade Reading

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Learn more about the four recommended practices in Response to Intervention (RTI): universal screening; progress monitoring and differentiation; systematic skill instruction; and system-wide implementation.

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Inventories and Assessments- Cecily Anderson 

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Inventories and Assessments- Cecily Anderson 

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This article was written by a teacher that wants to inform other educators about informal reading inventories. They identify key issues surrounding the use of IRIs and examine ways in which the various IRIs reviewed approach them. They go in depth about the pros and cons of some of them.

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As a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and university professor, I have always found helpful published summaries or syntheses of professional-related information relevant to my work. In this article, I review the current editions of eight informal reading inventories (IRIs) published since 2002 that are available at the time of this writing. Specifically, I identify key issues surrounding the use of IRIs and examine ways in which the various IRIs reviewed approach them. A goal of this undertaking is to guide teachers, reading specialists, reading coaches, administrators, professionals in higher education, and others charged with the education or professional development of preservice or inservice teachers in their quest to find IRIs best suited to their specific needs. I hope the findings point to new ways in which IRIs can be made even more effective in the near future.

What are informal reading inventories (IRIs)?

IRIs are individually administered diagnostic assessments designed to evaluate a number of different aspects of students' reading performance. Typically, IRIs consist of graded word lists and passages ranging from preprimer level to middle or high school levels (Paris & Carpenter, 2003). After reading each leveled passage, a student responds orally to follow-up questions assessing comprehension and recall. Using comprehension and word recognition scores for students who read the passages orally, along with additional factors taken into consideration (e.g., prior knowledge, fluency, emotional status, among other possible factors), teachers or other education-related professionals determine students' reading levels.

They also use this information to match students with appropriate reading materials, place children in guided reading groups, design instruction to address students' noted strengths and needs, and document reading progress over time. While IRIs serve a variety of purposes, perhaps their greatest value is linked to the important role they play in helping educators to diagnose the gaps in the abilities of readers who struggle the most.

Based on notions implicit in developmental (Chall, 1983; Spear-Swerling & Sternberg, 1996) and interactive models of reading (Rumelhart, 1977; Stanovich, 1980), IRIs provide information about students' reading stages and knowledge sources. For example, by charting and analyzing patterns in oral reading error types, educators identify whether students rely on one cueing system (i.e., graphophonic, syntactic, or semantic cueing system) to the exclusion of the others, as beginning readers typically do, or if they use a balance of strategies, as mature readers at more advanced stages do in their reading development when they encounter challenges while processing text. Supplemented by other measures of literacy-related knowledge and abilities, as needed, IRIs contribute valuable information to the school's instructional literacy program.

Rationale for selecting IRIs to evaluate

Given the sweeping, education-related policy changes associated with the No Child Left Behind Act signed into U.S. law in 2002, the IRIs included in this analysis were limited to those published since 2002 because it was felt that they would be more likely to reflect features relevant to the policy changes than IRIs published earlier. For example, federal guidelines specify that the screening, diagnostic, and classroom-based, instructional assessments used by schools receiving Reading First grants to evaluate K-3 student performance must have proven validity and reliability (U.S. Department of Education, 2002) - aspects noted as weak with regard to IRIs published earlier (Kinney & Harry, 1991; Klesius & Homan, 1985; Newcomer, 1985).

In addition, specifications in Guidance for the Reading First Program (U.S. Department of Education, 2002) require that educators in Reading First schools evaluate students in the five critical areas of reading instruction (i.e., comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, phonemic awareness, and phonics) as defined by the National Reading Panel (NRP; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000) and screen, diagnose, and monitor students' progress over time. Given these federal mandates, it was assumed that IRIs published since 2002 would be more apt to exhibit the technical rigor and breadth in assessment options necessary to help reading professionals achieve these goals.

The names of specific IRI instruments identified were obtained from searches in the professional literature or recommended by professionals in the field of literacy. In all, eight IRIs were identified, examined, and cross-compared with regard to selected features of their most current editions. The following were the IRIs included in this analysis: Analytical Reading Inventory (ARI; Woods & Moe, 2007), Bader Reading and Language Inventory (BRLI; Bader, 2005), Basic Reading Inventory (BRI; Johns, 2005), Classroom Reading Inventory (CRI-SW; Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004), Comprehensive Reading Inventory (CRI-CFC; Cooter, Flynt, & Cooter, 2007), Informal Reading Inventory (IRI-BR; Burns & Roe, 2007), Qualitative Reading Inventory-4 (QRI-4; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006), and The Critical Reading Inventory (CRI-2; Applegate, Quinn, & Applegate, 2008).

Analyzing the IRIs

In order to cross-compare selected features of the current editions of all eight IRIs, a coding spreadsheet was prepared and used to assist in the systematic collection of data. The categories used were chosen because of their relevance to issues in the professional literature (e.g., length of passages, type of comprehension question scheme used) or to policy and other changes affecting the field today (e.g., assessment options related to the five critical areas of reading, reliability, and validity information).

Interrater reliability measures

To ensure the accuracy of the coded data, I enlisted the assistance of a graduate student who independently coded one of the IRIs. Afterward, our data charts were compared and the percentage of agreement was determined with differences resolved by discussion. Following this interrater reliability check, data from the separate coding sheets for each IRI were rearranged and compiled onto additional charts in various ways in order to facilitate comparisons and the detection of patterns among variables of interest.

Results

In all, eight IRIs published since 2002 were analyzed and compared in order to identify the variety of ways in which the instruments approach key issues relevant to their use. Based on the analysis, it is evident that the eight IRIs reviewed range in the assessment components they include and in which critical aspects of reading instruction identified by the NRP (NICHD, 2000) they assess. For example, measures for reading comprehension and vocabulary (i.e., sight word vocabulary) were more common than measures in the other areas. An analysis of the IRI features related to each of the five pillars of reading follows.

IRI

Forms or passage types (grade levels)

Passage word length

Question scheme/ retelling rubric focus

3 narrative passages (pp-12)

3 expository passages (pp-12)

Questions: Text-based, inferential, and critical response questions

3 formsa (pp-8, 9/10, 11/12)

Form C (for children)

Form C/A (for children, adolescents/adults)

Form A (for adults)

Questions:
Literal questions and one interpretive question per passage (not included in the total memory score)

Cooter, Flynt, & Cooter
(2007)

Forms A and B, English, narrative (pp-9)

Forms A and B, Spanish, narrative (pp-9)

Forms C and D, English, expository (1-9)

Form C, Spanish, expository (1-9)

Form D, Spanish, expository (10, 11, 12)

Form E, English, expository (10, 11, 12)

Emergent literacy assessments

Johns
(2005)

7 forms (not entirely equivalent):

Forms A, B: oral reading (pp-8)

Form C: oral reading, expository (pp-8)

Form D: silent reading (pp-8)

Form E: oral reading, expository (pp-8)

Form LN: longer narrative (3-12)

Form LE: longer expository (3-12)

Emergent literacy assessments

Questions:
Topic, fact (lower-inference, and vocabulary (higher-level comprehension) questions

4 narrative, 1 expository (pp)

3 narrative, 2 expository (p-2)

3 narrative, 3 expository (3-5)

3 literature, 2 social studies, 2 science (6)

2 literature, 2 social studies, 2 science (UMS)

1 literature, 1 social studies, 1 science (HS)

Varies:
44-786 (pp-UMS)
354-1,224 (HS,
passage sections

Silvaroli & Wheelock
(2004)

3 formsb with pre-/posttests for each:

Form A, Subskills Format (pp-8) 38-268

Form B, Reader Response Format (pp-8)

Form C, Subskills Format for high school and adult education students (1-8)

Woods & Moe
(2007)
3 equivalent narrative forms (pp-9):
2 expository forms (1-9):

Form S (science)

Form SS (social studies)

Questions:
Defined by the reader-text relationship:

"Retells in Fact" (RIF)

"Puts Information Together" (PIT)

"Connects Author and Reader" (CAR)

"Evaluates and Substantiates" (EAS)

Retelling rubrics:
A focus on story elements for narratives and expository elements for factual text

Note: pp = preprimer level, p = primer level, UMS = upper middle school,
HS = high school.

aNarrative and expository text passages are distributed across levels as follows: pp.2: narratives only; 3-5: 2 narrative, 1 expository; 6: all expository; 7: 1 narrative, 2 expository; 8: 2 narrative, 1expository; 9-10: 1 narrative, 2 expository; 11-12: all expository.

b Forms include narrative and expository text passages that are not explicitly identified by genre.

Reading comprehension and recall

Evidence of content validity

According to Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999), a fundamental concern in judging assessments is evidence of validity. Assessments should represent clearly the content domain they purport to measure. For example, if the intention is to learn more about a student's ability to read content area textbooks, then it is critical that the text passages used for assessment be structured similarly. Based on their study of eight widely used and cited IRIs, Applegate, Quinn, and Applegate (2002) concluded that there were great variations in the way IRI text passages were structured, including passages with factual content. They observed that biographies and content area text, in some cases, matched up better with the classic definition of a story.

In a similar manner, Kinney and Harry (1991) noted little resemblance between the type of text passages included in many IRIs and the text type typically read by students in middle and high school. As researchers have demonstrated through their studies and analyses, narrative and expository texts are structured differently (Mandler & Johnson, 1977; Meyer & Freedle, 1984), and readers of all sorts, including general education students and children with learning disabilities, process contrasting text types in different ways (Dickson, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1995). Thus, it makes sense that if the goal of assessment is to gain insights on a student's reading of textbooks that are expository, then the text used for the assessment should also be expository.

Relative to the IRIs examined for this analysis, text passages varied by genre and length as well as by whether the text included illustrations, photos, maps, graphs, and diagrams. A discussion of the ways in which the various IRIs approach these issues follows.

Passage genre

With regard to the text types included in the IRIs under review here (aligned with the perspective that reading comprehension varies by text type), five of the eight IRIs provide separate sections, or forms, for narrative and expository passages for all levels, making it easy to evaluate reading comprehension and recall for narrative text apart from expository material (Applegate et al., 2008; Cooter et al., 2007; Johns, 2005; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006; Woods & Moe, 2007).

However, caution is advised. Despite the separation of genres, in some of the current IRIs, consistent with Applegate et al.'s (2002) observations, some passages classified as expository are actually more like narrative. For example, in BRI (Johns, 2005), the passage "Have You Played This Game?" contains factual information about the board game Monopoly, but it is written in a narrative style. The passage is placed in the Expository Form LE section; however, the first comprehension question asks, "What is this story about?" Even for passages more expository-like in text structure, at times authors refer to them as "stories" (e.g., "Here is a story about driver's license requirements," Bader, 2005, p. 65; "Tell me about the story you just read," Cooter et al., 2007, p. 275, in reference to the factual passage "Bears").

Of all the IRIs considered, ARI (Woods & Moe, 2007) and QRI-4 (Leslie & Caldwell, 2006) provide expository text passages with features most like text found in science and social studies textbooks. In fact, the authors note most of the passages were drawn from textbooks.

A few of the IRIs appear to take a more holistic approach in their representation of the content domain. For three of the IRIs, the assessment includes a "mix" (Burns & Roe, 2007, p. 227) or "balance" (Bader, 2005, p. 4) of text types with greater emphasis on narratives and no expository passages at lower levels (Bader, 2005; Burns & Roe, 2007; Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004). In these IRIs, there is no clear separation of narrative and expository text passages.

Passage length

While the passages generally become longer at the upper levels to align with the more demanding texts read by older students, across inventories passage lengths at the same levels vary; some cases, within the same inventory, authors offer passages of different lengths as options at the same levels (see Table 1). For example, finding that beginning readers sometimes struggled with the 50-word, pre-primer passage in earlier editions, Johns (2005) now includes in the ninth edition of BRI a second, shorter passage option of 25 words for each form that offers passages at the preprimer level. In a similar manner, he offers passages of two different lengths at levels 3-12.

Pictures and graphic supplements

Noting the benefits and drawbacks of including illustrations and other graphic supplements with the passages, IRI authors vary in their opinions on this matter. To eliminate the possibility of readers' relying on picture clues rather than their understanding of the text, Silvaroli and Wheelock (2004) and Burns and Roe (2007) exclude illustrations entirely. Bader (2005), Cooter et al. (2007), Johns (2005), and Woods and Moe (2007) limit illustrated passages to lower levels only. Providing examiners with options for comparing beginning readers' performance, Applegate et al. (2008) and Leslie and Caldwell (2006) provide passages with and without illustrations or photos. Moreover, Leslie and Caldwell provide a number of assessment choices at levels 5 through high school, allowing for in-depth and varied evaluations of students' abilities to use different types of graphic supplements typically found in science and social studies textbooks, such as diagrams, maps, photos, and pie graphs.

Evidence of construct validity

According to Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999), a valid test also captures all the important aspects of the construct (i.e., the characteristic or concept that the test is designed to measure), and it also provides evidence that processes irrelevant to the construct do not interfere or distort results. Across IRIs examined, comprehension question frameworks varied in terms of which aspects of narrative or expository text comprehension they centered on, as well as what dimensions, or levels, of comprehension they measured. In addition, across the IRIs reviewed, assorted measures were used to identify extraneous factors potentially affecting comprehension scores. A discussion of the various ways in which each IRI handles these issues follows.

Comprehension/Recall measures

For most of the IRIs reviewed, question schemes introduced alone or in conjunction with retelling rubrics or scoring guides serve to assess a reader's comprehension or recall in two areas: (1) the reader's grasp of narrative and expository text structure and (2) various dimensions or levels of reading comprehension (e.g., literal and inferential comprehension). All of the IRIs attempt to assess these areas either through their question schemes alone or in combination with a retelling and rubric assessment; however, in some cases, the authors use different terms for the dimensions of comprehension they measure.

For measuring narrative text comprehension and recall, six of the eight IRIs focus their question schemes and retelling rubrics on story elements (e.g., character, setting, problem or goal, resolution; Applegate et al., 2008; Burns & Roe, 2007; Cooter et al., 2007; Johns, 2005; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006; Woods & Moe, 2007) based on story grammar theory. It should be noted that the question schemes of Burns and Roe, Johns, and Woods and Moe are structured differently (see Table 1). Thus, if their question schemes are used to evaluate narrative comprehension independently without a retelling and the associated rubric with story elements criteria, then a student's grasp of narrative text structure will not be evaluated.

In the assessment of expository text comprehension and recall, there is greater variety across IRIs. Four IRIs use question schemes or rubrics based on the levels of importance of information (e.g., macro vs. micro concepts, main ideas vs. details; Applegate et al., 2008; Burns & Roe, 2007; Johns, 2005; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006). Taking a different approach, Woods and Moe (2007) and Cooter et al. (2007) provide checklists and question schemes, respectively, for evaluating student recall of expository elements (e.g., description, collection, causation, problem and solution, comparison). Johns includes a variety of rubric options specific to narrative and expository text passages but also more holistic rubrics that he suggests can be used with retellings of any text type.

In addition, in the QRI-4, Leslie and Caldwell provide a think-aloud assessment option useful for capturing information about the strategies readers use while they are in the process of constructing meaning based on the text. To facilitate the use of this assessment option, some of the expository text passages at the sixth, upper middle school, and high school levels are formatted in two different ways that allow for conducting assessments with or without student think-alouds. The authors also provide a coding system for categorizing the think-aloud types based on whether they indicate an understanding or lack of understanding of the text.

It should be noted that Bader (2005) and Silvaroli and Wheelock (2004) use similar criteria for assessing comprehension and recall of narrative versus expository text. For example, in using the BRLI (Bader, 2005) for the assessment of narrative and expository passages, readers are asked to retell the "story" (p. 59), and the idea units recalled are checked off from a list that does not categorize the idea units in any way (e.g., according to story grammar elements in the case of narratives or levels of importance for expository material). In addition, there is a place on the evaluation sheet for checking off whether a student's retelling is organized; however, criteria for making this judgment are lacking. Without a theoretical framework and clearly defined criteria to guide the examiner, it is difficult to determine if the assessment effectively captures the essential qualities of reading comprehension and recall.

The CRI-SW (Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004) is similar in that there is little distinction in criteria used for judging comprehension or recall of contrasting text types. For example, in the Reader Response Format section of the IRI (the same scoring guide used to evaluate a student's recall of characters, problems, and outcome or solutions for the narrative) "It's My Ball" (p. 136) is provided as a tool for evaluating the factual selection "The World of Dinosaurs" (p. 143). Use of a scoring guide based on story grammar theory seems misplaced as a tool for judging comprehension of expository text.

As noted, in addition to assessing students' understanding of the structural features of narrative and expository text, IRI authors provide measures of various dimensions, or levels, of reading comprehension - most commonly literal and inferential comprehension (Applegate et al., 2008; Bader, 2005; Burns & Roe, 2007; Cooter et al., 2007; Johns, 2005; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006; Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004; Woods & Moe, 2007). Although the terms for these constructs vary, and there may be subtle differences in meanings across inventories, the dimensions overlap. For example, Leslie and Caldwell refer to explicit and implicit comprehension. Woods and Moe, however, using a reader-text relationship question scheme stemming from Raphael's (1982, 1986) Question-Answer Relationships framework, provide questions measuring fact-based, literal comprehension that call for responses "from the text" as well as questions that measure inferential comprehension or responses "from head to text" (Woods & Moe, 2007, pp. 28-29).

Taking a different approach, Applegate et al. include questions to measure critical response (i.e., a response requiring analysis, reaction, and response to text based on personal experiences and values and usually allowing for more than one possible answer). Cooter et al. (2007) provide questions as measures of evaluative comprehension. Johns's questions measure comprehension dimensions called "lower-level" (i.e., assessed by fact questions) and "higher-level" (i.e., assessed by topic, evaluation, inference, and vocabulary questions; Johns, 2005, p. 76). It should be noted that Silvaroli and Wheelock include assessment of different levels of comprehension (i.e., inferential vs. factual questions) as part of the question taxonomy in the Subskills Format section of their IRI, but this aspect of comprehension is not assessed by the question scheme in the Reader Response Format.

Despite concerns (Applegate et al., 2002; Duffelmeyer & Duffelmeyer, 1987, 1989; Johns, 2005; Schell & Hanna, 1981), a few of the IRIs reviewed continue to use question taxonomies with main idea, fact and detail, inference, and vocabulary questions, among other question types (Burns & Roe, 2007; Johns, 2005; Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004). In the past, criticisms targeting these question schemes arose out of concern due to lacking empirical support and confusion over what main idea questions in some of the IRIs actually measured.

In the ninth edition of BRI reviewed for this study, citing Schell and Hanna (1981) as his information source, even Johns himself cautions readers, "Lest teachers glibly use the classification scheme suggested, it must be emphasized that these categories of comprehension questions, although widely used, have little or no empirical support" (Johns, 2005, p. 72). For this reason, Johns advises using his own question classification scheme informally and with discretion.

Other scholars in the field of literacy, as well, have suggested that main idea question types included in some IRIs were actually no more than "topic" questions that could be answered in one-word or simple phrase responses rather than full statements of the moral or underlying theme of a story, requiring the integration of selection content (Applegate et al., 2002; Duffelmeyer & Duffelmeyer, 1987, 1989; Schell & Hanna, 1981).

As Applegate et al. pointed out, the ramifications of confusions over question types can be serious in that children who are proficient in responding to questions of one sort, such as questions requiring literal recall and low-level inferences that are largely text based, sometimes experience great difficulty in answering questions of other types, such as those that require more critical thinking. The confusion over question types and just what the questions actually measure restricts the usefulness of the assessment data they yield in terms of helping teachers pinpoint and address children's instructional needs.

While IRI-BR (Burns & Roe, 2007) continues to use a question classification system with main idea questions vulnerable to these criticisms, it is evident that Johns (2005) has made changes to address the terminology issue in BRI. Items that he previously called main idea questions are now labeled "topic" questions. Otherwise, his classification system remains similar to that in earlier editions. As a result, some of the confusion over question type is eliminated, but if a teacher relies strictly on Johns's question scheme to assess comprehension, a reader's ability to synthesize the content and come up with the main or "big idea" (Walmsley, 2006) of a passage (an important aspect of reading) will not be evaluated.

Silvaroli and Wheelock (2004) include not only the traditional question scheme from earlier editions of CRI (Silvaroli, 1990), but also the authors have added a whole new question framework that supplements, or serves as another option, to the question scheme of their earlier editions. Those who use the newest edition of CRI-SW have a choice as to whether to administer the passages and follow-up questions that fall into the Subskills Format or an alternative set of questions included in what the authors call the Reader Response Format. Accordingly, the five questions accompanying the passages in the Subskills Format, as in the earlier editions, include factual, inferential, and vocabulary question types.

The question types for the retelling portion of the newer Reader Response Format, however, include a prediction question followed by three questions pertaining to the characters (i.e., "Who was the main person in the story?"), the problems (i.e., "What was the problem?"), and the outcomes or solutions (i.e., "How was the problem solved?") of the passage. The authors explain that the rationale for adding the Reader Response Format was to accommodate literacy programs that have shifted from a "subskills instructional emphasis" to a "literacy emphasis" (Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004, pp. 1-2). They suggest the passages and questions included in each format can be used separately or in some combination, as desired.

Measures of extraneous variables

In order to control for extraneous variables that can affect comprehension and recall, some of the IRI authors include measures of prior knowledge (Bader, 2005; Johns, 2005; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006; Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004; Woods & Moe, 2007), emotional status (Burns & Roe, 2007; Woods & Moe, 2007), and level of engagement (Johns, 2005). Other authors suggest the administrator informally note observations and student comments in related areas (Burns & Roe, 2007).

Form equivalence/Reliability

Because federal guidelines for Reading First schools require educators to monitor student progress over time (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), it can be valuable to know if the parallel forms within each IRI can be used interchangeably. In order to know how consistent the scores are across forms, it is necessary to obtain the alternate form reliability coefficient. Generally, a correlation of .85 or higher is desirable, with the maximum a correlation can be at +1.00. It is also necessary to have information about the sample population on which the reliability figure was based in order to generalize to a different student population (Bracey, 2000).

Although the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999) suggests a need to report critical information indicating the degree of generalizability of scores across alternate-forms, few of the IRI authors do. Only one IRI (Leslie & Caldwell, 2006) provides data suggesting the forms for determining that reading comprehension levels may be used interchangeably, although the specific IRI edition used for that reliability study is not reported.

With respect to the alternate forms of the QRI text passages, Leslie and Caldwell found the reliabilities based on comprehension scores were all above 0.80, and 75% of the scores were greater than or equal to .90. In addition, the authors examined whether the same instructional level would be determined based on the comprehension scores of each passage and report that 71% to 84% of the time the instructional level was the same on both. The individual reliability levels for each grade-level text from primer level through upper middle school are reported.

In some IRIs, the authors infer that alternate-form reliability levels are acceptable; however, information is lacking to confirm that. For example, based on the similar content that occurs across all three narrative forms in ARI (e.g., all three passages at level 6 are written about famous African American scientists or inventors), Woods and Moe (2007) suggest, "This consistency enables the examiner to change forms when determined necessary" (p. 257); however, because no correlation coefficient indicating degree of equivalence is reported, this inference cannot be made with confidence.

With respect to IRI-BR, Burns and Roe (2007) state, "Alternate forms testing revealed that the levels indicated by different forms administered to the same students were consistent" (p. 229); however, without reliability figures reported, the examiner cannot make a judgment about the degree of reliability. Also, without a sample description, even if the forms are equivalent for one sample population, given the possible differences across groups, it may not be possible to generalize those results to another student population.

In addition, in John's (2005) ninth edition of BRI, he refers to an alternate-form reliability study (Helgren-Lempesis & Mangrum, 1986) of BRI (Johns, 1981) and two other IRIs, which indicated the Pearson r coefficients for BRI were .64 for independent level, .72 for instructional level, and .73 for the frustration level. However, these results pertain to a 1986 study with fourth-grade students who orally read passages from Forms A and B of the second edition of BRI. New reliability information pertaining to all forms in the current edition and for passages at all levels read orally and silently is needed in order to use parallel forms interchangeably without question.

Some of the alternate-form reliability figures reported are lower than is desirable. For example, based on the figures reported by Cooter et al. (2007) for grades 1, 2, and 3 (i.e., 0.58, 0.63, and 0.70), the authors caution that Forms A and B may not be equivalent. The authors also report that due to small sample sizes, they were not able to obtain reliability figures for other grade levels. Of note, CRI-CFC was published in its first edition in 2007.

In some cases, there are not enough data reported for interpreting the degree of reliability. For example, it is not clear just what variables the reliability coefficients (i.e., 0.80 for oral, elementary; 0.78 for silent, elementary; 0.83 for oral high school and adult; 0.79 for silent, high school and adult) reported by Bader (2005) apply to, such as word recognition, comprehension, or both.

Vocabulary

Meaning vocabulary

Although norm-referenced tests typically report scores for vocabulary knowledge both as a separate and combined reading score (Pearson, Hiebert, & Kamil, 2007), none of the IRIs reviewed include enough vocabulary items accompanying the text passages to make this feasible. For example, Burns and Roe (2007), Johns (2005), and Silvaroli and Wheelock (2004) treat vocabulary as an embedded construct contributing to reading comprehension; however, out of five to eight questions, only one or two items are vocabulary related.

Sight word vocabulary and word recognition strategies

While Cooter et al. (2007) treat vocabulary as a separate construct with its own set of test items and score in CRI-CFC, this section is more a measure of high-frequency or sight words recognized than meaning vocabulary knowledge. It should be noted that the word list components of the other IRIs reviewed also provide information related more to word recognition than to knowledge of word meanings.

Each of the other inventories takes a different approach to the assessment of sight word recognition, as well as general word identification strategies, by including a series of word lists administered at the beginning of the IRI assessment in order to gain insights on a student's word recognition strategies as well as to determine a reading passage starting point. Across inventories, although the specific sources for the word lists are not always identified (Bader, 2005; Burns & Roe, 2007; Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004; Woods & Moe, 2007), two of the authors report some or all of the word list words are drawn from the reading passages (Applegate et al., 2008; Leslie & Caldwell, 2006) or various named, high-frequency word lists (e.g., Fry's Instant Words; Applegate et al., 2008; Johns, 2005).

With regard to CRI-2 and QRI-4, because some of the words were drawn from the reading passages, evaluators can compare word identification abilities in context versus out of context. These two inventories also allow for making distinctions between words recognized instantly (i.e., sight words) versus words that are decoded when readers are allowed more time.

BRLI (Bader, 2005) includes separate lists of "experiential" words (i.e., words commonly found in instructional materials and on tests), as well as lists of "adult thematic" words (i.e., office-related vocabulary, words related to health and safety, vehicle-related words), which could be useful with English-language learners and adult literacy students. Because students are asked to read each item but to explain the meanings only as needed, this assessment appears to provide more information related to sight word vocabulary and word recognition strategies than meaning vocabulary, similar to the other IRI word lists. Information about the development of these word lists, however, or pilot testing of items is lacking.

Phonemic awareness

Three of the IRI authors include phonemic awareness assessments (Bader, 2005; Cooter et al., 2007; Johns, 2005) in their manuals. It should be noted that these assessments are not integral parts of the inventories; instead, they are provided as supplements for optional use. Given the fact that there are other instruments available that are more developmental, systematic, and comprehensive for assessing phonemic awareness, these IRI assessment supplements are not recommended for evaluating children's knowledge in this area.

Phonics

As with phonemic awareness, an IRI is not intended to provide a thorough evaluation of a child's phonic knowledge. While the authors of CRI-CFC (Cooter et al., 2007) and BRLI (Bader, 2005) provide supplementary phonics assessments in their manuals, there are other more systematic and comprehensive assessments of this aspect of reading available. For this reason, these supplementary assessments are not recommended for evaluating this pillar of reading.

It should be noted that the miscue analysis and word list components (see the Vocabulary section) featured in most of the IRIs allow the evaluator to gain valuable insights on patterns related to students' word recognition abilities, including insights related to phonics. In addition, miscue analyses of passages read orally provide the advantage of allowing the tester to observe how a child actually applies phonics skills while reading familiar and unknown words in connected text. Because of this powerful function, the miscue analysis portion of an IRI should not be skipped or overlooked.

Fluency

With the exception of CRI-SW (Silvaroli & Wheelock, 2004), each of the IRIs includes some measure of fluency. All but Woods and Moe (2007) suggest, at a minimum, tracking the reading rate, and all but Applegate et al. (2008), who includes an oral reading rubric in the manual, provide norms or guidelines in their manuals for interpreting scores. In some of the IRIs, checklists are provided listing additional aspects of fluency to evaluate, such as pitch, stress, intonation, and use of punctuation, among other qualities observed, to check off as applicable. Woods and Moe also include a four-point fluency scoring guide. Given the relevance of fluent reading to reading comprehension (Allington, 1983), these measures provide valuable data for interpreting the results of an IRI assessment and are recommended.

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A Critical Analysis of Eight Informal Reading Inventories

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As a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and university professor, I have always found helpful published summaries or syntheses of professional-related information relevant to my work. In this article, I review the current editions of eight informal reading inventories (IRIs) published since 2002 that are available at the time of this writing.

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Briana Perkins

This is a great video that provides ways to give a reading fluency test. We give this test in all grade levels and monitor students progress. Having a stopwatch to time the students for one minute to see how many words they can read. I have also seen graphing charts used to track students progress. The students are encouraged and motivated to beat their previous score.

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How to Administer an Informal Reading Inventory

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I chose to share this reading program because, I have a lot of experience watching this site in action. My son used it before and during kindergarten. I have observed students with special needs enjoy and stay engaged in the activities. It has a ton of interactive activities for students enjoy while learning to read. Teachers can use this online activity to help build literacy skills, assign activities for individual students, and monitor progress. There is also printable activities.

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Response to Intervention ideas by Chasity Gaither

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Response to Intervention ideas by Chasity Gaither

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I chose this site to share because there are clear definitions of the 3 Tiers. It shares many teaching strategies for each Tier. Also, the students at my school LOVE prodigy.com for reading and math.

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Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI.

If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs.

Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

Regardless, the intervention process should be ingrained in each classroom management plan. That's because it starts with you delivering high-quality instruction and monitoring how each student processes it.

Those who perform poorly or display concerning classroom habits are candidates for small-group or individual interventions. These are typically aimed at addressing trouble spots and building underdeveloped prerequisite skills to accelerate learning.

Depending on the intensity of intervention, and your school's resources, special educators and dedicated interventionists may involve themselves. You may also have to inform a student's parents in extreme cases, offering updates about progress and the methods you're using.

There isn't a universal RTI process, but most schools and districts divide it into three stages. You can learn about these stages below, or skip to tier-based strategies.

The Three RTI Tiers

Tier 1: High-Quality Instruction and Proactive Assessment

Think of the first RTI tier as everyday teaching. It's consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction. This helps ensure that student struggles aren't a result of improper teaching methods. If you don't already use them, some popular practices include:

In the context of RTI, high-quality instruction also involves providing supplemental learning opportunities based on assessment results.

Let's say you finish marking a math quiz, and notice several students struggle to multiply decimals. In class, give a task related to decimals and multiplication, discussing and modeling key steps and concepts with those students beforehand.

This is just one approach you can take.

Regardless, you shouldn't spend more than two months providing extra instruction to help a student enhance the same skillset. If he or she doesn't show measureable improvement, it may be time for the second RTI tier.

Tier 2: Targeted Intervention

Maintaining the first tier's style of classroom instruction, the next stage uses rigorous supplementary exercises and lessons targeted to a student's specific needs.

Normally, you would deliver these exercises and lessons in small-group settings outside of core class time. This allows students with common issues to work together, contextualizing and reinforcing concepts while building prerequisite skills.
You can objectively identify candidates for targeted intervention through:

Mid-Unit Evaluations: At the middle of each unit, deliver a surprise quiz or in-class task that covers all core skills and concepts you've covered thus far.

Formal Evaluations: After marking tests and assignments, it'll be clear who's struggling. Your school may have specific criteria, but targeted intervention candidates are typically students who receive failing grades or come close.

After class or during recess, work with students who need help. Focused on clarifying lingering issues or building underdeveloped skills, provide exercises that require they work together and individually.

For example, students could work as a team to solve interactive challenges on a math website. Then, they could each complete a worksheet that reinforces the skills they practiced on the website. You would support students by offering clarification and filling knowledge gaps.

Nuances aside, you should match targeted intervention to student needs by adjusting the:

The second stage intervention should take longer than the first. But if you can't see clear progress after a month or two, you may need to move the student into the third RTI tier.

Tier 3: Intensive Intervention and Evaluation

Working one-on-one with you or a dedicated interventionist, students in the final tier receive intensive lessons that target their unique trouble spots and knowledge gaps.

In the United States, 5% of children need this kind of help, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Based on the student's learning style and needs, as well as underdeveloped skills, third-tier intervention sessions can include:

Talking with the child about his or her specific issues, discussing strategies to overcome them

Sharing positive and corrective feedback whenever possible

Providing diverse media to help process content

Revisiting lessons from past units or years

Setting achievement plans and goals

Modeling problem-solving steps

The educator who runs these sessions must record as much data as possible about the student's improvement or lack thereof. Are prerequisite skills starting to meet standards? Are there jumps in in-class performance?

If the student doesn't make marked progress, you -- depending on school or district policy -- may have to recommend him or her for a special education evaluation.

Teaching Strategies for Each RTI Tier

RTI probably seems like a daunting process.

It can be. But there are many ways you can help and empower students to succeed in each stage. Consider using some of these 15 intervention strategies, many of which are interchangeable between tiers:

Tier 1 Strategies

1. Watch for Impostor Syndrome

It's easy for a student to nod his or her head, then bury it in a book without asking questions to create an illusion of comprehension. That's why you have to watch for impostor syndrome.

Proactively looking for students who feign understanding, filling their knowledge gaps, can prevent disappointing surprises when marking tests or assignments. You can spot imposter syndrome by regularly:

Asking Students for Their Own Words -- Instead of repeating concepts verbatim, ask students to explain specific ideas using their own words. This will not only help them process content, but reveal how well they understand it.

Using Exit Tickets -- Save 10 minutes at the end of class, allowing students to write about what they learned. They'll prepare for tomorrow's lesson, whereas you'll see who's grasping content.

Adopting a proactive approach can set an example to follow, too. Students may pose more questions and not hesitate to ask for help, since they know you'll likely approach or call on them anyway. 2. Give Only Two Marks for Informal AssessmentsRecall a time you saw a big F in red ink on your work. You were likely upset, too demoralised to review mistakes and feedback.

So, on informal assessments throughout a unit, just state if a student did or did not meet expectations.

Then, provide struggling students with a clear path to improve. For example, pair classmates who didn't meet expectations with those who did, giving them a review and practice activity. When strugglers are confident they understand key concepts, encourage them to tell you. Provide a new assessment, allowing them to prove their competency.

This should partially prevent students from being unprepared for tests and assignments.

3. Have Private Mid-Unit Conversations

Like the last strategy, use this one to identify if and how students are struggling before formal evaluations.

At the middle of each unit, run a fun classwide activity that doesn't introduce key skills or concepts. This gives you a chance to pull each student away for a few minutes to:

Review results

Note trouble spots

Receive input about questions and problems

In doing so, each student can gauge his or her own understanding. Plus, it helps you determine if certain issues are isolated or widespread, informing how you'll deal with them.

4. Switch Between Solo, Small- and Large-Group Learning

Differentiated instruction is a hallmark of RTI's first tier. And an easy, yet effective, way to differentiate is by alternating between individual and group activities.

This is because diverse settings provide distinct learning scenarios.

For example, running literature circles in small groups encourages students to shape and inform each other's understandings of readings, helping auditory and participatory learners retain more information. On the other hand, solo reflection exercises may appeal to those who don't gain as much from discussion as independent thinking.

Plus, varying your lessons this way helps keep engagement levels high.

5. Assign Open-Ended Projects

Giving choices for projects is another differentiation strategy that fits into the first intervention tier.

Instead of assigning an inflexible project, provide a list of ideas. This allows students to choose one that lets them best demonstrate their knowledge. Be sure to include a rubric for each project, setting clear expectations.
By enticing and challenging students, this approach encourages them to:

Work and learn at their own paces

Process content in ways that appeal to them

Showcase their knowledge and skill mastery as effectively as possible

This strategy not only benefits students, but helps you see their unique work and learning styles.

Tier 2 Strategies

6. Set Measurable Goals

Setting clearly-defined objectives will define an explicit route to graduate from intervention.

Addressing a given student's challenges and trouble spots, objectives should take the form of learning and behaviour goals.

Learning goals focus on the student understanding concepts and developing skills. For example, "I, student's name, will complete 10 additional questions about fractions, as provided by my math teacher, each weeknight for the next two weeks."

Behaviour goals require the student to concentrate and work efficiently. For example, "I, student's name, will not interrupt any of my teachers while they're speaking. Instead, I will raise my hand to ask questions."

Notice how the goals are measureable? If the student interrupts a teacher even once or only completes nine questions each night, he or she doesn't meet them.

To reinforce the importance of these goals, review progress at each targeted intervention session.

7. Add a Twist to Mixed-Ability Groups

Grouping high performers with struggling classmates for in-class activities is common, but needs a twist as a second tier intervention strategy.

That's because underperforming students sometimes don't actively participate in these groups. Instead, they rely on group members.

Here's the twist: Run activities that require students to write down their thoughts or findings, but give each student a different colour pen.

You'll likely notice the struggling students don't write down as much. If this is the case, tell them they'll present their group's thoughts or findings to the class. This way, they must process the content to prepare.

Improved understanding of content, better presentation skills.

8. Use EdTech that Adjusts to Each Student

Some educational technologies use adaptive learning principles, detecting student trouble spots and helping them build skills to overcome them.

For example, Prodigy is a fun and engaging math game that adjusts content to help students address skill deficits and knowledge gaps. It also offers feedback to help them solve specific mistakes, as they answer questions that use words, charts, pictures and numbers. Currently used by over two million teachers, the game is aligned with curricula across Canada, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and India.
Create and sign into your free teacher account now!
9. Model Everything and Use Role-Plays

To supplement explanations, demonstrating proper practices will give struggling students clear examples and reference points.

Let's say you're running a think-pair-share activity. To clarify, this involves students individually thinking about a problem, pairing together to discuss their answers and presenting their ideas to the class.
After giving instructions, you could act out a:

Partner conversation, reaching conclusions by asking each other questions

Brief presentation about answers, modeling what students should say about their ideas and problem-solving processes

This strategy helps intervention students participate to the best of their abilities, enjoying the activity itself.

10. Preach Four-Step Problem Solving

Teaching problem-solving skills in targeted interventions can give students the confidence to answer challenging problems, reaching comprehensive answers.

This is especially important for those who understand a topic's underlying concepts, but struggle to apply or articulate them.

One of the most popular resources is A Problem Solving Approach to Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers. The authors describe four steps you should encourage students to follow, which work for most subjects.
The steps are:

Understanding the Problem -- Students should rewrite it in their own words, noting helpful information it reveals and indicates a need for.

Devising a Plan -- Students should use information they gleaned to make notes, tables, diagrams, equations and anything else that creates a path to solving the problem.

Carrying out the Plan -- Students should follow this path, reviewing each step along the way and making changes as needed.

Looking Back -- Students should double-check each step after reaching their answers. Then, it's best to look at the "big picture." Does the solution make sense when applied to the original problem? Is there a different, logical way of reaching the same solution? If not, they should re-visit their approaches.

Armed with these steps, tough questions shouldn't look as daunting.

Tier 3 Strategies

11. Gamify a Personal Learning Plan

Motivating students in the final RTI tier is typically a challenge in of itself. Gamifying learning plans can engage and incentivize them, empowering them to move back in the middle tier.

Whether you're in charge of this intervention stage or not, you can still apply video game elements in your classroom for these and other students.
Consider gamification strategies such as:

Adjusting Your Scoring System -- Give traditional scores and experience points (XP) on tests and assignments, setting a goal for the student to reach a certain amount of XP per unit. For example, if a student scores 60% on a quiz, give him or her 6,000 XP. You can also award XP for completing extra assignments, participating in class or anything else that shows effort to learn.

Using Stages -- Call topics and units stages. These terms have clear connotations for you, but students may not see how they fit together. If they're gamers, they'll understand that reaching the next stage requires overcoming precursory challenges. Emphasize this by framing certain tasks as prerequisites to reach that next learning stage.

If these tips work especially well, you should see similar results by using them in the first two tiers.

12. Gather Data to Spot Trends

Use data at your disposal to pinpoint where and when a student's issues arose.

In doing so, you can tailor intensive instruction that addresses specific needs.

Let's say you determine that a student's performance didn't start to sink when he or she entered your classroom. Rather, it went downhill in the middle of last year's math class. It's now clear you must revisit that content, helping the student build skills taught in that class. You can then move onto this year's topics.

Depending on school or district resources, you may not be tasked with delving into this information. But if you are, look at resources that contain student performance across:

Past years

Previous units

Current classes

Different subjects

Invariably, an effective RTI approach is rooted in such data.

13. Consider Peer Teaching

Pairing struggling students with top-performers can yield benefits, according to peer teaching studies.

For example, "students generally identify more easily with peer helpers than with adult authority figures," according to an influential study. This means they may be more willing to ask questions and for feedback. What's more, an Ohio University pilot study determined that students who read and discuss story passages with peers recall more content and score higher on assessments.
Peer tutoring is a nuanced pedagogy in its own right, but easy-to-run activities include:

Think-pair-share exercises, which were discussed in the section about second-tier strategies

Peer editing exercises, which rely on tutors giving targeted feedback about a tutee's written work

Jigsaw exercises, which involve dividing an ambitious task into subtopics and having tutor-tutee pair research the same subtopic together

If you use this strategy, just be sure to teach tutors about giving help and feedback.

14. Reverse the Standard Peer Teaching Model

Peer teaching strategies typically see high-performing students tutor struggling classmates, but occasionally reversing the roles can have advantages.

When at-risk students help others in a controlled environment, research from the National Association of Secondary School Principals shows their confidence and communication abilities improve. This, in turn, can help them through the RTI process.

You and your students can reap these benefits through reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT). This involves partners taking turns as the tutor, and:

Guiding the tutee through the problem-solving process

Giving the tutee praise and feedback while working through exercises

Reviewing content together, asking each other questions and finding answers

If struggling students don't rise to their new responsibilities, just revert to traditional peer teaching.

15. Seek Help

You're not alone. Each school and district has a different makeup, but you shouldn't have to handle the intervention process yourself.
To ease the rigours of intensive instruction and evaluation, communicate with:

Fellow teachers for insight about the students you're helping

Consider how to incorporate student assessments into report card comments

Learning support specialists for tips and to share responsibilities

Administrators and your principal to provide updates and access data, especially if it seems a student needs special education services and parent involvement is required

The adage it takes a village to raise a child can easily apply to RTI. So, welcome help.

RTI Infographic

Created by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning-- an online resource for teaching tools and ideas -- below is an infographic based on this article:

Final Thoughts About RTI

These strategies support specific RTI stages, but you can also use many to reduce the need for intervention.

Remember, the first tier is rooted in consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction.

By using aforementioned first-tier tactics -- as well as researching and incorporating similar ones -- you should prevent many intervention cases. And serious issues may come to light faster, as you identify students who aren't receptive to diverse, credible instruction practices.

So, continue to be proactive. That's a core RTI strategy across tiers.

Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy - a fun and engaging adaptive math game used for lesson supplementation and response to intervention (RTI). It's used by more than two million teachers and 100 million students.

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The Teacher's Response to Intervention (RTI) Guide: Tiers, Strategies and More

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Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI. If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs. Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

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Inventories and assessment by Chasity Gaither

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Inventories and assessment by Chasity Gaither

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This site informs us about the Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts. There is a slide show of the booklet that tells you why this tool was created the steps you follow, image of the inventory chart used for assessments,
and answers to  frequently asked questions.

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The Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts is a tool district leaders can use to take stock of their assessments and assessment strategy, and do so from a student perspective.

Across the country, educators, parents and students are saying that there is too much testing in our schools and that testing is taking valuable time away from teaching and learning. These concerns are legitimate and merit attention. School district officials have the opportunity to respond to concerns about over-testing by leading a conversation among educators and the broader community that directly addresses the amount of testing - and points the way toward a more coherent, educationally-sound approach to assessment.

The tool supports a process by which districts evaluate the assessments students are taking, determine the minimum testing necessary to serve essential diagnostic, instructional and accountability purposes, and work to ensure that every district-mandated test is of high quality, is providing the information needed for specific school and district purposes, and is supported by structures and routines so that assessment results are actually used and action steps taken that will help students.

Achieve expresses its sincere gratitude to the many state and district leaders who have contributed their suggestions and feedback during the development of the assessment inventory. In particular, we thank the leaders of the Connecticut State Department of Education and leaders from eight Connecticut school districts that piloted use of the assessment inventory and provided substantial feedback.

How do I get started?
Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts Guidance for School Districts Assessment 101 for School Boards Assessment Questions for School Board Members
How can I train others to use the tool?

Training Materials - To guide district leaders who are leading or considering an assessment inventory in their districts, Achieve has created training materials (including ready-to-use PowerPoint slides) around Setting the Context, Inventory Planning, Stakeholder Mapping, Communications and Messaging, and Assessment Inventory Scenarios.

How should I engage with teachers, parents, and students and incorporate their voices into the process?
Listening to Teachers: Sample Focus Group and Survey Materials Listening to Parents: Sample Focus Group and Survey Materials Listening to Students: Sample Focus Group and Survey Materials
How do we address concerns about testing for diverse learners?
Considerations for Special Education Assessment Systems Considerations for Assessing English Language Learner Students
How have districts used the Assessment Inventory Tool?

Since its launch in 2014, the tool has been used by over 100 districts to evaluate their assessment strategy and ensure that only the best and most useful tests are used, impacting over [1 million] students.
How Have Districts Used the Process?
How have states used the Assessment Inventory Tool already?

Several states have adapted Achieve's assessment inventory and supported districts in examining local assessment systems. For example, the Delaware Department of Education is providing grants to all districts in the state to complete Achieve's assessment inventory process by the end of 2015. The state is also using the tool to analyze all state assessments, and posted their state assessment inventories on their website. The Connecticut State Department of Education provided approximately 50 grants to districts to engage in an assessment inventory process by summer 2015. The Illinois State Board of Education adapted the assessment inventory and provided assessment inventory training materials, and developed modules on assessment literacy. The Michigan Department of Education adapted the assessment inventory and included additional materials on creating a balanced assessment system and appropriate assessment use.

Additional Resource
Comprehensive Statewide Assessment Systems: A Framework for the Role of the State Education Agency in Improving Quality and Reducing Burden
Notes:

The file is in writable PDF format. To save entries into the inventory, users will need to download Adobe Reader XI (free). It is very important that you use this latest version for functionality purposes.

The assessment inventory is openly licensed under CC BY 4.0. As such, districts are free to use and modify. If modified, please attribute Achieve and re-title.

Stay Informed

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Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts

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Across the country, educators, parents and students are saying that there is too much testing in our schools and that testing is taking valuable time away from teaching and learning. These concerns are legitimate and merit attention.

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This is a good article that provides reading programs for struggling readers. Its a resource for classroom teachers and provides options to meet the different needs of students.

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If you are looking for some additional resources to supplement your reading and writing lessons, look no further.

The educational websites below will help with teaching reading and writing for kids and even adults.

All of these resources come with a free account, which for the most part is all you need. Also, it is not only geared to English/Language Arts but some even have Science and Social Studies content items as well.
https://app.easycbm.com/

"It is designed to give teachers insight into which of their students may need additional instructional supports as well as to provide a means by which they can measure the effectiveness of their teaching.

System reports provide information that supports evidence-based decision making, and the Interventions interface streamlines the process of keeping track of students' instructional program, a feature that is particularly helpful for student study team meetings and parent conferences."

Here are some key highlights you can do with easyCBM:

Manage and list students into organized groups

Measure student growth with progress monitoring

Use reports to analyze your students' progress

Create individualized intervention plans

Follow training guides and video to help you get started

https://newsela.com/

"Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that combines engaging, leveled content with integrated formative assessments and insights to supercharge engagement and learning in every subject.

Students and teachers use Newsela to find digital content from hundreds of the best sources-from National Geographic to NASA, Biography.com to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Washington Post to the Wichita Eagle. Content is instructionalized to meet students where they are, with interactive tools and analytics to take them where they want to go. Newsela has become an essential solution for schools and districts, and is the content platform for the connected classroom."

Here are some key highlights:

Grade 2nd-12th

Social Studies, Science, Math, Literature & Art articles

Text sets

Student centered, high interest articles

English/Spanish

Varied reading levels to meet students at their reading ability

Aligned to CCSS

https://www.noredink.com/

The teacher who behind NoRedInk reveals says, "I created NoRedInk to help my students improve their skills with engaging material - and to allow me to track their progress over time. It also freed me up to focus on big-picture concepts in student writing that sorely needed my attention."

I have used NoRedInk to find the gaps my students were missing within their writing. I always try to start or end the class with 10 minutes of NoRedInk.com time.

Here are some key highlights:

High interest content

Adaptive technology

Authentic Assessments

Blended Learning

Unlimited Practice

https://www.commonlit.org/

I just found out about CommonLit and was upset I didn't know about it earlier. I was able to implement in my classroom right away within my literary analysis unit. Check it out!

"CommonLit delivers high-quality, free instructional materials to support literacy development for students in grades 3-12. Our resources are:

Flexible;

Research-Based;

Aligned to the Common Core State Standards;

Created by teachers, for teachers.

We believe in the transformative power of a great text, and a great question. That's why we are committed to keeping CommonLit completely free, forever."
https://www.tweentribune.com/

The TweenTribune articles are student-centered my students always were interested in reading. Students can also comment on articles with teacher approval and can interact with other students across the country!

Here are some key highlights from their website!

Daily AP news articles

Lexile® leveled for K-12

Self-scoring quizzes customized by Lexile® level

Critical thinking questions

Student commenting

Espanol AP articles

Weekly lesson plans

Weekly video

Weekend "Monday Morning Ready" newsletter as prep for the week ahead

6. ActivelyLearn
https://www.activelylearn.com/

According to its website, Actively Learn's mission is to enable every student to learn deeply. They are integrated with Google Classroom and Canvas!

These are some of their key highlights:

Text-to-Speech

Dictionary

Translation

Chunking

Scaffolding

Annotation

Discussion

Formative Assessment

Metacognition

Media

Grades 3rd-12th

Bonus: Readtheory
https://readtheory.org/

As a Special Education teacher, I love ReadTheory for progress monitoring. It is easy to give students a log-in and they will immediately get started with a pre-test. This is great for goal setting!

According to ReadTheory's website, it says, "ReadTheory's adaptive approach fosters improvement by automatically meeting learners at their own, individual ability levels. Signup takes seconds and no time is spent vetting assignments. Progress is shown on an intuitive report, replete with actionable, meaningful insights. Our program is completely free."

Final Thoughts

I have used all these websites in some capacity. They are extremely helpful when parents ask what their child could be doing at home. Especially when their child is having a difficult time with reading.

Please let me know if you use any of these resources or if there is one you like to share, leave in the comment section below!

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Best K-12 Online Reading and Writing Resources

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If you are looking for some additional resources to supplement your reading and writing lessons, look no further. The educational websites below will help with teaching reading and writing for kids and even adults. All of these resources come with a free account, which for the most part is all you need.

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Response to intervention by Billi Jo Shoemaker

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Response to intervention by Billi Jo Shoemaker

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This is a great article that really explains exactly what RTI is and provides examples. It explains the three tier intervention strategies. Its very easy to read and very informational.

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What is Response to Intervention?

Response to Intervention, or RTI, is an educational approach designed to help all learners to succeed, through a combination of high-quality instruction, early identification of struggling students, and responsive, targeted evidence-based interventions to address specific learning needs. RTI uses ongoing progress monitoring and data collection to facilitate data-based decision making. In addition, implementation of RTI will assist in the correct identification of learning or other disorders.

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Response to Intervention, or RTI, is an educational approach designed to help all learners to succeed, through a combination of high-quality instruction, early identification of struggling students, and responsive, targeted evidence-based interventions to address specific learning needs. RTI uses ongoing progress monitoring and data collection to facilitate data-based decision making.

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This article starts out by recommending that you assess your student's reading level before deciding on the best program. All the different programs presented are a little different. Some are tailored for students struggling with reading, and some are for the stronger readers who are ready to do some independent reading work. There is a mix of both free programs and ones you have to pay for, so anybody can try out a reading program if they want to and don't have to commit to anything. the end of the article provides some extra ideas on how to help and encourage the struggling readers.

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Over the last few years, digital learning technology has boomed. Now, more than ever, you can find high-quality educational programs online - and many of them are free!

If your pre-k, kindergarten or elementary child needs extra reading practice, put those tablet screens to good use and check out an online reading program.

These free or low-cost reading websites and apps feature digital libraries to help learners master letter sounds, sight words and reading comprehension without frustration.

Online reading programs are an excellent way to ignite a lifelong love of reading. Once a child can read, they can go anywhere on their reading journey. So let's go!

Assess your child's reading level before jumping in

Before you get started with an online reading program, it's important to know your child's current reading level, which may or may not line up with their grade level.

If your child is in a traditional school, check with their teacher. They should be able to give you a breakdown of where your child is and what they need to work on.

If you're homeschooling, start slightly below where you think your child is. Jumping too far ahead is likely to cause frustration, but lessons kids can quickly run through are confidence-boosting when starting out. Since many programs are gamified and interactive, the excitement of "winning" will help encourage more reading time.

Just be sure to not go too simple. If your preschooler is mastering digraphs (two-letter sounds like sh, ph, or oo), starting them on the more basic phonics can quickly get boring. Take some time to read with your child or watch them complete a few lessons of their online program and you'll quickly gather an idea of where they are in their learning.

No matter your child's current reading level, don't be afraid to tackle books above their level together. Reading aloud is a great way to expose children to new words and interesting stories.

A love of reading is built on fantastic stories. Reading with you, or even listening to audiobooks, are great ways to encourage a love of books - especially if your child encounters frustrations while learning to read solo.

The 15 best online reading programs to help build comprehension

Here are our top 14 picks for online reading programs. From phonics instruction to vast digital libraries, these online reading resources will keep kids excited about learning!

Prodigy's brand-new adventure introduces kids to a world filled with adventures, wishes and more ways to practice reading and language skills.

As your child plays, they'll answer questions that help them gain more energy. Players can use their energy to gather resources from an open world, craft items, earn coins and build their very own village!

Prodigy English is a great way to motivate kids to practice their language skills in a fun, engaging environment. Create a free parent account to get started today.

Price: Free, with optional paid Membership

Starfall is an excellent reading program for younger students, from pre-k through 3rd grade. It uses cute animated characters, songs and interactive games to teach phonics basics.

Starfall is particularly great for helping kids with reading challenges, such as dyslexia. It's untimed and stress-free, and uses plenty of positive reinforcement to help build up childrens' reading confidence.
Price: access some free content, or unlock all resources for $35 USD per year.
If your child is starting to read on their own, give them access to unlimited books with the Epic reading library. Epic is great for beginning readers, and will grow with your child as their reading improves.

This online tool recommends books based on your child's reading level and interests. It offers a selection of "read to me" books, with an easy-to-use dictionary feature to help their skills grow. Your child will be encouraged to continue reading as they earn badges for their achievements!
Price: basic membership includes one free book every day. Unlimited plans are $9.99 USD per month or $79.99 USD per year.
You know the importance of reading aloud to your kids, but some days it's hard to find the time. Not to worry - with Storyline Online, your child can enjoy books read by some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood.

Each story includes an animated video to accompany the actor. There's also an included activity guide to help you discuss the story together!

This reading program's educational games cover a wide range of subjects, including early reading and language arts. Explore games by subject and age level, from pre-k to 6th grade.

Some features are available for free, but for ad-free play and an improved mobile experience, you'll need a premium plan. Luckily, the website lets you explore all of its learning games before committing to a paid plan.
Price: ABCYa offers a free plan with ads, or purchase a premium plan for $9.99 USD per month or $69.99 USD per year.
If you're a teacher or a homeschooling parent, you need to explore this reading website.

ReadWorks has a variety of engaging, well-written text to correspond with whatever your K-12 child is studying. These topics cover both non-fiction and literary assignments, complete with question sets and vocabulary practice.

And if your child is struggling with reading, ReadWorks provides a feature called StepReads. This presents the same information as the original text, but in a simpler way. Instead of "dumbing down" the topic, ReadWorks teaches the same material (including vocabulary words), no matter your child's reading level.

StoryPlace is designed to bring the library story time experience home. Perfect for pre-k children, this reading website combines stories with movement, activities and songs.

The videos accompanying each book are bright and colorful, and a crafty hands-on activity is suggested with each story. If you have littles, give this free resource a look.

If you want to help your child learn to read, visit Oxford Owl for some amazing, confidence-boosting guides for parents. These guides break down how phonics works, share learning at home tips and explain reading comprehension milestones from pre-k to age 11.

And don't forget to explore their free digital library with a huge variety of tablet-friendly reads!

PebbleGo is a research resource for early elementary children. It has a variety of texts on animals, science and history with a read-along feature for struggling readers. However, this online resource requires a school sign-on code. Check it out and suggest it to your local school to gain access to this wonderful online library.
Price: available at home for free with plans available for a schoolwide subscription.
If your struggling reader loves a good story, keep that love alive with audiobooks.

From classic fairy tales to Greek myths, your child can explore the world with a wide variety of audiobooks from Storynory.

Each book includes a transcript so kids can follow along. The website has quite a few ads, but all stories can be downloaded to keep your child listening ad-free. Or try their app for an ad-free display.

Vooks wants to help your child get excited about reading. It combines great stories with beautiful animation to help your child discover the magic of books. It's the healthy, ad-free screen time you need.
Price: sign up for a 7-day free trial, then pay $4.99 USD per month or $49.99 USD per year.
Khan Academy is still one of the best online learning resources for, well, anything.

For early readers, explore the new Khan Academy Kids! This self-paced, personalized program is perfect for little ones ages 2 to 6.

Or if your older child is looking for extra reading help, head to the original Khan Academy site. You'll find personalized reading instruction for your 2nd grader and beyond. Practice reading comprehension in a self-paced, safe place and watch them grow.

Not everyone learns to read at the same time, and some people encounter more barriers to reading than others. Bookshare knows the most important thing is to enjoy the books and learning, no matter the format.

Bookshare provides audiobooks, with highlighted text, to its learners. Its library offers over a million titles to choose from, accessible on almost any device.

Price: free for qualifying US students. Learn more on Bookshare's website.

This engaging reading website offers hundreds of interactive games, books, videos, and printables - all for free!

With popular titles (including those from the much-loved Diary of a Wimpy Kid multi-book collection), your pre-k to 8th grade child will have plenty to read and enjoy.

Browse by grade level and find what you need to keep your child engaged and learning at home.

Powered by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), this online reading program is full of amazing resources that are sure to excite homeschooling parents.

Search by grade to find a great curriculum full of extensive lesson plans, activities and printables - all ready to go for your K-12 child.

How to encourage struggling readers

Every child's reading journey looks different. For some, reading just takes longer to click.

Keep your child encouraged and promote a love of learning with these tips.

1. Use picture books and visualizing

Even if your child is getting older, picture books will always have their place. Using pictures to improve understanding is a great way to boost your child's reading confidence.

2. Use audio stories

Books tell amazing stories. From fantasy to nonfiction, there's so much to learn from a great book. Play audiobooks as your child learns to read, to keep them interested in everything books have to offer.

3. Track student progress

It's too easy to miss the steps your child has made towards reading if they're struggling and behind their peers. Take some time to celebrate their progress as they figure it all out.

4. Practice reading aloud

Many kids get nervous reading out loud to others. Encourage your child to practice with you to improve their reading skills. And continue reading out loud to your child to help them gain confidence.

5. Use quizzes and make them fun

If your child is struggling with reading comprehension, find out what's not sticking with fun, trivia-style quizzes.

Have prizes ready (ice cream is always a hit), celebrate correct answers with dance parties, and learn together as your child increases their comprehension skills.

6. Encourage kids to teach others

If you have pre-k kids in your home, or friends with younger children, get together for a child-led story time.

Reluctant and struggling readers sometimes need a reminder of how far they've come. Suggest acting out the story as they go, to keep everyone active and increase comprehension.

7. Use questions and answers

Read together to help their reading stick, stopping often to review story highlights.

Ask questions like, "how do you think this character is feeling?" or "what do you think will happen next?" to avoid them shutting down or just repeating back the words on the page.

Use educational games to improve reading skills

Technology is a huge part of today's educational landscape. Children are learning more online than ever before, and multi-sensory, interactive resources are perfect for learners of all types.
Want more online resources to help your child develop their reading skills? Try Prodigy English!
In this all-new adventure, kids can explore and create a world of their very own as they meet new characters, earn coins and build a home. Create your free parent account today!

Over the last few years, digital learning technology has boomed. Now, more than ever, you can find high-quality educational programs online - and many of them are free!

If your pre-k, kindergarten or elementary child needs extra reading practice, put those tablet screens to good use and check out an online reading program.

These free or low-cost reading websites and apps feature digital libraries to help learners master letter sounds, sight words and reading comprehension without frustration.

Online reading programs are an excellent way to ignite a lifelong love of reading. Once a child can read, they can go anywhere on their reading journey. So let's go!

Assess your child's reading level before jumping in

Before you get started with an online reading program, it's important to know your child's current reading level, which may or may not line up with their grade level.

If your child is in a traditional school, check with their teacher. They should be able to give you a breakdown of where your child is and what they need to work on.

If you're homeschooling, start slightly below where you think your child is. Jumping too far ahead is likely to cause frustration, but lessons kids can quickly run through are confidence-boosting when starting out. Since many programs are gamified and interactive, the excitement of "winning" will help encourage more reading time.

Just be sure to not go too simple. If your preschooler is mastering digraphs (two-letter sounds like sh, ph, or oo), starting them on the more basic phonics can quickly get boring. Take some time to read with your child or watch them complete a few lessons of their online program and you'll quickly gather an idea of where they are in their learning.

No matter your child's current reading level, don't be afraid to tackle books above their level together. Reading aloud is a great way to expose children to new words and interesting stories.

A love of reading is built on fantastic stories. Reading with you, or even listening to audiobooks, are great ways to encourage a love of books - especially if your child encounters frustrations while learning to read solo.

The 15 best online reading programs to help build comprehension

Here are our top 14 picks for online reading programs. From phonics instruction to vast digital libraries, these online reading resources will keep kids excited about learning!

Prodigy's brand-new adventure introduces kids to a world filled with adventures, wishes and more ways to practice reading and language skills.

As your child plays, they'll answer questions that help them gain more energy. Players can use their energy to gather resources from an open world, craft items, earn coins and build their very own village!

Prodigy English is a great way to motivate kids to practice their language skills in a fun, engaging environment. Create a free parent account to get started today.

Price: Free, with optional paid Membership

Starfall is an excellent reading program for younger students, from pre-k through 3rd grade. It uses cute animated characters, songs and interactive games to teach phonics basics.

Starfall is particularly great for helping kids with reading challenges, such as dyslexia. It's untimed and stress-free, and uses plenty of positive reinforcement to help build up childrens' reading confidence.
Price: access some free content, or unlock all resources for $35 USD per year.
If your child is starting to read on their own, give them access to unlimited books with the Epic reading library. Epic is great for beginning readers, and will grow with your child as their reading improves.

This online tool recommends books based on your child's reading level and interests. It offers a selection of "read to me" books, with an easy-to-use dictionary feature to help their skills grow. Your child will be encouraged to continue reading as they earn badges for their achievements!
Price: basic membership includes one free book every day. Unlimited plans are $9.99 USD per month or $79.99 USD per year.
You know the importance of reading aloud to your kids, but some days it's hard to find the time. Not to worry - with Storyline Online, your child can enjoy books read by some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood.

Each story includes an animated video to accompany the actor. There's also an included activity guide to help you discuss the story together!

This reading program's educational games cover a wide range of subjects, including early reading and language arts. Explore games by subject and age level, from pre-k to 6th grade.

Some features are available for free, but for ad-free play and an improved mobile experience, you'll need a premium plan. Luckily, the website lets you explore all of its learning games before committing to a paid plan.
Price: ABCYa offers a free plan with ads, or purchase a premium plan for $9.99 USD per month or $69.99 USD per year.
If you're a teacher or a homeschooling parent, you need to explore this reading website.

ReadWorks has a variety of engaging, well-written text to correspond with whatever your K-12 child is studying. These topics cover both non-fiction and literary assignments, complete with question sets and vocabulary practice.

And if your child is struggling with reading, ReadWorks provides a feature called StepReads. This presents the same information as the original text, but in a simpler way. Instead of "dumbing down" the topic, ReadWorks teaches the same material (including vocabulary words), no matter your child's reading level.

StoryPlace is designed to bring the library story time experience home. Perfect for pre-k children, this reading website combines stories with movement, activities and songs.

The videos accompanying each book are bright and colorful, and a crafty hands-on activity is suggested with each story. If you have littles, give this free resource a look.

If you want to help your child learn to read, visit Oxford Owl for some amazing, confidence-boosting guides for parents. These guides break down how phonics works, share learning at home tips and explain reading comprehension milestones from pre-k to age 11.

And don't forget to explore their free digital library with a huge variety of tablet-friendly reads!

PebbleGo is a research resource for early elementary children. It has a variety of texts on animals, science and history with a read-along feature for struggling readers. However, this online resource requires a school sign-on code. Check it out and suggest it to your local school to gain access to this wonderful online library.
Price: available at home for free with plans available for a schoolwide subscription.
If your struggling reader loves a good story, keep that love alive with audiobooks.

From classic fairy tales to Greek myths, your child can explore the world with a wide variety of audiobooks from Storynory.

Each book includes a transcript so kids can follow along. The website has quite a few ads, but all stories can be downloaded to keep your child listening ad-free. Or try their app for an ad-free display.

Vooks wants to help your child get excited about reading. It combines great stories with beautiful animation to help your child discover the magic of books. It's the healthy, ad-free screen time you need.
Price: sign up for a 7-day free trial, then pay $4.99 USD per month or $49.99 USD per year.
Khan Academy is still one of the best online learning resources for, well, anything.

For early readers, explore the new Khan Academy Kids! This self-paced, personalized program is perfect for little ones ages 2 to 6.

Or if your older child is looking for extra reading help, head to the original Khan Academy site. You'll find personalized reading instruction for your 2nd grader and beyond. Practice reading comprehension in a self-paced, safe place and watch them grow.

Not everyone learns to read at the same time, and some people encounter more barriers to reading than others. Bookshare knows the most important thing is to enjoy the books and learning, no matter the format.

Bookshare provides audiobooks, with highlighted text, to its learners. Its library offers over a million titles to choose from, accessible on almost any device.

Price: free for qualifying US students. Learn more on Bookshare's website.

This engaging reading website offers hundreds of interactive games, books, videos, and printables - all for free!

With popular titles (including those from the much-loved Diary of a Wimpy Kid multi-book collection), your pre-k to 8th grade child will have plenty to read and enjoy.

Browse by grade level and find what you need to keep your child engaged and learning at home.

Powered by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), this online reading program is full of amazing resources that are sure to excite homeschooling parents.

Search by grade to find a great curriculum full of extensive lesson plans, activities and printables - all ready to go for your K-12 child.

How to encourage struggling readers

Every child's reading journey looks different. For some, reading just takes longer to click.

Keep your child encouraged and promote a love of learning with these tips.

1. Use picture books and visualizing

Even if your child is getting older, picture books will always have their place. Using pictures to improve understanding is a great way to boost your child's reading confidence.

2. Use audio stories

Books tell amazing stories. From fantasy to nonfiction, there's so much to learn from a great book. Play audiobooks as your child learns to read, to keep them interested in everything books have to offer.

3. Track student progress

It's too easy to miss the steps your child has made towards reading if they're struggling and behind their peers. Take some time to celebrate their progress as they figure it all out.

4. Practice reading aloud

Many kids get nervous reading out loud to others. Encourage your child to practice with you to improve their reading skills. And continue reading out loud to your child to help them gain confidence.

5. Use quizzes and make them fun

If your child is struggling with reading comprehension, find out what's not sticking with fun, trivia-style quizzes.

Have prizes ready (ice cream is always a hit), celebrate correct answers with dance parties, and learn together as your child increases their comprehension skills.

6. Encourage kids to teach others

If you have pre-k kids in your home, or friends with younger children, get together for a child-led story time.

Reluctant and struggling readers sometimes need a reminder of how far they've come. Suggest acting out the story as they go, to keep everyone active and increase comprehension.

7. Use questions and answers

Read together to help their reading stick, stopping often to review story highlights.

Ask questions like, "how do you think this character is feeling?" or "what do you think will happen next?" to avoid them shutting down or just repeating back the words on the page.

Use educational games to improve reading skills

Technology is a huge part of today's educational landscape. Children are learning more online than ever before, and multi-sensory, interactive resources are perfect for learners of all types.
Want more online resources to help your child develop their reading skills? Try Prodigy English!
In this all-new adventure, kids can explore and create a world of their very own as they meet new characters, earn coins and build a home. Create your free parent account today!

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15 Effective and Engaging Online Reading Websites and Programs That Kids Need

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Over the last few years, digital learning technology has boomed. Now, more than ever, you can find high-quality educational programs online - and many of them are free! If your pre-k, kindergarten or elementary child needs extra reading practice, put those tablet screens to good use and check out an online reading program.

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Response to Intervention Ideas: Sydney Raborn

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Response to Intervention Ideas: Sydney Raborn

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This site goes into a little more detail on the three tiers of intervention a strategies. It also gives examples of some intervention strategies to use that fall under each tier. All of the example strategies seem like they would be easy to incorporate into the classroom and would be very beneficial.

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Response to Intervention Strategies to Improve Student Behavior

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Response to Intervention (RTI) strategies are multi-tiered approaches to identify and address learning and behavior needs of students. The strategies that teachers and administrators use can help to…

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inventories and assessment: Sydney Raborn

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inventories and assessment: Sydney Raborn

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Reading rockets is one of my favorite resources that I always find myself going back to. The articles are always very helpful and provide wonderful examples that are easy to incorporate in the classroom. This article is no exception. It gives great assessment examples and splits them up by different reading topics.

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In this article:

Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

This list of informal assessments is not all-inclusive; there are components of reading that these tools do not assess. This information is also available in chart form.

Letter/sound recognition

About this assessment

Familiarity with the letters of the alphabet is essential to the development of reading skills. Instruction should be geared towards unknown letters and their sounds. Students should be able to recognize the letters in both uppercase and lowercase forms.

What it measures

Ability to recognize letters and sounds.

Examples of assessment questions

Show student one letter at a time and ask:

Can you tell me what letter this is? (Record the student's response)

Can you tell me what sound it makes? (Record the student's response)

Age or grade typically mastered

Many students enter kindergarten with the ability to recognize letters. Fewer students recognize the letter sounds. Both are taught in kindergarten.

When should it be assessed?

Assess letter/sound recognition three times during kindergarten, at the start of school, at mid-year, and at the end of the year.

Concepts of print awareness

About this assessment

Concepts of print are usually learned incidentally as children are exposed to books and story readings at home and at school. Concepts of print include an understanding that: print carries meaning, that books contain letters, words, sentences, and spaces. It also includes understanding what books are used for, and that books have parts such as a front cover, back cover and a spine. Eventually, students learn more sophisticated ideas such as understanding that we begin reading on the left and read across the page to the last word on the right, and then we got to the next line, begin reading on the left, and so on.

What it measures

If a student understands:

That print has meaning

That print can be used for different purposes

The relationship between print and speech

There is a difference between letters and words

That words are separated by spaces

There is a difference between words and sentences

That there are (punctuation) marks that signal the end of a sentence

That books have parts such as a front and back cover, title page, and spine

That stories have a beginning, middle, and end

That text is read from left to right and from top to bottom

Examples of assessment questions

Give the student a book and ask the following questions. "Can you show me:"

a letter?

a word?

a sentence?

the end of a sentence (punctuation mark)?

the front of the book?

the back of the book?

where I should start reading the story?

a space?

how I should hold the book?

the title of the book?

how many words are in this sentence?

Age or grade typically mastered

Some students enter kindergarten with an understanding of print concepts, but other will master it as the school year goes on.

When should it be assessed?

Assess concepts of print twice during kindergarten, at the start of school and at mid-year. In addition, as you model story reading techniques to help guide instruction, identify students who need additional support, and determine if the pace of instruction should be increased, decreased, or remain the same.

Phonological awareness

About this assessment

Phonological awareness is a necessary part of reading instruction. Children can show you they have phonological awareness in several ways. It is necessary as the classroom teacher to determine strengths and weaknesses to plan instruction.

What it measures

Recognizing a word in a sentence shows the ability to segment a sentence

Recognizing a rhyme shows the ability to identify words that have the same ending sounds

Recognizing a syllable shows the ability to separate or blend words the way that they are pronounced

Understanding onset-rime shows the ability to blend the first sound in the word (onset) and the rest of the word (rime)

Examples of assessment questions

Word
How many words are in this sentence? "I am happy." (Correct response: 3)

Rhyme
Do these words rhyme? big, fig(Correct response: Yes)

What about key, tree? (Correct response: Yes)

Syllable blending
I am going to say a word in parts. Listen: o...pen What word did I say? (Correct response: open)

Syllable segmentation
Can you tell me the two word parts in open? (Correct response: o...pen)

Syllable deletion
Say open without the -pen. (Correct response: o)

Onset-rime
What word do these sounds make? /s/ - /ee/ (Correct response: see)

How about /h/ - /op/? (Correct response: hop)

Age or grade typically mastered

Word: Age 3

Rhyme: Age 4

Syllable blending: Age 4

Syllable segmentation: Kindergarten

Syllable deletion: Kindergarten

Onset-rime: The middle of kindergarten

When should it be assessed?

Typically, phonological awareness is assessed during kindergarten and throughout first grade. During the beginning of kindergarten, assessment should be limited to recognizing words, rhyme, syllable blending, and segmentation to help guide instruction.

Phonemic awareness

What it measures

Phoneme matching is the ability to identify words that begin with the same sound.

Phoneme isolation is the ability to isolate a single sound from within a word.

Phoneme blending is the ability to blend individual sounds into a word.

Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break a word into individual sounds.

Phoneme manipulation is the ability to modify, change, or move the individual sounds in a word.

Examples of assessment questions

Remember, when a letter appears between slash marks, you should say the letter sound, and not the letter name.

Phoneme matching
Which words sound alike? man, sat, sip (Correct response: sat, sip)

Phoneme isolation - initial (first) sound
What's the first sound in sat? (Correct response: /s/)

Phoneme isolation - final (last) sound
What's the last sound in sat? (Correct response: /t/)

Phoneme isolation - medial (middle) sound
What's the middle sound in sat? (Correct response: /a/)

Phoneme blending
What word do these sounds make? /h/ - /o/ - /t/ (Correct response: hot)

Phoneme segmentation
What sounds do you hear in hot? (Correct response: /h/ - /o/ - /t/)

Phoneme manipulation - initial (first) sound
Say mat without the /m/ sound. (Correct response: at)

Phoneme manipulation - final (last) sound
Say mat without the /t/ sound. (Correct response: ma)

Phoneme manipulation - substitution
Say pig. (Correct response: pig)

Now change the /p/ in pig to /f/. (Correct response: fig)

Age or grade typically mastered

Phoneme matching: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation - initial (first) sound: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation - final (last) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme isolation - medial (middle) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme blending: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme segmentation: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - initial (first) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - final (last) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - substitution: Middle to end of first grade or early second grade

When should it be assessed?

Phonemic awareness assessments should be done three times during the kindergarten and first grade years to help guide instruction.

Informal (qualitative) reading inventory

What it measures

Grade level reading

Fluency

Comprehension

Vocabulary

Oral reading accuracy

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a grade level passage for the student to read. As the student is reading complete the oral reading accuracy and reading fluency assessments. After the student finishes the passage, check for understanding through explicit and implicit questions. Also, ask open-ended questions about the vocabulary found in the passage.

Age or grade typically mastered

This assessment can be given to students in grades one through twelve. Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed

The informal reading inventory is an on-going assessment, and should be completed several times throughout the child's schooling. In kindergarten, perform the informal reading inventory twice per year, at mid-year and at the end of school. In first and second grades, it should be done three times, at the beginning of the school year, at mid-year, and at the end of the year. If a child is struggling, the inventory should be done more often in order to have an accurate picture of the child's progress.

Reading comprehension

About this assessment

Reading comprehension assessments are the most common type of published reading test that is available. The typical type of reading comprehension assessment involves asking a child to read a passage of text that is leveled appropriately for the child's age or grade, and then asking explicit, detailed questions about the content of the text. An example of a common reading comprehension assessment is the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI), also known as the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI).

There are variations on the basic reading comprehension assessments. For example, instead of questions about facts found directly in the text, the child could be asked to answer questions about information that is implied in the text, or the child might be asked to retell the story in the child's own words.

Oral reading accuracy

About this assessment

This assessment provides a measure of a student's oral reading accuracy by giving teachers insight into a student's individual reading level. It allows the teacher to listen and record reading behaviors such as the number of errors a student makes, if the student substitutes words, or if the student needs prompting from the teacher.

The information offered by this assessment is limited. For example, it does not measure phonological ability, vocabulary, or comprehension. This is why it is often given in conjunction with other assessments such as the informal reading inventory. It should never be used in isolation.

Note: When children read orally, they usually concentrate on reading accurately and do not pay as much attention to comprehension of the content. It is also important to remember that if this assessment is used with students who are new to learning English, it should be given both in English and the child's primary language.

What it measures

Oral reading accuracy. It also provides the teacher with insight into a student's ability to use strategies to decode unfamiliar words.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a passage for the child to read aloud. As the child reads, take notes on words read correctly and incorrectly.

Age or grade typically mastered

First through third grade.

When should it be assessed?

Reading accuracy assessments can be given as part of an informal reading inventory or combined with a comprehension assessment to yield more information. Reading accuracy should be assessed several times throughout the year to help you plan on-going instruction. Are students reading on grade level? Do some students require additional support? Do your students have rich vocabularies? Are your students able to read age-appropriate material?

Steps in administering this assessment

1. Choose a book that is age appropriate, but unfamiliar to your student. (This gives a more accurate picture of a child's ability in handling texts.)

2. Ask the student to read the story aloud to you and then at the end tell you what the story was about.

3. You should familiarize yourself with the following scoring information prior to administering this assessment:

Reading behavior

How to score

Read correctly (no error)

Check mark over word

Omission (one error)

Long dash over word omitted

Insertion (one error)

^ at point of insertion with the inserted word written above it

Repetition of a word (no error)

Mark above word with a capital R

Repetition of a phrase (no error)

Capital R with a line and an arrow stretching across phrase repeated

Self correction (no error)

Capital SC above the word to indicate child has self-corrected

Unable to read word (one error)

T for Teacher prompt

Decodes a word in an obvious manner (no error)

Mark individual sounds read within the word followed by a check mark if eventually read correctly or a circle if read incorrectly

Read incorrectly (one error)

Circle word

What should you count as an error when giving this assessment?

Substituting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Student reads: The tall far tree.

Omitting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Student reads: The tall tree.

Inserting a word

Passage reads: A dark and stormy night.

Student reads: A dark and stormy winter night.

Needs prompting (if the student has to be told a word by the person administering the assessment)

Passage reads: I wish that people...

Student reads: I wish that... (pauses) that... (teacher prompts "people")...

4. As the student reads, mark each word on the form by using the symbols above. Place a check mark above the words read correctly.

5. If the student reads a word incorrectly or substitutes a word, record what is said above the actual word.

6. As the student reads, pay attention to his or her behavior. Is the student using context clues (from the sentence or pictures), structure (language sounds correct) and visual cues (using beginning sounds, familiar word chunks, etc.) to read words and gather meaning?

7. Intervene as little as possible when a student is reading.

8. If the student is stuck on a word, wait 5-10 seconds before you tell him or her the word.

9. After the reading, ask the student to tell you about what he or she has just read. Make notes on the following:

Can the student tell you what happened in the story in his or her own words?

Does the student include the different parts of a story (the characters, setting, events, problem and resolution)?

Can the student identify the main idea and supporting details?

Does the student use some of the vocabulary found in the text?

Is the student's retelling minimal, adequate or very complete?

What do I do with the information obtained from this assessment?

The information gathered while completing an oral reading accuracy assessment can be used to determine error, accuracy, and self-correction rates. To calculate a student's reading accuracy rate, divide the total words read correctly by the total words read. For example, if a student read a passage containing 100 words and made 5 errors:

95 (total words read correctly) / 100 (total words read) = 95% word accuracy

Use the accuracy rate along with the information gained in the student's story retelling to determine whether the text the student read was too easy, just right, or too difficult for the reader. Below is a general breakdown to use to help guide you when choosing texts for students:

Oral reading accuracy

What this says about the text

95-100%

Too easy; the text does not present a challenge

90-94%

Just right; the text is challenging but manageable

89% and below

Too difficult; the text is frustrating for the reader

If a student can read a book with 100% word accuracy but can only give a minimal retelling of the story, do not choose a higher leveled book. We read to get meaning; if a child is not getting meaning from a text they must be instructed on comprehension strategies. Word accuracy without comprehension is not acceptable.

What should I be looking for when I give an oral reading accuracy assessment?

Giving an oral reading accuracy assessment and asking a child to retell reveals many things about a child's reading ability. There are other things to be on the look out for and can be taught in the moments following this assessment:

Has the student mastered directionality, letter-sound correspondence, return sweep, etc?

Did the student make "good errors" when phonetically reading a word (i.e., reading island as "is land" instead of "eye land")?

Was there an attempt to self-correct errors?

Did the student attempt to decode an unknown word?

Was the student's reading slow and labored, or fluent?

Did the student use expression while reading?

Reading fluency

What it measures

How many words a child reads correctly in one minute.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose an appropriate passage for the student to read aloud. As the student reads, complete a record for one minute.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Fluency assessments should be completed throughout the year to help guide instruction.

Word recognition

What it measures

Sight word vocabulary at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

Ask a child to read from a list of words.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Word recognition should be assessed three times during the year for students in kindergarten through second grade to help guide instruction.

Phonic elements

What it measures

Phonic elements at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

What sound do the letters 's' 'h' make? (Correct response: /sh/)

How can I turn cap into cape? (Correct response: Add an 'e' to the end of the word.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Phonic elements should be assessed several times throughout the year in grades one through three to help guide instruction.

Portfolios

About this assessment

Portfolios can be used to document students' achievement and progress. Portfolios give an accurate picture of an individual's strengths and weaknesses. Instruction on how to pick a piece of work to place in a portfolio (does it show a concept that was struggled with then understood, does it demonstrate an understanding of a concept? Is it something you are proud of?) is beneficial for students. This type of instruction engages the student to reflect on his or her own work. Portfolios encourage students to take an active role in learning information they feel they have not yet mastered.

Portfolios can help guide instruction. Through looking at a piece of child's work, a teacher can quickly see what lessons are further needed. For example, by looking at a student's writing a teacher may determine lessons in using commas correctly need to be revisited.

Types of portfolios

Collection
The collection may consist of a folder that holds samples of a student's work. The collection should include representative examples of the various types of student work, such as tests, writing samples, and homework assignments.

Display portfolio
A container or box containing a selection of work documenting a student's progress may hold work in this type of portfolio. This type of portfolio may be used to share with parents at conferences. Pieces of work are carefully selected by both teachers and students to show and share with parents/guardians during conferences.

Teacher/student assessment portfolio
A collection of documentation including copies of work in the student's display portfolio, tests, anecdotal notes, conference summaries, contacts made with parents, etc. This portfolio is used by the teacher to aid in discussions with administrators, other teachers, parents, etc about a particular child.

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Types of Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

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Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

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Inventories & Assessment: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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Inventories & Assessment: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Interest-Inventory-Reading-Attitude-Surveys-Print-and-Digital-2690854?st=e51ddb9d59a7c8f647dba2e338d3ff9f

This resource is great to use, there are really good ideas. You do have to pay and have to be a member. There are different bundles to buy with different subjects/grade levels. This tool will be great to use in the classroom.

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Reading interest and attitude surveys are a great way to collect data on elementary students' feelings about reading and their personal interests at the beginning of the school year. The digital surveys can be administered multiple times during the school year to monitor changes in students' interests and attitudes about reading. Teachers can use the information about students' interests to enhance distance learning or when planning activities such as a book tasting or personalized book recommendations.

The surveys in this resource are differentiated and include a variety of recording sheets based on what works best for you. Classroom teachers can use the different levels of surveys based on student ability levels within the class. Resource teachers can use the different levels with the multiple grade levels they work with. Several different results recording sheets are provided for teachers as a way to provide a snapshot of student responses into one place to use while planning instructional activities based on students' interests and attitudes.
THIS SET INCLUDES:

Primary Google Slides Survey

Primary Google Forms Survey

Intermediate Google Slides Survey

Intermediate Google Forms Survey

Parent Google Forms Survey

Picture Primary Interest Survey

Primary Interest Survey

Primary Attitude Survey

Primary Picture Attitude Survey

Intermediate Interest Survey

Intermediate Attitude Survey

Parent Reading Survey

Results recording forms for each survey

THIS SET IS INCLUDED IN THE FOLLOWING BUNDLE: Reading Interest and Attitude Surveys Bundle Click here to download a FREE sample from this resource! Please read about the digital option:

The links to access the digital versions are provided within the PDF.

Please make sure to make a copy of the files to be added to your Google Drive™.

Your copies can be assigned to students via Google Classroom™.

Remember to make a copy for students when assigning the activity.

For Microsoft Users: there is an option to download the files as a Powerpoint.

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Reading Interest Inventory | Reading Attitude Surveys | Print and Digital

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Reading interest and attitude surveys are a great way to collect data on elementary students' feelings about reading and their personal interests at the beginning of the school year. The digital surveys can be administered multiple times during the school year to monitor changes in students' interes...

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Intervention Ideas: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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Intervention Ideas: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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https://www.ixl.com/
Pre-K through 12th. There are many subjects and skills that correspond with those specific grade levels. This resource requires a membership This tool with be helpful in the classroom.

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The exact skills you need

Planning a lesson or prepping for an exam?
We've custom-built IXL skills to reinforce each topic within your:

State standards

Virginia Standards of Learning (2016)

Textbooks

See skills that match every chapter of 80+ popular textbooks

Assessments

Use IXL for the NWEA MAP, ACT, SAT, and more

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IXL | Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish

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IXL is the world's most popular subscription-based learning site for K-12. Used by over 15 million students, IXL provides personalized learning in more than 10,000 topics, covering math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. Interactive questions, awards, and certificates keep kids motivated as they master skills.

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Reading programs: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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Reading programs: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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https://www.readinga-z.com/

This resource seems very beneficial for students, you must sign up and be a member in order to use this tool. There are over 1000 leveled books in various genres/formats. There are different reading materials for students to read and there are guided reading lessons, worksheets and assessments. This will be a helpful resource to use in every elementary classroom.

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Reading A-Z: The online reading program with downloadable books to print and assemble | Reading A-Z

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Award-winning reading solution with thousands of leveled readers, lesson plans, worksheets and assessments to teach guided reading, reading proficiency and comprehension to K-5 students

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Inventories & Assessment - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Inventories & Assessment - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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I have come to love Reading Rockets as a learning tool in this class. This was no exception. In this article there were many different assessments, what those assessments measure, examples of assessment questions, age and grade that it's mastered, and when it should be assessed. I think this is helpful, especially to a first year or beginning teacher. There was a lot of information. Very much packed with it. There were also several links in the article as well that could be reviewed. I enjoyed the chance to learn about the different types of informal classroom-based assessments for reading. ~ Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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In this article:

Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

This list of informal assessments is not all-inclusive; there are components of reading that these tools do not assess. This information is also available in chart form.

Letter/sound recognition

About this assessment

Familiarity with the letters of the alphabet is essential to the development of reading skills. Instruction should be geared towards unknown letters and their sounds. Students should be able to recognize the letters in both uppercase and lowercase forms.

What it measures

Ability to recognize letters and sounds.

Examples of assessment questions

Show student one letter at a time and ask:

Can you tell me what letter this is? (Record the student's response)

Can you tell me what sound it makes? (Record the student's response)

Age or grade typically mastered

Many students enter kindergarten with the ability to recognize letters. Fewer students recognize the letter sounds. Both are taught in kindergarten.

When should it be assessed?

Assess letter/sound recognition three times during kindergarten, at the start of school, at mid-year, and at the end of the year.

Concepts of print awareness

About this assessment

Concepts of print are usually learned incidentally as children are exposed to books and story readings at home and at school. Concepts of print include an understanding that: print carries meaning, that books contain letters, words, sentences, and spaces. It also includes understanding what books are used for, and that books have parts such as a front cover, back cover and a spine. Eventually, students learn more sophisticated ideas such as understanding that we begin reading on the left and read across the page to the last word on the right, and then we got to the next line, begin reading on the left, and so on.

What it measures

If a student understands:

That print has meaning

That print can be used for different purposes

The relationship between print and speech

There is a difference between letters and words

That words are separated by spaces

There is a difference between words and sentences

That there are (punctuation) marks that signal the end of a sentence

That books have parts such as a front and back cover, title page, and spine

That stories have a beginning, middle, and end

That text is read from left to right and from top to bottom

Examples of assessment questions

Give the student a book and ask the following questions. "Can you show me:"

a letter?

a word?

a sentence?

the end of a sentence (punctuation mark)?

the front of the book?

the back of the book?

where I should start reading the story?

a space?

how I should hold the book?

the title of the book?

how many words are in this sentence?

Age or grade typically mastered

Some students enter kindergarten with an understanding of print concepts, but other will master it as the school year goes on.

When should it be assessed?

Assess concepts of print twice during kindergarten, at the start of school and at mid-year. In addition, as you model story reading techniques to help guide instruction, identify students who need additional support, and determine if the pace of instruction should be increased, decreased, or remain the same.

Phonological awareness

About this assessment

Phonological awareness is a necessary part of reading instruction. Children can show you they have phonological awareness in several ways. It is necessary as the classroom teacher to determine strengths and weaknesses to plan instruction.

What it measures

Recognizing a word in a sentence shows the ability to segment a sentence

Recognizing a rhyme shows the ability to identify words that have the same ending sounds

Recognizing a syllable shows the ability to separate or blend words the way that they are pronounced

Understanding onset-rime shows the ability to blend the first sound in the word (onset) and the rest of the word (rime)

Examples of assessment questions

Word
How many words are in this sentence? "I am happy." (Correct response: 3)

Rhyme
Do these words rhyme? big, fig(Correct response: Yes)

What about key, tree? (Correct response: Yes)

Syllable blending
I am going to say a word in parts. Listen: o...pen What word did I say? (Correct response: open)

Syllable segmentation
Can you tell me the two word parts in open? (Correct response: o...pen)

Syllable deletion
Say open without the -pen. (Correct response: o)

Onset-rime
What word do these sounds make? /s/ - /ee/ (Correct response: see)

How about /h/ - /op/? (Correct response: hop)

Age or grade typically mastered

Word: Age 3

Rhyme: Age 4

Syllable blending: Age 4

Syllable segmentation: Kindergarten

Syllable deletion: Kindergarten

Onset-rime: The middle of kindergarten

When should it be assessed?

Typically, phonological awareness is assessed during kindergarten and throughout first grade. During the beginning of kindergarten, assessment should be limited to recognizing words, rhyme, syllable blending, and segmentation to help guide instruction.

Phonemic awareness

What it measures

Phoneme matching is the ability to identify words that begin with the same sound.

Phoneme isolation is the ability to isolate a single sound from within a word.

Phoneme blending is the ability to blend individual sounds into a word.

Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break a word into individual sounds.

Phoneme manipulation is the ability to modify, change, or move the individual sounds in a word.

Examples of assessment questions

Remember, when a letter appears between slash marks, you should say the letter sound, and not the letter name.

Phoneme matching
Which words sound alike? man, sat, sip (Correct response: sat, sip)

Phoneme isolation - initial (first) sound
What's the first sound in sat? (Correct response: /s/)

Phoneme isolation - final (last) sound
What's the last sound in sat? (Correct response: /t/)

Phoneme isolation - medial (middle) sound
What's the middle sound in sat? (Correct response: /a/)

Phoneme blending
What word do these sounds make? /h/ - /o/ - /t/ (Correct response: hot)

Phoneme segmentation
What sounds do you hear in hot? (Correct response: /h/ - /o/ - /t/)

Phoneme manipulation - initial (first) sound
Say mat without the /m/ sound. (Correct response: at)

Phoneme manipulation - final (last) sound
Say mat without the /t/ sound. (Correct response: ma)

Phoneme manipulation - substitution
Say pig. (Correct response: pig)

Now change the /p/ in pig to /f/. (Correct response: fig)

Age or grade typically mastered

Phoneme matching: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation - initial (first) sound: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation - final (last) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme isolation - medial (middle) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme blending: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme segmentation: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - initial (first) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - final (last) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - substitution: Middle to end of first grade or early second grade

When should it be assessed?

Phonemic awareness assessments should be done three times during the kindergarten and first grade years to help guide instruction.

Informal (qualitative) reading inventory

What it measures

Grade level reading

Fluency

Comprehension

Vocabulary

Oral reading accuracy

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a grade level passage for the student to read. As the student is reading complete the oral reading accuracy and reading fluency assessments. After the student finishes the passage, check for understanding through explicit and implicit questions. Also, ask open-ended questions about the vocabulary found in the passage.

Age or grade typically mastered

This assessment can be given to students in grades one through twelve. Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed

The informal reading inventory is an on-going assessment, and should be completed several times throughout the child's schooling. In kindergarten, perform the informal reading inventory twice per year, at mid-year and at the end of school. In first and second grades, it should be done three times, at the beginning of the school year, at mid-year, and at the end of the year. If a child is struggling, the inventory should be done more often in order to have an accurate picture of the child's progress.

Reading comprehension

About this assessment

Reading comprehension assessments are the most common type of published reading test that is available. The typical type of reading comprehension assessment involves asking a child to read a passage of text that is leveled appropriately for the child's age or grade, and then asking explicit, detailed questions about the content of the text. An example of a common reading comprehension assessment is the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI), also known as the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI).

There are variations on the basic reading comprehension assessments. For example, instead of questions about facts found directly in the text, the child could be asked to answer questions about information that is implied in the text, or the child might be asked to retell the story in the child's own words.

Oral reading accuracy

About this assessment

This assessment provides a measure of a student's oral reading accuracy by giving teachers insight into a student's individual reading level. It allows the teacher to listen and record reading behaviors such as the number of errors a student makes, if the student substitutes words, or if the student needs prompting from the teacher.

The information offered by this assessment is limited. For example, it does not measure phonological ability, vocabulary, or comprehension. This is why it is often given in conjunction with other assessments such as the informal reading inventory. It should never be used in isolation.

Note: When children read orally, they usually concentrate on reading accurately and do not pay as much attention to comprehension of the content. It is also important to remember that if this assessment is used with students who are new to learning English, it should be given both in English and the child's primary language.

What it measures

Oral reading accuracy. It also provides the teacher with insight into a student's ability to use strategies to decode unfamiliar words.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a passage for the child to read aloud. As the child reads, take notes on words read correctly and incorrectly.

Age or grade typically mastered

First through third grade.

When should it be assessed?

Reading accuracy assessments can be given as part of an informal reading inventory or combined with a comprehension assessment to yield more information. Reading accuracy should be assessed several times throughout the year to help you plan on-going instruction. Are students reading on grade level? Do some students require additional support? Do your students have rich vocabularies? Are your students able to read age-appropriate material?

Steps in administering this assessment

1. Choose a book that is age appropriate, but unfamiliar to your student. (This gives a more accurate picture of a child's ability in handling texts.)

2. Ask the student to read the story aloud to you and then at the end tell you what the story was about.

3. You should familiarize yourself with the following scoring information prior to administering this assessment:

Reading behavior

How to score

Read correctly (no error)

Check mark over word

Omission (one error)

Long dash over word omitted

Insertion (one error)

^ at point of insertion with the inserted word written above it

Repetition of a word (no error)

Mark above word with a capital R

Repetition of a phrase (no error)

Capital R with a line and an arrow stretching across phrase repeated

Self correction (no error)

Capital SC above the word to indicate child has self-corrected

Unable to read word (one error)

T for Teacher prompt

Decodes a word in an obvious manner (no error)

Mark individual sounds read within the word followed by a check mark if eventually read correctly or a circle if read incorrectly

Read incorrectly (one error)

Circle word

What should you count as an error when giving this assessment?

Substituting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Student reads: The tall far tree.

Omitting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Student reads: The tall tree.

Inserting a word

Passage reads: A dark and stormy night.

Student reads: A dark and stormy winter night.

Needs prompting (if the student has to be told a word by the person administering the assessment)

Passage reads: I wish that people...

Student reads: I wish that... (pauses) that... (teacher prompts "people")...

4. As the student reads, mark each word on the form by using the symbols above. Place a check mark above the words read correctly.

5. If the student reads a word incorrectly or substitutes a word, record what is said above the actual word.

6. As the student reads, pay attention to his or her behavior. Is the student using context clues (from the sentence or pictures), structure (language sounds correct) and visual cues (using beginning sounds, familiar word chunks, etc.) to read words and gather meaning?

7. Intervene as little as possible when a student is reading.

8. If the student is stuck on a word, wait 5-10 seconds before you tell him or her the word.

9. After the reading, ask the student to tell you about what he or she has just read. Make notes on the following:

Can the student tell you what happened in the story in his or her own words?

Does the student include the different parts of a story (the characters, setting, events, problem and resolution)?

Can the student identify the main idea and supporting details?

Does the student use some of the vocabulary found in the text?

Is the student's retelling minimal, adequate or very complete?

What do I do with the information obtained from this assessment?

The information gathered while completing an oral reading accuracy assessment can be used to determine error, accuracy, and self-correction rates. To calculate a student's reading accuracy rate, divide the total words read correctly by the total words read. For example, if a student read a passage containing 100 words and made 5 errors:

95 (total words read correctly) / 100 (total words read) = 95% word accuracy

Use the accuracy rate along with the information gained in the student's story retelling to determine whether the text the student read was too easy, just right, or too difficult for the reader. Below is a general breakdown to use to help guide you when choosing texts for students:

Oral reading accuracy

What this says about the text

95-100%

Too easy; the text does not present a challenge

90-94%

Just right; the text is challenging but manageable

89% and below

Too difficult; the text is frustrating for the reader

If a student can read a book with 100% word accuracy but can only give a minimal retelling of the story, do not choose a higher leveled book. We read to get meaning; if a child is not getting meaning from a text they must be instructed on comprehension strategies. Word accuracy without comprehension is not acceptable.

What should I be looking for when I give an oral reading accuracy assessment?

Giving an oral reading accuracy assessment and asking a child to retell reveals many things about a child's reading ability. There are other things to be on the look out for and can be taught in the moments following this assessment:

Has the student mastered directionality, letter-sound correspondence, return sweep, etc?

Did the student make "good errors" when phonetically reading a word (i.e., reading island as "is land" instead of "eye land")?

Was there an attempt to self-correct errors?

Did the student attempt to decode an unknown word?

Was the student's reading slow and labored, or fluent?

Did the student use expression while reading?

Reading fluency

What it measures

How many words a child reads correctly in one minute.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose an appropriate passage for the student to read aloud. As the student reads, complete a record for one minute.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Fluency assessments should be completed throughout the year to help guide instruction.

Word recognition

What it measures

Sight word vocabulary at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

Ask a child to read from a list of words.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Word recognition should be assessed three times during the year for students in kindergarten through second grade to help guide instruction.

Phonic elements

What it measures

Phonic elements at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

What sound do the letters 's' 'h' make? (Correct response: /sh/)

How can I turn cap into cape? (Correct response: Add an 'e' to the end of the word.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Phonic elements should be assessed several times throughout the year in grades one through three to help guide instruction.

Portfolios

About this assessment

Portfolios can be used to document students' achievement and progress. Portfolios give an accurate picture of an individual's strengths and weaknesses. Instruction on how to pick a piece of work to place in a portfolio (does it show a concept that was struggled with then understood, does it demonstrate an understanding of a concept? Is it something you are proud of?) is beneficial for students. This type of instruction engages the student to reflect on his or her own work. Portfolios encourage students to take an active role in learning information they feel they have not yet mastered.

Portfolios can help guide instruction. Through looking at a piece of child's work, a teacher can quickly see what lessons are further needed. For example, by looking at a student's writing a teacher may determine lessons in using commas correctly need to be revisited.

Types of portfolios

Collection
The collection may consist of a folder that holds samples of a student's work. The collection should include representative examples of the various types of student work, such as tests, writing samples, and homework assignments.

Display portfolio
A container or box containing a selection of work documenting a student's progress may hold work in this type of portfolio. This type of portfolio may be used to share with parents at conferences. Pieces of work are carefully selected by both teachers and students to show and share with parents/guardians during conferences.

Teacher/student assessment portfolio
A collection of documentation including copies of work in the student's display portfolio, tests, anecdotal notes, conference summaries, contacts made with parents, etc. This portfolio is used by the teacher to aid in discussions with administrators, other teachers, parents, etc about a particular child.

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Types of Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

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Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

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Inventories and Assessment - Sydney Gennuso

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Inventories and Assessment - Sydney Gennuso

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I have used reading rockets website a dozen times throughout this course because it's so useful. It's an article that describes what assessments to use for different reading skills. There is a list of benefits and purpose of the assessments. Specific examples of reading skills are provided which is helpful to have a variety as we are all working on different things with students. At the end other resources are listed to get further ideas or guidance.

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Armstrong, Thomas (1994). Multiple intelligences in the classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Balanced Reading.com. Retrieved November 16, 2004, from: http://www.balancedreading.com/assessment.html

Big Ideas in Early Reading, University of Oregon. Retrieved November 16, 2004, from: http://reading.uoregon.edu/cia/assessment/index.php

DeBruinParecki, A. (2004). Evaluating early literacy skills and providing instruction in a meaningful context. High/Scope Resource: A Magazine for Educators, 23(3), 510.

Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (1992). Identifying a measure for monitoring student reading progress. School Psychology Review, 21(1), 4559.

Gardner, Howard (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic.

High-stakes assessments in reading: A position statement of the International Reading Association. Retrieved November 16, 2004, from: http://www.reading.org/pdf/high_stakes.pdf

Rhodes, L. K., & Shankin, N. L. (1993). Windows into literacy: Assessing learners K8. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.

Skiba, R. J., Simmons, A. B., Ritter, S., Kohler, K. R., & Wu, T. C. (2003). The psychology of disproportionality: Minority placement in context. Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 6, 2740.

Torgeson, J. K. (1998). Catch them before they fall: Identification and assessment to prevent reading failure in young children. Retrieved November 16, 2004 from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article.php?ID=411

Wren, S. (2004, November). Descriptions of early reading assessments. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved November 16, 2004 from: http://www.balancedreading.com/ assessment/assessment.pdf

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Early Reading Assessment: A Guiding Tool for Instruction

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How do you choose the best method for measuring reading progress? This brief article describes which assessments to use for different reading skills so that you can make sure all students are making progress towards becoming readers!

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Reading Program - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Reading Program - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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We use the A-Z reading program for our ELL/tier kiddos. I'm not 100% sure if any of the teachers use them in the classroom but I do know that we use them, and pretty much only them, in our small groups. There are a variety of book genres: non-fiction, fiction, informational, small chapter books, etc. There are books on holidays, foods, cultures, countries, cities, hobbies, jobs, states, etc. They can be rather interesting when worked into the classroom effectively. ~ Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Response to Intervention Ideas - Sydney Gennuso

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Response to Intervention Ideas - Sydney Gennuso

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This is a resource that is provided by an elementary school and what they go by. I think it's useful to research and get ideas from others especially if it works. This does a nice job of giving an explanation and examples of intervention ideas. I think that the school posted this on their website so that parents could become more informed of interventions used with their child. Towards the bottom additional resources are also given.

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Response to Intervention (RTI) is a general education framework that involves research-based instruction and interventions, regular monitoring of student progress, and the subsequent use of these data over time to make educational decisions. Key to the RTI process is the application of scientifically based interventions that have been demonstrated to work. Simply put, it is a process of systematically documenting the performance of students as evidence of the need for additional services after making changes in classroom instruction.

RTI follows a number of core assumptions:

1. The educational system can effectively teach all children

2. Early intervention is critical to preventing problems from getting out of control

3. The implementation of a multi-tiered service delivery model is necessary

4. A problem solving model should be used to make decisions between tiers

5. Research based interventions should be implemented to the extent possible

6. Progress monitoring must be implemented to inform instruction

7. Data should drive decision making

English/Language Arts:
Cool Tools: Informal reading assessments : 117 page document with ideas broken down by the 5 Components of Reading Instruction

Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading : Search Tool for Links to Instructional Materials ( Teachers select grade level from drop down, select the skill, then have access to ideas.)

IF/Then Intervention Menu

Invention Central : academic interventions broken down into various categories

I've Assessed, Now What

RTI Solutions : academic interventions in three areas: READING , STUDY SKILLS , And WRITING

The Savvy Teacher's Guide: Reading Interventions That Work : 52 page document with strategies and interventions for reading interventions

K-5 Math Teaching Resources: provides a collection of free resources, math games, and hands-on math activities aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Mathwire.com: interventions, strategies and resources in several math areas

Math Drills: provides thousands of free math worksheets on a variety of math topics

Math Landing: Searchable database of resources and tools, searched by topic and grade level

Math Interventions : various interventions broken down by tier level

Math Intervention Ideas: examples of math interventions based on areas of weakness

Math Teacher Resources: resources broken down by subject and grade

RTI Solutions : academic interventions in various mathematic areas: MATH

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Response to Intervention (RTI) is a general education framework that involves research-based instruction and interventions, regular monitoring of student progress, and the subsequent use of these data over time to make educational decisions. Key to the RTI process is the application of scientifically based interventions that have been demonstrated to work.

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This resource lists 10 online reading programs that would be great to incorporate into ELA time. A few reading programs I liked and have seen used are ABCMouse, Hooked on Phonics and Headsprout. I think it's helpful to teachers to have a resource that can be used to get a variety of ideas that could work best for classrooms.

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The availability of online study materials has transformed not only how students learn in the classroom, but also the ways in which their parents can help them learn at home. Whether it's teaching or reviewing the basics in the evening, or seeking out the best resources for homeschooling, online resources are a game changer in child literacy and instruction. Indeed, recent studies have shown that students who work on basic literacy skills at home, during the earliest years of their pre-school and elementary school education, are up to 56 percent more successful on standardized literacy tests during their late elementary school years and during middle school.

In fact, students whose parents played an active role in their literacy education were more likely to read at least 10 books per year and more likely to show high levels of comprehension and literacy in other subject areas, including mathematics. These results help to clarify the importance of working with young students on reading and comprehension from an early age, and there are many online tools available that make this process even easier and more exciting. The best tools have been ranked below.

Though there are hundreds of helpful resources online that encourage greater literacy in pre-school and elementary students, only ten were chosen for this ranking. These tools were selected based on a combination of factors. First and foremost, the tools chosen had to be developed either by a coalition of parents and teachers or by a group of teachers who work with real students on reading and literacy in their professional careers. Online reading programs were also chosen, and ranked, based on their affordability, their appeal to parents of homeschooled children, and their use of fully immersive web technologies that appeal directly to young learners. More immersive and interactive programs, like those with slide shows, videos, and interactive games, rank as some of the best and most productive resources today. This reality is reflected in their placement within the ranking.

ABCMouse Early Learning Academy is widely regarded as one of the best online tools for early learners grasping the most basic concepts of reading and other subjects. Founded in 2010, the company was a leader in the immersive, web-based and app-based education boom at the beginning of the decade. In the nearly seven years since its founding, the company has focused on fully immersive experiences on an array of mobile devices, as well as an adaptive and immersive website that allows students to progress at their own pace through basic lessons in sight words, phonetics, and the letters of the alphabet.

As a bonus, a license for the company's website portal, and all of its mobile apps is made available for free to virtually every public school, public library, and noted community organization. This wide accessibility makes the ABCMouse system widely accessible to both public schools and home schooling environments.

CNK Digital is a leader in making learning fun. Since first offering its gaming platform early in the present decade, CNK Digital has become a leader in game-based learning, with a variety of leveled games that work with students from pre-school through the beginning of middle school. The company's games are fun, but also instructive, with lessons in phonics, sight words, the alphabet, sentence structure, and much more.

While fun to early learners, the CNK Digital service is also a robust analytical tool for teachers and parents. Every action taken in one of the company's many literacy games records data about the student's comprehension, including the lessons and games that they either struggled or excelled in the most. This allows teachers and parents to focus their efforts on critical weak points in their student's literacy education, addressing major issues early on.​

Designed based on core principles of the National Reading Panel and peer-reviewed research on childhood literacy, StudyDog is primarily an independent learning tool that encourages students to work on their own, with minimal parent or teacher supervision. The service incorporates several immersive games, videos, slideshows, and lessons from the "StudyDog" himself, to teach students the fundamentals of the alphabet, phonics, vocabulary, and even sentence structure, based on the student's age and level of proficiency in core literacy concepts. The StudyDog approach is backed by scholarly research, as well as documented outcomes via standardized testing under the former No Child Left Behind Act, making it one of the most documented and reviewed approaches to reading education online.

Suitable for students in grades K-8, Book Adventure has a dual mission in the world of online reading education. First, the service is designed to help early learners master the basic concepts of reading comprehension and the principles of literacy. This is accomplished through a series of games and "adventures" that require input from students, corresponding with literacy lessons, to progress through the "adventure" and reach its conclusion.

Each adventure also promotes the company's second mission: To encourage a lifelong passion for learning. The company's mission statement notes that many people will only read if they are motivated to do so by an enjoyment of books and a commitment to literacy. Each "adventure" excites children about reading and books and gives them a new goal that will push them toward more independent reading outside the bounds of each lesson.

Kiz Phonics draws a great deal of its instructional inspiration from programs like Hooked on Phonics, which was one of the first programs to emphasize phonics and phonetics in literacy education. With that being said, the program is also differentiated in several key ways. First and foremost, Kiz Phonics is developed by a 27-member panel of teachers who work daily in reading and language arts education. The program also has the support of several tenured professors of language from around the country.

The Kiz Phonics program, unlike Hooked on Phonics, is available entirely online or through mobile applications. Because the program was developed by people who teach English or ESL to young and adult learners, heavy emphasis is placed on the proper progression through fundamentals, like the alphabet, phonics, pronunciation, sentence structure, and reading techniques. Digital letter, word, and pronunciation charts are also available online and can be printed, making this a great instructional tool for a homeschooling environment as well.

Mr. Nussbaum is a real person with years of experience in childhood literacy education, and the MrNussbaum.com website is a testament to this. The approach taken by this unique online tool, appropriate for children in grades K-8 that combines lessons in reading and literacy with a zeal for research. The Nussbaum approach to literacy education strongly believes that students need to not only learn the basic principles of reading but also employ those principles in everyday tasks.

To that end, students will put their skills to use as they scour real scholarly materials, researching concepts and actively reading in pursuit of a final goal. It's a practical approach that helps students connect theory with practice in a meaningful way for the rest of their lives.

Dating back to 1987, Hooked on Phonics is both one of the oldest and one of the most successful programs for people of all ages who are learning to read. The program has historically focused on early learners, from preschool through the early middle school years, when developing most of its books, DVDs, and other materials. To that end, Hooked on Phonics today is the single most comprehensive tool for parents and teachers who are assisting early learners with phonetics and the most basic concepts of literacy.

Though Hooked on Phonics was started by a father who wanted to teach his son to read, the company has evolved over 30 years into one that involves both parents and teachers. Lessons are designed and revised by a panel of literacy experts, early childhood educators, and actual classroom teachers, in an effort to make them immersive, interactive, and fun. The company most recently turned its series of successful books and DVDs into an interactive web portal and a mobile app, giving students and parents a vast number of digital lessons on virtually every portable device. It remains one of the most highly effective teaching tools in early literacy.

Part of the Learning A-Z family of learning tools, which has been providing at-home and in-school instruction to students since 2002, Headsprout is known for its adaptive approach to early childhood literacy. Unlike many of the company's competitors, which apply a one-size-fits-all approach to learning basic phonetics and reading comprehension methods, Headsprout's software uses an adaptive approach that responds to student answers. If the student needs more time on a concept, Headsprout detects this fact and acts accordingly. Likewise, the software can speed students through concepts that they already know or are grasping with ease.

Headsprout's unique, adaptive approach to teaching reading has produced real results for students both in the home and at school. Furthermore, the company's approach has been validated by peer-reviewed studies, published in many major journals of education, since the software first hit the market over a decade ago. The company's consistent approach to student learning, and its use of algorithms and lesson adaptation, make it a great fit for independent study times and all levels of early learners.

There is one problem that has almost always stopped homeschoolers and budget-weary parents in their tracks: licensing fees for literacy programs. Many of the most popular literacy programs, even those offered primarily for home use, require steep subscription and licensing fees that can eat into family budgets. This makes it hard to review, or to teach, the most basic literacy and reading comprehension concepts with early learners. Reading Bear was founded to put a stop to this problem. All of its literacy and reading comprehension lessons are completely free for home use, making this tool the best option for parents on a tight budget.

Reading Bear, like many other tools, understands the importance of "leveling" its learning programs and providing numerous instructional options to parents. The free service offers its early childhood reading lessons in both video and slideshow formats. In addition, the service offers seven different levels of instruction for each lesson, ranging from a short "review" of the lesson's concepts to a longer, fully immersive lesson for young learners who are either new to the concept or need more time to review before moving on. The ability to choose different instructional methods and levels, in addition to its free price tag, makes Reading Bear a top choice for parents who prefer flexibility and have a tight budget for instructional tools.

One of the things that originally made K5 Learning unique was its founding members: parents. When the company was founded, virtually all literacy tools were marketed exclusively to schools and sold on a "volume license basis," making it nearly impossible for parents and homeschoolers to take advantage. The company's original mission was to democratize this process, bringing high-end, highly effective phonics and literacy tools to early learners across the country, whether they were at home or at school.

In the two decades that have elapsed since the founding of K5 Learning, the company's reading and basic literacy program has become one of the best options on the market for both schools and homes around the world. In fact, the K5 Learning program in reading was recently named the best such program in the country by a leading educational publication. The program is designed by a coalition of parents, ESL teachers, and literacy experts, along with early childhood educators who design interactive lessons compatible with Internet browsers and mobile devices. As a result, it easily tops the rankings for the best at-home literacy and reading program available to parents in the United States and around the world.

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The 10 Best Online Reading Programs - Early Childhood Education Zone

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The availability of online study materials has transformed not only how students learn in the classroom, but also the ways in which their parents can help them learn at home. Whether it's teaching or reviewing the basics in the evening, or seeking out the best resources for homeschooling, online resources are a game changer in ...

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Linda Powell

I really like the Read Naturally program. I have used it in the past with struggling readers and they made great forward progress. I think that it is definitely a reading program that I will continue to use with my students. I think that it helps reading fluency and it also helps students with comprehension.

Reference
Develop confident readers with read live :: Read naturally, Inc. (2020, August 26). Research-Based Reading Interventions :: Read Naturally, Inc. https://www.readnaturally.com/go-read-live?msclkid=b91b25e60a6b1af9176b47fb90762c08&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=*Read%20Live%20Trial%20-%20JumpFly&utm_term=reading%20improvement%20program&utm_c

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Develop Confident Readers with Read Live :: Read Naturally, Inc.

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Read Live delivers measurable results for struggling and developing readers of all ages by combining four highly effective instructional programs under one easy to use platform.

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Linda Powell

I really like this link, because it gives you a timeline of different strategies that teachers can do in the classroom. It works on Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three intervention strategies and walks you through how to do each. I had the opportunity to sit through a two-and-a-half-hour IEP meeting today. I had to list every general education strategy that had been tried in the classroom to help the student. I am so thankful that I had read this article before the meeting. It helped me to articulate some of the strategies that had been done in the regular classroom to support the student. This article is one to have in a file, it has great ideas on how to support students at the three levels.
Reference
Response to intervention strategies | A guide for teachers. (2020, December 5). Special Education Guide. https://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/response-to-intervention/effective-rti-strategies-for-teachers/

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Response to Intervention Strategies | A Guide for Teachers

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We researched response to intervention strategies for students in tier one, two, and three. Learn about RTI and when a child will require special education.

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Linda Powell
This is a very informative video on Learning Styles and Interests Inventories for Assessment. The video helped clarify information about assessments for me. I found it to be very insightful and it is definitely a video that I will be keeping to reflect on.

Reference
https://study.com/academy/lesson/using-interviews-learning-styles-interest-inventories-for-assessment-purposes.html

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Response to Intervention - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Response to Intervention - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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I chose this resource because it gives information to help understand, implement, and better work with RTI. There are many links within this resource and though it doesnt specifically notate reading itself on this page, it does have imbedded links for mathematics and reading which I think would be helpful when needing to look into either. There are also links to help with communication with parents and assessments with students for RTIs and a few other imbedded helpful resources that I thought were great to look through. ~Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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

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I found that this website had great information. This website explains the tiers and provides examples. I plan to keep this website around for my own classroom and future classrooms.
-Ashley Lamb

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Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI.

If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs.

Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

Regardless, the intervention process should be ingrained in each classroom management plan. That's because it starts with you delivering high-quality instruction and monitoring how each student processes it.

Those who perform poorly or display concerning classroom habits are candidates for small-group or individual interventions. These are typically aimed at addressing trouble spots and building underdeveloped prerequisite skills to accelerate learning.

Depending on the intensity of intervention, and your school's resources, special educators and dedicated interventionists may involve themselves. You may also have to inform a student's parents in extreme cases, offering updates about progress and the methods you're using.

There isn't a universal RTI process, but most schools and districts divide it into three stages. You can learn about these stages below, or skip to tier-based strategies.

The Three RTI Tiers

Tier 1: High-Quality Instruction and Proactive Assessment

Think of the first RTI tier as everyday teaching. It's consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction. This helps ensure that student struggles aren't a result of improper teaching methods. If you don't already use them, some popular practices include:

In the context of RTI, high-quality instruction also involves providing supplemental learning opportunities based on assessment results.

Let's say you finish marking a math quiz, and notice several students struggle to multiply decimals. In class, give a task related to decimals and multiplication, discussing and modeling key steps and concepts with those students beforehand.

This is just one approach you can take.

Regardless, you shouldn't spend more than two months providing extra instruction to help a student enhance the same skillset. If he or she doesn't show measureable improvement, it may be time for the second RTI tier.

Tier 2: Targeted Intervention

Maintaining the first tier's style of classroom instruction, the next stage uses rigorous supplementary exercises and lessons targeted to a student's specific needs.

Normally, you would deliver these exercises and lessons in small-group settings outside of core class time. This allows students with common issues to work together, contextualizing and reinforcing concepts while building prerequisite skills.
You can objectively identify candidates for targeted intervention through:

Mid-Unit Evaluations: At the middle of each unit, deliver a surprise quiz or in-class task that covers all core skills and concepts you've covered thus far.

Formal Evaluations: After marking tests and assignments, it'll be clear who's struggling. Your school may have specific criteria, but targeted intervention candidates are typically students who receive failing grades or come close.

After class or during recess, work with students who need help. Focused on clarifying lingering issues or building underdeveloped skills, provide exercises that require they work together and individually.

For example, students could work as a team to solve interactive challenges on a math website. Then, they could each complete a worksheet that reinforces the skills they practiced on the website. You would support students by offering clarification and filling knowledge gaps.

Nuances aside, you should match targeted intervention to student needs by adjusting the:

The second stage intervention should take longer than the first. But if you can't see clear progress after a month or two, you may need to move the student into the third RTI tier.

Tier 3: Intensive Intervention and Evaluation

Working one-on-one with you or a dedicated interventionist, students in the final tier receive intensive lessons that target their unique trouble spots and knowledge gaps.

In the United States, 5% of children need this kind of help, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Based on the student's learning style and needs, as well as underdeveloped skills, third-tier intervention sessions can include:

Talking with the child about his or her specific issues, discussing strategies to overcome them

Sharing positive and corrective feedback whenever possible

Providing diverse media to help process content

Revisiting lessons from past units or years

Setting achievement plans and goals

Modeling problem-solving steps

The educator who runs these sessions must record as much data as possible about the student's improvement or lack thereof. Are prerequisite skills starting to meet standards? Are there jumps in in-class performance?

If the student doesn't make marked progress, you -- depending on school or district policy -- may have to recommend him or her for a special education evaluation.

Teaching Strategies for Each RTI Tier

RTI probably seems like a daunting process.

It can be. But there are many ways you can help and empower students to succeed in each stage. Consider using some of these 15 intervention strategies, many of which are interchangeable between tiers:

Tier 1 Strategies

1. Watch for Impostor Syndrome

It's easy for a student to nod his or her head, then bury it in a book without asking questions to create an illusion of comprehension. That's why you have to watch for impostor syndrome.

Proactively looking for students who feign understanding, filling their knowledge gaps, can prevent disappointing surprises when marking tests or assignments. You can spot imposter syndrome by regularly:

Asking Students for Their Own Words -- Instead of repeating concepts verbatim, ask students to explain specific ideas using their own words. This will not only help them process content, but reveal how well they understand it.

Using Exit Tickets -- Save 10 minutes at the end of class, allowing students to write about what they learned. They'll prepare for tomorrow's lesson, whereas you'll see who's grasping content.

Adopting a proactive approach can set an example to follow, too. Students may pose more questions and not hesitate to ask for help, since they know you'll likely approach or call on them anyway. 2. Give Only Two Marks for Informal AssessmentsRecall a time you saw a big F in red ink on your work. You were likely upset, too demoralised to review mistakes and feedback.

So, on informal assessments throughout a unit, just state if a student did or did not meet expectations.

Then, provide struggling students with a clear path to improve. For example, pair classmates who didn't meet expectations with those who did, giving them a review and practice activity. When strugglers are confident they understand key concepts, encourage them to tell you. Provide a new assessment, allowing them to prove their competency.

This should partially prevent students from being unprepared for tests and assignments.

3. Have Private Mid-Unit Conversations

Like the last strategy, use this one to identify if and how students are struggling before formal evaluations.

At the middle of each unit, run a fun classwide activity that doesn't introduce key skills or concepts. This gives you a chance to pull each student away for a few minutes to:

Review results

Note trouble spots

Receive input about questions and problems

In doing so, each student can gauge his or her own understanding. Plus, it helps you determine if certain issues are isolated or widespread, informing how you'll deal with them.

4. Switch Between Solo, Small- and Large-Group Learning

Differentiated instruction is a hallmark of RTI's first tier. And an easy, yet effective, way to differentiate is by alternating between individual and group activities.

This is because diverse settings provide distinct learning scenarios.

For example, running literature circles in small groups encourages students to shape and inform each other's understandings of readings, helping auditory and participatory learners retain more information. On the other hand, solo reflection exercises may appeal to those who don't gain as much from discussion as independent thinking.

Plus, varying your lessons this way helps keep engagement levels high.

5. Assign Open-Ended Projects

Giving choices for projects is another differentiation strategy that fits into the first intervention tier.

Instead of assigning an inflexible project, provide a list of ideas. This allows students to choose one that lets them best demonstrate their knowledge. Be sure to include a rubric for each project, setting clear expectations.
By enticing and challenging students, this approach encourages them to:

Work and learn at their own paces

Process content in ways that appeal to them

Showcase their knowledge and skill mastery as effectively as possible

This strategy not only benefits students, but helps you see their unique work and learning styles.

Tier 2 Strategies

6. Set Measurable Goals

Setting clearly-defined objectives will define an explicit route to graduate from intervention.

Addressing a given student's challenges and trouble spots, objectives should take the form of learning and behaviour goals.

Learning goals focus on the student understanding concepts and developing skills. For example, "I, student's name, will complete 10 additional questions about fractions, as provided by my math teacher, each weeknight for the next two weeks."

Behaviour goals require the student to concentrate and work efficiently. For example, "I, student's name, will not interrupt any of my teachers while they're speaking. Instead, I will raise my hand to ask questions."

Notice how the goals are measureable? If the student interrupts a teacher even once or only completes nine questions each night, he or she doesn't meet them.

To reinforce the importance of these goals, review progress at each targeted intervention session.

7. Add a Twist to Mixed-Ability Groups

Grouping high performers with struggling classmates for in-class activities is common, but needs a twist as a second tier intervention strategy.

That's because underperforming students sometimes don't actively participate in these groups. Instead, they rely on group members.

Here's the twist: Run activities that require students to write down their thoughts or findings, but give each student a different colour pen.

You'll likely notice the struggling students don't write down as much. If this is the case, tell them they'll present their group's thoughts or findings to the class. This way, they must process the content to prepare.

Improved understanding of content, better presentation skills.

8. Use EdTech that Adjusts to Each Student

Some educational technologies use adaptive learning principles, detecting student trouble spots and helping them build skills to overcome them.

For example, Prodigy is a fun and engaging math game that adjusts content to help students address skill deficits and knowledge gaps. It also offers feedback to help them solve specific mistakes, as they answer questions that use words, charts, pictures and numbers. Currently used by over two million teachers, the game is aligned with curricula across Canada, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and India.
Create and sign into your free teacher account now!
9. Model Everything and Use Role-Plays

To supplement explanations, demonstrating proper practices will give struggling students clear examples and reference points.

Let's say you're running a think-pair-share activity. To clarify, this involves students individually thinking about a problem, pairing together to discuss their answers and presenting their ideas to the class.
After giving instructions, you could act out a:

Partner conversation, reaching conclusions by asking each other questions

Brief presentation about answers, modeling what students should say about their ideas and problem-solving processes

This strategy helps intervention students participate to the best of their abilities, enjoying the activity itself.

10. Preach Four-Step Problem Solving

Teaching problem-solving skills in targeted interventions can give students the confidence to answer challenging problems, reaching comprehensive answers.

This is especially important for those who understand a topic's underlying concepts, but struggle to apply or articulate them.

One of the most popular resources is A Problem Solving Approach to Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers. The authors describe four steps you should encourage students to follow, which work for most subjects.
The steps are:

Understanding the Problem -- Students should rewrite it in their own words, noting helpful information it reveals and indicates a need for.

Devising a Plan -- Students should use information they gleaned to make notes, tables, diagrams, equations and anything else that creates a path to solving the problem.

Carrying out the Plan -- Students should follow this path, reviewing each step along the way and making changes as needed.

Looking Back -- Students should double-check each step after reaching their answers. Then, it's best to look at the "big picture." Does the solution make sense when applied to the original problem? Is there a different, logical way of reaching the same solution? If not, they should re-visit their approaches.

Armed with these steps, tough questions shouldn't look as daunting.

Tier 3 Strategies

11. Gamify a Personal Learning Plan

Motivating students in the final RTI tier is typically a challenge in of itself. Gamifying learning plans can engage and incentivize them, empowering them to move back in the middle tier.

Whether you're in charge of this intervention stage or not, you can still apply video game elements in your classroom for these and other students.
Consider gamification strategies such as:

Adjusting Your Scoring System -- Give traditional scores and experience points (XP) on tests and assignments, setting a goal for the student to reach a certain amount of XP per unit. For example, if a student scores 60% on a quiz, give him or her 6,000 XP. You can also award XP for completing extra assignments, participating in class or anything else that shows effort to learn.

Using Stages -- Call topics and units stages. These terms have clear connotations for you, but students may not see how they fit together. If they're gamers, they'll understand that reaching the next stage requires overcoming precursory challenges. Emphasize this by framing certain tasks as prerequisites to reach that next learning stage.

If these tips work especially well, you should see similar results by using them in the first two tiers.

12. Gather Data to Spot Trends

Use data at your disposal to pinpoint where and when a student's issues arose.

In doing so, you can tailor intensive instruction that addresses specific needs.

Let's say you determine that a student's performance didn't start to sink when he or she entered your classroom. Rather, it went downhill in the middle of last year's math class. It's now clear you must revisit that content, helping the student build skills taught in that class. You can then move onto this year's topics.

Depending on school or district resources, you may not be tasked with delving into this information. But if you are, look at resources that contain student performance across:

Past years

Previous units

Current classes

Different subjects

Invariably, an effective RTI approach is rooted in such data.

13. Consider Peer Teaching

Pairing struggling students with top-performers can yield benefits, according to peer teaching studies.

For example, "students generally identify more easily with peer helpers than with adult authority figures," according to an influential study. This means they may be more willing to ask questions and for feedback. What's more, an Ohio University pilot study determined that students who read and discuss story passages with peers recall more content and score higher on assessments.
Peer tutoring is a nuanced pedagogy in its own right, but easy-to-run activities include:

Think-pair-share exercises, which were discussed in the section about second-tier strategies

Peer editing exercises, which rely on tutors giving targeted feedback about a tutee's written work

Jigsaw exercises, which involve dividing an ambitious task into subtopics and having tutor-tutee pair research the same subtopic together

If you use this strategy, just be sure to teach tutors about giving help and feedback.

14. Reverse the Standard Peer Teaching Model

Peer teaching strategies typically see high-performing students tutor struggling classmates, but occasionally reversing the roles can have advantages.

When at-risk students help others in a controlled environment, research from the National Association of Secondary School Principals shows their confidence and communication abilities improve. This, in turn, can help them through the RTI process.

You and your students can reap these benefits through reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT). This involves partners taking turns as the tutor, and:

Guiding the tutee through the problem-solving process

Giving the tutee praise and feedback while working through exercises

Reviewing content together, asking each other questions and finding answers

If struggling students don't rise to their new responsibilities, just revert to traditional peer teaching.

15. Seek Help

You're not alone. Each school and district has a different makeup, but you shouldn't have to handle the intervention process yourself.
To ease the rigours of intensive instruction and evaluation, communicate with:

Fellow teachers for insight about the students you're helping

Consider how to incorporate student assessments into report card comments

Learning support specialists for tips and to share responsibilities

Administrators and your principal to provide updates and access data, especially if it seems a student needs special education services and parent involvement is required

The adage it takes a village to raise a child can easily apply to RTI. So, welcome help.

RTI Infographic

Created by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning-- an online resource for teaching tools and ideas -- below is an infographic based on this article:

Final Thoughts About RTI

These strategies support specific RTI stages, but you can also use many to reduce the need for intervention.

Remember, the first tier is rooted in consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction.

By using aforementioned first-tier tactics -- as well as researching and incorporating similar ones -- you should prevent many intervention cases. And serious issues may come to light faster, as you identify students who aren't receptive to diverse, credible instruction practices.

So, continue to be proactive. That's a core RTI strategy across tiers.

Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy - a fun and engaging adaptive math game used for lesson supplementation and response to intervention (RTI). It's used by more than two million teachers and 100 million students.

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The Teacher's Response to Intervention (RTI) Guide: Tiers, Strategies and More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI. If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs. Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

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This is a great website for students. The kids that I am working with love this website. They say there is so many fun things to do and fit for so many reading levels.
-Ashley Lamb

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Jade Garrett

The Wonders program is one that I see being used in my school district. It is apparent that it is designed to meet all children where they are, and foster a love for reading at an early age! This curriculum features an online, interactive program that allows children to develop critical reading skills, while playing games and completing engaging activities. These activities are also aligned with what they may be learning about each week through the content their teachers dive into!

Wonders 2020. McGraw Hill. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/wonders-2020/MKTSP-BGA07M0.html?page=1&sortby=title&order=asc&bu=seg

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Wonders is designed to foster a love of reading in all children. Through exploration of texts and daily development of their skills as readers, writers, speakers, and active listeners, students experience the power of literacy. Our focus on teaching the whole child - and every child - prepares students to be lifelong learners and critical thinkers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Wonders is designed to foster a love of reading in all children. Through exploration of texts and daily development of their skills as readers, writers, speakers, and active listeners, students experience the power of literacy. Our focus on teaching the whole child - and every child - prepares students to be lifelong learners and critical thinkers.

# data[].attributes.body
Jade Garrett

I found this website extremely informative about the RTI process, the major tiers, and strategies that can be used! They do so by introducing a real life example of behaviors you may see from a student in the classroom. It then provides examples for strategies that you can implement at all three levels of this intervention. This recourse may benefit you in your future classroom, and is worth a look!

Game, P. (n.d.). The teacher's response to intervention (RTI) guide: Tiers, strategies and more. Prodigy Education. Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/rti-response-to-intervention/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI.

If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs.

Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

Regardless, the intervention process should be ingrained in each classroom management plan. That's because it starts with you delivering high-quality instruction and monitoring how each student processes it.

Those who perform poorly or display concerning classroom habits are candidates for small-group or individual interventions. These are typically aimed at addressing trouble spots and building underdeveloped prerequisite skills to accelerate learning.

Depending on the intensity of intervention, and your school's resources, special educators and dedicated interventionists may involve themselves. You may also have to inform a student's parents in extreme cases, offering updates about progress and the methods you're using.

There isn't a universal RTI process, but most schools and districts divide it into three stages. You can learn about these stages below, or skip to tier-based strategies.

The Three RTI Tiers

Tier 1: High-Quality Instruction and Proactive Assessment

Think of the first RTI tier as everyday teaching. It's consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction. This helps ensure that student struggles aren't a result of improper teaching methods. If you don't already use them, some popular practices include:

In the context of RTI, high-quality instruction also involves providing supplemental learning opportunities based on assessment results.

Let's say you finish marking a math quiz, and notice several students struggle to multiply decimals. In class, give a task related to decimals and multiplication, discussing and modeling key steps and concepts with those students beforehand.

This is just one approach you can take.

Regardless, you shouldn't spend more than two months providing extra instruction to help a student enhance the same skillset. If he or she doesn't show measureable improvement, it may be time for the second RTI tier.

Tier 2: Targeted Intervention

Maintaining the first tier's style of classroom instruction, the next stage uses rigorous supplementary exercises and lessons targeted to a student's specific needs.

Normally, you would deliver these exercises and lessons in small-group settings outside of core class time. This allows students with common issues to work together, contextualizing and reinforcing concepts while building prerequisite skills.
You can objectively identify candidates for targeted intervention through:

Mid-Unit Evaluations: At the middle of each unit, deliver a surprise quiz or in-class task that covers all core skills and concepts you've covered thus far.

Formal Evaluations: After marking tests and assignments, it'll be clear who's struggling. Your school may have specific criteria, but targeted intervention candidates are typically students who receive failing grades or come close.

After class or during recess, work with students who need help. Focused on clarifying lingering issues or building underdeveloped skills, provide exercises that require they work together and individually.

For example, students could work as a team to solve interactive challenges on a math website. Then, they could each complete a worksheet that reinforces the skills they practiced on the website. You would support students by offering clarification and filling knowledge gaps.

Nuances aside, you should match targeted intervention to student needs by adjusting the:

The second stage intervention should take longer than the first. But if you can't see clear progress after a month or two, you may need to move the student into the third RTI tier.

Tier 3: Intensive Intervention and Evaluation

Working one-on-one with you or a dedicated interventionist, students in the final tier receive intensive lessons that target their unique trouble spots and knowledge gaps.

In the United States, 5% of children need this kind of help, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Based on the student's learning style and needs, as well as underdeveloped skills, third-tier intervention sessions can include:

Talking with the child about his or her specific issues, discussing strategies to overcome them

Sharing positive and corrective feedback whenever possible

Providing diverse media to help process content

Revisiting lessons from past units or years

Setting achievement plans and goals

Modeling problem-solving steps

The educator who runs these sessions must record as much data as possible about the student's improvement or lack thereof. Are prerequisite skills starting to meet standards? Are there jumps in in-class performance?

If the student doesn't make marked progress, you -- depending on school or district policy -- may have to recommend him or her for a special education evaluation.

Teaching Strategies for Each RTI Tier

RTI probably seems like a daunting process.

It can be. But there are many ways you can help and empower students to succeed in each stage. Consider using some of these 15 intervention strategies, many of which are interchangeable between tiers:

Tier 1 Strategies

1. Watch for Impostor Syndrome

It's easy for a student to nod his or her head, then bury it in a book without asking questions to create an illusion of comprehension. That's why you have to watch for impostor syndrome.

Proactively looking for students who feign understanding, filling their knowledge gaps, can prevent disappointing surprises when marking tests or assignments. You can spot imposter syndrome by regularly:

Asking Students for Their Own Words -- Instead of repeating concepts verbatim, ask students to explain specific ideas using their own words. This will not only help them process content, but reveal how well they understand it.

Using Exit Tickets -- Save 10 minutes at the end of class, allowing students to write about what they learned. They'll prepare for tomorrow's lesson, whereas you'll see who's grasping content.

Adopting a proactive approach can set an example to follow, too. Students may pose more questions and not hesitate to ask for help, since they know you'll likely approach or call on them anyway. 2. Give Only Two Marks for Informal AssessmentsRecall a time you saw a big F in red ink on your work. You were likely upset, too demoralised to review mistakes and feedback.

So, on informal assessments throughout a unit, just state if a student did or did not meet expectations.

Then, provide struggling students with a clear path to improve. For example, pair classmates who didn't meet expectations with those who did, giving them a review and practice activity. When strugglers are confident they understand key concepts, encourage them to tell you. Provide a new assessment, allowing them to prove their competency.

This should partially prevent students from being unprepared for tests and assignments.

3. Have Private Mid-Unit Conversations

Like the last strategy, use this one to identify if and how students are struggling before formal evaluations.

At the middle of each unit, run a fun classwide activity that doesn't introduce key skills or concepts. This gives you a chance to pull each student away for a few minutes to:

Review results

Note trouble spots

Receive input about questions and problems

In doing so, each student can gauge his or her own understanding. Plus, it helps you determine if certain issues are isolated or widespread, informing how you'll deal with them.

4. Switch Between Solo, Small- and Large-Group Learning

Differentiated instruction is a hallmark of RTI's first tier. And an easy, yet effective, way to differentiate is by alternating between individual and group activities.

This is because diverse settings provide distinct learning scenarios.

For example, running literature circles in small groups encourages students to shape and inform each other's understandings of readings, helping auditory and participatory learners retain more information. On the other hand, solo reflection exercises may appeal to those who don't gain as much from discussion as independent thinking.

Plus, varying your lessons this way helps keep engagement levels high.

5. Assign Open-Ended Projects

Giving choices for projects is another differentiation strategy that fits into the first intervention tier.

Instead of assigning an inflexible project, provide a list of ideas. This allows students to choose one that lets them best demonstrate their knowledge. Be sure to include a rubric for each project, setting clear expectations.
By enticing and challenging students, this approach encourages them to:

Work and learn at their own paces

Process content in ways that appeal to them

Showcase their knowledge and skill mastery as effectively as possible

This strategy not only benefits students, but helps you see their unique work and learning styles.

Tier 2 Strategies

6. Set Measurable Goals

Setting clearly-defined objectives will define an explicit route to graduate from intervention.

Addressing a given student's challenges and trouble spots, objectives should take the form of learning and behaviour goals.

Learning goals focus on the student understanding concepts and developing skills. For example, "I, student's name, will complete 10 additional questions about fractions, as provided by my math teacher, each weeknight for the next two weeks."

Behaviour goals require the student to concentrate and work efficiently. For example, "I, student's name, will not interrupt any of my teachers while they're speaking. Instead, I will raise my hand to ask questions."

Notice how the goals are measureable? If the student interrupts a teacher even once or only completes nine questions each night, he or she doesn't meet them.

To reinforce the importance of these goals, review progress at each targeted intervention session.

7. Add a Twist to Mixed-Ability Groups

Grouping high performers with struggling classmates for in-class activities is common, but needs a twist as a second tier intervention strategy.

That's because underperforming students sometimes don't actively participate in these groups. Instead, they rely on group members.

Here's the twist: Run activities that require students to write down their thoughts or findings, but give each student a different colour pen.

You'll likely notice the struggling students don't write down as much. If this is the case, tell them they'll present their group's thoughts or findings to the class. This way, they must process the content to prepare.

Improved understanding of content, better presentation skills.

8. Use EdTech that Adjusts to Each Student

Some educational technologies use adaptive learning principles, detecting student trouble spots and helping them build skills to overcome them.

For example, Prodigy is a fun and engaging math game that adjusts content to help students address skill deficits and knowledge gaps. It also offers feedback to help them solve specific mistakes, as they answer questions that use words, charts, pictures and numbers. Currently used by over two million teachers, the game is aligned with curricula across Canada, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and India.
Create and sign into your free teacher account now!
9. Model Everything and Use Role-Plays

To supplement explanations, demonstrating proper practices will give struggling students clear examples and reference points.

Let's say you're running a think-pair-share activity. To clarify, this involves students individually thinking about a problem, pairing together to discuss their answers and presenting their ideas to the class.
After giving instructions, you could act out a:

Partner conversation, reaching conclusions by asking each other questions

Brief presentation about answers, modeling what students should say about their ideas and problem-solving processes

This strategy helps intervention students participate to the best of their abilities, enjoying the activity itself.

10. Preach Four-Step Problem Solving

Teaching problem-solving skills in targeted interventions can give students the confidence to answer challenging problems, reaching comprehensive answers.

This is especially important for those who understand a topic's underlying concepts, but struggle to apply or articulate them.

One of the most popular resources is A Problem Solving Approach to Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers. The authors describe four steps you should encourage students to follow, which work for most subjects.
The steps are:

Understanding the Problem -- Students should rewrite it in their own words, noting helpful information it reveals and indicates a need for.

Devising a Plan -- Students should use information they gleaned to make notes, tables, diagrams, equations and anything else that creates a path to solving the problem.

Carrying out the Plan -- Students should follow this path, reviewing each step along the way and making changes as needed.

Looking Back -- Students should double-check each step after reaching their answers. Then, it's best to look at the "big picture." Does the solution make sense when applied to the original problem? Is there a different, logical way of reaching the same solution? If not, they should re-visit their approaches.

Armed with these steps, tough questions shouldn't look as daunting.

Tier 3 Strategies

11. Gamify a Personal Learning Plan

Motivating students in the final RTI tier is typically a challenge in of itself. Gamifying learning plans can engage and incentivize them, empowering them to move back in the middle tier.

Whether you're in charge of this intervention stage or not, you can still apply video game elements in your classroom for these and other students.
Consider gamification strategies such as:

Adjusting Your Scoring System -- Give traditional scores and experience points (XP) on tests and assignments, setting a goal for the student to reach a certain amount of XP per unit. For example, if a student scores 60% on a quiz, give him or her 6,000 XP. You can also award XP for completing extra assignments, participating in class or anything else that shows effort to learn.

Using Stages -- Call topics and units stages. These terms have clear connotations for you, but students may not see how they fit together. If they're gamers, they'll understand that reaching the next stage requires overcoming precursory challenges. Emphasize this by framing certain tasks as prerequisites to reach that next learning stage.

If these tips work especially well, you should see similar results by using them in the first two tiers.

12. Gather Data to Spot Trends

Use data at your disposal to pinpoint where and when a student's issues arose.

In doing so, you can tailor intensive instruction that addresses specific needs.

Let's say you determine that a student's performance didn't start to sink when he or she entered your classroom. Rather, it went downhill in the middle of last year's math class. It's now clear you must revisit that content, helping the student build skills taught in that class. You can then move onto this year's topics.

Depending on school or district resources, you may not be tasked with delving into this information. But if you are, look at resources that contain student performance across:

Past years

Previous units

Current classes

Different subjects

Invariably, an effective RTI approach is rooted in such data.

13. Consider Peer Teaching

Pairing struggling students with top-performers can yield benefits, according to peer teaching studies.

For example, "students generally identify more easily with peer helpers than with adult authority figures," according to an influential study. This means they may be more willing to ask questions and for feedback. What's more, an Ohio University pilot study determined that students who read and discuss story passages with peers recall more content and score higher on assessments.
Peer tutoring is a nuanced pedagogy in its own right, but easy-to-run activities include:

Think-pair-share exercises, which were discussed in the section about second-tier strategies

Peer editing exercises, which rely on tutors giving targeted feedback about a tutee's written work

Jigsaw exercises, which involve dividing an ambitious task into subtopics and having tutor-tutee pair research the same subtopic together

If you use this strategy, just be sure to teach tutors about giving help and feedback.

14. Reverse the Standard Peer Teaching Model

Peer teaching strategies typically see high-performing students tutor struggling classmates, but occasionally reversing the roles can have advantages.

When at-risk students help others in a controlled environment, research from the National Association of Secondary School Principals shows their confidence and communication abilities improve. This, in turn, can help them through the RTI process.

You and your students can reap these benefits through reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT). This involves partners taking turns as the tutor, and:

Guiding the tutee through the problem-solving process

Giving the tutee praise and feedback while working through exercises

Reviewing content together, asking each other questions and finding answers

If struggling students don't rise to their new responsibilities, just revert to traditional peer teaching.

15. Seek Help

You're not alone. Each school and district has a different makeup, but you shouldn't have to handle the intervention process yourself.
To ease the rigours of intensive instruction and evaluation, communicate with:

Fellow teachers for insight about the students you're helping

Consider how to incorporate student assessments into report card comments

Learning support specialists for tips and to share responsibilities

Administrators and your principal to provide updates and access data, especially if it seems a student needs special education services and parent involvement is required

The adage it takes a village to raise a child can easily apply to RTI. So, welcome help.

RTI Infographic

Created by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning-- an online resource for teaching tools and ideas -- below is an infographic based on this article:

Final Thoughts About RTI

These strategies support specific RTI stages, but you can also use many to reduce the need for intervention.

Remember, the first tier is rooted in consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction.

By using aforementioned first-tier tactics -- as well as researching and incorporating similar ones -- you should prevent many intervention cases. And serious issues may come to light faster, as you identify students who aren't receptive to diverse, credible instruction practices.

So, continue to be proactive. That's a core RTI strategy across tiers.

Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy - a fun and engaging adaptive math game used for lesson supplementation and response to intervention (RTI). It's used by more than two million teachers and 100 million students.

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The Teacher's Response to Intervention (RTI) Guide: Tiers, Strategies and More

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Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI. If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs. Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

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Jade Garrett

ERA is an early reading assessment program that is designed to recognize those who show signs of early reading problems. Although this kit is roughly $300, it is an easy to use assessment that takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes to complete. This tests stills such as written word vocabulary, rapid orthographic naming, silent orthographic efficiency, phonological awareness, and receptive vocabulary. Based on rankings from this program, professionals will be able to identify what each student may need to support their learning.

Era early reading assessment complete kit. PRO. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://www.proedinc.com/Products/13730/era-early-reading-assessment-complete-kit.aspx#:~:text=The%20Early%20Reading%20Assessment%20(ERA,1%2C001%20children%20from%208%20states.

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Description

Ages: 4-0 to 7-11 years
Testing Time: 10-15 minutes
Administration: Individual

The Early Reading Assessment (ERA) is an easily administered norm-referenced screening test designed to identify those young children who have reading problems. It has high reliability, is empirically validated, and was normed on a representative sample of 1,001 children from 8 states.

Classroom teachers, special educators, speech pathologists, and school psychologists can easily administer and score the ERA subtests. Three of these are core subtests, the results of which are combined to create the Early Reading Index (ERI); the other 2 are supplemental subtests.

Core Subtests and Composite Index The three core subtests measure print competence pertaining to the alphabet, word identification, and word comprehension using both silent and oral formats. The content of these subtests measure both early manifestations of real reading and requisite skills that lead directly to real reading.

Written Word Vocabulary (WWV) - measures print knowledge. In this subtest, the child is shown a picture or letter that is accompanied by an array of five choices (words, letters, numerals, or symbols). The child is asked to point to the choice that goes with the stimulus. This subtest is not timed. Of all the subtests, this one is the most like "silent word reading comprehension."

Rapid Orthographic Naming (RON) - measures letter-word identification and comprehension knowledge. In this subtest, the child is shown a stimulus card containing pictures, letters, numerals, and words. The child is given 60 seconds to name as many as he or she can. Of all the subtests, RON is most like "oral word reading fluency."

Silent Orthographic Efficiency (SOE) - measures the speed with which children can match letters and words. In this subtest, the child is shown a stimulus box that contains a letter or word and is instructed to mark one of five choices that contain the same text that appears in the stimulus box. The child is given 60 seconds to respond to as many items as he or she can. This subtest is most like "silent word reading fluency."

Early Reading Index (ERI) - The normative score that is formed by combining the results of the core subtests is called the Early Reading Index (ERI) and is a type of standard score. The Index is the most clinically useful score on the ERA because it is the most reliable score on the test; worth noting is that the ERI has neither floor nor ceiling effects at any age level.

Supplemental Subtests The supplemental oral language subtests measure important non-print correlates of reading.

Phonological Awareness (PA) - measures ability to discriminate among and manipulate phonemes. The child deletes phonemes, affixes, or words from words spoken by the examiner.

Receptive Vocabulary (RV) - measures understanding of common vocabulary. The child points to the picture of a word spoken by the examinee. This is a common format used to measure a language ability variously called "receptive oral vocabulary","listening vocabulary" or "picture vocabulary."

Scores Available The ERA yields age equivalents, percentile ranks, scaled scores, and a composite, the Early Reading Index. Subtest standard scores have a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3. The Index has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.

Statistical Characteristics The ERA scores satisfy the most demanding standards of reliability. The reliability coefficients for all the subtests exceed .80. The reliability for the index is .94, indicating near perfect reliability. ERA scores are equally reliable for all major demographic subgroups investigated. The scores for the ERA core subtests (i.e., WWV, RON, and SOE) demonstrated large to very large correlations to 5 criterion reading scores (TOPEL, TERA-3, WJ III, TOSWRF, and TOSREC). Evidence is presented to show that the ERA Early Reading Index score can be used effectively to screen for poor readers. The results from a binary classification analysis showed a sensitivity index of .81 and a specificity index of .83; only 5 false positives were identified. The value of .92 reported for the ROC curve is considered excellent.

Complete ERA Kit Includes: Examiner's Manual, Picture Book, 25 Examiner/Record Forms, the RON Stimulus Card, and 25 SOE Student Record Forms all in a sturdy storage box.

©2012

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ERA Early Reading Assessment Complete Kit

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Ages: 4-0 to 7-11 years Testing Time: 10-15 minutes Administration: Individual The Early Reading Assessment (ERA) is an easily administered norm-referenced screening test designed to identify those young children who have reading problems. It has high reliability, is empirically validated, and was normed on a representative sample of 1,001 children from 8 states.

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The Types of Genres of Writing- Cecily Anderson

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The Types of Genres of Writing- Cecily Anderson

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I love this video. It is visual and easy to follow. The video explains what a genre is and the difference between fiction and non fiction. It then goes in depth on each genre and explains the attributes of each one.

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Genres of Fiction - Elementary Educational Video for Students #reading #instruction #genres #reader

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Word work/ Spelling games- Cecily Anderson

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Word work/ Spelling games- Cecily Anderson

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This website shares five activities to use in the classroom to help students learn spelling. The activities are roll the dice, concentration, ball toss spelling, sensory spelling, and spelling art. Each activity has an explanation for how it is beneficial and how to do the activity.

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There's no shortcut to spelling-it's a skill that requires lots of practice! When I taught the early grades in elementary school, I liked to involve my students in classroom spelling games and activities. These ideas will encourage your students to practice their spelling at school and at home, and S-U-C-C-E-S-S is sure to follow.
Further reading: 5 Tips to Keep Your Students Engaged at the End of the School Year
1. Roll the Dice

Pair your little learners for this fun and teachable spelling activity. Give each group a pair of dice and a list of the spelling words. To play, each child rolls the dice and counts the dots. The child who rolls the greatest number wins the round and must copy one or two of the spelling words on his/her paper. The teacher decides how many words to copy per toss, according to the time limit on this activity. Play continues in this manner until one student has written all the spelling words on the list-this child is declared the winner.

2. Concentration

Do you remember the TV game show Concentration? Have you ever played the concentration game with playing cards? Well, this game, which needs to be made in advance, is an educational spin-off that can help your students get familiar with the spelling of certain words.

Divide a sheet of paper into 20 squares. Each spelling word should be written on two separate squares, then cut them into playing pieces. Mix up the squares and place them face down on the table. Pair up your students and have them take turns turning over two squares. If the squares match, the child keeps the pieces and takes another turn. If they don't match, the second player gets a turn. When time is up for playing, the students with the most matches wins the game. You can use words that are similar to help your students master the correct spellings.

3. Ball Toss Spelling

This game can be played inside the classroom or outdoors. Have your group stand in a circle. Then toss a ball to a student and call out a spelling word. If they spell the word correctly, the child will toss the ball back to you. If the word is spelled incorrectly, the child sends the ball back to you and then leaves the circle. Whoever is the last speller in the circle is the winner of this game.

4. Sensory Spelling

Learning to spell requires plenty of repetition. My young students enjoyed writing their spelling words in fun, sensory ways. Each week, I presented a different technique at the sensory table. We practiced writing spelling words in shaving cream and sand. Other ideas include using dry erase boards, wooden Scrabble letters on the table, magnetic alphabet letters on a cookie sheet, and alphabet stickers on paper. Who says practicing spelling has to be boring?

5. Spelling Art

Bring out the construction paper, crayons, and markers to make colorful art projects using spelling words. Here are a few ideas.

Construct a set of stairs with your spelling words.

Sp

Spe

Spel

Spell

Spelli

Spellin

Spelling

Or make a triangle with your spelling word.

TH

THR

THRO

THROW

Other art ideas include drawing a spiral on paper and having the kids write each spelling word a couple of times with colorful markers following the lines. Continue around the spiral until the student finishes with all the words on the spelling list. You can also draw intersecting lines across a sheet of paper and invite students to write a spelling word in each section with a different color marker in each box.
Further reading: Classroom Superlatives Are a Fun Way to End the School Year
Throughout my teaching career, I found that presenting fun classroom spelling games was the ticket to getting better grades from my students. Whether it's using one of my ideas or singing your spelling words to a rap beat, think of new ways to engage your students with spelling practice every day!

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5 Classroom Spelling Games and Activities to Help Students Learn

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There's no shortcut to spelling-it's a skill that requires lots of practice! When I taught the early grades in elementary school, I liked to involve my students in classroom spelling games and activities. These ideas will encourage your students to practice their spelling at school and at home, and S-U-C-C-E-S-S is sure to follow.

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This website lists strategies to help implement the writing process in elementary school Language Arts. There is a section that informs about the research and benefits behind writing. There are also strategies a teacher can use in the classroom, as well as lesson plans based on implementing the writing process.

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Strategy in Practice

The writing process involves teaching students to write in a variety of genres, encouraging creativity, and incorporating writing conventions. This process can be used in all areas of the curriculum and provides an excellent way to connect instruction with state writing standards.

The following are ways to implement each step of the writing process:

Prewriting-This step involves brainstorming, considering purpose and goals for writing, using graphic organizers to connect ideas, and designing a coherent structure for a writing piece. For kindergarten students, scribbling and invented spelling are legitimate stages of writing development; the role of drawing as a prewriting tool becomes progressively less important as writers develop. Have young students engage in whole-class brainstorming to decide topics on which to write. For students in grades 3-5, have them brainstorm individually or in small groups with a specific prompt, such as, "Make a list of important people in your life," for example. Online graphic organizers might help upper elementary students to organize their ideas for specific writing genres during the prewriting stage. Examples are the Essay Map, Notetaker, or Persuasion Map.

Drafting-Have students work independently at this stage. Confer with students individually as they write, offering praise and suggestions while observing areas with which students might be struggling and which might warrant separate conference time or minilessons.

Revising and Editing-Show students how to revise specific aspects of their writing to make it more coherent and clear during minilessons. You can model reading your own writing and do a think aloud about how you could add more details and make it clearer. Teach students to reread their own work more than once as they think about whether it really conveys what they want to their reader. Reading their work aloud to classmates and other adults helps them to understand what revisions are needed. Your ELLs will develop greater language proficiency as they collaborate with their peers when revising.

Rewriting-Have students incorporate changes as they carefully write or type their final drafts.

Rubrics help to make expectations and grading procedures clear, and provide a formative assessment to guide and improve your instruction. The Sample Writing Rubric, for example, can be used for upper elementary students.

As you work with your students to implement the writing process, they will begin to master writing and take it into all aspects of life.

Peer review, with clear guidelines for students to give feedback on each other's work, motivates students, allows them to discuss their writing with their peers, and makes the work load a little lighter for you. The Peer Edit with Perfection! PowerPoint Tutorial is a useful tool to teach students how to peer review and edit.

You can also have students can edit their own work using a checklist, such as the Editing Checklist. Editing is when students have already revised content but need to correct mistakes in terms of spelling, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and word choice.

Use minilessons, small-group lessons, or individual conferencing if necessary to make sure that students have made thoughtful changes to their writing content before moving on to the final draft.

Publishing-Encourage students to publish their works in a variety of ways, such as a class book, bulletin board, letters to the editor, school newsletter, or website. The ReadWriteThink Printing Press tool is useful for creating newspapers, brochures, flyers and booklets. Having an authentic audience beyond the classroom gives student writing more importance and helps students to see a direct connection between their lives and their literacy development.

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Strategy in Practice The writing process involves teaching students to write in a variety of genres, encouraging creativity, and incorporating writing conventions. This process can be used in all areas of the curriculum and provides an excellent way to connect instruction with state writing standards.

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The school I work for primarily uses the program Raz Kids for our elementary grades reading. There is a diagnostics test to place the students at their reading level. Books are offered by reading level for them to listen to, read independently, and answer comprehension questions on. Teachers can also assign their entire class or groups of students' certain books if they want to use this for group reading or class readings.

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I always like the articles that Reading Rockets provide, and this is a good one on reading assessments for early readers. The article covers the benefits of assessments and some examples for different areas. It covers letter awareness, phonic knowledge, decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension.

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Armstrong, Thomas (1994). Multiple intelligences in the classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Balanced Reading.com. Retrieved November 16, 2004, from: http://www.balancedreading.com/assessment.html

Big Ideas in Early Reading, University of Oregon. Retrieved November 16, 2004, from: http://reading.uoregon.edu/cia/assessment/index.php

DeBruinParecki, A. (2004). Evaluating early literacy skills and providing instruction in a meaningful context. High/Scope Resource: A Magazine for Educators, 23(3), 510.

Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (1992). Identifying a measure for monitoring student reading progress. School Psychology Review, 21(1), 4559.

Gardner, Howard (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic.

High-stakes assessments in reading: A position statement of the International Reading Association. Retrieved November 16, 2004, from: http://www.reading.org/pdf/high_stakes.pdf

Rhodes, L. K., & Shankin, N. L. (1993). Windows into literacy: Assessing learners K8. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.

Skiba, R. J., Simmons, A. B., Ritter, S., Kohler, K. R., & Wu, T. C. (2003). The psychology of disproportionality: Minority placement in context. Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 6, 2740.

Torgeson, J. K. (1998). Catch them before they fall: Identification and assessment to prevent reading failure in young children. Retrieved November 16, 2004 from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article.php?ID=411

Wren, S. (2004, November). Descriptions of early reading assessments. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved November 16, 2004 from: http://www.balancedreading.com/ assessment/assessment.pdf

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Early Reading Assessment: A Guiding Tool for Instruction

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How do you choose the best method for measuring reading progress? This brief article describes which assessments to use for different reading skills so that you can make sure all students are making progress towards becoming readers!

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Response to Intervention - Nicole Gregory

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Response to Intervention - Nicole Gregory

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This is a very helpful site that has a video to briefly explain the basics of RTI. The article gives information on what RTI is and what the 3 tiers are. What I liked best is that it has Teaching Strategies for Each RTI Tier. For the Tier 1 strategies it has things to try so your students do not slip into that next Tier.

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Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI.

If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs.

Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

Regardless, the intervention process should be ingrained in each classroom management plan. That's because it starts with you delivering high-quality instruction and monitoring how each student processes it.

Those who perform poorly or display concerning classroom habits are candidates for small-group or individual interventions. These are typically aimed at addressing trouble spots and building underdeveloped prerequisite skills to accelerate learning.

Depending on the intensity of intervention, and your school's resources, special educators and dedicated interventionists may involve themselves. You may also have to inform a student's parents in extreme cases, offering updates about progress and the methods you're using.

There isn't a universal RTI process, but most schools and districts divide it into three stages. You can learn about these stages below, or skip to tier-based strategies.

The Three RTI Tiers

Tier 1: High-Quality Instruction and Proactive Assessment

Think of the first RTI tier as everyday teaching. It's consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction. This helps ensure that student struggles aren't a result of improper teaching methods. If you don't already use them, some popular practices include:

In the context of RTI, high-quality instruction also involves providing supplemental learning opportunities based on assessment results.

Let's say you finish marking a math quiz, and notice several students struggle to multiply decimals. In class, give a task related to decimals and multiplication, discussing and modeling key steps and concepts with those students beforehand.

This is just one approach you can take.

Regardless, you shouldn't spend more than two months providing extra instruction to help a student enhance the same skillset. If he or she doesn't show measureable improvement, it may be time for the second RTI tier.

Tier 2: Targeted Intervention

Maintaining the first tier's style of classroom instruction, the next stage uses rigorous supplementary exercises and lessons targeted to a student's specific needs.

Normally, you would deliver these exercises and lessons in small-group settings outside of core class time. This allows students with common issues to work together, contextualizing and reinforcing concepts while building prerequisite skills.
You can objectively identify candidates for targeted intervention through:

Mid-Unit Evaluations: At the middle of each unit, deliver a surprise quiz or in-class task that covers all core skills and concepts you've covered thus far.

Formal Evaluations: After marking tests and assignments, it'll be clear who's struggling. Your school may have specific criteria, but targeted intervention candidates are typically students who receive failing grades or come close.

After class or during recess, work with students who need help. Focused on clarifying lingering issues or building underdeveloped skills, provide exercises that require they work together and individually.

For example, students could work as a team to solve interactive challenges on a math website. Then, they could each complete a worksheet that reinforces the skills they practiced on the website. You would support students by offering clarification and filling knowledge gaps.

Nuances aside, you should match targeted intervention to student needs by adjusting the:

The second stage intervention should take longer than the first. But if you can't see clear progress after a month or two, you may need to move the student into the third RTI tier.

Tier 3: Intensive Intervention and Evaluation

Working one-on-one with you or a dedicated interventionist, students in the final tier receive intensive lessons that target their unique trouble spots and knowledge gaps.

In the United States, 5% of children need this kind of help, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Based on the student's learning style and needs, as well as underdeveloped skills, third-tier intervention sessions can include:

Talking with the child about his or her specific issues, discussing strategies to overcome them

Sharing positive and corrective feedback whenever possible

Providing diverse media to help process content

Revisiting lessons from past units or years

Setting achievement plans and goals

Modeling problem-solving steps

The educator who runs these sessions must record as much data as possible about the student's improvement or lack thereof. Are prerequisite skills starting to meet standards? Are there jumps in in-class performance?

If the student doesn't make marked progress, you -- depending on school or district policy -- may have to recommend him or her for a special education evaluation.

Teaching Strategies for Each RTI Tier

RTI probably seems like a daunting process.

It can be. But there are many ways you can help and empower students to succeed in each stage. Consider using some of these 15 intervention strategies, many of which are interchangeable between tiers:

Tier 1 Strategies

1. Watch for Impostor Syndrome

It's easy for a student to nod his or her head, then bury it in a book without asking questions to create an illusion of comprehension. That's why you have to watch for impostor syndrome.

Proactively looking for students who feign understanding, filling their knowledge gaps, can prevent disappointing surprises when marking tests or assignments. You can spot imposter syndrome by regularly:

Asking Students for Their Own Words -- Instead of repeating concepts verbatim, ask students to explain specific ideas using their own words. This will not only help them process content, but reveal how well they understand it.

Using Exit Tickets -- Save 10 minutes at the end of class, allowing students to write about what they learned. They'll prepare for tomorrow's lesson, whereas you'll see who's grasping content.

Adopting a proactive approach can set an example to follow, too. Students may pose more questions and not hesitate to ask for help, since they know you'll likely approach or call on them anyway. 2. Give Only Two Marks for Informal AssessmentsRecall a time you saw a big F in red ink on your work. You were likely upset, too demoralised to review mistakes and feedback.

So, on informal assessments throughout a unit, just state if a student did or did not meet expectations.

Then, provide struggling students with a clear path to improve. For example, pair classmates who didn't meet expectations with those who did, giving them a review and practice activity. When strugglers are confident they understand key concepts, encourage them to tell you. Provide a new assessment, allowing them to prove their competency.

This should partially prevent students from being unprepared for tests and assignments.

3. Have Private Mid-Unit Conversations

Like the last strategy, use this one to identify if and how students are struggling before formal evaluations.

At the middle of each unit, run a fun classwide activity that doesn't introduce key skills or concepts. This gives you a chance to pull each student away for a few minutes to:

Review results

Note trouble spots

Receive input about questions and problems

In doing so, each student can gauge his or her own understanding. Plus, it helps you determine if certain issues are isolated or widespread, informing how you'll deal with them.

4. Switch Between Solo, Small- and Large-Group Learning

Differentiated instruction is a hallmark of RTI's first tier. And an easy, yet effective, way to differentiate is by alternating between individual and group activities.

This is because diverse settings provide distinct learning scenarios.

For example, running literature circles in small groups encourages students to shape and inform each other's understandings of readings, helping auditory and participatory learners retain more information. On the other hand, solo reflection exercises may appeal to those who don't gain as much from discussion as independent thinking.

Plus, varying your lessons this way helps keep engagement levels high.

5. Assign Open-Ended Projects

Giving choices for projects is another differentiation strategy that fits into the first intervention tier.

Instead of assigning an inflexible project, provide a list of ideas. This allows students to choose one that lets them best demonstrate their knowledge. Be sure to include a rubric for each project, setting clear expectations.
By enticing and challenging students, this approach encourages them to:

Work and learn at their own paces

Process content in ways that appeal to them

Showcase their knowledge and skill mastery as effectively as possible

This strategy not only benefits students, but helps you see their unique work and learning styles.

Tier 2 Strategies

6. Set Measurable Goals

Setting clearly-defined objectives will define an explicit route to graduate from intervention.

Addressing a given student's challenges and trouble spots, objectives should take the form of learning and behaviour goals.

Learning goals focus on the student understanding concepts and developing skills. For example, "I, student's name, will complete 10 additional questions about fractions, as provided by my math teacher, each weeknight for the next two weeks."

Behaviour goals require the student to concentrate and work efficiently. For example, "I, student's name, will not interrupt any of my teachers while they're speaking. Instead, I will raise my hand to ask questions."

Notice how the goals are measureable? If the student interrupts a teacher even once or only completes nine questions each night, he or she doesn't meet them.

To reinforce the importance of these goals, review progress at each targeted intervention session.

7. Add a Twist to Mixed-Ability Groups

Grouping high performers with struggling classmates for in-class activities is common, but needs a twist as a second tier intervention strategy.

That's because underperforming students sometimes don't actively participate in these groups. Instead, they rely on group members.

Here's the twist: Run activities that require students to write down their thoughts or findings, but give each student a different colour pen.

You'll likely notice the struggling students don't write down as much. If this is the case, tell them they'll present their group's thoughts or findings to the class. This way, they must process the content to prepare.

Improved understanding of content, better presentation skills.

8. Use EdTech that Adjusts to Each Student

Some educational technologies use adaptive learning principles, detecting student trouble spots and helping them build skills to overcome them.

For example, Prodigy is a fun and engaging math game that adjusts content to help students address skill deficits and knowledge gaps. It also offers feedback to help them solve specific mistakes, as they answer questions that use words, charts, pictures and numbers. Currently used by over two million teachers, the game is aligned with curricula across Canada, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and India.
Create and sign into your free teacher account now!
9. Model Everything and Use Role-Plays

To supplement explanations, demonstrating proper practices will give struggling students clear examples and reference points.

Let's say you're running a think-pair-share activity. To clarify, this involves students individually thinking about a problem, pairing together to discuss their answers and presenting their ideas to the class.
After giving instructions, you could act out a:

Partner conversation, reaching conclusions by asking each other questions

Brief presentation about answers, modeling what students should say about their ideas and problem-solving processes

This strategy helps intervention students participate to the best of their abilities, enjoying the activity itself.

10. Preach Four-Step Problem Solving

Teaching problem-solving skills in targeted interventions can give students the confidence to answer challenging problems, reaching comprehensive answers.

This is especially important for those who understand a topic's underlying concepts, but struggle to apply or articulate them.

One of the most popular resources is A Problem Solving Approach to Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers. The authors describe four steps you should encourage students to follow, which work for most subjects.
The steps are:

Understanding the Problem -- Students should rewrite it in their own words, noting helpful information it reveals and indicates a need for.

Devising a Plan -- Students should use information they gleaned to make notes, tables, diagrams, equations and anything else that creates a path to solving the problem.

Carrying out the Plan -- Students should follow this path, reviewing each step along the way and making changes as needed.

Looking Back -- Students should double-check each step after reaching their answers. Then, it's best to look at the "big picture." Does the solution make sense when applied to the original problem? Is there a different, logical way of reaching the same solution? If not, they should re-visit their approaches.

Armed with these steps, tough questions shouldn't look as daunting.

Tier 3 Strategies

11. Gamify a Personal Learning Plan

Motivating students in the final RTI tier is typically a challenge in of itself. Gamifying learning plans can engage and incentivize them, empowering them to move back in the middle tier.

Whether you're in charge of this intervention stage or not, you can still apply video game elements in your classroom for these and other students.
Consider gamification strategies such as:

Adjusting Your Scoring System -- Give traditional scores and experience points (XP) on tests and assignments, setting a goal for the student to reach a certain amount of XP per unit. For example, if a student scores 60% on a quiz, give him or her 6,000 XP. You can also award XP for completing extra assignments, participating in class or anything else that shows effort to learn.

Using Stages -- Call topics and units stages. These terms have clear connotations for you, but students may not see how they fit together. If they're gamers, they'll understand that reaching the next stage requires overcoming precursory challenges. Emphasize this by framing certain tasks as prerequisites to reach that next learning stage.

If these tips work especially well, you should see similar results by using them in the first two tiers.

12. Gather Data to Spot Trends

Use data at your disposal to pinpoint where and when a student's issues arose.

In doing so, you can tailor intensive instruction that addresses specific needs.

Let's say you determine that a student's performance didn't start to sink when he or she entered your classroom. Rather, it went downhill in the middle of last year's math class. It's now clear you must revisit that content, helping the student build skills taught in that class. You can then move onto this year's topics.

Depending on school or district resources, you may not be tasked with delving into this information. But if you are, look at resources that contain student performance across:

Past years

Previous units

Current classes

Different subjects

Invariably, an effective RTI approach is rooted in such data.

13. Consider Peer Teaching

Pairing struggling students with top-performers can yield benefits, according to peer teaching studies.

For example, "students generally identify more easily with peer helpers than with adult authority figures," according to an influential study. This means they may be more willing to ask questions and for feedback. What's more, an Ohio University pilot study determined that students who read and discuss story passages with peers recall more content and score higher on assessments.
Peer tutoring is a nuanced pedagogy in its own right, but easy-to-run activities include:

Think-pair-share exercises, which were discussed in the section about second-tier strategies

Peer editing exercises, which rely on tutors giving targeted feedback about a tutee's written work

Jigsaw exercises, which involve dividing an ambitious task into subtopics and having tutor-tutee pair research the same subtopic together

If you use this strategy, just be sure to teach tutors about giving help and feedback.

14. Reverse the Standard Peer Teaching Model

Peer teaching strategies typically see high-performing students tutor struggling classmates, but occasionally reversing the roles can have advantages.

When at-risk students help others in a controlled environment, research from the National Association of Secondary School Principals shows their confidence and communication abilities improve. This, in turn, can help them through the RTI process.

You and your students can reap these benefits through reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT). This involves partners taking turns as the tutor, and:

Guiding the tutee through the problem-solving process

Giving the tutee praise and feedback while working through exercises

Reviewing content together, asking each other questions and finding answers

If struggling students don't rise to their new responsibilities, just revert to traditional peer teaching.

15. Seek Help

You're not alone. Each school and district has a different makeup, but you shouldn't have to handle the intervention process yourself.
To ease the rigours of intensive instruction and evaluation, communicate with:

Fellow teachers for insight about the students you're helping

Consider how to incorporate student assessments into report card comments

Learning support specialists for tips and to share responsibilities

Administrators and your principal to provide updates and access data, especially if it seems a student needs special education services and parent involvement is required

The adage it takes a village to raise a child can easily apply to RTI. So, welcome help.

RTI Infographic

Created by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning-- an online resource for teaching tools and ideas -- below is an infographic based on this article:

Final Thoughts About RTI

These strategies support specific RTI stages, but you can also use many to reduce the need for intervention.

Remember, the first tier is rooted in consistently delivering differentiated and scientifically-based instruction.

By using aforementioned first-tier tactics -- as well as researching and incorporating similar ones -- you should prevent many intervention cases. And serious issues may come to light faster, as you identify students who aren't receptive to diverse, credible instruction practices.

So, continue to be proactive. That's a core RTI strategy across tiers.

Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy - a fun and engaging adaptive math game used for lesson supplementation and response to intervention (RTI). It's used by more than two million teachers and 100 million students.

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The Teacher's Response to Intervention (RTI) Guide: Tiers, Strategies and More

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Feel free to skip this section if you're familiar with the definition of RTI. If you aren't familiar or want a refresher, RTI focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment and assistance of students who have learning and behaviour needs. Although the term is widely used across North America, other regions have similar approaches and standards under different names.

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Gregory Glatz

This is a great site that shows fun spelling games for kids to do at home. What I like about this resource is that shows K, 1st, and 2nd grade level activities. Also, I feel some students will develop faster in their learning if they get more practice at home and not just at school. This would be a great resource to give out to the parents/guardians in your class.

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HOMER Blog I The essential early learning program for ages 2-8. Try it free!

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If you think all spelling games are rigid and boring, think again! At HOMER, we're all about building confident learners ready for school and life, and we believe this can be done in fun and exciting ways!

From sneaky switching letters to jumping across letter lily pads, we've selected our favorite spelling games to share with you to make your child's spelling journey an enjoyable one.

In this article, we'll break down the importance of spelling in early learning, including the stages of spelling development.

We'll also tell you about nine fun, simple spelling games that you can play at home with minimal equipment required. Let's get started!

Why Is Spelling Important In Early Learning?

Spelling development is a critical skill in early learning for many reasons.

Spelling is a lifelong skill that your child will use every day, no matter the career they choose later in life, so it's important that we build strong, confident spellers from early childhood.

As children learn to spell and write with higher accuracy, it makes their writing easier to read - not only for the adults and peers in their lives but also for themselves. This increases confidence in children as spellers and writers.

Additionally, strengthening your child's spelling abilities assists in both reading and writing skill development.

Phonetically reading and spelling are connected in that reading involves blending sounds into words and spelling involves separating sounds to write a word.

Taking advantage of this skill reversibility is a plus for early readers and will help your child simultaneously build skills in reading and spelling.

The Stages Of Spelling Development

The five stages of spelling development are the precommunicative stage, the semiphonetic stage, the phonetic stage, the transitional stage, and the correct stage.

Here's a closer look at each of these stages.

Precommunicative Stage

The precommunicative stage is the first phase of spelling development. If your child falls into this group, they don't yet understand letter-sound correspondence, which is the relationship between written and spoken language.

Children in the precommunicative stage also haven't yet grasped the difference between upper and lowercase letters, and they may not know the entire alphabet. But that doesn't mean they're not trying to learn those letters.

At this stage, children are usually scribbling. Sometimes those scribbles look very similar to our alphabet. Other times, not so much.

All this scribbling and letter learning helps prepare them for the next exciting stage!

Semiphonetic Stage

The big milestone of this stage is that a child begins to understand letter-sound correspondence.

Children arrive at this milestone by learning how to connect written letters to the sounds they make. For instance, for the letter "p," they may say "puh" to indicate the sound it makes in words.

Another interesting element of this phase is that children may ignore vowels when spelling words. Instead of writing "because," they may spell it as "bkz." The child hears the /b/ and the /k/ but attributes the /k/ to K, not C, and the buzz sound for S, which is almost a Z sound.

While it can be tempting to try to correct your child, that shouldn't be the focus at this stage. Instead, celebrate their progress because this phase won't last long.

Phonetic Stage

You will notice further development of letter-sound correspondence at this stage. Your child will also show an improved understanding of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, such as pan, bit, dog, cat, etc.

Children at this spelling stage will begin to understand letter chunks. This is when we connect more than one letter to create a specific sound. For example, ch, sh, br, etc.

The phonetic stage is a major milestone in your child's spelling development. They are on their way to understanding the basic spelling rules of the English language!

Transitional Stage

Children show an improved ability to handle decodable and non-decodable words at this stage.

Decodable words follow the regular spelling rules and patterns of the English language. Therefore, it's easier to sound them out when spelling. Non-decodable words are different because they don't follow the regular patterns of our language ( done instead of dun, was instead of wus, give instead of giv, etc.).

As your child's phonetic instincts improve, they'll get better at spelling decodable words by sounding them out.

When your child doesn't know a word, they may rely on their ability and understanding of the structure of words. But they may still incorrectly spell some words. For example, they might spell " egul" instead of " eagle."

Since non-decodable words (i.e., sight words) don't follow regular patterns, children may eventually learn them through memorization.

Correct Stage

When your child has reached this stage, they understand the basic spelling rules of the English language. This includes dealing with silent vowels and consonants, prefixes and suffixes, and alternative and irregular spellings.

Children can comfortably handle many words at this phase and may even notice their own spelling mistakes.

With these stages in mind, the games we've selected below are geared toward children in the semiphonetic, phonetic, and transitional stages.

This means we'll be focusing on developing your child's skills in using consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, sight words, phonetic spelling, and letter-sound correspondences.

Keep reading to find out how to play our favorite spelling games!

9 Fun Spelling Games You Can Do At Home

Kindergarten Spelling Games

Throughout kindergarten, your child will begin to learn CVC words that are phonetically regular, such as bed, kid, top, and bug.

When choosing spelling games for your child in this age group, it's best to stick to activities that include these types of words to build confidence and enhance what they're learning at school.

Try out our favorites below!

1) Letter Switch

For this exercise, you'll need letters written on post-it notes, magnetic letters, or some letters cut out from a magazine - whatever is most easily accessible for you.

Starting with a CVC word such as "cat", have your child change out the first letter to create a new word, such as "pat". It's best to start with first-letter changes, as most children will find this the easiest way to learn.

Once your child becomes more familiar and confident with CVC words, you can increase the level of difficulty by having them change the last letters of the word (changing "pat" to "pan", for example) and then introduce changing vowels, so "pan" becomes "pin".

Start with a small goal - five correct letter changes equals a win, for example.

Eventually, as your child becomes stronger with their letter changes, you can increase the number of correct changes needed to win the game.

2) Create-A-Word

Start by gathering the post-it notes, magnetic letters, or cut-out letters that you would have used in our first game.

Pick out three letters in no particular order that create a CVC word, and then have your child create a word using the letters you've chosen.

If your child is having trouble spelling a word using the letters given, try first putting the vowel in place. This way, your child only needs to fill in the beginning and ending consonants.

Ready to increase the difficulty level of this game? Try picking out six letters and have your child spell out two words!

3) Visualize The Word

As we help our children with their spelling, it's essential to help them visualize the words so that spelling really comes alive for them. Fortunately, spelling activities can make learning to spell creative and fun!

For this activity, you'll need a few magazines, a pair of child-safe scissors, a glue stick, craft paper, a marker, and some crayons.

Start by introducing your child to a CVC word, like pan. Then, hand them the magazines and ask them to find the letters p, a, and n (you may want to help them look for larger words in the headlines or titles so that they're easier to glue).

After finding these letters, have your child cut them out and paste them onto their craft paper. Once they've completed this, have them search for images of pans to add to their masterpiece.

Creating this art piece can help children focus on each letter individually, and the visual representations of the word may also help them remember what the term actually means.

First Grade Spelling Games

As your first grader is learning to solidify CVC words and phonetically spell words with beginning and ending consonant blends, it's important to find spelling games that help reinforce these lessons.

We've chosen our favorite games to help your first grader reinforce phonetically regular words and memorize crucial sight words that aren't phonetically regular. Take a look below!

4) Letter Removal

Using magnetic letters or a chalkboard, select and spell out three words that your child is learning to spell.

Have your child close their eyes and take away one letter from each word. Scramble up the removed letters and once your child opens their eyes, have them remake each word.

Once they're an expert, try taking away two letters from each word, then three, and so on. You could also add in time limits once your child is ready so they can try to beat their personal best!

5) Poster Words

Using the Dolch Word List or your child's writing, select a word that your child is often misspelling or would like to learn to spell.

For more advanced spellers, try selecting a few words at a time to watch their progress bloom!

On a sheet of paper or cardboard (one per word), draw five large checkboxes at the top and write the word in large bubble letters in the middle to create a poster.

Next, spend some time decorating the letters with colorful markers, stickers, glitter - anything you want!

Once per day, have your child spell out their chosen word without looking at the poster. Each time they're able to spell it correctly, they get to add a giant check mark to one of the five boxes.

After they've filled all five boxes, it's time to create a new poster! You can even hole-punch each poster once it's completed and store it in a loose-leaf binder, watching it get thicker and thicker as your child masters more words.

6) Unscramble The Word

For this fun game, all you need are fridge magnets or alphabet blocks.

Choose three words, and scramble their letters with the magnets or blocks. Then, have your child unscramble these words by placing the letters in the correct order.

For an increased challenge, ask them to complete this task within a certain time limit. You can even start with simple words and increase the difficulty as their spelling skills improve.

If you have multiple children, this can also be a great competitive game - the first player to unscramble all their words wins!

Second Grade Spelling Games

Your second grader now knows words with less frequent letter-sound correspondences, such as oy, oi, ou, and aw sounds. This means you can select a variety of age-appropriate words in the spelling games you play to help expand their vocabulary.

Three of our favorite spelling games for second graders are below!

7) Build A Spelling Snowman

This game is just like the traditional Hangman game, but more kid-friendly!

Start by choosing a word in your head, and on a whiteboard or piece of paper, draw the correct number of lines for each letter to be filled in as you play. For example, the word "fright" would have six blank spaces to be filled in with each correct guess.

Have your speller guess what letter might be in the word and fill in a blank with a letter on each correct guess. For each incorrect guess, gradually draw a snowman piece by piece until you run out of additions.

This could start with a large circle for the snowman's body, a smaller circle for his midsection, and an even smaller circle for the head.

It's up to you how generous you'd like to be as to how many extra parts the snowman has, but remember to draw in his sticks for arms and fingers, buttons, carrot nose, and of course, his smile!

This fun spelling game can also be played in reverse so that with each correct answer, you're slowly building the snowman.

8) Leap Across The Spelling Lily Pads

Start this game by writing out each letter of the alphabet on separate pieces of paper to act as your lily pads.

Place the lily pads in any order on the floor and choose a word for your child to spell, saying it out loud. Start with shorter words, and then slowly build up to more complex words.

Once your child knows the word to spell, they can hop like a frog from one lily pad to another until the word is correctly spelled out.

You can add time limits or a points system

Start this game by writing out a select number of letters of the alphabet on separate pieces of paper to act as your lily pads.

Place the lily pads in any order on the floor and choose a word for your child to spell, saying it out loud. Start with shorter words, and then slowly build up to more complex words.

Once your child knows the word to spell, they can hop like a frog from one lily pad to another until the word is correctly spelled out.

You can add time limits or a points system if your child is more advanced, and keeping track of their achievements makes this game even more fun!

9) Spell And Toss

All you need to play this game is a ball that you can easily toss around (e.g., beach ball, tennis ball, etc.). If you're playing inside, a balled-up sock might be better.

Start by having your family stand in a circle. Then, the first player has to call out a word and toss the ball to the next player, who needs to say the first letter of the word.

When that player is done, they will toss the ball to the next person, who needs to say the second letter, and so on. When a player gets a letter wrong, they can toss the ball to the next player, who will try a different letter.

The player to say the last correct letter gets to decide the next word to spell. As your child's vocabulary and spelling skills improve, you can pick the pace up by requiring each player to name their letter within a certain time limit.

This is also a great way to practice for the spelling tests your child will likely have once they reach second grade.

Effective Strategies To Help Your Child Spell

In addition to playing spelling games, here are some tips to help your child improve their spelling.

Focus On Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is a person's ability to identify and manipulate sounds, specifically phonemes.

A phoneme is the smallest possible unit of sound in a language. Every word in our language is made up of phonemes, and we blend them to help us form words.

For example, " dog " has the phonemes d/o/g. So, we blend these small sounds (i.e., phonemes) to pronounce the complete word.

Understandably, children who haven't yet mastered this skill will have some trouble spelling accurately. That's why helping your child with phonemic awareness is a great place to start.

If your child is struggling with some words, you can read them out loud slowly by focusing on each phoneme and then speed up to say the entire word. For example, c/a/t. Cat!

Practice With Rhyming Words

Rhymes are a critical component of phonological awareness. But they deserve their spot on our list because of how effective they can be in helping children with their spelling.

That's because a child who knows how to spell the word ball will find it easy also to spell all, call, fall, hall, etc.

You can check out this blog for effective rhyming strategies you can use at home.

Allow For Phonetic Spelling

This tip is important, particularly for younger spellers. Allow your child to spell a word out according to what it sounds like to them.

You can achieve this by first encouraging them to say each letter as they spell. For example, /c/ /a/ /t/ for cat or /p/ /i/ /n/ for pin (later advancing to /s/ /p/ /i/ /n/ for spin).

Once they've spelled it out, review it together while focusing on each letter. You can then talk about which letters need to be changed for the word to be correct.

Practice The Chunks In Words

As highlighted above, when we talk about chunks, we're referring to the grouping of more than one letter together to produce a specific sound. The English language has many, such as ple, br, ch, sh, all, as well as word families such as ish, ang, ack, etc.

Allow your child to practice writing words that have the same chunks (e.g., child, chair, chain, champ, etc.) so they can familiarize themselves with the word families - groups of words with a typical pattern or feature.

The next time your child encounters a word that begins with a "ch" sound, they'll be better equipped to spell it correctly.

Make Regular Reading A Priority

This is one of our favorite tips!

Reading has many incredible benefits for children, such as cognitive and language development, improving listening skills, and developing a child's imagination. So, make this a priority by having a variety of books that you can read together.

While reading, remember to emphasize words with specific patterns or rules. For example, if you come across the word ring, remind your young learner of the other words with an "ing" sound, like wing, sing, king, etc.

By doing this, you help your child recognize similar pronunciations and spellings more easily when they see them in the future.

Make Spelling Fun And Simple With HOMER!

With the spelling games above and some practice, your child can improve their spelling skills while having fun in the process!

One way to make spelling fun is to use our Explore Letters Kit. It is a perfect addition to your exploration of spelling, from CVC words for kindergarteners to more advanced spelling words to develop your second grader's skills.

Packed with fun activities and expert tips and instructions, our Explore Letters Kit will take your child on a spelling journey like no other!

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9 Fun Spelling Games For Kids That You Can Do At Home

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If you think all spelling games are rigid and boring, think again! At HOMER, we're all about building confident learners ready for school and life, and we believe this can be done in fun and exciting ways!

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Gregory Glatz

This is a wonderful resource of activities to  keep your students engaged in learning how to spell. What I like about the activities suggested is how simple they are. Sometimes, I feel teachers can overthink their learning and I think keeping it simple will get the best results out of the students. I fell all 35 of these activities can be brought into your classroom. Enjoy!

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Inside: 35 fun, hands-on spelling activities that get kids actively engaged with their spelling words - thinking, making, creating! Includes a printable version for at home learning.

There's no doubting that some children (if not all!) learn best when they are actively engaged with thinking, making, creating - DOING. Which is why it can be advantageous to add an active, hands-on element to subjects that more typically rely on rote learning style activities - like spelling.

The 35 hands-on spelling activities included on this list are much more fun and engaging than simply writing out spelling words over and over again (my kids both strongly disliked the 'Look, Cover, Write, Check' approach to spelling - and I honestly didn't see much learning happening with it).

These ideas can be useful as activities for literacy rotations or as homework activities, working particularly well with children in the early elementary/primary grades. Plus, at the bottom of this post you'll find a handy printable version that can be sent home with families to use for at home learning.

RELATED: Looking for meaningful spelling activities for grades 4-6? Check out our spelling activities worksheets.

35 Hands-On Spelling Activities

1. Make each word with Scrabble letter tiles.

2. Cut some short lengths of yarn and use them to form the letters of each word.

3. Paint the words with watercolour paints.

4. Write words with pavement chalk on the pavement or on the trampoline mat.

5. Make the letters of each word with your body as you spell the word aloud.

6. Build your words with Lego bricks.

7. Stamp your words onto paper with letter stamps.

8. Stamp your words into playdough with non-inked letter stamps.

9. Dot paint each word with a Q-tip or cotton bud.

10. Make your words with letter stickers.

11. Spell your words aloud as you star jump - one jump for each letter.

12. Make letters from chenille stems/pipe cleaners and use them to spell each word.

13. Type your words on a computer.

14. Write each word with your finger in a sand or salt tray.

15. Make rainbow words, tracing each letter with lots of colours.

16. Thread your words with letter beads.

17. Write your words on the window with a whiteboard marker.

18. Spell aloud and clap for each letter of your words.

19. Spell each word aloud in a robot voice.

20. Make each word with alphabet stones.

21. Write each word with your finger into shaving cream on the shower screen at bath time - or spray a little on a cookie tray to try it when you're not in the bath.

22. Write your words onto paper plates or circles (one word per plate) and make up a jumping game.

23. Write your words in a fun script - with tiny letters or tall, skinny ones, or try bubble writing!

24. Draw a hopscotch grid on the pavement with chalk. Add a spelling word to each square. As your stone lands on a square spell the word aloud before hopping.

25. Squeeze a small amount of acrylic paint into a re-sealable Ziploc bag. Seal the top and then use your finger to write each word 'in' the paint.

26. Make each word with magnetic letters.

27. Play Tic Tac Toe with your spelling words - each player chooses a word to use in the place of the 'x' or 'o' as you play. Choose a new word for each game.

28. Write each word with white crayon onto white paper and then paint over them with watercolour paint for a magic word reveal!

29. Play Hangman choosing the word to guess from your list of words.

30. Make each word from playdough or plasticine snakes.

31. Spell each word aloud as you jump on the trampoline - one bounce per letter.

32. Write the letters of each word onto a craft stick (one letter per stick). Jumble the sticks up and then remake each word.

33. Use a laser pointer to 'write' each word on the wall.

34. Write your list words onto two sets of index cards and use them to play a memory game.

35. Write each of your words onto a chalkboard with chalk and then use a small paintbrush to paint over them with water.

35. Write each word onto a piece of coloured paper, cut the letters apart and mix them up. Race to unscramble each word.

How to Print Your Hands On Spelling Ideas Grid

Click here to download: Printable Hands-On Spelling Ideas Grid. Save the PDF to your computer. Open the PDF for full printing instructions.
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Please note: All Childhood 101 printables are for personal use only, you may not use any part of this content for commercial purposes-that includes selling the document, giving it away to promote your business or website, or printing the file to sell. You may not share, loan or redistribute these documents. Teachers may use multiple copies for students in their own classroom.

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Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

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35 Hands-On Spelling Activities to Use With Any Word List

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Inside: 35 fun, hands-on spelling activities that get kids actively engaged with their spelling words - thinking, making, creating! Includes a printable version for at home learning. There's no doubting that some children (if not all!) learn best when they are actively engaged with thinking, making, creating - DOING.

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Gregory Glatz

This website gives great ideas for spelling activities in your classroom. Sometimes as educators we need new material to spice up the class. Personally, I am a huge fan of the bingo for my students!

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Are you searching for spelling activities that won't make your students groan? We get it! Spelling is a crucial skill that helps our students communicate and build the skills they need to be proficient writers, but the structure of the English language doesn't exactly make it easy for kids to learn.

With thousands of words borrowed from a host of other languages, English spelling is packed with irregularities that make it challenging for young learners. But while it's true we're teaching in an age of auto-correct, spell-checking software and dictionaries available with a few swipes of a finger, the fact remains that teaching spelling is as important now as it ever has been.

So how do you get your students on board with learning the complex but fundamental rules that will have them spelling every word just right, every time? Make it fun ... of course!

The teachers on the Teach Starter team have created this list of some of our favourite spelling activities and ideas to make stringing letters together just a bit more engaging this school year. Read on for ideas for a number of year levels - including hands-on activities - plus some free printables!

Short on time? This set of task cards is packed with 57 different spelling activities!

Spelling Activities for Primary Students

Play Wordketball

This spelling twist on the game of basketball requires a small hoop, which you can find at a cheap shop and mount on your whiteboard. Most are available with suction cups, so they can easily be removed. You'll also need a small ball that can fit in the hoop, plus your spelling word list!

Here's how it works:

1. Print out your list of weekly spelling words on slips of paper, and place each slip into a bowl.

2. Line students up in two teams at the hoop.

3. The student at the front of line 1 will select a paper slip from the bowl and read the word out loud.

4. The student at the front of the other line then has to spell that word out loud. If they get the word correct, they then have a chance to shoot a basket to earn a point for their team before moving to the back of the line. If they are incorrect, they move to the back of the line without making an attempt.

5. Play continues with the bowl full of words alternating between teams until you run out of spelling words.

6. The team with the most amount of baskets made in wordketball wins!

Looking to enhance students' understanding of the meaning of their spelling words? You could also challenge students to share the definition of the word to earn a point for their team or read out the definition and challenge students to guess the word before spelling it.

Go 'Around the World'

Around the World is a whole-class game that's easy to adapt for different ability levels.

Here's how it works:

1. Choose a student to be the first traveller, and have them stand behind the person seated to their right.

2. Read a word to this student, and he or she must spell it aloud.

3. If they get the word correct, they move to stand behind the next person seated to their right - moving 'around the world.'

4. If the word is spelled incorrectly, give the word to the student seated in front of them. If that student spells the word correctly, that student becomes the next traveller.

The goal of the game is for a student to make it all the way around the circle (around the world). This one works really well in small groups.

Create Spelling Word Shapes

This is another hands-on idea that will help students create visual memories - allow students to practise writing out their spelling words in their favourite shape! For this idea, you'll need tracing paper and simple black and white colouring sheets or concrete poem templates. Students place the tracing sheet on top of their shape, and write their spelling words all along the black lines!

Here's what it looks like when a word is written down to create the shape of a cat!

Teach Starter Teacher Tip: This activity works best using simple line drawings like this crescent moon shape poem or our free printable heart template.

Play Sight Word Bingo

We know kids love playing Bingo - it's why we have dozens of sight word bingo cards ready to print on Teach Starter. You can print one of the pre-made options, or add your spelling word list to this blank customisable template and have students play in small groups.

Too simple? This fun activity is deceptive! While it's one that will get your students swept up, it also reinforces spelling as your students will need to recognise the spelling of words and match them to the corresponding spaces on their bingo cards. This repetition of reading and recognising words can reinforce spelling skills and help students memorise the correct spellings.

Play Celebrity Heads with Words

Encourage students to learn more about their spelling words with the help of their classmates and a game of Celebrity Heads With Words.

Create a hat using coloured card, or print out a crown kids can wear for the rest of the day. Use putty to stick a word to the front of the student's hat. Students will work in small groups to work out the spelling word on their hats. They can ask simple 'yes' or 'no' questions such as 'Am I noun?' or 'Do I start with a consonant?'

When they have correctly guessed, they will then attempt to spell the word. If they are correct, they earn a point. Play then moves to the next player in the group who will have to guess the word on their own hat. The goal of the game is to have the most points in the group.

Make Spelling Words Sparkle

Sparkle is a favourite on our teacher team, and it's a great game to get the whole class involved!

Here's how it works:

1. You'll need to arrange the students in a circle or a line, depending on how much space you have in your classroom.

2. The student chosen to start the game off should say the first letter of a spelling word (you can provide the word, or you can challenge the student to remember one from their list).

3. The next student in line says the second letter of the word, the following student says the third letter, and so on, until the word is spelled out completely. For example, if the word is 'butterfly,' the starting student would say 'B,' the next student would say 'U,' and so on until the last student says 'Y.'

4. After the word has been spelled, the next person must say 'Sparkle.' This encourages active participation - if the student wasn't paying attention and doesn't say sparkle, they will have to sit down!

5. The player next to the person who said Sparkle must sit down.

6. Provide a new word for students to spell, starting with the next student in the line (or circle). If the student cannot think of a letter or says the wrong letter, they are out and must sit down.

7. The game continues this way, with each student saying the next letter of the spelling word until only one student is left standing.

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6 Fun Spelling Activity Ideas to Use in the Classroom This School Year

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Explore our favourite spelling activities that can be used for a variety of year levels, with ideas for fun games from our teacher team!

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Word Work and Spelling Games - Sydney Gennuso

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Word Work and Spelling Games - Sydney Gennuso

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I used this website for my types of writing post as well. I love all of the activities that are provided for primary grade levels. They look so fun and engaging for the students. It does require you to buy the activities so I would think more about that but, it still has really good resources to use. Even if you don't purchase them this site can give teachers some great ideas. The site offers both spelling and word work activities.

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How many hours a week do you spend prepping spelling activities? 🪄 What if you had a resource that would allow you to create 60 spelling activities in 5 minutes or less?! What?!!! 🤯 Are you ready to get some of those hours back?! Take a look at these fabulous EDITABLE Spelling Activities we have created for your students to practice their word lists.
60 Spelling Activities for Elementary Students
Our Spelling Activities are super simple to use!!!

1. Enter your spelling list on the first page of the resource.

2. Choose the activities you want to use that week. (We have 60 different pages to choose from!)

3. Print those activities.

These spelling activities can be sent home as homework, used in a word work center, in small groups, or as independent practice.

* Spelling Activity Line -Up *

This is the first page you will see in the resource. All of the "magic" happens on this page! Whether you have chosen our 10, 12, or 15-word option, you will type in your word list on this page.

One of my students' favorite spelling activities. They write each spelling word with a white crayon and then color over the words with a marker. The spelling words MAGICALLY appear on the paper.

This activity is pretty self-explanatory. Students will organize their spelling words into alphabetical order and write them in that sequence.

Write the spelling words along the rainbow in different colors to practice.

Use each of your spelling words in a sentence. This is a great way to practice spelling words, writing, and additional vocabulary.

Students use the given code to spell each of their spelling words. This will definitely be a favorite spelling/word work activity in your classroom.

Roll a die to see if you will be writing your spelling words in crayon, with squiggles, in multiple colors, or bubble letters. Which number did you roll the most?

Choose four of your spelling words and draw an illustration for them. To add an extension to this activity, ask your students to write a sentence to go with their illustration.

Is the letter tall or short? Does it stretch above the middle line or fall below? Students use the boxes to determine which word will fit as they practice spelling and writing them.

Students can choose to trace their spelling words in pencil, crayon, or marker. Sometimes they just enjoy using a different tool to write with.

Your students love using emojis, why not put those to educational use?! LOL Students will spell the words by using the emoji code.

Give your students some fun hands-on spelling work with this pattern block activity. This page is great for an individual or small group center, or if you need some quiet time to catch up on assessments or small group RTI.

We all have those blue and red colored alphabet letters in our closets somewhere. Well, it is time to pull them out to spell words with. After they build the letter, students will color the consonants in blue and the vowels in red.

Combine math and word work in this activity. Students will spell each word, writing the numbers on the tiles down. Then add the numbers together to come up with each word "sum".

Each student will create a spinner with a paperclip and pencil. Spin the spinner and see which number it lands on. Write the word that matches the corresponding number. Was there a word that you wrote more often than all of the rest?

Can you find your way out of the maze? As they come to a word, have them read it, spell it, and then check it off the word list at the bottom. You can have them complete this activity with a partner as they both try to navigate through the maze. Can they guess the other student's word after it has been spelled?

Round and round the spiral goes, how many spelling words you can fit, nobody knows...

Students practice separating their spelling words into syllables. Count on fingers, clap hands, or stomp feet to see how many syllables are in each word. Then circle the corresponding number.

Your students will have so much fun practicing their spelling words while writing upside down, or with their eyes closed.

Build your spelling words pyramid style. Start with one letter at the top and add another letter with each line as you move your way down the pyramid.

Can your students think of a word that rhymes with each of their spelling words? How many rhyming words can they come up with?

Students match the color word to the spelling word in order to write the correct word on the line under the crayon. Added bonus: students learn to identify color words!

For your higher-level kiddos, this word search is GREAT! They write their words either aross, down, or as a challenge, diagonal on the grid. Then place random letters among the grid. Share with a partner to see if they can find all of your "hidden" words.

For your more creative students, color in the fancy letters and decorate around each of the spelling words. Plus, who doesn't love to color?! ❤️

How many spelling words can you fit into your story? Students write a short story that makes sense and illustrate it using their spelling words.

Students use the computer keyboard to practice typing their spelling words. Can they put their fingers on the correct keys?

Everybody loves dot markers!!! Grab a few different colors and stamp your spelling words as you read them.

For a more challenging activity, connect spelling practice with vocabulary skills by finding a synonym and antonym for each spelling word.

This will definitely be a class favorite! Your students get to learn sign language while practicing their spelling words. And it is a socially distant partner activity, as they can sign a word to a partner and see if the partner can write down the word signed.

Students practice sound segmentation with this activity. Sound out your spelling words and circle how many sounds those words have.

Your students can combine math and spelling skills by writing their spelling words along the inside of each shape on the page.

Give your spelling practice some grammar skills as well. Students will sort each of their spelling words into the different parts of speech. As an extension, can they create a Madlib with their spelling words?

Are you right or left-handed? Well, with this activity, you get to practice your spelling words writing with each hand. In the end, I bet that your non-dominant handwriting will start to look pretty nice. 😉

Students try to write as many of their spelling words in a sentence as they can. Once the sentence is written, they go back and underline their spelling words and count how many they used. Who can use the most in one sentence?

Oh, how I wish it was real cake... LOL. Students will write their spelling words on each layer of the cake, changing the size of the words as they move up the tiers.

This modern-day version of keyboard spelling allows students to practice typing their spelling words on a tablet keyboard. After they type the word, they are to write it in the "text bubble" on the screen.

How many letters are in each spelling word? Students can graph their words based on the number of letters in each one. Which number has the most, the least, or are there any ties?

Students write each of their words into a box, then count the number of letters in each word. They tally each letter. Once every word has been tallied, they will choose a color for each number and color code the boxes of words.

This activity will allow your students to use their creativity. They can spell their words using fancy lettering. Will they write in cursive, dotted lines, or some invented script?

Find the open spaces in the image and write your spelling words. How many can you fit within the picture? Once done, they can color the rest of the picture.

Students write their spelling words along the "petals" of each flower, making sure that they match in color and are spelled correctly.

Write the spelling words in each of the spaces in the picture in different colors. Can you write the words without the same color being used in spaces that touch?

Did you ever write words in bubble letters?! It used to be a big thing when I was in school (now I'm really dating myself... LOL). Your students can practice writing all of their spelling words in bubble letters.

Just like the activity above, students will write their spelling words in bubble letters.

This is a very creative way to practice spelling words. Students will write the words on the bottom half of the polaroid square and then draw a picture to illustrate that word at the top.

Students write their spelling words on each jellybean in the jar. Continue writing your words until the entire jar is full.

Do you have letter stamps? If so, then this is a great word work center activity. Students will spell their wordlist by stamping them in each of the boxes.

Bring mindfulness and calming techniques into your classroom while practicing academics. Each word is next to a yoga pose. After they write a word, they are to practice that pose.

Raise your hand if you have alphabet beads in your classroom? 🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏻‍♂️ Using the beads, students will spell their words on the "string" given in each box.

In the new technology age, our students are well-versed with cell phones. They will LOVE this word work activity!!! Students will write the word on the line, and then the number code needed to text it to a friend.

Students will play tic-tac-toe by trying to write three of their spelling words in a row before their partner can do it. Make a bunch of copies of this worksheet and place them in a center. It is a "fun" way for students to practice their spelling words without really knowing it.

This is another activity for your higher students. They will create a riddle about one of their spelling words and write it down. Once they have written all of their riddles, they will trade their paper with a partner and see if their buddy can figure out what words they were describing.

Just like the famous board game, students will each have two papers. There grid to write their words on and the other to record their hits on their partner's grid. Instead of laying down ships, they will write their words vertically or horizontally on the grid. Once all of the words have been written, it is time to play. Guess the letter/number combination to see if you get a 'hit' or a 'miss'.

Who has played this game in the fun children's menu magazine or placement that you sometimes get?! Students will write play against a partner, trying to build squares. Once they have boxed in a square, they will need to write a spelling word inside. Such fun!!!

Playdough meets spelling words in this fine motor building activity. Students will spell their words by rolling out and shaping playdough for each word. This is one activity your students will quietly sit and do for a LONG time!

LEGO your way to completing your spelling words. Using the famous bricks, build each of your spelling words.

Use this miniature mat to practice spelling words. Students will write their spelling words in the spaces. Then, using a small game piece, such as a button, they carefully toss it onto the paper. Wherever it lands, you will 'hop' to and read the word under the button. You can also recreate this activity outside by drawing the words and hopscotch in chalk.

Use the spy code at the top of the paper to spell each word. Students will write the numbers that correspond to the letters under each word. Make sure to add dashes between the numbers.

Using the letters inside each flower, how many "new" words can you make? Write each new word onto a petal.

Get your students up and moving with this spelling center activity. Each word will be printed on the card that corresponds to a picture. Students will carefully walk around the room, locating the different cards you have placed around the room. When they find a card, they need to write down that word next to the corresponding image.

At the end of the unit, use our assessment page to see if all of the practice your students have been doing paid off. 😍

All of these activities can be created within seconds with our No Prep Editable Spelling Bundle. Just type the words onto the word list and watch them immediately auto-populate onto all the other pages in the packet. Print those worksheets you want, make copies and spend time doing other activities you enjoy. So, which one of these 60 spelling activities for elementary students is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! 👇🏼

Written by: Janessa Fletcher

At Education to the Core, we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. We aspire to be the world's leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. We improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

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Comments

comments

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60 Spelling Activities for Elementary Students | Education to the Core

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How many hours a week do you spend prepping spelling activities? 🪄 What if you had a resource that would allow you to create 60 spelling activities in 5 minutes or less?! What?!!! 🤯 Are you ready to get some of those hours back?!

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This website offers guided mini lessons to teachers that focus on different skills to strengthen and individualize students' writing. They are meant to be quick, simple and used for multiple days at a time. The down side of this is that in order to use the mini lessons you do have to purchase them or have a subscription to the website. I would go to my admin or grade level team before buying. But, in each mini lesson you are getting a lot like, lesson plans, anchor chart activities, task cards, book recommendations, writing rubrics, writers' workshop cards, interactive notebook activities, center ideas and mentor texts. I think it could be pretty beneficial for a teacher looking for a new way of teaching writing to primary grades.

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Teaching Writing in Primary | Education to the Core

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For years, teaching writing in primary was a subject that I always struggled with. I had a nice curriculum for reading and math and it was easy to find

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This is a great resources for teachers that provides descriptions of theories and procedures for small group writing instruction. There are word for word scripts of what a discussion between the teacher and student should sound like. A difference in guides include writing instruction, strategic behaviors, individual guidance notes, students who struggle and assessment are given to help and support teachers.

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I used this website for one of my other posts but I liked how this website explained the writing process. I like that is shows pictures of what the writing process looks like with a young student. I also really liked that there was a free downloadable to put the steps in the classroom and I could see myself using it in my future classroom.
-Sentasia Floyd

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What is the writing process? The writing process is a way to promote successful writers. It provides steps for students to use when writing. Every writing program out there will stress the importance of encouraging students to use steps in a writing process. This post shares the steps I found useful and ideas that help students in my classroom become confident and successful in their writing. The ideas are ideal for any writing curriculum and are a part of a series of mini lessons for writer's workshop designed for scaffolding through the writing process.

The writing process found on this post has six steps. (prewriting, rough draft, revising, editing, peer reflections, and final copy) Follow these steps with your students and see their writing improve! The following writing process posters are available in my store!

1. Prewriting: Brainstorming and Graphic Organizer

The first part of prewriting is brainstorming ideas. If there is not a prompt to follow, have students go back to their "Ideas" section in their interactive notebooks. Remember where we brainstormed ideas for our I, heart, hand, home, question mark in Lesson 1? This will get students thinking about a topic that is interesting to them. If there is a prompt to follow, tell students to think of as many ideas, plots, or ways they can use the prompt.

The second part of prewriting is using a graphic organizer. Whether it is a free writing paper or a prompt, students will need a graphic organizer that will work well for that type of writing. Click on the graphic organizers below for a free download!

2. Rough Draft

For this step, I tell my students to JUST WRITE! Don't worry about spelling or anything else. Put your story together by writing writing writing! Get your thoughts down without distractions and deal with proper grammar or spelling later! I tell my kiddos to skip lines to have room to revise later. I love to model this step and make tons of mistakes (purposely) and my students want to correct all my mistakes. I tell them, "Let me write! I don't want to lose my thoughts!" I also allow them to get comfortable, sit around the room, or find a place or seat that will help them enjoy writing.

3. D.A.R.E. to Revise

For the revising stage, I find it helpful to have students read their stories out loud! It is fun to have students record themselves reading their own stories and then go back and listen to it. I guarantee they will find fragments, run-ons, or words that just don't make sense! What does DARE stand for? D stands for delete, A stands for add, R stands for rearrange, and E stands for exchange. In later mini lessons, I will go in more depth with each of the DARE to revise components. While revising, I require my students to use a different colored pen or pencil so I can see attempts to making their writing better. So many times these little cherubs think their rough draft is their best draft so I DARE them to revise!

4. C.U.P.S. to Edit

The next step is using CUPS for editing. It stands for Capitals, Usage, Punctuation, Spelling. I first review the rules for each of the CUPS so students know what to look for in their own writing. When my students are editing, I ask them to use a different colored pen or pencil. However, if they want to use multiple colors, I allow that as well. My philosophy is as long as they are editing and I can see their attempts, that is what matters! Don't forget that National Punctuation Day is September 24th!!!

5. Peer Reflection

I like this step so students can get feedback from a peer. Supply each student with a reflection form or sticky notes and a writing checklist. Ask your students to take this step seriously and pretend they are a teacher or editor. Go over the checklist as you read the story. Remind students that they not only give advice on how to fix their peer's paper, but also let them know the parts of the paper that ROCK! I like to use two positives and a wish. Tell two things you like about the paper and one wish to make it better. Students should not write on each other's papers. Many students take such pride in their work and don't want anyone else writing on it. This is where sticky notes are a blessing! After peer reflections, it is completely the writer's decision on what they want to change OR not. This is their last chance to make their papers better!

6. Final Copy

Time to be neat! Depending on your instructions, students need to write final copies neatly. If they are handwritten, I ask them to sit a desk or table to help assure proper handwriting posture to optimize their final outcome. If it is a typed paper, it must also be neat and free from typos.

Click here for WRITING POSTERS. There are a few different versions of these posters. Notice in the picture below, I have clothespins. I have my students mark the step of writing they are on so I can quickly glance and see who may need help. I can't take credit for this nifty idea- found it on Pinterest, but I do LOVE it!
Check out my FREE writing masterclass! CLICK HERE LAST LESSON: Writing Mini Lesson# 8- Table of Contents NEXT LESSON: Writing Mini Lesson #10- 3 Steps to Prepare for Narrative Writing

This lesson is also included in the STEP-BY-STEP WRITING ® Program with mini-lessons designed to scaffold through the writing process. Writing units included are sentence structure, paragraph writing, narrative writing, opinion writing, and informative writing. See what is included in the image below and click on it to learn more about them! You will turn your reluctant writers into ROCKSTAR WRITERS ™!

Excellent, comprehensive resource that has helped my students and me SO much! There's NOTHING missing and it is very well planned and engaging! Thank you SO much, it has been a life-saver! -Angela Rutschke

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Writing Mini Lesson #9- The Writing Process

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What is the writing process? The writing process is a way to promote successful writers. It provides steps for students to use when writing. Every writing program out there will stress the importance of encouraging students to use steps in a writing process.

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I took a look at this website and I enjoyed taking a look at it because it not only gave 15 types of genres but activities to go with those genres. I like that these activities are given so people can get ideas on activities to use in the classroom.
-Sentasia Floyd

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15 TYPES OF GENRES WITH TEACHING ACTIVITIES - Rockin Resources

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There are so many different genres to choose from, which means there is something out there for everyone. No matter if you prefer aliens over humans, short readings over long, or the imagined over reality, there’s a genre for it. Literary genres are defined as categories of works that share similari…

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I found this website and I thought it was a good one to start with making simple basic words. I tried it out to see what how the website worked and I enjoyed finding words with the endings they gave me and I almost did the entire thing. Finding out the correct words and sounding them out can really help many students.
-Sentasia Floyd

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Annika DeJarnett
I chose this video because the teacher does a fantastic job of taking you through every step of her lesson plan. Mrs. Klein is the teacher in the video and she does a very good job of having all her students interact with each other. The video is 10 minutes long but you really get a feel for how she teaches in the first couple of minutes.

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Writing Strategies For Kindergarten Students Writing Informational Paragraphs

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Annika DeJarnett
I picked this website to add to this idea exchange because it has a bunch of fun games to help with spelling. You can also pick different grades to choose from on the website but I decided to look at 1st grade. This website has a wide variety of games, practices and even tests to help students with learning to spell.

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1st Grade Spelling Lists, Games & Activities

Subscribe to Home Spelling Words!

We are pleased to provide free 1st grade spelling lists that can also be practiced online by registering with us. Members can also create their own custom lists. 1st grade is an important time for children to learn and grow. Help your student ace their weekly spelling tests by practicing spelling words for 1st grade at Home Spelling Words. You simply create a family account, add your student's name, then import our 1st grade spelling words or use your own from school by typing them in once each week. Your child can practice as much as he or she likes in order to improve their test scores. There are many ways to help your child learn to spell. Take time to read with your child and make frequent visits to the library. Also, there are many board games that can be modified to suit a younger child. Don't forget that practice is really the key to success.

Make Your Own 1st Grade Spelling Lists

Create your own 1st grade spelling lists by registering with Home Spelling Words. Simply enter your list name, then each spelling word and a practice sentence if you like. Once you are done, publish the list and start practicing right away. You can also take spelling tests or play spelling games with your customized lists. Our website is perfect for homeschools with their own curriculum or students who receive a weekly spelling list from school.

1st Grade Spelling Worksheets

These are printable 1st grade spelling worksheets. Students are able to practice handwriting and spelling by completing these 1st grade worksheets and they can be done anytime. Worksheet 1 goes with List 1 and so forth.

1st Grade Spelling Bee Words

Home Spelling Words is the perfect website for to use for spelling bee practice. Create lists of ten or twenty first grade spelling words and practice as much as you like. You can also play games with your spelling bee words and take tests as well.

1st Grade Spelling Activities

Make Your Own Books: Does your child have a big imagination? Put it to use by helping your child create their very own book! You can have them write words on a paper and then create illustrations to go with them. You can also use a word processing program like Microsoft Word. This is a great way for children to learn how to use computers and write a book at the same time. Bind your book with yarn or staples. Sample Title Ideas: Fun with Grandma, Fun with Grandpa (make great gifts), My First Day at School, My Teacher, I Love My Pet and When I Grow Up.

Sticky Words: Put sticky notes with words on common objects in the student's room or elsewhere in the house. Then, the students will practice reading those words daily until he or she becomes familiar with the spelling. Later you can have a "sticky test" by giving your student sticky notes with words and they have to run around the house placing the notes on the right objects.

Do you have advice for parents of 1st Grade students? Do you have a game you'd like to share? If so, email us at info@homespellingwords.com today!

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1st Grade Spelling Words, Lists, Games and Activities

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Subscribe to Home Spelling Words! We are pleased to provide free 1st grade spelling lists that can also be practiced online by registering with us. Members can also create their own custom lists. 1st grade is an important time for children to learn and grow.

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Annika DeJarnett
This website points out 4 different types of writing students learn. The types of writing are; Narrative- which tells a story, Descriptive- Uses a picture of an idea, place or person, Expository - is to the point, and Persuasive - this will more than likely be introduced in fourth grade and it is a debate played out in the writing. I found this article very helpful and it was well worth the read.

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Starting in elementary school, children begin to recognize that stories and texts follow specific writing types, which serve particular purposes. The four writing types that students will explore include narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive.

Use of adjectives and adverbs for descriptive writing begins between ages 7 and 9. At that time, they will also begin grouping sentences together into paragraphs. Children learn how to use different types of writing between ages 9 and 11. By middle school, they are writing reports and multi-paragraph essays.

4 Types of Writing Kids Learn About

When your child comes to you for help with a writing assignment, the first thing you probably do is ask what the topic is. But it's also important to find out how the instructor expects the writing to be framed and what techniques or styles are expected to be used in the work.

There are four basic types of writing that students will learn as classes become more writing-intensive:

Narrative writing tells a story. Though it's most commonly used in personal essays (e.g., "What I Did to Celebrate the Holidays"), this type of writing can also be used for fictional stories, plays, or even a plot summary of a story your child has read or intends to write. This is likely the most frequently used of the four most common types of writing, and students will spend a significant amount of time learning how to write narratives.

Narrative writing is often, but not always, in the first person and is organized sequentially, with a beginning, middle, and end.

Descriptive

Descriptive writing is used to create a vivid picture of an idea, place, or person. It is much like painting with words. It focuses on one subject and uses specific detail to describe it.

For example, if your child is asked to write about his favorite ride at an amusement park, he might note the name of a roller coaster and what it looks like, as well how the rush of wind in his hair felt as he zipped through the air, what the sound of the ride car clicking up the tracks was like, and so on. In upper grades, a student's descriptive writing should be more subtle and nuanced, using figurative and metaphorical language (e.g., It was the cherry on top of a wonderful day.)

Descriptive writing is used in descriptions of fictional and non-fictional characters, poetry parts of book reports, and in various kinds of observational writing.

Expository

Expository writing is to-the-point and factual. This category of writing includes definitions, instructions, directions, and other basic comparisons and clarifications. Expository writing is devoid of descriptive detail and opinion.

This is a crucial skill. Students will need expository writing not only in school, but also in many potential careers that aren't primarily writing-oriented such as teaching, video production, and design. Students must be able to organize their thoughts, follow a plan, and, in higher grades, conduct research to support their theses. It requires thinking on multiple levels.

Persuasive

Persuasive writing is a more sophisticated type of writing your child will be introduced to around fourth grade. It can be thought of like a debate played out in written words.

The idea is to express an opinion or to take a stance about something, and then to support that opinion in a way that convinces the reader to see it the same way.

Persuasive writing contains an explanation of the other point of view and uses facts, statistics, or both to disprove that view and support the writer's position. Some examples of persuasive writing include essays, debate position papers, editorial pieces such as letters to the editor, and book or concert reviews.

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4 Writing Types Kids Are Expected to Learn by Middle School

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Starting in elementary school, children begin to recognize that stories and texts follow specific writing types, which serve particular purposes. The four writing types that students will explore include narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive. Use of adjectives and adverbs for descriptive writing begins between ages 7 and 9.

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Briana Perkins-

I enjoyed reading this website and looking over the resources that are provided for teachers. It explains how to start teaching how to understand different genres. I think practicing the reading of different genres will help students understand how to write different types of writing themselves. Students learn nonfiction and fiction. Students will also hear how people state their opinions or write informational text as they explore through reading.

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As a teacher you want your students to read and experience a wide variety of literary genres, but often it is hard to get them interested in straying from their usual book choices.

This blog post will explain the benefits of reading different genres and share ideas for lessons and activities to help teachers inspire and motivate their students to read a variety of genres.

6 Benefits of Teaching Many Genres of Literature :

1. Reluctant Readers = A student who struggles with reading a novel may fall in love with poetry, or biographies, mysteries (or even horror!) and be able to improve their attitude about reading by being exposed to many other varieties of literature.

2. Vocabulary = Each genre of literature carries with it an opportunity to learn a wider variety of vocabulary, which the student will need as they read more, and also as they progress in their academic career.

3. Skill building = If a student is not able to grasp one reading skill, such as making inferences, within one genre, perhaps they can grasp the concept by using another form of literature. (For example, using a picture book instead of a poem when learning how to make an inference)

4. Confidence = As a student learns how to interpret and understand one literary genre, their confidence will build as they broaden their horizons to learn from other genres.

5. Reading Skills = The development of so many reading skills relies on teachers modeling those skills, such as fluency, by using many genres of literature.

6. Bring on the FUN! = So often we are focused on what the child must read, and how much time we must spend reading, that we forget that one of the best aspects of books and reading is that it should be fun and relaxing and pleasant to read! Finding a genre of literature that a student will love to read, by exploring many genres, is the key to making reading fun and to developing a love of reading that will last a lifetime!

How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students

Filling your classroom bookshelves with a collection of titles and series from a broad spectrum of genres is important. However, that alone may not be enough. You need to also provide your students with lessons, activities, and resources to inspire and motivate them to explore all different types of genres.

What is the Difference Between Fiction Books and Non-Fiction Books?

Start by teaching your young readers the difference between fiction and non-fiction. Avoid telling them that fiction is make believe and non-fiction is real. Instead define fiction as "a story with characters and events that have been made up in the author's mind." Explain that non-fiction books are informative. Use actual non-fiction books and explore the text features.

Teach the Definitions of Book Genres

From there you can start to focus on the characteristics that define each genre. One simple activity that makes a great center is to place a collection of books on a table and have the students sort them by genre. Only select a few different genres at a time until the students become more skilled at identifying them. Continue this practice with other centers that include sorting activities and matching games as ongoing review.

Display Genre Posters on a Bulletin Board or in the Classroom Library.

Offer additional support by displaying reference posters in the classroom and by giving each student a bookmark to remind them as well.

Motivate the Students to Read Different Genres.

Encourage students to read from the different genres with incentive charts. Two of my favorites that I've found to be extremely effective are tally charts and Bingo boards. I display and use a whole class version for read aloud books we've enjoyed together and provide each student with their own copy as well.

Provide Students Opportunities to Write About Genres

You can help students to reflect on their experiences with different genres by recording their thoughts on paper. When finished you can display these for other students to read as recommendations. For a great looking bulletin board you may want to consider hanging them with a photo of the child holding the book they wrote about. The written reflections can also be assembled into individual student books by collating several different genres. Another option would be to have each student write a reflection on a different book from the same genre to create a class book that the children can read to find new titles. Additionally the reflections make a great assessment tool of student understanding.

Classroom teachers are welcome to create their own versions of each of the items shown for personal use in their own classroom. However, if you would like to save time I have made all of them available in a quick and easy packet titled, Genre Made Easy so you can just print and go and have your students enjoying a variety of genres in no time.

Introducing your students to different genres and encouraging them to read a variety of books will strengthen their reading, vocabulary and writing skills. This resource includes genre posters, printables, games, bookmarks, and more! It will make your job easier!

This blog post will...

identify the problems this resource solves

suggest how it can help you and your students

explain why you will love it and how to use it

offer testimonials from elementary teachers like you

share what's included in this resource

Are you looking for a fun and easy way to teach your students about genre? If so, this is the resource for you!

This resource will expose your students to many different genres.

All students will be able to access the content through the differentiated resources.

It will increase student engagement.

It will strengthen their reading and writing skills.

Reluctant readers may find the genre that pulls them into the world of reading.

This resource will engage your learners by offering a variety of formats for students to learn through (posters, games, activities, written responses, etc.).

It will meet your students' learning needs through differentiation.

It will strengthen their reading skills without them even realizing it!

It will make your job easier because there is little to no prep. Some resources may require quick and simple cutting, while most are print and go. Many of the pages are even reusable and can be used over and over with different books.

Your reluctant readers could find the genre that pulls them into the world of reading.

This product has a comprehensive bundle of resources that will enable you to teach genre effectively.

Check out these testimonials from teachers who've used it in their classrooms...

CLUTTER-FREE CLASSROOM HAS DONE IT AGAIN! You KNOW how much I love you and all your products. This one is just another example of how fabulous you really are. EVERY year I end the year realizing that I should have done more with genre study... well now I will finally do it well! Because of you! THANK YOU!!!

- Elyse Jahnke

I love all of your resources, but I'm especially excited to use this to help my kiddos understand what they're reading and what suits them best. I love the variety in the activities, so there's several options for teaching!

- Stephanie L.

We had such a great time learning about Genres this week! Thank you so much for that! 🙂 Thank you for the DETAILS you put into your work! I am THRILLED every time I open up a download from you....makes me so excited to be teaching.

- Exploring Elementary

Can't wait to use this! I love the simplicity and accuracy of the definitions of the genres and the abundance of games/center ideas-and, of course, the endearing artwork! You saved me hours of planning and searching the web. Thank you!

- Lynne O.

This is a great time saver for me and provides all the elements that students will need to be accountable for on state standards assessments. The student-friendly language is what really appealed to me as well as the wonderful graphics. Thanks so much for your wonderful resource!

- Linda M S.

You can read more great feedback from teachers just like you here!

GENRE POSTERS: Sixteen 8.5 x 11 inch charts featuring a the name of the genre, a description and images to provide a visual cue using Melonheadz clipart

TALLY CHARTS: Three tally chart options (blank, color and ink-saving black and white). After reading a book, record the book's genre using tallies in the appropriate box. These can be used individually by students or displayed in the classroom and used to track your read aloud books.

GENRE BINGO: Students cross off a box after reading a book from that genre. The goal is to get 5 boxes in a row, column or diagonally across. This was designed to help encourage your readers to branch out in their selections. This printable comes in three varieties (blank, color and ink-saving black and white).

READER RESPONSE SHEETS: There are 2 differentiated response sheets for each of the sixteen genres featured in this resource. Each asks the students to identify the genre of a book they have read and support their thinking with details from the text.

GO FISH OR MEMORY MATCH: The first set of cards can be used in several ways. Some teachers like to print the 2 whole pages and include them as a reference in the students' notebooks or folders. Print two copies and cut apart to play a matching game or print 4 copies of each and use the cards to play "Go Fish." There are also sets of cards included that include just the name of the genre on one and the description of the genre on the other for a more advanced version of those two games.

SELF-CORRECTING MATCH CARDS: Print all the pages and cut the cards out on the dotted line. Use scissors to cut the name of the genre apart from the description of the genre. By cutting in distinct patterns instead of straight, the students will know if their answer is correct if the 2 pieces fit together.

GENRE BOOKMARKS: Printable 2-sided bookmarks. Each page contains two bookmarks. Cut the page down the middle and fold each piece in half. Laminate for durability if desired. These make a great reference tool.

GENRE MATCH: Use the cards to play Memory/Concentration by matching the genre card to the correct definition card. This also makes an excellent pocket chart activity center.

NAME THAT GENRE: Use the colored genre cards as categories. Have the students sort the description cards into the correct category. To make the activity self-correcting you could write the card numbers on the back of the category cards.

THE GENRE SORT: Print all pieces and cut on the dotted lines. The names of the genres are used as headers. Have the students place the story description cards with it's correct genre. As an alternative, many teachers like to use actual books and have the students sort them based on their descriptions.

GENRE CHALLENGE: This sheet encourages students to read books from a variety of genres.

FICTION vs NONFICTION: These may be used in 2 different ways. The first is to print a copy for each student and fold the page in half so one side reads fiction and the other reads non-fiction. The teacher then either describes a book or reads parts from a book and the students hold up the card to show if it is fiction or nonfiction. The other option is to use them as headers and have the students sort actual books into the two categories.

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How to Teach Genres in Elementary School (The Benefits of and Strategies for Getting Kids to Read Different Genres)

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As a teacher you want your students to read and experience a wide variety of literary genres, but often it is hard to get them interested in straying from their usual book choices. This blog post will explain the benefits of reading different genres and share ideas for lessons and activities to help teachers inspire ...

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Briana Perkins

I love using resources that makes life easier! This is a great online resource that students can use to practice spelling words each week. This can be assigned to students on tablets or their Chromebook. I would use this tool during center time. They can even use this at home. This includes free games that are created by just inputting your spelling words for that week. There is also a premium option that you can paid for to receive additional resources.

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Upgrade From VocabularySpellingCity to Vocabulary A-Z | Learning A-Z

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Vocabulary A-Z offers everything millions of teachers and students love about VocabularySpellingCity, plus so much more!

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Briana Perkins

This is a great blog that gives a teacher useful information about teaching writing to students. There are steps given to make sure that the writing process goes smoothly. I love the idea of writing offices. If you click the link you can see all the way at the end how the offices look. I call them privacy folders. They have writing resources on them that a student can refer to when doing a writing prompt.

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Teaching the writing process to early writers can be challenging. Students tend to complete an entire composition before your writing block is over, and they are quick to say, "I am DONE!" and promise you that they walked through the ENTIRE process... like what??!

Truth is - early writers simply do not know what to do. Every element you wish for your students to master has to be explicitly discussed, taught, and practiced. These helpful strategies will hold your students accountable when it comes to taking ownership of the writing process with fidelity!

Ask your students open-ended and thought-provoking questions about the writing process. It will allow you to quickly assess their understanding of the process and its purpose. You could ask:

"Could you tell me about the writing process?" (gather baseline data)

"How does the writing process work?" (monitor steps in sequence)

"Why would a person/author need to use the writing process?" (Is the purpose understood?)

"Have you used the writing process to publish a composition? Please walk me through the steps you followed as best as you can remember." (listen closely to appropriate application of key elements)

Their answers will help you to gauge your next steps.

Writing elements should be taught thoroughly prior to releasing students to attempt them on their own. Why not just let them write? If I give an inexperienced beginner a bike and tell him to go, chances are that he will

stumble and fall which results in a lack of desire to try again

end up somewhere I did not intend for him to be

wind up lost and fearful resulting in never wanting to go on that journey again

stay idle and not move since he lacks direction and further instruction

This little child will turn into our entire classroom of writers if we do not take the time to teach skills explicitly. The writing process involves steps. There is a series of actions that writers take when developing and expanding on their ideas. This structure is vital to producing a composition.

It's important to model your thinking and write your composition with your students, but planning out your writing in advance has many benefits. I plan my brainstorming topics, I know which words I will repeat when I start writing, which sentences will be out of sequence, where I will leave off punctuation and capitals in my draft... it is thoroughly planned beforehand.

Brainstorming/Prewriting:

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Step-by-Step: Tackling the Writing Process - TeachWriting.org

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Teaching the writing process to early writers can be challenging. Students tend to complete an entire composition before your writing block is over, and they are quick to say, "I am DONE!" and promise you that they walked through the ENTIRE process... like what??! Truth is - early writers simply do not know what to do.

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Types of Genres of Writing: Sydney Raborn

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Types of Genres of Writing: Sydney Raborn

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This site has a great visual that describes a whole bunch of different text types. there's a simple definition of what each one is, and it would be a great visual to have displayed in the classroom for students to see all the time. the site itself goes into greater detail of each writing type, names some of the key features, and gives some great example activities.

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A guide to understanding different types of writing and text types.

Reading and writing are very complex skill sets that make heavy demands on our students.

Beyond the challenges of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, students need to understand the conventions and structures of the many different text types or genres.

Each time we put pen to paper, we set off with the intention of completing a specific task. That is, we begin with a purpose we wish to accomplish with our writing.

There are lots of different reasons that can spur us to begin writing. For each of these reasons, there are general conventions or criteria that students must understand and incorporate into their work if they're to achieve their purpose effectively.

What are the main text types?

There are many different text types a person may encounter in the course of a single day. They might read a newspaper article in the morning, then write a letter (or email) to a friend, follow a recipe to make dinner, complete an application form, and pick up a leaflet before finally savouring a good novel at bedtime. While all of these forms of text have the written word in common, each has unique features and conventions.

There are many different ways to categorize the broad range of reading and writing materials we can encounter in a single day. But, generally speaking, it's helpful to think of them in terms of two overarching and broad categories: factual and literary.

Within each of these two broad categories are several sub-categories, which we will explore in the rest of this article. Take note, depending on the curriculum you are working with; text types may be referred to using slightly differing terms.

It's also worth noting that while the two general categories are a very useful way to think about the different text types, not all text types will sit exclusively in one camp or the other. For example, the increasingly common genre known as literary nonfiction, or creative nonfiction, has a foot in both camps.

That said, for the vast majority of text types that our students will look at, these categories are functional and practical.

Now, let's take a closer look at some of these text types. We'll start with the factual.

DAILY WRITING JOURNAL UNIT FOR ALL TEXT TYPES

Factual Text Types

Discussion Texts

Purpose: The purpose of a discussion text is to explore more than one point of view on a given subject in order to reach an informed opinion or to make a decision on an issue.

Structure: Generally speaking, discussion texts will begin by providing background information on the issue before introducing the central area or areas of contention. At this point, the text will then begin to explore the various arguments for and against with an examination of the supporting evidence. The conclusion will summarise both sides of the argument before giving a recommendation based on the writer's evaluation of those arguments.
Main Features:

The title is often in the form of a question

Written in the present tense

Generic statements are followed by specific examples

Arguments are sometimes supported by diagrams, illustrations etc

Suggested Activity: An effective way to lead to writing a discussion text is to hold a discussion or debate in the classroom on a contentious issue or a topic that piques the interest of your class. For example, Should video games be considered a sport? Or Due to technology, homeschooling should replace traditional schooling.

Explanatory Texts

Purpose: Explanatory texts move beyond providing straightforward descriptions to looking at things like causes and reasons. They move beyond retelling what happened, such as in a simple report, to address the why and how of what happened.

Structure: Explanatory texts usually open with a general statement that introduces the topic to be explored, for example, "During the winter, some birds migrate to warmer parts of the world." The various steps of the process are then explained in a logical order.
Main Features:

The title reveals what is being explained

It may contain diagrams, flowcharts, illustrations etc

Written in simple present tense

Time connectives are used such as first, after, then, next, finally etc.

Talks to the reader directly, e.g. "You'll be surprised to learn...."

Suggested Activity: Task students with going to the library and gathering a range of explanatory texts on various topics. In groups, students go through these texts analyzing the various features they have in common. From their findings, students draw up a detailed list of criteria they can use to write their own explanatory texts later on.

Instructional / Procedural Texts

Purpose: Instructions and procedural texts communicate rules or processes to follow. They are commonly found in games, household appliances, recipes, etc. While, in some ways, instructional/procedural texts are similar to explanatory texts, the main difference is that while instructional/procedural texts tell you what to do, explanatory texts describe something.

Structure: This type of text begins with a defined objective or goal, which will often form the title. Usually, a list of resources, equipment etc., will be included, followed by a step-by-step description of the process to achieve the desired outcome. Often, the written process will be supported by diagrams and/or illustrations. Occasionally, the diagrams or illustrations may replace the written text entirely.
Main Features:

The title indicates the process described, e.g. How to...

Includes resource/equipment list

The process is described step-by-step using bullet points, numbers etc

Time connectives are used to organize writing (first, next, then, finally etc.)

Imperatives used

Diagrams / Illustrations are used to support or replace text.

Suggested Activity: Partner students up for this writing task. Ask the students to think of something they know how to do well. It could be anything from how to tie shoelaces to how to perform a cartwheel. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as the student clearly understands how to do it. Students then write an explanatory text that explains how to do it. Partners swap their work with each other. They then try to perform the task exclusively following the explanation within the text. If they can't perform the task as it's meant to be done, then the writer needs to redraft their work until it can be done.

Persuasion Texts / OPINION WRITING

Purpose: The purpose of persuasive type texts is to convince the reader of the merits of adopting a particular viewpoint or taking a specific course of action.

Structure: Beginning with an opening statement or thesis statement, persuasive texts start by summing up the viewpoint to be presented. The body paragraphs then organize, present, and elaborate on this viewpoint. A closing statement then restates and reinforces the original thesis of the text.
Main Features:

Written in the simple present tense

Moves from a general point to specific points

Uses logical connectives (therefore, because of this, this proves that)

Employs rhetorical devices

Uses facts and evidence to support arguments

Addresses reader directly

Employs various methods of psychological persuasion

Suggested Activity: Distribute copies of a persuasive text to students in groups. For example, this could be in the form of an advertisement or newspaper editorial. Challenge students in their groups to identify various persuasive strategies employed within the text, whether in terms of structure, presentation, visuals, or language used. Students can compare and contrast their findings between groups.

InFORMATIONAL TEXTS

Purpose: The purpose of an informational text is to provide readers with information on a chosen topic by providing them with facts, most commonly in the form of an information report.

Structure: Informative Writing generally opens with a definition, classification or brief description of the subject before using the body of the text to explain facts about it. These facts are organised by logical subheadings and can be supported by pictures, maps or diagrams.
Main Features:

Written in the third person perspective, detached from emotive language.

Specialized vocabulary and language related to the subject are used.

Comparative language provides a context in areas such as size, speed and age.

Frequently, the passive voice is employed.

It may contain several subheadings.

Often include tables, maps, diagrams, or images.

Suggested Activity: Students will enjoy creating an information report about their favorite animal. Providing facts and information about aspects such as appearance, habitat, movement, food and life cycle. Images and Diagrams will significantly enhance the finished product.

Non-chronological reports

Purpose: The purpose of non-chronological reports is to give information and detail about something that happened, but without being tied to providing a linear account in terms of time.

Structure: Though non-chronological reports don't conform to the usual chronological structure of reports, there is generally an underlying logical structure at work, albeit not a temporal one. Information is often grouped by category, and the report tends to move from a general opening statement on the topic to detailed and specific information as the report progresses.
Main Features:

Often written in the present tense, third person

Sometimes written in the past tense, e.g. on a historical event

Frequently, the passive voice is employed

Usually focused on general subjects

It may contain several subheadings

Dispassionate in tone

May include tables, diagrams, or images

Suggested Activity: An informational leaflet is one form of a non-chronological report. Challenge students to produce an information leaflet on something they are familiar with, such as a local attraction or historical site. When students have completed their leaflets, please encourage them to review each other's work and offer feedback.

Recounts

Purpose: Recounts focus on retelling events and are generally intended to inform and/or entertain.

Structure: Recounts often open with a scene being set or other devices that establish context. They provide an account of the events that took place, usually in chronological order. At times, the chronological structure can be reordered by using techniques such as flashbacks, etc., but generally, this is the domain of fictional recounts.
Main Features:

Most often written in the past tense as text type relates events that already happened.

Time connectives are used extensively to organise chronology, e.g. first, then, next, after that, etc.

Details are used extensively to flesh out the bare bones of the events.

Suggested Activity: In the library, challenge students to gather together as many different types of recounts as they can find. In their groups, students look through the various recounts and compile a list of criteria for this text type. As a whole class, the groups share their results. Encourage students to pay particular attention to the range of topics that can be presented as recounts and how this can affect the language style. For example, a recount of a science experiment will use more technical and formal language than the informal and personal style that might be employed to recount a travel adventure.

BIOGRAPHIES

Purpose: A biography is an account of someone's life written by someone else. The purpose is to provide your audience with a factual recount of significant events and insight into what type of personality traits they may have had.
Structure: Biographies begin with a solid hook to draw the reader in and grab their attention. They are written in chronological order and generally cover most of your person's life up until that point, using connective language to link events. A Biography concludes with a statement about your subject's legacy and future direction depending on whether they are still alive or dead. Main Features:

Written in the past tense, depending upon the status of your person of interest.

Biographies provide facts about events, dates and times etc. (Timelines may be of use here.)

Biographies are written in the third person perspective.

Suggested Activity: Students should research and gather the key events of the person's life, covering each period of their life from when they were a baby, through childhood and adolescence, right up to adulthood and old age. They should then organize these onto a timeline. Students can include photographs with captions if they have them.

Literary Text Types

Poetry

Purpose: As with all literary genres of writing, poetry can be written to serve a wide variety of purposes. For example, poetry can be written to entertain, inform, amuse, share knowledge, pass on culture, advance culture, etc. Poetry comes in many forms, and sometimes these forms come with their own specific purposes. For example, limericks are crafted to amuse readers, while elegies are usually written to praise or mourn a person.

Structure: The different types of poetry make use of a variety of different structures. There are way too many to list here. That said, the structure of poetry usually revolves around the use of rhyme schemes, rhythmical patterns, grammatical patterns, and line and stanza length.
Main Features:

The musicality of language is utilised through the use of rhyme, rhythm, and various literary devices.

Language that appeals to the senses is used.

Imagery is used to paint pictures in the readers' minds.

The sounds and meanings of language are played with through the use of literary devices.

Suggested Activity: Find an anthology of poetry that groups poems together according to themes. Task your students to look at poems exploring a common theme. Have the students look at the features these poems have in common and the features that differ. Can the students identify the different types of poems?

Narrative

Purpose: The purpose of narrative texts is to tell a story. That said, there can be many reasons for storytelling in the first place; for example, myths can be told to explain natural phenomena, and legends can be used to pass on cultural beliefs. Storytelling is a means to entertain and inform readers and allows writers to express themselves creatively and imaginatively. There are many types of narrative text, including myths, fables, traditional tales, novels, short stories, etc., to name but a few.

Structure: There are many narrative text types, but broadly speaking, they all begin by establishing the setting and introducing characters. A problem or complication is then introduced, which serves as the driving force behind the ensuing events. After the rising action reaches a dramatic high point or climax, a resolution is achieved, and the story ends.
Main Features:

Most often written in the past or present tense

Most often, it uses the third or first-person perspective

Characters are often recognisably human in their motivations and actions

Language is used creatively to paint a picture in the reader's mind

Storytelling may be supplemented by the use of images

Suggested Activity: This task can be completed using novels, short stories, or even concerning movies the students are familiar with. On a piece of paper, have the students draw an x and a y-axis. Students label the x-axis time and the y-axis action. Students then plot and label the narrative's introduction, complication, rising action, climax, and resolution. The more intense the action at each point of the story, the higher on the y-axis the point will be plotted. The points are then joined with a line. This will give the students a sense of the 'shape' of the story. Internalizing an understanding of this general pattern of storytelling will help students immensely in their writing.

Drama

Purpose: As with narrative texts, the purpose of drama is primarily to entertain through storytelling. Drama can also be used to provide social commentary, communicate culture, amuse, and inform too. While there are similarities between narrative storytelling and dramatic storytelling, drama endeavors to tell a story through enacting it on the stage, usually requiring the use of dialogue as a primary means of moving the story on.

Structure: As drama is primarily concerned with storytelling, it often follows the same types of plot structures as other narrative forms, along with various conventions particular to this form itself. For example, where a novel might have chapters and parts, a drama has scenes and acts. Drama also has written conventions that distinguish it from prose forms of storytelling, such as its extensive use of dialogue and occasional stage directions.
Main Features:

Story related largely through the use of dialogue with the page showing the character's name and the words they speak.

Organisational information included, such as set descriptions and stage directions.

Story structures common in narrative texts are also used here

Suggested Activity: Students can explore the different conventions, similarities, and differences between prose and drama by taking a story written in a prose genre, such as a fable, short story, etc., and converting it into a script for a drama.
In Conclusion
Understanding the various aspects of the different writing genres will help students to navigate their way through writing that serves a broad range of purposes.

It will also help students with their own text compositions. Understanding the various underlying text structures will provide students with an effective means of organizing their work, helping to ensure their writing is fit for purpose.

Exposing your students to as many different genres as possible, and providing opportunities to explore how these text types operate, will go a long way to helping them develop into adaptive and organized readers and writers in the future.

A COMPLETE YEAR OF WRITING FOR STUDENTS - 1000+ PAGES

VIDEO TUTORIALS ON DIFFERENT TEXT TYPES

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES FROM LITERACYIDEAS.COM

The content for this page has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh. A former principal of an international school and English university lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane's latest Book, The Complete Guide to Nonfiction Writing, can be found here. Editing and support for this article have been provided by the literacyideas team.

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Text Types and Different Styles of Writing: The Complete Guide

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Learn to write a variety of text types in the classroom. Different types of writing styles and genres for students and teachers. Resources for students and teachers.

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This site has a whole bunch of different spelling games that can be utilized for all different age groups. You can adjust the level of difficulty for most of them fairly easy to tailor them to whatever group you war working with. There are even some seasonal themed games that could be a lot of fun to use at the appropriate time during the school year.

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A couple of weeks ago I shared with you my Top 3 Fun Spelling Games.

I thought I'd carry on that theme this week and pass on to you some more fun spelling games that will engage your students and help to consolidate what has been learned. I have found that using spelling games is a great way to finish a tutoring session, especially if it's been a particularly challenging session.

I have archived below some awesome spelling games so you have them all in one place. I hope you find some games that you can use in your classroom and with your students.

1. by I Can Teach My Child
100 sight words are provided that you can download, or you can incorporate your own words if your prefer.

2. Who can spell the most words? by No Time For Flashcards
This game uses the 'Connect Four' game to make spelling words.

3. by Kids Activities Blog
This game can also be used with any spelling list. A great way to practice reading and writing if you get your students to make their own boards.

12. by The Measured Mom
A free board game you can download and assemble. It gets kids thinking about the meaning of their spelling words and how they're made up.

24. by A to Z Teacher Stuff
A great tool that lets you make your own custom word search worksheets.

26. by by Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational
Get your students to really focus in on a few of their spelling words with this fun game.

Graphics & Fonts By: Graphics From The Pond

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35 Spelling Games For Students Of All Ages

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A couple of weeks ago I shared with you my Top 3 Fun Spelling Games. I thought I'd carry on that theme this week and pass on to you some more fun spelling games that will engage your students and help to consolidate what has been learned.

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This short video on the writing process was very informational and easy to follow. Young students should be able to easily follow along with the video, and develop an idea of what the steps of the writing process are.

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Genres/Types of Writing - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Genres/Types of Writing - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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The speaker in this resource spoke pretty clear and added in some animation. She described several examples of each genre/type of writing and went into detail about each. She was very informative, though might be more helpful for older students, could easily be adapted by the teacher for younger students as well.
~Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Word Work/Spelling Games - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Word Work/Spelling Games - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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I loved this resource! It had so many things to choose from and many of the things I could use now in my small groups with my kinder and 1st graders. I think the cutest coolest one my current students would like is the Magic Words activity. I think another favorite activity would be Emoji Spelling. I favorited this resource because I think I really want to use these in my small group currently. I also am going to send this to my coworker who has been struggling with teaching her 2nd graders spelling because some of these just seem like so much fun.
~Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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How many hours a week do you spend prepping spelling activities? 🪄 What if you had a resource that would allow you to create 60 spelling activities in 5 minutes or less?! What?!!! 🤯 Are you ready to get some of those hours back?! Take a look at these fabulous EDITABLE Spelling Activities we have created for your students to practice their word lists.
60 Spelling Activities for Elementary Students
Our Spelling Activities are super simple to use!!!

1. Enter your spelling list on the first page of the resource.

2. Choose the activities you want to use that week. (We have 60 different pages to choose from!)

3. Print those activities.

These spelling activities can be sent home as homework, used in a word work center, in small groups, or as independent practice.

* Spelling Activity Line -Up *

This is the first page you will see in the resource. All of the "magic" happens on this page! Whether you have chosen our 10, 12, or 15-word option, you will type in your word list on this page.

One of my students' favorite spelling activities. They write each spelling word with a white crayon and then color over the words with a marker. The spelling words MAGICALLY appear on the paper.

This activity is pretty self-explanatory. Students will organize their spelling words into alphabetical order and write them in that sequence.

Write the spelling words along the rainbow in different colors to practice.

Use each of your spelling words in a sentence. This is a great way to practice spelling words, writing, and additional vocabulary.

Students use the given code to spell each of their spelling words. This will definitely be a favorite spelling/word work activity in your classroom.

Roll a die to see if you will be writing your spelling words in crayon, with squiggles, in multiple colors, or bubble letters. Which number did you roll the most?

Choose four of your spelling words and draw an illustration for them. To add an extension to this activity, ask your students to write a sentence to go with their illustration.

Is the letter tall or short? Does it stretch above the middle line or fall below? Students use the boxes to determine which word will fit as they practice spelling and writing them.

Students can choose to trace their spelling words in pencil, crayon, or marker. Sometimes they just enjoy using a different tool to write with.

Your students love using emojis, why not put those to educational use?! LOL Students will spell the words by using the emoji code.

Give your students some fun hands-on spelling work with this pattern block activity. This page is great for an individual or small group center, or if you need some quiet time to catch up on assessments or small group RTI.

We all have those blue and red colored alphabet letters in our closets somewhere. Well, it is time to pull them out to spell words with. After they build the letter, students will color the consonants in blue and the vowels in red.

Combine math and word work in this activity. Students will spell each word, writing the numbers on the tiles down. Then add the numbers together to come up with each word "sum".

Each student will create a spinner with a paperclip and pencil. Spin the spinner and see which number it lands on. Write the word that matches the corresponding number. Was there a word that you wrote more often than all of the rest?

Can you find your way out of the maze? As they come to a word, have them read it, spell it, and then check it off the word list at the bottom. You can have them complete this activity with a partner as they both try to navigate through the maze. Can they guess the other student's word after it has been spelled?

Round and round the spiral goes, how many spelling words you can fit, nobody knows...

Students practice separating their spelling words into syllables. Count on fingers, clap hands, or stomp feet to see how many syllables are in each word. Then circle the corresponding number.

Your students will have so much fun practicing their spelling words while writing upside down, or with their eyes closed.

Build your spelling words pyramid style. Start with one letter at the top and add another letter with each line as you move your way down the pyramid.

Can your students think of a word that rhymes with each of their spelling words? How many rhyming words can they come up with?

Students match the color word to the spelling word in order to write the correct word on the line under the crayon. Added bonus: students learn to identify color words!

For your higher-level kiddos, this word search is GREAT! They write their words either aross, down, or as a challenge, diagonal on the grid. Then place random letters among the grid. Share with a partner to see if they can find all of your "hidden" words.

For your more creative students, color in the fancy letters and decorate around each of the spelling words. Plus, who doesn't love to color?! ❤️

How many spelling words can you fit into your story? Students write a short story that makes sense and illustrate it using their spelling words.

Students use the computer keyboard to practice typing their spelling words. Can they put their fingers on the correct keys?

Everybody loves dot markers!!! Grab a few different colors and stamp your spelling words as you read them.

For a more challenging activity, connect spelling practice with vocabulary skills by finding a synonym and antonym for each spelling word.

This will definitely be a class favorite! Your students get to learn sign language while practicing their spelling words. And it is a socially distant partner activity, as they can sign a word to a partner and see if the partner can write down the word signed.

Students practice sound segmentation with this activity. Sound out your spelling words and circle how many sounds those words have.

Your students can combine math and spelling skills by writing their spelling words along the inside of each shape on the page.

Give your spelling practice some grammar skills as well. Students will sort each of their spelling words into the different parts of speech. As an extension, can they create a Madlib with their spelling words?

Are you right or left-handed? Well, with this activity, you get to practice your spelling words writing with each hand. In the end, I bet that your non-dominant handwriting will start to look pretty nice. 😉

Students try to write as many of their spelling words in a sentence as they can. Once the sentence is written, they go back and underline their spelling words and count how many they used. Who can use the most in one sentence?

Oh, how I wish it was real cake... LOL. Students will write their spelling words on each layer of the cake, changing the size of the words as they move up the tiers.

This modern-day version of keyboard spelling allows students to practice typing their spelling words on a tablet keyboard. After they type the word, they are to write it in the "text bubble" on the screen.

How many letters are in each spelling word? Students can graph their words based on the number of letters in each one. Which number has the most, the least, or are there any ties?

Students write each of their words into a box, then count the number of letters in each word. They tally each letter. Once every word has been tallied, they will choose a color for each number and color code the boxes of words.

This activity will allow your students to use their creativity. They can spell their words using fancy lettering. Will they write in cursive, dotted lines, or some invented script?

Find the open spaces in the image and write your spelling words. How many can you fit within the picture? Once done, they can color the rest of the picture.

Students write their spelling words along the "petals" of each flower, making sure that they match in color and are spelled correctly.

Write the spelling words in each of the spaces in the picture in different colors. Can you write the words without the same color being used in spaces that touch?

Did you ever write words in bubble letters?! It used to be a big thing when I was in school (now I'm really dating myself... LOL). Your students can practice writing all of their spelling words in bubble letters.

Just like the activity above, students will write their spelling words in bubble letters.

This is a very creative way to practice spelling words. Students will write the words on the bottom half of the polaroid square and then draw a picture to illustrate that word at the top.

Students write their spelling words on each jellybean in the jar. Continue writing your words until the entire jar is full.

Do you have letter stamps? If so, then this is a great word work center activity. Students will spell their wordlist by stamping them in each of the boxes.

Bring mindfulness and calming techniques into your classroom while practicing academics. Each word is next to a yoga pose. After they write a word, they are to practice that pose.

Raise your hand if you have alphabet beads in your classroom? 🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏻‍♂️ Using the beads, students will spell their words on the "string" given in each box.

In the new technology age, our students are well-versed with cell phones. They will LOVE this word work activity!!! Students will write the word on the line, and then the number code needed to text it to a friend.

Students will play tic-tac-toe by trying to write three of their spelling words in a row before their partner can do it. Make a bunch of copies of this worksheet and place them in a center. It is a "fun" way for students to practice their spelling words without really knowing it.

This is another activity for your higher students. They will create a riddle about one of their spelling words and write it down. Once they have written all of their riddles, they will trade their paper with a partner and see if their buddy can figure out what words they were describing.

Just like the famous board game, students will each have two papers. There grid to write their words on and the other to record their hits on their partner's grid. Instead of laying down ships, they will write their words vertically or horizontally on the grid. Once all of the words have been written, it is time to play. Guess the letter/number combination to see if you get a 'hit' or a 'miss'.

Who has played this game in the fun children's menu magazine or placement that you sometimes get?! Students will write play against a partner, trying to build squares. Once they have boxed in a square, they will need to write a spelling word inside. Such fun!!!

Playdough meets spelling words in this fine motor building activity. Students will spell their words by rolling out and shaping playdough for each word. This is one activity your students will quietly sit and do for a LONG time!

LEGO your way to completing your spelling words. Using the famous bricks, build each of your spelling words.

Use this miniature mat to practice spelling words. Students will write their spelling words in the spaces. Then, using a small game piece, such as a button, they carefully toss it onto the paper. Wherever it lands, you will 'hop' to and read the word under the button. You can also recreate this activity outside by drawing the words and hopscotch in chalk.

Use the spy code at the top of the paper to spell each word. Students will write the numbers that correspond to the letters under each word. Make sure to add dashes between the numbers.

Using the letters inside each flower, how many "new" words can you make? Write each new word onto a petal.

Get your students up and moving with this spelling center activity. Each word will be printed on the card that corresponds to a picture. Students will carefully walk around the room, locating the different cards you have placed around the room. When they find a card, they need to write down that word next to the corresponding image.

At the end of the unit, use our assessment page to see if all of the practice your students have been doing paid off. 😍

All of these activities can be created within seconds with our No Prep Editable Spelling Bundle. Just type the words onto the word list and watch them immediately auto-populate onto all the other pages in the packet. Print those worksheets you want, make copies and spend time doing other activities you enjoy. So, which one of these 60 spelling activities for elementary students is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! 👇🏼

Written by: Janessa Fletcher

At Education to the Core, we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. We aspire to be the world's leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. We improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

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Comments

comments

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60 Spelling Activities for Elementary Students | Education to the Core

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How many hours a week do you spend prepping spelling activities? 🪄 What if you had a resource that would allow you to create 60 spelling activities in 5 minutes or less?! What?!!! 🤯 Are you ready to get some of those hours back?!

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The Writing Process - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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The Writing Process - Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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I loved the way this resource was laid out in tips and how each tip was more like a talk and less like a lesson. There were also a few links sprinkled in throughout the tips which I really liked. It was nice to have a few extra resources to explore as options throughout the tips. The author was very honest in the tips and was also pretty thorough. I loved it and have already saved it for future use in case I need to work with younger readers.
~Ashton Hernandez-Cabanas

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Writing is a journey, not a destination. It's about the process of putting words together to create something new and original, something thought-provoking, something that will make readers laugh, cry or shake their heads in disbelief. For your students, you are the guide that will help them find their own direction to follow and define their own writing goals to achieve. Teaching writing as a process, not merely a means to an end, is the key to showing them how to navigate language on their own. The following tips will help ensure the lesson is as engaging as it is unforgettable.

Tip #1: Practice Writing Regularly

As Ray Bradbury always said, the best way to become a better writer is to write every day. Whether or not your elementary students might be destined to write the next Fahrenheit 451 , encouraging regular practice is the number one way to improve your students' skills and build both a longer attention span and a sense of flow.

Writing, especially for young authors, really is a lot like riding a bike. They may not forget, once taught, how to hold a pencil or write a legible sentence, but trying to write a long response or full-blown essay after a long break can feel as unfamiliar and frustrating as those first shaky pedal rotations after leaving a bike locked in the garage all winter long. Keep their writing hands from getting rusty by penciling in a little practice time every day!

Tip #2: Write One Step at a Time

Just like any journey, the writing process is best enjoyed when taken at an even pace, one step at a time. Walking beside your students as they work through each separate stage of the writing process gives them time to better process and internalize the things they're learning along the way, while simultaneously giving you a clearer picture of both their strengths and what they struggle with at each individual step. This, in turn, allows you to help them play to those strengths while addressing the problems they're having without having to play the guessing game to figure out what exactly has been stumping them.

This approach to teaching the writing process is especially helpful for younger students who may have more difficulty focusing on a single assignment for long periods of time. You can easily break the process down into short, bite-sized lessons revolving around one stage at a time, so that the first lesson is about brainstorming, the second is about rough drafts, the third about editing strategies-and so on.

Tip #3: Experiment With Different Writing Strategies

It's tempting to want to focus on only the very best writing strategies to teach your elementary students, but in truth, there is no one strategy to rule them all. Some will work better for certain kids than for others, and sometimes certain methods will be better suited to certain writing styles, topics or formats than others. Rather than give all of your (and your students') energy to a select few techniques, foster a more creative atmosphere by allowing your students to experiment with a wide variety.

This helps your students grow and flourish as writers by allowing them each to find the strategies that play to their individual strengths and help make their writing shine. It also opens their minds up to the idea that, just like any problem (outside of math class) might have more than one solution, so too may there be a number of good approaches to responding to any one writing prompt. It's an invitation to thinking outside of the box and the perfect way for you, as their teacher, to instill in them a healthy sense of curiosity.

Tip #4: Explore the "Why" of Writing

When teaching the writing process to elementary students, there's one important question that needs to be discussed early and often: "Why?" The purposes behind each writing form, from expository to narrative to opinion essays, is of course important, but it's also vital to go beyond that to delve into what significance their writing could have outside of the classroom. Are your students practicing nonfiction writing? Talk about how journalism, reference books and other examples have helped people make better, more educated choices in their lives. Learning about persuasive writing? Show them how a well-formed argument can change the world.

There's also a third why that should be explored-the personal, individual "why" that motivates your students to write. As their guide, it's your not your job to answer this question for them, but to help them answer it for themselves. It's never just about getting a good grade or passing a class. Writing can teach them more about the things they love, or about themselves. It can show them how to communicate their ideas more clearly, and share them with a broader audience. It can help them be better students, and set them up for a more successful future. It could be the path to discovering a passion and building a career, or merely to cultivating a fun hobby to enjoy on the side. Illuminate the possibilities for them, then let them decide their own truths.

The Process of Publishing Your Students' Writing

While much can be learned from just about any writing assignment, perhaps the best way to teach the writing process to elementary students is to tie it all together in the form of a classbook project. Creating and publishing a book together illustrates how writing works outside of the classroom, as well as teaching real-world skills like teamwork, dedication and long-term goal setting. More than that, it allows your students to experience the full narrative of the writing process, all the way from topic brainstorming to holding their final, published book in their hands and feeling, perhaps for the first time in their lives, like "real authors" who are capable of achieving anything. It's a feeling-and a lesson-they won't soon forget.
For more teaching tips, writing activities and other free educational resources, check out our online teacher's lounge, and sign up for your free publishing kit today!

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How to Teach the Writing Process to Elementary Students: 4 Best Tips

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Writing is a journey, not a destination. It's about the process of putting words together to create something new and original, something thought-provoking , something that will make readers laugh, cry or shake their heads in disbelief. For your students, you are the guide that will help them find their own direction to follow and define their own writing goals to achieve.

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The writing process by Billi Jo Shoemaker

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The writing process by Billi Jo Shoemaker

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This is a pretty good video that really explains the writing process. I wouldn't necessarily say its a great video for kids but It gives a great explanation and examples for each step of the process. I thought it had some great information about how to teach the writing process.

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This blog has great information and activities for word work and spelling. It gives lots of ideas to use for literacy centers. It has free printable worksheets to use in the classroom.

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word work - Blog - Creatively Teaching First

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https://luckylittlelearners.com/word-work-activities/

This resource provides many word work activities/videos and how it works. All of these activities will be great for student involvement and engagement. I would definitely use these activities in my future classroom one day!

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These fun, engaging, NO PREP word work activities help students practice their words effectively and are the perfect option for your 1st or 2nd grade class!

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Writing Process: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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Writing Process: Lauren Corbin Cunningham

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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:Writing%20process?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI94Oa4vyB9gIVtxXUAR14GQ9-EAAYASAAEgJW6PD_BwE

This resource is great for teachers, it does cost money though. This resource provides different writing process bulletin board sets, they also have different posters, and writing process charts/writing checklists. All of these resources will help students to get engaged with the writing process. This is a great tool for educators to use!

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Writing Process Teaching Resources | Teachers Pay Teachers

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Browse Writing process resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.

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Here is tip that can help teach writing genres for all ages.
-Ashley Lamb

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I'll be honest. At times, I've been confused and overwhelmed when teaching writing. As an English teacher, that's embarrassing to admit, but I've been through innumerable curriculum changes and standardized testing cycles which have often defined what "type" of writing I'm supposed to teach. I've learned that instruction for writing must go beyond the traditional genres but always focus on the basic concepts of audience and purpose.

Traditional Genres of Writing

When students begin writing, instruction starts with the essential genres. Elementary school students are taught descriptive, expository, persuasive, and narrative forms of writing. Typical assignments may include writing stories, opinion pieces, and how-to essays.

By the time students take college writing courses (which many high schools now offer as dual enrollment), students are expected to write lengthy academic research papers. When I taught English 101 at our local community college, students wrote various papers including extended definitions, cause and effect, compare and contrast, illustration, and argument essays. With the emphasis on research and scholarly writing, students must use Modern Language Association (MLA) conventions and avoid plagiarism by carefully citing their research.

Writing for Standardized Assessments

Over recent years, standardized assessments have significantly influenced writing instruction. In Maryland, I've taught through our Maryland State Performance Assessments, Functional Writing Tests, High School Assessments and now, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) which is aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core identifies three text types for writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences

On the surface, these standards may seem easily understood, but the ways that students are assessed on their writing is often complex. In addition to the state testing, as a high school teacher, I also prepare students for their SAT and Advanced Placement assessments, specifically the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Assessment.

Are You Confused? Than Your Students are Too!

My high school juniors frequently lament that they're confused about how to write. I've heard them complain that the way I teach them to write is different than the way their other teachers instruct them. This is particularly true with students in AP History, a class where students face the challenging DBQ, or "document-based question." Fortunately, in recent years I've seen consistency between the SAT essay, PARCC essays, and Advanced Placement writing. Now these prompts all emphasize the use of text evidence to support the claims students make in their writing.

Analytical Writing

For success on these assessments, students need proficiency with analytical writing. The reading and writing connection is vital, as students must first become critical readers before they can have success with writing. They need deep engagement with their reading- interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the text- before they can begin to cogently communicate their own ideas. Furthermore, they need to be able to synthesize information from several sources in a meaningful way. Click here for an example of a 2017 PARCC prompt (Research Simulation).

To help prepare my American Literature students for success with standardized assessment prompts, I've developed Common Core Writing Tasks from Paired Passages.

Timed Writing

One of the principal challenges for students on all of these assessments is that the writing is "timed," and they don't have an opportunity to use the writing process, which is emphasized during classroom instruction. Even at the college level when teaching English 101, instructors always guide students through steps in the writing process- brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing-before students submitted their final drafts. For success with timed writing, students need practice writing under time constraints and must be reassured that assessors understand that students are writing a first draft. Additionally, even though their time is limited, it's important to encourage students to take 2-3 minutes to plan their ideas before writing.

Writing to Learn

Unfortunately, it's easy for teachers to get lost in "teaching to the test," but writing instruction should not only be about the tests. In my twelve years of work with the National Writing Project (NWP), I've rarely come across research that supports writing for tests. NWP teacher consultants improve their writing instruction by reading theory and research, by analyzing their practice, and by being writers themselves. In inquiry projects, teachers improve their practice by developing units of instruction that they can take back to their classrooms. Many of these units include "Writing to Learn" strategies, the use of short, informal and low-states writing activities to make meaning of concepts and ideas. Writing to Learn can be used in all content classes and is an effective way to infuse writing across the curriculum.

Writing for Civil Discourse

In recent years, I've worked with an NWP program, the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP)that specifically helps teachers and students improve respectful argument. In the program, professional development gives teachers the tools to help students read critically, explore multiple points of view, and articulate their own positions on relevant issues. With the divisive rhetoric and sound bites in today's media, it's important for students to learn to communicate objectively and appreciate different points of view.

Real-World Writing

Students want to see the relevance of school to "real" life and their future careers, so instruction should give students extensive practice with a variety of genres that include "real-world" writing (which may be neglected because of the pressure for high test scores). Students need instruction for college application essays, for job seeking (resumes, cover letters, thank you letters), and for work (business plans, project proposals and reports, marketing materials, how-to manuals, etc.)

Writing for the Digital Age

No doubt, in our era of the Internet and technology, students need guidance for writing online. This includes writing for social media, for blogging, and for email. Students also need practice writing for video, podcasts and multimedia presentations. Unfortunately, constant exposure to technology may interfere with students' abilities to sustain focus for deep reflection and revision. The character limitations in many digital environments and use of emoticons can interfere with the development of strong vocabularies. Providing writing instruction today has new challenges that teachers of past generations didn't face.

Creative Writing

With all of the other types of writing students are expected to do, it's no surprise that opportunities for creative writing may be limited, but it's often the most important type of writing. Many students enjoy and appreciate opportunities to write for personal expression and for human connection. Creative writing inspires student imagination and is an outlet for their emotions. It can include writing poetry, songs, stories, scripts, novels, etc. Sometimes I've even created "hybrid" writing assignments that combine creative and analytical writing. For instance, at the end of their reading of a novel, I've asked students to write a character analysis from the point of view of a character while incorporating text evidence and interpretations of theme.

Tips for Teachers

Writing instructors can easily be overwhelmed with so many curriculum expectations. So, what's a teacher supposed to do? With 20 years of experience, here are three of my suggestions.
1. Students must write every day.
They need daily writing - informal, low stakes, and ungraded- in classes across the curriculum. Teachers need to build students confidence in their writing abilities. As the old adage goes, "practice makes perfect." Writing to learn strategies are particularly effective here; students can write during bell ringers, journals, reflections, and exit tickets.
2. Students need to understand Audience and Purpose.
Teacher should create writing assignments that lend themselves to different audiences. Otherwise, students may think writing is only for their teachers. Students should learn to consider who are they writing for. Will they be writing for someone who will score their test using a rubric (maybe even Artificial Intelligence), an employer, a friend, or a public audience? At the beginning of an assignment, it may even be beneficial to generate a list of potential audiences. Teachers can also improve students' understanding of purpose by publishing student writing - in a school publication, local newspaper, or online blog. Knowing that their writing has a wider audience may help students put forth their best efforts. It can also lead to a useful discussion of tone in writing.

Students also must learn strategies for various writing purposes. Here is an opportunity to help students understand why they may write a different thesis in English or history classes or why on a timed writing their introduction may not include a "hook." Purpose helps students understand the reasons why they're writing a particular piece (to inform, to persuade, to entertain, etc.) and answers the question, "why?" To help students better understand audience and purpose, teachers can help students "unpack" prompts and understand what they are being ASKED to do.
3. All genres of writing require students to learn the traits of effective writing.
Traits of writing include ideas, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, convention and presentation. No matter whether a student is writing for a school assignment, for a college application, or for a job, or for any other situation, they should understand these traits. All writing should have well thought out ideas, logical organization, strong vocabulary, varied sentence structures and correct standard English conventions. With common vocabulary to describe powerful writing, teachers across content areas can help reduce confusion for students.

What do you do to help your students master genres of writing and communicate effectively? Please share in the comments below.

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There's More to Writing Genres Than Meets the Eye - TeachWriting.org

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I'll be honest. At times, I've been confused and overwhelmed when teaching writing. As an English teacher, that's embarrassing to admit, but I've been through innumerable curriculum changes and standardized testing cycles which have often defined what "type" of writing I'm supposed to teach.

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Spelling games-Lauren Corbin Cunningham 

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Spelling games-Lauren Corbin Cunningham 

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https://www.education.com/games/spelling/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2uz2sfuB9gIV5BTUAR1dMQeHEAAYAiAAEgKkxPD_BwE

This resource is free to use for students and teachers, it includes preschool through 8th-grade spelling games. This resource a library, printable worksheets, guided lessons, and lesson plans. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom!

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Browse Spelling Online Games | Education.com

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Browse Spelling Online Games. Award winning educational materials designed to help kids succeed. Start for free now!

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Here is a site that has several games for all ages that can be fun for students that like to be on the computer.
-Ashley Lamb

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Browse Spelling Games. Award winning educational materials designed to help kids succeed. Start for free now!

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This is a great idea to use in classrooms. I would use it in my classroom. It would help me see where my students are, who is struggling and who is flying through the process.
-Ashley Lamb

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This is an editable interactive writing process poster for students. This interactive poster allows teachers to know exactly what step each student is on in the writing process. The editable version allows teachers from all grade levels to create it to meet their needs in their classroom.
Writing Process How to use:

Print on cardstock for durability (regular paper is fine too)

Laminate

Cut and hot glue on "glue here" signs

Hang in classroom

Write students' names on clothespins and model how to move their clothespin at the end of writers workshop each day.

You may also like: Kindergarten Writing Workshop Unit Growing Bundle I Can Label All Year Long Growing Bundle Information for You:
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writing process | writing poster | kindergarten writing | kindergarten writing process | primary writing process | writers workshop | thatkindermama

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Kindergarten Writing Process Poster | Writers Workshop | Editable

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This is an editable interactive writing process poster for students. This interactive poster allows teachers to know exactly what step each student is on in the writing process. The editable version allows teachers from all grade levels to create it to meet their needs in their classroom. Writing Pr...

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by Linda Powell

This is a great article to read about teaching genres in writing. This article is packed full of great information about the types of writing, genres, and the best methods to teach it. I found this article to be very insightful and I believe that it will be a great help to me in the future. I encourage everyone to read this article.

References
There’s More to Writing Genres Than Meets the Eye. (n.d.). TeachWriting.org. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://www.teachwriting.org/612th/2018/8/28/theres-more-to-writing-genres-than-meets-the-eye

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I'll be honest. At times, I've been confused and overwhelmed when teaching writing. As an English teacher, that's embarrassing to admit, but I've been through innumerable curriculum changes and standardized testing cycles which have often defined what "type" of writing I'm supposed to teach. I've learned that instruction for writing must go beyond the traditional genres but always focus on the basic concepts of audience and purpose.

Traditional Genres of Writing

When students begin writing, instruction starts with the essential genres. Elementary school students are taught descriptive, expository, persuasive, and narrative forms of writing. Typical assignments may include writing stories, opinion pieces, and how-to essays.

By the time students take college writing courses (which many high schools now offer as dual enrollment), students are expected to write lengthy academic research papers. When I taught English 101 at our local community college, students wrote various papers including extended definitions, cause and effect, compare and contrast, illustration, and argument essays. With the emphasis on research and scholarly writing, students must use Modern Language Association (MLA) conventions and avoid plagiarism by carefully citing their research.

Writing for Standardized Assessments

Over recent years, standardized assessments have significantly influenced writing instruction. In Maryland, I've taught through our Maryland State Performance Assessments, Functional Writing Tests, High School Assessments and now, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) which is aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core identifies three text types for writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences

On the surface, these standards may seem easily understood, but the ways that students are assessed on their writing is often complex. In addition to the state testing, as a high school teacher, I also prepare students for their SAT and Advanced Placement assessments, specifically the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Assessment.

Are You Confused? Than Your Students are Too!

My high school juniors frequently lament that they're confused about how to write. I've heard them complain that the way I teach them to write is different than the way their other teachers instruct them. This is particularly true with students in AP History, a class where students face the challenging DBQ, or "document-based question." Fortunately, in recent years I've seen consistency between the SAT essay, PARCC essays, and Advanced Placement writing. Now these prompts all emphasize the use of text evidence to support the claims students make in their writing.

Analytical Writing

For success on these assessments, students need proficiency with analytical writing. The reading and writing connection is vital, as students must first become critical readers before they can have success with writing. They need deep engagement with their reading- interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the text- before they can begin to cogently communicate their own ideas. Furthermore, they need to be able to synthesize information from several sources in a meaningful way. Click here for an example of a 2017 PARCC prompt (Research Simulation).

To help prepare my American Literature students for success with standardized assessment prompts, I've developed Common Core Writing Tasks from Paired Passages.

Timed Writing

One of the principal challenges for students on all of these assessments is that the writing is "timed," and they don't have an opportunity to use the writing process, which is emphasized during classroom instruction. Even at the college level when teaching English 101, instructors always guide students through steps in the writing process- brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing-before students submitted their final drafts. For success with timed writing, students need practice writing under time constraints and must be reassured that assessors understand that students are writing a first draft. Additionally, even though their time is limited, it's important to encourage students to take 2-3 minutes to plan their ideas before writing.

Writing to Learn

Unfortunately, it's easy for teachers to get lost in "teaching to the test," but writing instruction should not only be about the tests. In my twelve years of work with the National Writing Project (NWP), I've rarely come across research that supports writing for tests. NWP teacher consultants improve their writing instruction by reading theory and research, by analyzing their practice, and by being writers themselves. In inquiry projects, teachers improve their practice by developing units of instruction that they can take back to their classrooms. Many of these units include "Writing to Learn" strategies, the use of short, informal and low-states writing activities to make meaning of concepts and ideas. Writing to Learn can be used in all content classes and is an effective way to infuse writing across the curriculum.

Writing for Civil Discourse

In recent years, I've worked with an NWP program, the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP)that specifically helps teachers and students improve respectful argument. In the program, professional development gives teachers the tools to help students read critically, explore multiple points of view, and articulate their own positions on relevant issues. With the divisive rhetoric and sound bites in today's media, it's important for students to learn to communicate objectively and appreciate different points of view.

Real-World Writing

Students want to see the relevance of school to "real" life and their future careers, so instruction should give students extensive practice with a variety of genres that include "real-world" writing (which may be neglected because of the pressure for high test scores). Students need instruction for college application essays, for job seeking (resumes, cover letters, thank you letters), and for work (business plans, project proposals and reports, marketing materials, how-to manuals, etc.)

Writing for the Digital Age

No doubt, in our era of the Internet and technology, students need guidance for writing online. This includes writing for social media, for blogging, and for email. Students also need practice writing for video, podcasts and multimedia presentations. Unfortunately, constant exposure to technology may interfere with students' abilities to sustain focus for deep reflection and revision. The character limitations in many digital environments and use of emoticons can interfere with the development of strong vocabularies. Providing writing instruction today has new challenges that teachers of past generations didn't face.

Creative Writing

With all of the other types of writing students are expected to do, it's no surprise that opportunities for creative writing may be limited, but it's often the most important type of writing. Many students enjoy and appreciate opportunities to write for personal expression and for human connection. Creative writing inspires student imagination and is an outlet for their emotions. It can include writing poetry, songs, stories, scripts, novels, etc. Sometimes I've even created "hybrid" writing assignments that combine creative and analytical writing. For instance, at the end of their reading of a novel, I've asked students to write a character analysis from the point of view of a character while incorporating text evidence and interpretations of theme.

Tips for Teachers

Writing instructors can easily be overwhelmed with so many curriculum expectations. So, what's a teacher supposed to do? With 20 years of experience, here are three of my suggestions.
1. Students must write every day.
They need daily writing - informal, low stakes, and ungraded- in classes across the curriculum. Teachers need to build students confidence in their writing abilities. As the old adage goes, "practice makes perfect." Writing to learn strategies are particularly effective here; students can write during bell ringers, journals, reflections, and exit tickets.
2. Students need to understand Audience and Purpose.
Teacher should create writing assignments that lend themselves to different audiences. Otherwise, students may think writing is only for their teachers. Students should learn to consider who are they writing for. Will they be writing for someone who will score their test using a rubric (maybe even Artificial Intelligence), an employer, a friend, or a public audience? At the beginning of an assignment, it may even be beneficial to generate a list of potential audiences. Teachers can also improve students' understanding of purpose by publishing student writing - in a school publication, local newspaper, or online blog. Knowing that their writing has a wider audience may help students put forth their best efforts. It can also lead to a useful discussion of tone in writing.

Students also must learn strategies for various writing purposes. Here is an opportunity to help students understand why they may write a different thesis in English or history classes or why on a timed writing their introduction may not include a "hook." Purpose helps students understand the reasons why they're writing a particular piece (to inform, to persuade, to entertain, etc.) and answers the question, "why?" To help students better understand audience and purpose, teachers can help students "unpack" prompts and understand what they are being ASKED to do.
3. All genres of writing require students to learn the traits of effective writing.
Traits of writing include ideas, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, convention and presentation. No matter whether a student is writing for a school assignment, for a college application, or for a job, or for any other situation, they should understand these traits. All writing should have well thought out ideas, logical organization, strong vocabulary, varied sentence structures and correct standard English conventions. With common vocabulary to describe powerful writing, teachers across content areas can help reduce confusion for students.

What do you do to help your students master genres of writing and communicate effectively? Please share in the comments below.

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There's More to Writing Genres Than Meets the Eye - TeachWriting.org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I'll be honest. At times, I've been confused and overwhelmed when teaching writing. As an English teacher, that's embarrassing to admit, but I've been through innumerable curriculum changes and standardized testing cycles which have often defined what "type" of writing I'm supposed to teach.

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I found this video very cute. It is simple but you could teach the kids this song to help them remember what the steps to writing are. They look like they enjoy doing it as well.

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I picked this site because it does a good job of going through the different types of writing. It tells us about the 5 types, expository, descriptive, narrative, perssuasive, and journal writing. For each one it explains what it is and gives examples of what it would be as well as includes some key details each should include.

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5 Types of Writing | Genres of Writing Information & Resources | Twinkl

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What are the 5 types of writing? Read this guide for more information and helpful teaching resources for this topic.

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by Linda Powell

In this article the author gives teachers six great ideas on how to help struggling readers through word work activities. These are six easy activities that should be in every classroom in my opinion, to help those students that struggle. The first activity is a word pattern exercises. The next activity is the use of endings. Exercise three is irregular words. The fourth is synonyms. The fifth is vocabulary words. The sixth is the use of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. I have this resource saved for my own use in my classroom, when I need to address students that need additional word work. The examples really explain how to use each of six exercises.

References
6 Easy Word Work Activities that Make Better Spellers. (2019, December 17). https://elementaryassessments.com/word-work-activities-upper-elementary/

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Word Work Activities! Such a fun literacy component, for all elementary grades.

The following 6 word work activities transform elementary students into better spellers. Your struggling spellers will especially benefit.

Word work is best when it's interactive in some way.

That's why the word work activities presented here will ensure that your elementary students are "doing" word work and not just merely copying and spelling.

For more mini-lesson ideas, see our writers' and readers' workshop literacy page filled with engaging activities that elementary learners enjoy.

Easy Word Work Activities for Struggling Writers & Spellers

Activity #1: Word Patterns

Students work with a partner to study word patterns.

A student will ask his/her partner...

How would you spell (to practice writing) or say (to practice reading) these words:

blouse, house, douse, spouse? (Add any other words to this list.)

Afterwards, students write a sentence with each word.

If they don't know the word, they may use a dictionary or ask their partner for help.

The student asks his partner...

How would you spell (to practice writing) or say (to practice reading) these words:

wink, blink, sink, link, mink, pink, roller rink?

Again, students write a sentence with each word. If they don't know the word, they may use a dictionary or ask a peer for help.

How would you spell (to practice writing) or say (to practice reading) these words:

back, flack, backpack, lack, hack, sack, Jack, snack, pack, tack, Zack?

And once again they write sentences.

With the last example, students should notice that Jack and Zach are capitalized. Ask them if they know why. Great teachable moment.

Have the questions that students ask each other written on task cards.

Students can manipulate the words using alphabet magnets, onset/blends/root word cards, or a white board.

The spelling patterns word work activities can be used with any terms that have spelling patterns. (e.g., night, could, car, etc.).

For this activity, students work with a partner to practice writing endings for root words.

Here are some examples:

How would you write the word jump in the past tense? (jumped, add -ed)

How do you spell jumping? What is the plural of city? (cities, y-i change pattern).

How do you spell stop in the past tense? (stopped, double the consonant before adding -ed or -ing).

If you can spell beautiful, how would you spell beauty?

What is the plural of bug? (bugs, add -s when it is more than one).

How do you spell prettier and prettiest? (y to i change pattern).

If you can spell played, how would you spell player?

How do you spell crashes? (when a word ends in ch, sh, or x, add -es)

Again, have the questions that students ask each other written on note cards.

This word work activity is great for learning -ed, -er, and -ing endings and also for words that have irregular end changes such as city, pretty, and beauty.

Activity # 3: Irregular Words

Spelling irregular words can be tricky. They don't follow a pattern and can get quite confusing for struggling spellers.

As an accommodation, have an anchor chart somewhere in the classroom with commonly misspelled irregular words, and encourage students often to use those anchor charts as support.

Here are some examples:

Again, students work with a partner and read from task cards. Have them practice as many irregular words as possible.

This is a great activity for teaching students about strong verbs and colorful adjectives.

A thesaurus is a must for this word work activity.

Students choose (or you choose) five words. Students then make a list of synonyms to accompany those words.

I like to call these synonyms "spicy" words since they add spice to one's writing and are used less frequently by students.

This activity can also be done with antonyms.

Activity #5: Vocabulary Sketch

This activity is perfect for use in the content areas which have lots of area-specific vocabulary that students aren't exposed to daily.

This simple word work activity simply involves students sketching or drawing a few of their spelling or vocabulary words.

Sweet and simple.

Activity #6: Frayer Model (Prefixes, Suffixes, Root Words)

The Frayer Model template pairs especially well with prefix, suffix, endings, and root words spelling practice.

Have students write a root word, prefix, or suffix in the center of the graphic organizer.

Make sure the word or word-part chosen is grade appropriate and somewhat familiar to students.

Students then write examples, non-examples, characteristics, and a definition associated with the word.

This word work activity really gets students thinking critically.

As an example, if the center word is "-less", students will write examples of words with this suffix along with non-examples, characteristics, and a definition.

This graphic organizer is great for differentiating instruction because you can assign students a wide range (based on difficulty) of prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

Alternatively, one student could complete this graphic organizer for a few different words with each word having a different level of difficulty.

To make this activity more hands-on, check out this easy foldable Frayer Model.

Easy Word Work Activities for Struggling Writers

Your struggling writers and spellers will definitely benefit from these easy word work activities.

Place these exercises in literacy centers or stations ,and now you're all set.

They're interactive, easy, and effective.

Happy teaching and learning

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6 Easy Word Work Activities that Make Better Spellers

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Word Work Activities! Such a fun literacy component, for all elementary grades. The following 6 word work activities transform elementary students into better spellers. Your struggling spellers will especially benefit. Word work is best when it's interactive in some way.

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We often use common core sheets to create worksheets on many different subjects including spelling and vocabulary words. It allows you to put in whatever words you would like and then create worksheets to practice your words. It also has some fun ones like word search.

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Spelling Worksheets Maker | Free - Distance Learning, worksheets and more: CommonCoreSheets

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Free math worksheets for almost every subject. Create your own daily (spiral) reviews, test, worksheets and even flash cards. All for free! No signup or app to download.

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by Linda Powell

I really love this article about how to teach the writing process to elementary students. One of the things that really stuck out in this article is the saying, "writing is a journey, not a process." I think that teachers need to keep this in mind and make sure that they keep writing fun for students. The article focuses on three tips to help students with their writing in the classroom. The first tip is to have students practice writing. Teachers are encouraged to have students practice writing every day. The next step is to make writing into a process of steps. This is super important and teachers need to walk their students through the steps. The final step the article covers is that students need to experiment with different writing strategies.

References
Studentreasures. (2018, March 7). How to Teach the Writing Process to Elementary Students: 4 Best Tips. Studentreasures Publishing. https://studentreasures.com/blog/teaching-strategies/how-to-teach-the-writing-process-to-elementary-students-4-best-tips/

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Writing is a journey, not a destination. It's about the process of putting words together to create something new and original, something thought-provoking, something that will make readers laugh, cry or shake their heads in disbelief. For your students, you are the guide that will help them find their own direction to follow and define their own writing goals to achieve. Teaching writing as a process, not merely a means to an end, is the key to showing them how to navigate language on their own. The following tips will help ensure the lesson is as engaging as it is unforgettable.

Tip #1: Practice Writing Regularly

As Ray Bradbury always said, the best way to become a better writer is to write every day. Whether or not your elementary students might be destined to write the next Fahrenheit 451 , encouraging regular practice is the number one way to improve your students' skills and build both a longer attention span and a sense of flow.

Writing, especially for young authors, really is a lot like riding a bike. They may not forget, once taught, how to hold a pencil or write a legible sentence, but trying to write a long response or full-blown essay after a long break can feel as unfamiliar and frustrating as those first shaky pedal rotations after leaving a bike locked in the garage all winter long. Keep their writing hands from getting rusty by penciling in a little practice time every day!

Tip #2: Write One Step at a Time

Just like any journey, the writing process is best enjoyed when taken at an even pace, one step at a time. Walking beside your students as they work through each separate stage of the writing process gives them time to better process and internalize the things they're learning along the way, while simultaneously giving you a clearer picture of both their strengths and what they struggle with at each individual step. This, in turn, allows you to help them play to those strengths while addressing the problems they're having without having to play the guessing game to figure out what exactly has been stumping them.

This approach to teaching the writing process is especially helpful for younger students who may have more difficulty focusing on a single assignment for long periods of time. You can easily break the process down into short, bite-sized lessons revolving around one stage at a time, so that the first lesson is about brainstorming, the second is about rough drafts, the third about editing strategies-and so on.

Tip #3: Experiment With Different Writing Strategies

It's tempting to want to focus on only the very best writing strategies to teach your elementary students, but in truth, there is no one strategy to rule them all. Some will work better for certain kids than for others, and sometimes certain methods will be better suited to certain writing styles, topics or formats than others. Rather than give all of your (and your students') energy to a select few techniques, foster a more creative atmosphere by allowing your students to experiment with a wide variety.

This helps your students grow and flourish as writers by allowing them each to find the strategies that play to their individual strengths and help make their writing shine. It also opens their minds up to the idea that, just like any problem (outside of math class) might have more than one solution, so too may there be a number of good approaches to responding to any one writing prompt. It's an invitation to thinking outside of the box and the perfect way for you, as their teacher, to instill in them a healthy sense of curiosity.

Tip #4: Explore the "Why" of Writing

When teaching the writing process to elementary students, there's one important question that needs to be discussed early and often: "Why?" The purposes behind each writing form, from expository to narrative to opinion essays, is of course important, but it's also vital to go beyond that to delve into what significance their writing could have outside of the classroom. Are your students practicing nonfiction writing? Talk about how journalism, reference books and other examples have helped people make better, more educated choices in their lives. Learning about persuasive writing? Show them how a well-formed argument can change the world.

There's also a third why that should be explored-the personal, individual "why" that motivates your students to write. As their guide, it's your not your job to answer this question for them, but to help them answer it for themselves. It's never just about getting a good grade or passing a class. Writing can teach them more about the things they love, or about themselves. It can show them how to communicate their ideas more clearly, and share them with a broader audience. It can help them be better students, and set them up for a more successful future. It could be the path to discovering a passion and building a career, or merely to cultivating a fun hobby to enjoy on the side. Illuminate the possibilities for them, then let them decide their own truths.

The Process of Publishing Your Students' Writing

While much can be learned from just about any writing assignment, perhaps the best way to teach the writing process to elementary students is to tie it all together in the form of a classbook project. Creating and publishing a book together illustrates how writing works outside of the classroom, as well as teaching real-world skills like teamwork, dedication and long-term goal setting. More than that, it allows your students to experience the full narrative of the writing process, all the way from topic brainstorming to holding their final, published book in their hands and feeling, perhaps for the first time in their lives, like "real authors" who are capable of achieving anything. It's a feeling-and a lesson-they won't soon forget.
For more teaching tips, writing activities and other free educational resources, check out our online teacher's lounge, and sign up for your free publishing kit today!

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How to Teach the Writing Process to Elementary Students: 4 Best Tips

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Writing is a journey, not a destination. It's about the process of putting words together to create something new and original, something thought-provoking , something that will make readers laugh, cry or shake their heads in disbelief. For your students, you are the guide that will help them find their own direction to follow and define their own writing goals to achieve.

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Jade Garrett

The ability for students to differentiate between genres is not something that comes naturally. The website that I have found introduces a number of activities and lesson plans that you can use in your classroom to help students learn the defining attributes of these genres. These examples included all downloadable resources for each lesson. You may need to adjust some of the vocabulary or content that is included to best fit the needs of your class, but nonetheless this website provides a great starting point for lesson ideas!

Genre activities: Reading worksheets. Ereading Worksheets. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/genre/genre-activities/

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Are you looking for activities that will give your students ample practice identifying the genres and subgenres of a variety of texts? Look no further. This page includes a huge array of genre activities to give your students the practice that they need. From student-centered projects to PowerPoint slide shows, this page has all of the genre activities that you will likely need to teach your students about literary genre and subgenre.

Genre Lesson - Slide show lesson on genre and subgenre. Includes a review activity after the lesson.
Genre Lesson PowerPoint

Genre Lesson 2 - An awesome and animated PowerPoint slide show explaining genres and subgenres of literature. This lesson includes ten practice problems at the end to help you informally assess your students.
Genre Lesson 2 PowerPoint

Genre Quiz - Here's a matching quiz to evaluate students on their understanding of genre and subgenre terms. Students match the definitions to the terms and answer multiple choice questions.
Genre Quiz | RTF
Genre Quiz | PDF
Genre Quiz | Preview
Genre Quiz | Answers

Genre Quiz 2 - Looking for another genre quiz to assess your students? Check out this new genre quiz. It has fifteen multiple-choice questions on genres and subgenres of literature. Students identify the genres and subgenres of a variety of texts and then match definitions.
Genre Quiz 2 | RTF
Genre Quiz 2 | PDF
Genre Quiz 2 | Preview
Genre Quiz 2 | Answers

Genre Practice 1 - A warm-up PowerPoint review where students identify the genre and subgenre of 5 stories.
Genre Practice 1 | PowerPoint

Genre Practice 2 - PowerPoint warm up review where students identify the genre and subgenre of 5 stories.
Genre Practice 2 | PowerPoint

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Are you looking for activities that will give your students ample practice identifying the genres and subgenres of a variety of texts? Look no further. This page includes a huge array of genre activities to give your students the practice that they need.

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Jade Garrett

In the class that I am currently student teaching in, I love to use different word work activities! This teacher has posted this blog which includes ten fun word work centers that she has used in the classroom. Something that I have never seen before was strategy number seven, PlayDoh stamp writing. This is something that is engaging for students, and can be used in a variety of activities, for example spelling word practice.

Piatt, E. (2020, November 19). 10 engaging word work activities and centers. Creatively Teaching First. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.creativelyteachingfirst.com/blog/7-engaging-word-work-activities

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Word Work Activity #5 - Phonics Task Cards

Task cards are life changing! Maybe that's a little over the top, but I love having these phonics task cards on hand. I use these ALL THE TIME! I use them for small groups, early finishers, word work centers, or 1:1 work.

There are three different task card activities I use...

Task Card Activity #1 - Read a list of words with similar sounds (rhyming words).

Task Card Activity #2- Students spell long vowel words with letter boxes.

Task Card Activity #3 - Students select the correct word for each long vowel picture. Students can use a small clip, a mini eraser, a dry erase marker, etc. to indicate the long vowel. I like to mark the back of the clip card for self check.

You can grab the task cards HERE.

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10 Engaging Word Work Activities and Centers - Creatively Teaching First

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Task cards are life changing! Maybe that's a little over the top, but I love having these phonics task cards on hand. I use these ALL THE TIME! I use them for small groups, early finishers, word work centers, or 1:1 work. There are three different task card activities I use...

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Jade Garrett

The writing process is something that we often see stressed in later grades, but this website is an informational one designed for teacher knowledge, based on implementing the writing process for lower grades. The author outlines the stages that students in K-2 should follow as a part of the writing process. Additionally, it provides tips and tricks for how you, as the teacher, can implement these steps effectively.

Dallal, D. (2020, October 7). The writing process for primary grades. Literacy Partners. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://literacypartners.com/the-writing-process-for-primary-grades/

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Types of genres in writing by Chasity Gaither

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Types of genres in writing by Chasity Gaither

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This is a blog from a kindergarten teacher showing the different genres of writing that we can teach to kindergartners. In this blog there are examples of actual student work while learning to write in different genres.

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Genre writing in kindergarten is not as difficult as you might think. I have been working on various types of genre writing in a kindergarten classroom and we have been having a blast!

Informational Text

When I first started working with this class, they were just wrapping up informational text writing. We were ready to head into the writing genre of small moments. But not everyone was ready to let go of informational text. In my opinion, that is okay. Just like there are types of genres I like to read, there are also certain types of genres I like to write in. So do students. As long as the student attempts writing the genre we are working in during the 4 weeks of instruction, I am happy. If they can demonstrate proficiency in that genre, they I don't ask them to restrict their writing.

This boy CLEARLY knows a LOT about insects and bugs. It is his passion... so naturally he wants to write about it.

Small Moments

So we launched our small moment genre writing by introducing a few of the anchor charts for this unit. This class was really struggling with being risk takers with their spelling. But after a few days of lessons, they became quite independent little spellers. The spelling panic was behind them!

Soon we had a little Rocky Mountain Fishing! I love her mountains! Check out the details in her illustrations!

Fiction Writing

We spend about 4 weeks in each genre before we move onto another genre. Next up for our writing was fiction writing! Oh! My! They really love this type of writing and it is a great way to finish out the year. The students are excited. We have only worked on fiction for a few days, but they took to it immediately.

I have never learned so much about Minecraft than I have over the last few days. Minecraft... all day, every day! Sigh! However, we can still see the qualities of fiction regardless of the subject. More importantly, when students select the topic of their writing, they are more engaged. [NOTE TO SELF: It is not about me.]

Here is another piece from a student. I love how she added labels and speech bubbles. Speech bubbles were part of our mini-lessons and she added them to her fiction writing.

This line... LOVE: "Next the hedgehog was about to give up until..." Building anticipation! She even used the ellipsis! I may have gotten goosebumps over this piece.

We also add the genre writing anchor charts to our strategy wall. I just layer one chart over the other. In this way, if I have to go back and remind a student of something I have already taught them, they are literally at my fingertips.

So there you have it!

YOU CAN FIND OUR ENTIRE WRITING CURRICULUM BY CLICKING HERE.

We love genre writing in kindergarten. It provides enough variety to keep us extremely engaged which, in turn, keeps us moving along the writing continuum. As I said, I don't require the students to ONLY write in the genre we are studying, but the fun and creativity are infectious.

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Genre writing in kindergarten is not as difficult as you might think. I have been working on various types of genre writing in a kindergarten classroom and we have been having a blast! When I first started working with this class, they were just wrapping up informational text writing.

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This is a great video of a teacher giving tips and sharing how she does her word work stations. She shares several ideas for stations during word work time. Her students have designated work for must do and can do.

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Word Work: All about My Word Work Station Download your Word Work FREEBIE: http://bit.ly/wordworkfreebie In this video, I will be showing how I organize my Word Work station for my Daily 5 rotations. I will also show the types of activities that my students complete on a daily basis when they go to my Word Work station.

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I shared this video because I thought it was a great idea for teaching students the students the steps of the writing process. This first grade teacher has the students sing the steps of the writing process. What a great way to help students remember each step for years to come.

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Cecily Anderson
The author of this blog is a teacher. She explains her experience with her class and her take on using word walls. She gives a five step process for improving a word wall. She also uses examples from her own class and how she made it better.

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Transferring ownership of the class word wall to the students can increase their engagement and learning.

Courtesy of Justine Marie Bruyère

It was raining again. My second-grade students were indoors for recess and enjoying free time when a student approached me and asked, "How do I spell because?" I responded, "That's a tricky one-have you checked the word wall?"

The student answered with a familiar tune, "Oh yeah! I forget about the wall sometimes, it's so high up." She waltzed over to the word wall and craned her neck to find the word because written at the top of the wall, in my handwriting.

A few moments later, "Mrs. Bruyère?" I looked up to see another student. He paused, then said, "T, e, n, i, s, e, e-how do I spell Tennessee again?"

For 13 years I fiddled with word wall systems, hoping to uncover one that worked for the learners in my class. When the word wall works, the classroom begins to move more fluidly, so it has always seemed worth the effort to improve it.

Taking Action

On a Monday morning soon after that rainy day, I called a class meeting to ask my students for their ideas on how to improve the word wall. A funny and bright student spoke first, "I sort of forget the wall is there most of the time." No one disagreed. Another student chimed in, "The wall doesn't have the words I need on it. I know how to spell all-OK, most-of those words already, but the words I need aren't there."

Another problem was placement. It was too high-in fact it was hard for some students to see the entire top row of words clearly.

My students shared many ideas during our class meeting that day. Eventually, they selected a section of wall for our words-a section that was accessible to them-and we affixed laminated sheets of white paper to the wall, one for each letter of the alphabet.

A 5-Step Process for Improving the Word Wall

1. Finding the right location: I started by asking my students to find the most accessible place in the room for a student-created word wall.

2. Establishing rules together: I asked my students how the wall should function. For example, would they like to draw pictures or tape pictures next to the words? My students decided not to use pictures, but many classes would make the opposite call.

How do students want to manage the wall? And who will write words on the wall-the teacher or the students? My students decided that they would be the ones to add words to the wall. First a student writes a "striving to spell" word on a recipe card, and a friend checks it. I complete an additional check to guide and nurture in-the-moment phonics and feature learning. This nurturing takes on different forms with each child. In one case, it might be stretching the child to notice digraphs or diphthongs, and in another instance it may look like asking a students to explain what they know about the sounds in the words son, done, and tone.

Once those steps are complete, the student who came up with the word records it on the word wall.

Do students want to use certain colors for certain types of words? Color-coding can be a very helpful clue, and my students decided that on their wall, Dolch or grade-level words would be written in blue, nouns in pink, action verbs in green, and adjectives in orange.
Courtesy of Justine Marie Bruyère

"Do you think that would be a good word to add to our word wall?"

"I wonder if we can make a list of words that would fit into this word family?"

"This week, I noticed that 'irr' makes the 'er' sound in squirrel. What new word surprised you this week?"

"If you need help with the word different, that's Kyle's word. He has offered to share his method!"

"What other words have a sneaky first letter?"

3. Igniting real conversations and connections to words: Try asking questions or offering tips. A few suggestions:

4. Conferring with students to heighten learning: Occasionally, students will spell a word on the word wall incorrectly. For these cases, I use one-to-one teacher time to do a quick activity, make reference to a text, or play a comparison game to draw the student's attention to common misspellings and the correct spelling of the word.

5. Celebrating the words: During share time, I encourage students to view the wall and share a reflection about a word that they added, used, or better understand now because it's on the wall. During this time, I also promote and support new additions to the wall.

After a few weeks of using our revamped word wall, a student asked how to spell Tennessee. The boy who had asked me originally jumped up and said, "That's my word!" He hopped over to his word and ran his finger along the letters, while explaining his method for remembering to add two S's.

What was the most important aspect of changing the wall? You might think it was spelling-related, but it wasn't. The most important aspect of the new word wall was that it was not created by me for them. This wall was created with their hands and held their words, and it provided evidence of their learning.

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Transferring ownership of the class word wall to the students can increase their engagement and learning.

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This website is amazing. It is full of information and tips to teach students blending and segmenting. The steps are listed and detailed. In addition, It includes a video of a teacher teaching oral blending and segmenting in a group setting. I love watching teacher with their students and learning the different styles.

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I found this website and thought it was very useful. It goes in depth about the benefits of Readers Theater and how to implement them in the classroom.

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

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Reader's Theater: Giving Students a Reason to Read Aloud

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The reader's theater strategy blends students' desire to perform with their need for oral reading practice. Reader's Theater offers an entertaining and engaging means of improving fluency and enhancing comprehension.

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I liked this website because it gives many different stories/ plays to use in the classroom. Readers theater in the classroom is good to have so students can focus on their reading skills. I think it is always good to have examples of materials that may eventually be used in a classroom so having all these options is great because you can look through them.
-Sentasia Floyd

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Reader's Theater Scripts and Plays

Readers Theater is a dramatic presentation of a written work in a script form. Readers read from a "script" and reading parts are divided among the readers. No memorization, costumes, blocking, or special lighting is needed. Presentations can easily be done in a k-3 classroom. Scripts are held by the readers. Lines are not memorized. The focus is on reading the text with expressive voices and gestures. Making comprehending the text meaningful and fun for the student! Once you start Reader's Theater in your classroom you and your students will be loving it!!!

"Reader's Theater proved to be almost a magic solution for Griffith: In just 10 weeks of using RT, every child in her class had gained a full grade level in reading. After a year, the children's gains had jumped to three years of growth. Griffith calls the transformation in their reading fluency totally remarkable." Quote taken from The Power of Reader's Theater, Scholastic Instructor

Update - July 08

Plays and Scripts To Print and Read

Reader's Theater Resources!!

Click the books to learn more...

Look what THOUSANDS of Teachers Use and Love!!!
Teaching Heart - 2001-2008

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Reader's Theater Scripts and Plays for the Classroom

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Reader's Theater Scripts and Plays Readers Theater is a dramatic presentation of a written work in a script form. Readers read from a "script" and reading parts are divided among the readers. No memorization, costumes, blocking, or special lighting is needed. Presentations can easily be done in a k-3 classroom.

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I like this video because it really shows how to segment and blend words. this video is very catchy and helps students because in the video Jack Hartmann has the letters emphasized and stretched.
-Sentasia Floyd

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Stretchy the Word Snake | Phonics Song for Kids | Segmenting and Blending Words | Jack Hartmann

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This website I found gives ideas for word walls in the classroom. I think this website is great to look at as a first year teacher or any year teacher really just to get some ideas on how to make a word wall or level up a word wall in your classroom already. This website is like teachers pay teachers but obviously in a different website. I think it is good for teachers to have many resources available to them like this one.
-Sentasia Floyd

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Written by Holly (Teach Starter)

"Children who learn in a classroom with a working word wall have a distinct advantage over students who don't have such a resource in their room!" - Dr Darla Shaw
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Word walls in the classroom are designed to be an interactive tool for students. They include an array of words that can be used during writing and reading.

Your word wall focus depends on the space you have in your classroom, year level and your focus areas for the year!

This blog outlines a number of displays and topic ideas for word walls in the classroom environment.

Word Wall Display Ideas

Creating a word wall that can be interactive and easy to change is the utmost important aspect! All of our word wall templates can be customised and added to throughout the year!

In the photo below, ribbon has been used with velcro dots! Students can come and take a word to use and then put it back when they are finished.

I customerised the Rainbow Word Wall template for the below display!

In the photo below, the same thing can be done, velcro dots can be used on laminated colored paper, so that the children can easily remove or add to the class word wall!

Word Wall Vocabulary Ideas

Literature Study Word Walls

A literature specific word wall is a great way to encourage students to use new vocabulary in their writing, as well as understand a particular style of writing.

Spelling / Phonics Word Walls

Displaying a spelling or phonics word wall is a fantastic tool for students to use throughout the year. Organize the word wall in alphabetical order, this will make it easier for your students to check and find words. This is a 'work in progress wall' that students add to throughout the year.

I came across this idea on Pinterst and thought it was a great idea! Spelling word walls can get really big throughout the year, so this takes up less space, however each flip-book gets bigger!

Science Vocabulary Word Walls

The language used in science is very specific and often difficult for students to remember! Having a science specific word wall enables your students to become confident with the vocabulary used during a science unit!

Here is our Minibeasts word wall in action:

Maths Vocabulary Word Walls

The understanding of vocabulary is not just important in reading and writing! Students must be able to use and understand certain mathematics vocabulary. We have a huge range of Mathematics Vocabulary Word Walls available to download and customise! Here are some of our most popular:

Other Subject Specific Word Walls

New vocabulary is introduced in every key learning area. Here are some examples of other subject specific word walls:

Word Wall Activities

These word wall activities cards work best when you have a spelling or phonics word wall. It is crucial that the word wall doesn't just work as a 'display only!' Students must be exposed to the words on a number of different occasions and these activities are a great start! I used our word wall task cards and turned them into a flip book that can be used again and again!

Show us Yours!

Do you have other awesome ideas for how to use word walls in your classroom? Share your ideas in the comment section of this blog.
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27 Practical Word Wall Ideas for the Classroom | Teach Starter

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Written by Holly (Teach Starter) "Children who learn in a classroom with a working word wall have a distinct advantage over students who don't have such a resource in their room!" - Dr Darla Shaw Claim 50% off unlimited access for back to school!

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Gregory Glatz

This is a excellent video for students learning  -at ending words. What I like about this video is the narrator reads the story to the audience first, then they tell the story again, but the audience must read it because the audio is silent. It is a great way to interact with the classroom and you can see which students are confident and which students are not.

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PAT THE CAT | Early Reading Book Animation | -AT words

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Gregory Glatz

This article is a great resource for teachers looking to find more solutions to help struggling reading students. My favorite out of the 6 tricks was that last one: 'Reading Aloud'. I feel this a great skill to build students confidence and improve their reading skills at the same time. A lot of the time, struggling students do not want to read in front of huge crowds, so reading aloud in a smaller group can build their confidence to reach a bigger audience eventually.

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6 Tricks to Help Struggling Readers - Teach Elementary

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It is often said by teachers that up until the second grade, students are “learning to read” and from second grade on, they are “reading to learn”. By second grade students should be fluent, independent... Read more »

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Briana Perkins

I love this website. They always have a lot of resources for teachers and parents. In this link you will learn why word walls are important. I love how it also gives you printable word wall list and vocabulary words. This can be printed and cut out. This site is organized and provides additional resources so that you can create your own word wall. There is also differentiated instruction options for word walls.

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Language Arts

Ask students to hunt for words in their reading and writing that fit the phonic or word study pattern being studied. These words can create a word wall that illustrates examples of the different patterns studied. Students could keep a word study notebook to record the known patterns and their new understanding about words, and can play games and activities that apply their word knowledge.

Math

Word walls in math can provide visual cues and graphic representations of content. Consider using a math word wall that has three parts: key vocabulary, "in your own words" definitions, and a variety of ways to portray a function. For example, multiplication is portrayed by the following symbols: x, *, and ( ).

Number sense, concepts, and operations word wall
The purpose of the mathematics word wall is to identify words and phrases that students need to understand and use so as to make good progress in mathematics. Mathematical language is crucial to children's development of thinking. If students do not have the vocabulary to talk about math concepts and skills, they cannot make progress in understanding these areas of mathematical knowledge. They need to be familiar with mathematical vocabulary and mathematical terms to understand written and spoken instructions. See math word wall resources ›

More ideas for word walls in math
Many teachers are familiar with basic word wall strategies including the use of a flashlight (to put the light on words) and a fly swatter (to highlight words). Teachers are also familiar with tested favorites like bingo; I Have, Who Has; and Mind Reader, but they really wanted other ideas. The purpose of this post by Dr. Deborah Wahlstrom is to identify additional ways to use word walls with mathematics content. More math word wall ideas ›

Science

Using interactive word walls in science
Science is a vocabulary-intense subject that is dependent on students learning new and often times difficult vocabulary to increase comprehension and help them make connections between and among concepts. When science students are given the opportunity to interact with the vocabulary, they are more likely to remember it.

Ideas for using the words on your wall are only limited by your imagination. Some examples include:

Students categorize and sequence from largest to smallest (cell, bacteria, yeast, tissue, ribosome, organ, organism, organ system, protozoa, virus) Variation: Students are given vocabulary words, and their classmates must arrange them in the correct order and justify the placement.

Students remove words from the wall and make connecting statements about the words. The class can then create a summarizing statement, for example: cells make up tissues, and tissues make up organs.

For more ideas like these, read the full post by Toni Enloe.

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A word wall is a collection of words that are displayed in large visible letters on a wall, bulletin board, or other display surface in a classroom. The word wall is designed to be an interactive tool for students and contains an array of words that can be used during writing and reading.

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Annika DeJarnett

The teacher in this video seems to have a lot of experience because her word wall is very thought out. I enjoyed how she explained her word wall and how she used sticks at the bottom of her wall to help her students out. I will definitely be saving this video for when I become a teacher.

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The Word Wall: I can learn how to spell that...

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Annika DeJarnett

I really enjoyed this video because the teacher has everyone working together to decode the words. I really like the slow "driving" to sound out the letters then the speeding up to make the word whole again.

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Drive-Thru Blending in Kindergarten: Practicing Early Decoding Skills

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Briana Perkins

This is one of many options that teacher pay teacher website has. I love this website because it gives you many activities and printable sources to use for all subjects. If you are not familiar with the website, you can search the exact concept you are teaching and it will pull up activities to help your students practice that skill. In this specific activity they provide word cards that have dots under each letter sound. Students can point to each dot as they say the sounds and then blend the sounds together. It is a great visual of how the word is broken apart and then blended.

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Are you looking for some fun and engaging blending and segmentation activities for your students? This packet is perfect for early finishers, morning work, homework, and more.

You can use this set as flashcards, word wall, a write the room activity, puzzles, centers, and more.
This is a free sample of the Blending and Segmentation Activities MEGA BUNDLE. Find out more about this bundle HERE and get it at 80% OFF. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE BUNDLE:

Beginning Digraphs(13 pages, 72 word cards)

CVC Words - Short a(7 pages, 40 word cards)

CVC Words - Short e(4 pages, 16 word cards)

CVC Words - Short i(6 pages, 36 word cards)

CVC Words - Short o(5 pages, 27 word cards)

CVC Words - Short u(5 pages, 30 word cards)

CVCe Words - Long a(8 pages, 43 word cards)

CVCe Words - Long i(6 pages, 36 word cards)

CVCe Words - Long o(4 pages, 22 word cards)

CVCe Words - Long u(2 pages, 10 word cards)

Diphthongs(8 pages, 47 word cards)

Ending Digraphs(7 pages, 40 word cards)

L Blends(10 pages, 60 word cards)

R Blends(12 pages, 69 word cards)

R Controlled Vowels(9 pages, 53 word cards)

S Blends(12 pages, 70 word cards)

Vowel Teams(9 pages, 51 word cards)

TERMS OF USE:
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You can reproduce the pages for classroom use only. The fonts I used are free for personal use. Duplication of this resource for commercial purposes or for the entire school is strictly forbidden.

I really appreciate you purchasing my teaching resources and I hope you'll enjoy using them in your classroom.
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FREE Phoneme Blending and Segmenting Activities Vowel Teams Word List

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Are you looking for some fun and engaging blending and segmentation activities for your students? This packet is perfect for early finishers, morning work, homework, and more. You can use this set as flashcards, word wall, a write the room activity, puzzles, centers, and more. This is a free sample ...

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Gregory Glatz

This video is a wonderful song to get students moving and reading CVC words. As I have used it in my past classrooms, students are sounding out and reading 21 total CVC words throughout the 2:13 video. (A lot of words in a short video) As a educator, you could pause the video after every word to add extra practice sounding out words for the students or however you feel it being the most effective in your classroom. I would highly recommend this video to any teacher looking for a solid reading video for your students.

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This is a great introduction to students. In this Reader's Theater students are shown the proper way to read a story with different students or readers assigned the different parts of the story.

Reference
Readers Theater | Who is Sleeping. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://youtu.be/Jbgj3qldLYw

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This is a really nice website that I found on wordwall website. What I love about this site is that I can customize the activity for my students. I like that it is digital, so I can put it on the overhead, print it, or send the kids a link. It is a great resource to have for that extra practice that students need.
Reference
mstroluis. (2021, April 14). Word Match! /-g/. Wordwall - Create Better Lessons Quicker. https://wordwall.net/resource/14545142/english/word-match-g-

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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A series of multiple choice questions. Tap the correct answer to proceed.. Make an interactive teaching resource in one minute.

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Word Blending and Segmenting by Linda Powell

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Word Blending and Segmenting by Linda Powell

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I absolutely love to use Robbie the Robot in my classroom. The kids love talking in robot voices and it is fun to blend and segment words. This is a great go-to lesson on blending and segmenting. I highly recommend saving a copy.

Reference
Robbie the Robot Introducing Blending and Segmenting. (n.d.). https://education.ufl.edu/ufli/files/2020/11/Robbie-the-Robot-UFLI.pdf

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Briana Perkins

This is a great website that we have used at our school before. It does require a subscription but it is worth the fee. We have bought this for grade level access for many primary grades. This link in particular, gives you many lesson plans and scripts to practice readers theater. It is organized by grade level 1st-5th grade. There is also a 14 day trail if you would like to try it out.

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Blending and Segmenting by Billi Jo Shoemaker

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Blending and Segmenting by Billi Jo Shoemaker

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Blending and segmenting are important components of phonological awareness. This article tells what blending and segmenting means and how to teach it. It has several different activities to do in class and provided a couple videos to use as well. It gives a great example of using manipulatives to practice segmenting words.

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Blending and segmenting are important components of phonological awareness. In order to become proficient readers, it is critical that students are able to blend and segment words automatically. Check out these free activities for teaching blending and segmenting.

What is blending and segmenting?

Blending is when a student hears sounds individually and then puts them together to make a word. For example, the sounds /c/ - /a/ - /t/ would be blended into the word /cat/.

Segmenting is the opposite, the student takes a word and then identifies the individual sounds. For example, they would take the word /cat/ and say /c/ - /a/ - /t/

Teaching Blending and Segmenting

Here are two examples of the process that I used to introduce blending and segmenting with Google Slides.

Blending:

show the pictures /rain/ and /bow/

say each word

have the students repeat each word

Model (then eventually ask) what the word is

Students will say rainbow

Segmenting:

show the picture /rainbow/

say the word

have students repeat the word

Model (then eventually ask) what the two parts are /rain/ /bow/

Students will say /rain/ /bow/

Here are two quick videos showing the process:

Using Manipulatives

Once students are solid using visuals, you can move onto manipulatives. There are so many different manipulatives that you can use but my go-to is basic colored cubes.

You can repeat the same steps listed above to blend and segment syllables. This time, have students touch the cubes when saying the word.

Click HERE for a list of compound words that you can use for this activity.

Oral Blending/Segmentation

Using visuals models for blending and segmenting compound words helped students to understand the concept. Using manipulatives allowed them to practice with some support. Now it is time for students to show what they know and blend and segment orally! You can use the list of compound words provided above.

For blending, simply say the two words and students will tell you the compound word. For blending, say the compound word and students will tell you the two words!

What's Next?

Once students have mastered blending and segmenting syllables in compound words, you can move onto the individual sound (phoneme) level. You can use the same three easy steps to introduce blending and segmenting of words with 2 sounds, then 3 sounds, and so on and so forth!

Additional Resources

Google Slides Freebie:

If you haven't already grabbed a copy of the free Google Slides resources for blending and segmenting - click here to grab yours now!

Word Lists:

Here are three different word lists (all free) that you can use for these activities. They are broken up into words with 2, 3 and 4 sounds.

Guess My Word:

Guess My Word is a fun and engaging activity can be used to practice blending and segmenting words with 2, 3, and 4 sounds in a whole group or small group settings.

Self Checking Poke Cards

Poke cards are an independent and self-checking activity that students can use to practice certain skills. How Many Syllables[link] focuses on segmenting the syllables in word parts. How Many Sounds [link] focuses on segmenting the sounds in words.

More Digital Resources:

Pin For Later:

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Are you looking for free activities to teach your kindergarten and first-grade students how to blend and segment? Look no further! Check out these digital and paper freebies to get you started with teaching blending and segmenting. In order to become proficient readers, blending and segmenting are critical skills that students need in order to decode words automatically.

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This is a great article giving great information about using readers theater in the classroom. It tells about keeping things fun for students while they are learning. It gives reasons for using and teaching readers theatre. I have been in class when teachers have used this and the kids had so much fun with it. They were able to work on costumes and props and then perform for other classes.

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How to Do Readers’ Theater: Keeping It Simple, But Fun – Primary Delight

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Have you always wondered how to do readers’ theater and why it’s used in the classroom? Find out answers to these questions in this post.