# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Science of Reading: Unlocking America’s Literacy Crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Since I wrote my first book on the science of reading in 2015 ( Raising Kids Who Read), I've spoken with hundreds of teachers about their practice. One instructional strategy has stood out to me as nearly universal through the elementary years, sometimes continuing into middle school: comprehension. I knew comprehension strategies were recommended by the National Reading Panel in 2000, but their omnipresence made me curious: Just how much does teaching comprehension strategies help children make sense of what they read?

It's an important question. While helping children decode fluently is an essential goal of reading instruction, fluent decoding isn't the endpoint of reading; students must also understand what they read. My exploration into whether comprehension-strategy instruction truly helps students reach better understanding has led me to three conclusions. First, teaching comprehension strategies does improve children's understanding of texts. Second, there's no evidence that practicing these strategies leads to further gains in reading comprehension. But-as a caveat and my third conclusion-that doesn't mean that practice is unnecessary for mastering any of the necessary skills or ways students might be taught to work with texts. Comprehension strategies are meant to get students only to a rather basic understanding of a text. Reading strategies that hone other abilities, such as analyzing arguments and comparing points of view within the text, lead to deeper or more specialized understandings. And it's my belief that learners likely benefit from greater practice in these reading activities.

What Are Comprehension Strategies?

Even if students read with full attention and know most of the vocabulary in a passage, many students-even those in high school-understand only part of what they read. Often, the problem can be traced to two related difficulties. The first problem is that students sometimes fail to relate the meaning of sentences and paragraphs to one another. Suppose a student read, "Michael dropped Jessica's remote-controlled car. She punched him." The writer certainly intended that the reader not only understand that these two people took these actions, but that the actions are linked-the first action caused the second. Yet weak readers don't necessarily make the connection. The second problem is that students don't always notice that they've failed to understand the text-and so they don't try to improve their comprehension by, for example, rereading (Otero & Kintsch, 1992).

Comprehension strategies are typically taught to elementary students in an effort to address these problems. To ensure that students connect the ideas in a text, teachers can give them tasks to perform while they read, like creating a graphic showing the ideas in the text and how they're related, answering teacher-posed questions, summarizing what they read, or generating their own "who, what, where, when, or why" questions about the text. These tasks can't be completed unless students relate the ideas in sentences and paragraphs. For the second problem, teachers might simply encourage young readers to practice noticing whether or not they understand what they read.

Strategies like these aren't taught in isolation; teachers should show students how to use a few of these comprehension strategies so that they have several tools at their disposal.

Do These Strategies Boost Comprehension?

There is ample evidence that teaching students reading-comprehension strategies improves their understanding of texts. By the time the National Reading Panel's report was published in 2000, the evidence was substantial: The panel concluded that comprehension-strategy instruction was a viable and valuable tool (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). In the intervening years, the research base has only grown. In fact, if we look at meta-analytical studies of reading-comprehension strategies, we see how valuable this instruction is for early readers.

In the last 40 years, 12 major meta-analyses of studies centered on reading-comprehension strategies have been conducted (see above). In technical terms, meta-analysis methods are statistical techniques that researchers use to combine individual studies that address the same question but are conducted in different ways. All 12 meta-analyses showed statistically significant effects for reading-comprehension strategies improving students' comprehension, as measured by the average "effect size" in the individual studies. Effect size is the standard way of measuring the consequences of experiments that use different outcome measures-in this case, measures of student reading comprehension.

All effect sizes reported in these meta-analyses were positive and statistically significantly higher than 0.0, indicating that students do benefit from strategy instruction. Effect sizes ranged from 1.13 to 0.10. Although those numbers may look small, these are sizable effects in terms of typical effect sizes in education studies. Several years ago, Matthew Kraft (2020), a respected education researcher, noted that the conventions as to whether an effect size is large or small were based on findings from other fields. He reviewed 747 studies in education and noted that many things affect children's learning, so it's hard to find any one factor that makes a huge difference-magic bullets are few and far between! Based on his review, he suggested that effect sizes of less than 0.05 should be considered small, those of 0.05 to 0.20 considered medium, and any effect size larger than 0.20 considered large.

Only two of the meta-analyses I'm discussing here showed an effect size in the medium range; all others were in the large range, indicating that comprehension-strategy instruction has a major effect on readers' understanding. Teaching students reading-comprehension strategies clearly seems like time well spent.

The Practice Conundrum

Researchers have also used meta-analysis to determine whether students show an even greater benefit from comprehension-strategy instruction when they practice the strategies more. These 12 major meta-analyses posed that question-and each found the same answer: No. Different studies measured "more instruction" in different ways-number of sessions, number of hours-but the answer was always the same, whether students received only four total hours or several hundred hours per year of strategy instruction (both outliers), or the more typical 10 to 50 hours. There was no evidence that increasing instructional time for comprehension strategies-even by 400 percent!-brought any benefit. This finding is not only important for its practical implications for instruction; it should make us think differently about the nature of reading comprehension.

Do the Strategies Really Teach Skills?

People often talk about reading comprehension as a skill. It's tempting to think that comprehension-strategy instruction works the way coaching works in skills needed for baseball or golf. If you use poor form on your golf swing, a coach demonstrates the right way to do it. With enough practice, the old habit dies away and the correct swing becomes second nature. Certainly, comprehension-strategy instruction could work comparably: Teachers show children the way good readers read, so that children can practice those methods and make them habits.

Yet there are two reasons why this explanation of how comprehension-strategy instruction works doesn't fit. First, experienced readers don't feel like they're deploying strategies when they read. But this seeming contradiction is easily explained if we liken a reading strategy to training wheels. A good strategy gets a reader to connect ideas in the text, just as training wheels help a beginning cyclist balance. With experience, riders learn to balance without the mini-wheels-and readers learn to connect ideas without using the "create a summary" strategy.

There's another reason why reading comprehension doesn't seem like a skill per se. When learning a physical skill like swinging your golf club expertly, you need more practice to make it a habit-but as noted above, practice brings no benefit to reading-comprehension strategy use.

However, the idea that strategies are quickly learned but don't require practice fits well with a different account of why strategy instruction is effective. Perhaps strategies don't actually teach students to relate ideas in reading passages-to draw inferences about connections between ideas-because students already know how to do that. Rather, comprehension strategies might show students that relating ideas is important. Typically-developing students arrive at their first day of school with rich abilities in oral language comprehension, including connecting sentences by drawing inferences from what they hear. If a typical five-year-old heard, "Michael dropped Jessica's remote-controlled car. Jessica punched him," she would readily draw a causal connection between these ideas. Why, then, don't children draw inferences to connect ideas when they read? Newish readers may figure, "If I understand each sentence, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do." They could relate ideas to one another, they just don't yet recognize that it's important to do so.

By asking students to answer questions, create a summary, or engage in some other research-tested comprehension strategy, we might be nudging them toward recognizing the benefit of coordinating meaning across sentences and paragraphs. In this sense, the benefit is similar to encouraging students to check their work in math; double checking doesn't make them more capable in math-it makes them apply the math they know more carefully. Likewise, comprehension strategies might teach students to deploy the comprehension processes they have already learned more consistently in their reading.

Other Factors in Reading Development

Everything I've said so far might make it sound like reading instruction can just consist of teaching children to decode fluently and teaching a few comprehension strategies-and most students can take it from there to become solid readers. Why, then, do many students still struggle with understanding what they read throughout school?

The Inferences We Make

We know that content knowledge is crucial for comprehension (Cabell & Hwang, 2020), so perhaps student success or failure in comprehension will depend mostly on whether or not a student has the right content knowledge, as Hirsch (2006) has suggested, and comprehension skills play no further role.

But that's not quite right. There are different types of inferences we draw from the knowledge we have, and they support different types of reading tasks. Some inferences are automatic in oral language and also automatic for experienced readers. People don't decide that they're going to make these inferences, the mind just makes them happen. An example is when two sentences refer to the same thing by different names: "Everyone loved the ice cream. The tasty treat disappeared quickly." You connect the first and second sentences because you automatically recognize that "ice cream" and "tasty treat" refer to the same thing (van den Broek & Kendeou, 2008). A similar process is at work when a reader finds referents for pronouns like "he" or "it" as they read, such as in the sentence, "The box was huge. It would probably be hard to carry."

People also tend to infer causal relationships automatically (Sloman & Lagnado, 2015); that's why it's easy to causally relate the sentences about Jessica punching Michael after he dropped her toy. Typically-developing children make these connections automatically as they listen to spoken language, and experienced readers make these connections automatically when reading, though new readers may not. As I've noted, comprehension strategies may be effective because they prompt beginning readers to make connections when they read.

Not All Inferences Are Created Equal

The types of connections encouraged by comprehension strategies lead only to a fairly elementary understanding of the text. Students are prompted to find the main idea or identify the basic facts-who did what, where they did it, and why. But educators want students to go on to analyze texts more deeply. They want students to be able to differentiate facts from opinions in what they read. They want readers to analyze arguments and recognize logical fallacies. Students should learn to recognize an author's point of view and reason about the assumptions that might come with that view, and to understand devices authors use to evoke responses in readers.

Then, too, there are more advanced reading skills that are specific to disciplines. In English class, students learn to understand literary devices and forms; in history class, they learn the importance of sourcing documents and corroborating them; and in science class, precisely reporting experimental methods is paramount.

Most students will have used few of these analytic skills when speaking. So, it stands to reason that students would benefit from having many chances to practice skills like analyzing the arguments made in complex texts, making inferences about an author's assumptions, etc. after they've been made aware of these aspects of strong reading.

The Importance of Deeper Reading Practice

In sum, the existing experimental evidence does not support giving young readers extensive reading-comprehension strategy instruction; students can gain enough benefit from limited experience with the strategies. But that doesn't mean that all reading instruction requires no practice. Reading-comprehension strategies target one aspect of comprehension-a basic understanding of the facts the author meant to convey. We want our students to understand and be able to analyze what they read far more deeply. And for that, more practice will likely yield better results.

Reflect & Discuss

➛ What might the implications of the research summarized here be for how you teach reading-comprehension strategies at your school?

➛ For elementary teachers: Do your students seem to need guidance in making inferences or connecting ideas as they read? What have you found helps them do this?

➛ For secondary teachers: What have you found most helps guide your students who struggle in comprehending what they read?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The research is clear: Reading-comprehension strategies help students understand texts better. But they are only the first step.

# data[].attributes.headline
Instruction of Metacognitive Strategies Enhances Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Achievement of Third-Grade Students

# data[].attributes.subject
Instruction of Metacognitive Strategies Enhances Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Achievement of Third-Grade Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Adams. M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G. (1991). Conditions of vocabulary acquisition. In R. Barr, M.L. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, & P.D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 789-814). White Plains, NY: Longman.

Biemiller, A., & Slonim, N. (2001). Estimating root word vocabulary growth in normative and advantaged populations: Evidence for a common sequence of vocabulary acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 498-520. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.3.498

Carlisle, J.F., & Rice, M.S. (2002). Improving reading comprehension: Research-based principles and practice. Timonium, MD: York Press.

Carreker, S. (2004). Developing metacognitive skills: Vocabulary and comprehension. Bellaire, TX: Neuhaus Education Center.

Denton, C.A., & Fletcher, J.M. (2003). Scaling reading interventions. In B.R. Foorman (Ed.), Preventing and remediating reading difficulties: Bringing science to scale (pp. 445-464). Timonium, MD: York Press.

Gough, P.B., & Hillinger, M.L. (1980). Learning to read: An unnatural act. Bulletin of the Orton Society, 30, 179-196. doi:10.1007/BF02653717

Kuhn, D. (2000). Metacognitive development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 178-181. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00088

Marks, M., Pressley, M., Coley, J.D., Craig, S., Gardner, R., DePinto, T., et al. (1993). Three teachers' adaptations of reciprocal teaching in comparison to traditional reciprocal teaching. The Elementary School Journal, 94, 267-283. doi:10.1086/461766

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

Palincsar, A.S., & Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 2, 117-175.

Pauk, W. (2000). Six-way paragraphs, middle level. Providence, RI: Jamestown Publishers.

Pressley, M., Wharton-McDonald, R., Mistretta-Hampston, J., & Echevarria, M. (1998). The nature of literacy instruction in ten grade-4/5 classrooms in upstate New York. Scientific Studies of Reading, 2, 159-194. doi:10.1207/s1532799xssr0202_4

Rosenshine, B., & Meister, C. (1994). Reciprocal teaching: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 64, 479-530. doi:10.2307/1170585

Rosenthal, R., Rosnow, R.L., & Rubin, D.B. (2000). Contrasts and effect sizes in behavioral research: A correlational approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Scarborough, H.S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S.B. Neuman & D.K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 97-110). New York: Guilford.

Wren, S. (2002, December). Ten myths of reading instruction. SEDL Letter, 14(3), 3-8.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instruction of Metacognitive Strategies Enhances Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Achievement of Third-Grade Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The use of metacognitive strategies helps students to "think about their thinking" before, during, and after they read.

# data[].attributes.headline
Text Planning Guide for Comprehension (CDE)

# data[].attributes.subject
Text Planning Guide for Comprehension (CDE)

# data[].attributes.headline
Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students who read with understanding at an early age gain access to a broader range of texts, knowledge, and educational opportunities, making early reading comprehension instruction particularly critical. This guide recommends five specific steps that teachers, reading coaches, and principals can t…

# data[].attributes.headline
Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The target audience for this guide is a broad spectrum of school practitioners such as administrators, curriculum specialists, coaches, staff development specialists and teachers who face the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English language learners in the elementary grades. The guide also aims to reach district-level administrators who develop practice and policy options for their schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
ies effective literacy and english language instruction for english learners in the elementary grades: a practice guide english language learners tutoring after school

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The target audience for this guide is a broad spectrum of school practitioners such as administrators, curriculum specialists, coaches, staff development specialists and teachers who face the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English language learners in the elementary grades.

# data[].attributes.headline
Meeting the Challenges of Early Literacy Phonics Instruction (ILA)

# data[].attributes.subject
Meeting the Challenges of Early Literacy Phonics Instruction (ILA)

# data[].attributes.headline
Top 10 Resources on Spelling and Word Study

# data[].attributes.subject
Top 10 Resources on Spelling and Word Study

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This Excel tool is designed to help educators collect academic progress monitoring data across multiple measures as a part of the data-based individualization (DBI) process. This tool allows educators to store data for multiple students (across multiple measures), graph student progress, and set individualized goals for a student on specific measures.
Suggested reference:
Kearns, D. M., (August, 2016). Student progress monitoring tool for data collection and graphing [computer software] Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Intensive Intervention.
Student Progress Monitoring Tool for Data Collection and Graphing Instructions
The short video below provides an overview of how to use the tool.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Data Collection & Graphing Tool: Data & Goal Setting | NCII

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A spreadsheet based tool to help educators collect academic progress monitoring data across multiple measures and set individualized student goals.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fluency Practice: Techniques for Building Automaticity in Foundational Knowledge and Skills 

# data[].attributes.subject
Fluency Practice: Techniques for Building Automaticity in Foundational Knowledge and Skills 

# data[].attributes.headline
Components of Reading - Resources (FCRR)

# data[].attributes.subject
Components of Reading - Resources (FCRR)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Oral language is the system of words and word combinations used to communicate with others through speaking and listening. We use oral language to express and comprehend knowledge, ideas, and feelings. Oral language allows us to connect words, to communicate, and to understand. It is the foundation on which all emergent literacy and later reading is built. Strong oral language skills are key to successfully communicating ideas, needs and goals, and to developing personal relationships with family and friends.

Phonological awareness is the understanding that spoken language can be broken down into parts and the ability to manipulate those parts at the word, syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme level. Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is a developmental level of phonological awareness. Think about the size of the unit of language you are focusing on--if you are working with a broad focus of words or syllables it is phonological awareness. If you are working with a narrow focus of individual sounds (phonemes), it is phonemic awareness. The ultimate goal of phonological awareness instruction is to help students develop an awareness that words are composed of individual sounds, or phonemes, and to develop the ability to manipulate individual sounds in words. Phonological awareness helps students benefit more from phonics instruction and is directly related to reading ability.

Phonological Awareness Resources

Differentiating Phonological Awareness Instruction

Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines

Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine the type of phonological awareness instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in phonological awareness and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.

Information to Guide Instruction and Aligned Instructional Routines

The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned instructional routine during small group instruction.

Phonics is the relationship between graphemes (letters) and the phonemes (sounds) they represent. Phonics is also used to describe reading instruction that teaches these relationships (often referred to as sound-symbol correspondences). The goal of phonics instruction is to help children use sound-symbol correspondences to read and write words.

Phonics instruction helps students learn the alphabetic principle (the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken words). This helps students learn to read familiar words with accuracy and decode unknown words. This process proves true for regular (e.g., mat) and irregular (e.g., phone) words. Once students are able to read words quickly, reading connected text becomes more fluent, and more cognitive energy can be devoted to comprehension, and less on decoding words.

Differentiating Phonics Instruction

Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines

Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine the type of phonics instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in phonics and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.

Information to Guide Instruction and Aligned Instructional Routines

The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned instructional routine during small group instruction.

Fluency is the ability to read out loud accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with prosody (proper phrasing, intonation, and expression). Fluency emerges gradually over time through supported and repeated practice in automatic word recognition and reading connected text. The successful development of fluency depends on an individual acquiring phonemic awareness, accurate letter-sound correspondence, sound blending, and spelling pattern and morpheme recognition. Oral reading practice with feedback from the teacher is necessary. The goal of fluent reading is to improve comprehension through the ability to recognize words automatically, accurately, and with prosody.

Eventually, all words become "sight words" as they are repeatedly read correctly in text. It is the students' ability to recognize very large numbers of words "at a single glace" that is one of the most important factors underlying the development of reading fluency in the early elementary grades. When students read fluently, they are not focusing on decoding words, but instead they can actively construct meaning as they read.

Differentiating Fluency Instruction

Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines

Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine fluency instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in fluency and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.

Information to Guide Instruction and Aligned Instructional Routines

The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned instructional routine during small group instruction.

Vocabulary refers to knowledge about the meanings, uses, and pronunciation of words. Vocabulary is often categorized as oral vocabulary (listening and speaking) and print vocabulary (reading and writing). The goal of vocabulary instruction is to provide students with an understanding of the meaning and use of words so that they can comprehend what they are reading and communicate effectively. The role of vocabulary instruction in the classroom is to expand the oral vocabulary while developing an extensive print vocabulary.

Differentiating Vocabulary Instruction

Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines

Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine vocabulary instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in vocabulary and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.

Information to Guide Instruction and Aligned Instructional Routines

The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned instructional routine during small group instruction.

Comprehension refers to the understanding of the meaning of a passage and the context in which the words occur. Reading comprehension depends on various underlying components including decoding (the ability to translate words in print into speech), knowledge of word meanings (vocabulary), fluency, the ability to understand and interpret spoken language, and knowledge of text structure. Skills that support the development of reading comprehension include both language-comprehension skills as well as word-reading skills. Difficulty in word reading limits reading comprehension in the early stages of learning to read. However, as reading connected text becomes more fluent across the grade levels, students rely more on language comprehension to comprehend what is read. The goal of comprehension instruction is for students to gain understanding from written language.

Differentiating Comprehension Instruction

Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines

Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine comprehension instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in comprehension and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.

Information to Guide Instruction and Aligned Instructional Routines

The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned instructional routine during small group instruction.

Writing is a fundamental part of engaging in professional, social, community, and civic activities. Students should develop an early foundation in writing in order to communicate their ideas effectively and efficiently.

Differentiating Writing Instruction

Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines

Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine writing instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in writing and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The components of reading are oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. For each reading component, you will find a definition, why it is important, evidence-based practices, and resources. Also included is information to differentiate instruction: grade-specific Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines.

# data[].attributes.headline
Five Evidence-Based Ways to Improve Reading Fluency

# data[].attributes.subject
Five Evidence-Based Ways to Improve Reading Fluency

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Imagine this conversation between an instructional coach and a sixth-grade social studies teacher concerned about student performance on unit tests.
Instructional Coach: When we spoke last week, we decided that you would interview a few students to learn why they struggle with their social studies unit tests and talk to other teachers to see if they are noticing similar trends. What did you learn? Teacher: I began by talking to colleagues, and they are experiencing similar things. I then spoke to a few students and learned that they often struggle on unit tests because they have difficulty reading and understanding the questions. Coach: How do students perform when working on daily activities? Teacher: Students usually do well and can answer the questions that I ask about what we are reading. This is why I am confused by their poor performance on the unit tests. Coach: When students are reading during daily activities, what do you notice? Teacher: Well, some have low reading levels, so I often read the material to them. Coach: Do you read the material when it comes time for the test? Teacher: No, I want to see what they can do independently. Coach: What I heard you say is that students perform well on daily activities when you read the material to them, but they struggle when they are expected to read and answer questions on their own. We may need to dig into their reading fluency skills and help them develop their skills in this area in order to help them perform better on their social studies unit tests. Teacher: I see what you mean, and I will need help thinking about how to better support my students' reading fluency.
In this blog post, we focus on reading fluency in elementary and secondary classrooms. Reading fluency is a critical reading skill that facilitates reading for understanding and is our ultimate goal for teaching reading. It involves reading with appropriate rate, accuracy, and expression (National Reading Panel, 2002). Pikulski and Chard defined reading fluency as "efficient, effective word-recognition skills that permit a reader to construct the meaning of text. Fluency is manifested in accurate, rapid, expressive oral reading and is applied during, and makes possible, silent reading comprehension" (2011, p. 510).

The importance of reading fluency for students' reading comprehension is further supported by a recent National Assessment of Educational Progress report (NAEP, 2021). The NAEP study found that oral reading fluency was consistently and positively related to fourth-grade students' performance on the NAEP reading test, which measures reading comprehension and is used to evaluate our nation's progress in reading. In particular, students who scored low on the NAEP reading test showed difficulty with reading fluency, word-level reading skills, and text comprehension. Despite the importance of reading fluency, many teachers may be unsure how to best support the students they teach who struggle with reading. In this blog post, we share five evidence-based recommendations for improving reading fluency among struggling readers.

5 Recommendations for Improving Reading Fluency Among Struggling Readers

1. Develop students' ability to decode words.

Many students who struggle with reading fall behind early in their education because they struggle with skills such as letter identification, letter-sound correspondence, or word recognition. These underlying word-reading skills are foundational for reading fluency. For students with significant reading difficulties, this word-level instruction is key to unlocking passage-level reading fluency.

When teaching these skills, it is important to deliver instruction that is explicit and systematic. Instruction should be explicit in the sense that the teacher must implement familiar routines, include many examples, and explain each skill in ways that are clear, visible, and consistent for students. Instruction should be systematic in that it should move from easier to more complex, build on higher-utility skills and what students know, and be appropriate for the task or lesson goal. The "I do, we do, you do" model is often used to plan an explicit and systematic lesson.

What foundational reading skills are important to teach in each grade? Here are some examples (The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk [MCPER], 2016) of specific activities teachers might use when teaching one or more of these skills (this is not meant to be an exhaustive list):

Kindergarten: Introduce new and review previously learned letters and sounds; make or build words; introduce new and review previously learned high frequency words; use fluency practice with skills.

Grade 1: Review phonological awareness skills; introduce sound, spelling partners, and morphemes; make or build words; introduce new and review previously learned high-frequency words; use fluency practice with skills.

Grade 2: Make or build words; introduce new high-frequency words; use fluency practice with skills.

Grades 3-5: Make or build words; use fluency practice with skills.

2. Ensure that each student reads connected text every day to support reading rate, accuracy, and expression.

Students may be proficient enough at reading lists of individual words, but they must also practice their skills in books or passages (i.e., connected text) to become fluent readers. Reading familiar books or passages allows students' skills to become more automatic, which enables them to free up their attention to connect ideas in the text to background knowledge and increase their reading comprehension.

To get better at reading requires more time reading. When developing lesson plans, it is important that teachers identify opportunities for students to practice reading. This can, of course, happen in English and language arts classes, but it also should happen across content areas. Students often are motivated to read more when they are interested in the reading material and when they have adequate support.

At home, parents can encourage more reading each day by scheduling dedicated time for students to read independently (i.e., reading material independently with 95% to 100% accuracy) and by establishing a purpose for reading. For example, children can select a book to read that is of interest to them, and each day they can document what they read in a reading log. Daily entries in this reading log might include recording progress toward achieving a goal (e.g., increasing the number of words or pages read each day), brief summaries, connections made, difficulty vocabulary encountered, etc. Entries could be used to create a presentation to be shared with a student's peers. Schoenbach, Greenleaf, and Murphy's Reading for Understanding (2012) provides additional recommendations for reading logs (what they refer to as metacognitive logs).

3. Model reading fluency for your students.

Read-alouds are a powerful and useful instructional tool that model important foundational skills (i.e., prosody, vocabulary, and that print conveys a message) for children in a way that explicitly and unambiguously teaches something (Roberts & Burchinal, 2001; Trelease, 2001). When paired with think-alouds, teachers can promote vocabulary acquisition and help students make sense of or make connections between ideas beyond the classroom (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013; Gold & Gibson, 2001; Massaro, 2017).

Read-alouds can be used to model reading fluency. For example, before reading a text, a teacher might say, "Follow along as I read. Listen to how I read the words at a steady pace and how I pause to take a quick breath at each period." Modeling reading fluency has been found to be an effective tool for improving reading fluency. Teachers or parents who are interested in incorporating this modeling within their read-aloud routines may find this read-aloud resource, developed by The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, to be helpful.

4. Take advantage of repeated reading routines.

Repeated reading is reading and rereading material to match the (a) purpose of the lesson and (b) student's reading ability. For example, if the purpose is to enhance reading rate, then select a text that is appropriate and at the student's decoding level. The teacher and student can monitor the number of words read correctly and can discuss the story to check comprehension. Discussions after each read can change to focus on a different reading element (e.g., character, main idea).

Teachers who are interested in this routine can find lesson plans here that show how this routine can be taught following an explicit instructional approach (see page 59 of the PDF, which is page 196 in the original resource book).

1. Students select a passage.

2. The higher-performing student reads the lower-performing student's passage first to provide a model.

3. The lower-performing student practices reading through the passage three times with their partner. The partner marks student errors on a copy of the passage and provides feedback on student errors.

4. Students read the passage a fourth time as quickly as possible. Partners time the student reading for 1 minute. This time is referred to as the "first timing."

5. Students record progress on their individual graphs in their workbooks.

5. Set fluency goals and use progress-monitoring data to inform instruction.

The combination of reading accuracy and rate (automaticity) is considered a student's oral reading fluency (ORF). Beginning in the middle of first grade, ORF is a complex skill that develops gradually, measures accuracy without regard to reading rate, and is one way to screen students quickly to monitor progress and determine whether additional support is needed. Measuring ORF provides valuable information about the child's ability to read connected text fluently. Below are a few resources to use when setting fluency goals and monitoring student progress:

Tracking or monitoring progress is important to determine student reading growth and is closely linked to both screening and diagnostic assessment. Progress monitoring, administered weekly or biweekly, is a systematic process to formatively track the progress of student growth of an intervention skill (e.g., fluency). It additionally provides information about the appropriate levels of text to use (The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 2002). Progress monitoring can help you answer a number of questions, such as: Is learning happening? Is my teaching helping students make progress?

Take Action

Review current or historical school and classroom data to determine how information and resources included in this blog might be used to further student learning.

Choose one of the resources, routines, or strategies to implement in your classroom. Write and share reflections. How did the routine improve or strengthen your current practices? How did students respond differently to this routine versus what you normally do?

Select one of the five recommendations about which to learn more. Based on this new learning, make adjustments in one of your current classes to target one or more student's needs.

Review one or more of the additional resources below and choose one to add to your existing classroom practices.

Effective Fluency Instruction and Progress Monitoring

Author: The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 2004

Audience: Elementary

Gain access to a presentation focused on fluency instruction, as well as strategy sets to teach letter sounds, regular word reading, irregular word reading, and fluency in connected text.

Essential Reading Strategies for the Struggling Reader: Activities for an Accelerated Reading Program

Author: The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 2001
Audience: Elementary, Secondary

Learn about and access supplemental literacy resources to support the five components of reading instruction. For fluency, activities include basic steps to teach reading fluency, partner reading, fluency word cards, page races, repeated readings, fast phrases, independent reading, and more.

References

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.

Datchuk, S., & Hier, B. (2019). Fluency practice: Techniques for building automaticity in foundational knowledge and skills. Exceptional Children, 51(6), 424-435.

Duke, N. & Pearson, D. (2008). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension. Journal of Education, 189(1/2), 107-122.

Florida Center for Reading Research. (n.d.). FCRR student center activities. https://www.fcrr.org/student-center-activities

Glaser, D. (2002). High school tutors: Their impact on elementary students' reading fluency through implementing a research-based instruction model [Doctoral dissertation, Boise State University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Gold, J., & Gibson, A. (2001, June 14). Reading aloud to build comprehension. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-aloud-build-comprehension

Iowa Reading Research Center. (n.d.a ). Oral reading fluency skills goal setting template. https://iowareadingresearch.org/oral-reading-fluency-goal-setting-template

Iowa Reading Research Center. (n.d.b). Oral reading fluency reflection guide. https://iowareadingresearch.org/oral-reading-fluency-reflection-guide

Massaro, D. (2017). Reading aloud to children: Benefits and implications for acquiring literacy before schooling begins. The American Journal of Psychology, 130(1), 63-72.

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2014). Read-aloud routine for building vocabulary and comprehension skills in kindergarten through third grade. https://meadowscenter.org/files/resources/FlipBook_Screen1.pdf

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2016). Sample literacy blocks, K-5. https://buildingrti.utexas.org/instructional-materials/sample-literacy-blocks-k-5

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2017). Sight word fluency lists. https://texasldcenter.org/lesson-plans/detail/sight-word-fluency-lists

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2020). 10 key policies and practices for reading intervention. https://www.meadowscenter.org/files/resources/10Key_ReadingIntervention_WEB-Rev2.pdf

National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2021). The 2018 NAEP oral reading fluency study. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/studies/pdf/2021025_2018_orf_study.pdf

National Reading Panel. (2002). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf

Pikulski, J., & Chard, D. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 510-519.

Reading A-Z. (2021). Fluency standards table. https://www.readinga-z.com/fluency/fluency-standards-table/

Roberts, J., & Burchinal, M. (2001). The complex interplay between biology and environment: Otitis media and mediating effects on early literacy development. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 232-241). The Guilford Press.

Schoenbach, R., Greenleaf, C., & Murphy, L. (2012). Reading for understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship improves disciplinary learning in secondary and college classrooms. Jossey-Bass.

The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2001). Essential reading strategies for the struggling reader: Activities for an accelerated reading program. https://texasldcenter.org/files/lesson-plans/Essential_Strategies_web.pdf

The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Effective instruction for struggling readers: Research-based practices.

The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2004). Effective fluency instruction and progress monitoring. https://meadowscenter.org/files/resources/Fluency_Guide.PDF

Trelease, J. (2001). The read-aloud handbook (5th ed.). Penguin Books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities: Five Evidence-Based Ways to Improve Reading Fluency in Elementary and Secondary Grades

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD) website disseminates resources on learning disabilities to parents, teachers, and researchers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is fluency?

Fluency is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories accurately, with enough speed, and expression.

Fluency with text is reading words with no noticeable cognitive effort. It is having mastered word recognition skills to the point of becoming so "automatic" that they do not require conscious attention.

Why is fluency important?

It is important to remember that fluency is not an end in itself but a critical gateway to comprehension. Fluent reading frees cognitive resources to process meaning.

Fluency in oral reading includes:

1. Accuracy, which is reading with few errors.

2. Reading speed is the rate at which a student reads.

3. Prosody is the skill of reading aloud with proper intonation, phrasing, and expression (Harn & Chard, 2008).

To be a fluent reader, all three of these components must be in place.

Fluency research says that successful readers ...

rely primarily on the letters in the word rather than context or pictures to identify familiar and unfamiliar words.

process every letter.

use letter-sound correspondences to identify words.

have a reliable strategy for decoding words.

read words a sufficient number of times for them to become automatic. (Hasbrouck, 1998)

When should teachers focus on fluency with connected text?

Fluency develops through plentiful opportunities for practice in which the task can be performed with a high rate of success.

For students to develop fluency with connected text, they must first be able to decode words accurately. They must also be able to decode words quickly and effortlessly.

Why focus on fluency?

To gain meaning from text, students must read fluently. Proficient readers are so automatic with each component reading skill ( phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary) that they focus their attention on constructing meaning from the print (Kuhn & Stahl, 2000). These component reading skills need to be well developed to support understanding. It is not enough to be simply accurate; the skills must be automatic.

Infographic

Enlarge Infographic

Suggested Citation

National Center on Improving Literacy (2020). Fluency with text. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from http://improvingliteracy.org.

References

Harn, B., & Chard, D. (2008). Teaching tutorial 6: Repeated readings to promote fluency. Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD).

Hasbrouck (1998). Reading fluency: Principles for instruction and progress monitoring. Professional Development Guide. Austin, TX: Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, University of Texas at Austin.

Kuhn, M.R. & Stahl, S.A. (2000). CIERA Report #2-008. Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.

University of Oregon, Center on Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Big Ideas in Beginning Reading. Retrieved April 15, 2020, from http://reading.uoregon.edu/.

Abstract

Fluency is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories accurately, with enough speed, and expression. It is important to remember that fluency is not an end in itself but a critical gateway to comprehension.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fluency is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories accurately, with enough speed, and expression. Fluency with text is reading words with no noticeable cognitive effort. It is having mastered word recognition skills to the point of becoming so "automatic" that they do not require conscious attention.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Fluency develops gradually over time and with practice. Early in reading development, oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" - to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

Even when students recognize many words automatically, they may not yet be reading with appropriate expression. To read with expression, readers must be able to break the text into meaningful chunks.

For this reason, fluency requires strong language comprehension skills. Young readers must know to pause appropriately within and at the ends of sentences and when to change emphasis and tone. For example, a reader who lacks fluency may read, probably in a monotone, a line from Bill Martin Jr.'s Brown Bear, Brown Bear as if it were a list of words rather than a connected text, pausing at inappropriate places:

A fluent reader will read the same line as:

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

The difference between fluency and automaticity

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

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

Automaticity refers only to accurate, speedy word recognition, not to reading passages or connected text with ease and good expression. Therefore, automaticity (or automatic word recognition) is necessary, but not sufficient, for fluency. Language comprehension is also important for fluency development. For example, students might read passages with excellent word accuracy, yet might still read very slowly or without expression, because they cannot understand what they are reading.

Slow reading can sometimes be an adaptive strategy on the student's part; a student may deliberately read slowly in order to try to improve comprehension. If this is the case, we probably do not want to push the student to read faster! Therefore, when assessing students with fluency difficulties, we should consider the possible role of language comprehension difficulties as well as poor or nonautomatic decoding.

Even very skilled readers may read in a slow, labored manner when reading texts with many unfamiliar words or topics. For example, readers who are usually fluent may not be able to read technical material fluently, such as a textbook about nuclear physics or an article in a medical journal.

Fluency will vary based on what kind of text is being read, how familiar the student is with the vocabulary, and how much practice they've had in reading aloud.

Fluency rate (speed) is less important than accuracy and easeof reading. When students are being timed, they may believe that speed is the goal. The fluency rate that we should measure is the speed at which the student is reading accurately and with reasonable expression. Sometimes that means slowing kids down in order to read the big and little words accurately!

That is why fluency instruction should be done with a text that is not too difficult for a student. If a student is still struggling to decode many words in a text accurately, it will be difficult for him or her to build fluency in that text. Texts at either an instructional or independent level, not a frustration level, will usually be most appropriate for fluency practice.

Independent Level: Relatively easy for the student to read (at least 95% word accuracy).

Instructional Level: Challenging but manageable for the reader with the help of a teacher (90% to 94% word accuracy).

Frustrational Level: Difficult text for the student to read even with the help of a teacher (less than 90% word accuracy).

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

Guided and repeated oral reading

Repeated and monitored oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement, as does guided oral reading with appropriate teacher feedback. In guided oral reading, a student reads an instructional level text aloud to a teacher, with the teacher providing cues to decoding errors - for example, pointing to the part of a word that the student read incorrectly, or drawing the child's attention to a letter pattern within a word. (e.g., "What sound does igh make?") Cues focus the child's attention on applying their phonics skills, not guessing at words based on pictures or sentence context. When a troublesome word has been successfully decoded, it is helpful to have the child re-read the sentence to establish fluency and comprehension.

Repeated oral reading of familiar texts can substantially improve reading fluency in typical elementary students as well as struggling readers at higher grade levels, and it can improve reading comprehension as well.

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

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

Oral reading practice is increased through the use of audio recordings, tutors, peer guidance, or other means.

Silent, independent reading

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

However, currently there is little evidence to support allocating large amounts of valuable classroom instructional time to having all children read independently (see Isn't Independent Reading a Research-Based Practice?). This time may be especially problematic for the weaker readers in a class, who may not read well enough to read independently. Using classroom reading time for direct instruction in reading is therefore more likely to be beneficial for children. Learn more in this article by fluency expert Jan Hasbrouck: For Students Who Are Not Yet Fluent, Silent Reading Is Not the Best Use of Classroom Time.

Nevertheless, we still can and should try to promote children's choice of reading as a free time activity in school (e.g., after they complete assignments), or for pleasure reading at home. Assigning independent reading for homework, in order to help children build fluency, is also helpful. If independent reading is assigned as homework, we should monitor children's reading choices to ensure that they are at the appropriate level of difficulty for the individual student. Struggling readers will often pick books that are too difficult for them in order to "save face" or because books at their level are not available.

Helping children find books at the right level, on topics of interest to them, is very important. Even young children can be helped to understand the "Goldilocks" principle, that in order to learn well, material has to be at the right level of difficulty - not too easy, not too hard.With continued practice and effort, the book that is too hard right now will not be too hard in the future.

Adapted from: Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read Kindergarten Through Grade 3, a publication of The Partnership for Reading.

Reference

Samuels, S. (2006). Reading fluency: Its past, present, and future. In T. Rasinksi, C. Blachowicz, & K. Lems (Eds.), Fluency instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 7-20). New York, Guillford Press.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fluency develops gradually over time and with practice. Early in reading development, oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" - to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Right to Read has received fiscal sponsorship from the Utah Film Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Copyright © 2023 Ready or Not. All Rights Reserved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Right to Read has received fiscal sponsorship from the Utah Film Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Copyright © 2023 Ready or Not. All Rights Reserved.

# data[].attributes.headline
How the Brain Learns to Read (Dr. Stanislas Dehaene)

# data[].attributes.subject
How the Brain Learns to Read (Dr. Stanislas Dehaene)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How the Brain Learns to Read - Prof. Stanislas Dehaene

# data[].attributes.headline
Instructional Planning Guides for ELA (MS Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.subject
Instructional Planning Guides for ELA (MS Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Mississippi Department of Education, through the Academic Education Office, is pleased to announce the release of K-12 Instructional Planning Guides (IPGs) in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

The purpose of the IPGs is to assist teachers in planning rigorous, coherent lessons that focus on critical content at each grade level through an intentional grouping of standards, time considerations, and resources for consideration.

The IPGs may be accessed by clicking the links below or by visiting the Secondary Education homepage located at https://mdek12.org/ESE/Home. Each IPG is provided in a draft Word version to encourage immediate implementation and facilitate lesson planning at the local level.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instructional Planning Guides for English Language Arts K-12

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Mississippi Department of Education, through the Academic Education Office, is pleased to announce the release of K-12 Instructional Planning Guides (IPGs) in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. The purpose of the IPGs is to assist teachers in planning rigorous, coherent lessons that focus on critical content at each grade level through an intentional grouping of standards, time considerations, and resources for consideration.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why Teach Spelling? (Center on Instruction)

# data[].attributes.subject
Why Teach Spelling? (Center on Instruction)

# data[].attributes.headline
How Spelling Supports Reading (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.subject
How Spelling Supports Reading (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Allen, K. (2005). Alphabet knowledge: Letter recognition, naming, and sequencing. In J. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills, 2nd Edition, pp. 113-150. Baltimore, Md.: Paul Brookes.

Apel, K., Masterson, J.J., and Niessen, N.L. (2004). Spelling assessment frameworks. In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E.R., Ehren, B.J., and Apel, K. (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders, pp. 644-660. New York: Guilford.

Bailet, L. (2004). Spelling instructional and intervention frameworks. In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E.R., Ehren, B.J., and Apel, K. (Eds), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders, pp. 661-678. New York: Guilford.

Balmuth, M. (1992). The roots of phonics: A historical introduction. Baltimore, Md.: York Press.

Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., and Johnston, F. (2000). Words their way (2nd Edition). Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.

Bryson, B. (1990). The mother tongue: English and how it got that way. New York: Avon Books.

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

Bryant, P., Nunes, T. and Bindman, M. (1997). Children's understanding of the connection between grammar and spelling. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading acquisition and dyslexia, pp. 219-240. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.

Carlisle, J.F. and Stone, C.A. (2005). Exploring the role of morphemes in word reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(4), 428-449.

Carreker, S. (2005). Teaching spelling. In J. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (2nd Edition), pp. 257-295. Baltimore, Md.: Paul Brookes.

Ehri, L.C. (1998). Grapheme-phoneme knowledge is essential for learning to read words in English. In J.L. Metsala & L.C. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning literacy, pp. 3-40. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Ehri, L. (2000). Learning to read and learning to spell: Two sides of a coin. Topics in Language Disorders, 20(3), 19-49.

Ehri, L. (2004). Teaching phonemic awareness and phonics. In P. Mc- Cardle and V. Chhabra (Eds.), The voice of evidence in reading research, pp. 153-186. Baltimore, Md.: Brookes Publishing.

Ehri, L. and Snowling, M.J. (2004). Developmental variation in word recognition. In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E.R., Ehren, B.J., and Apel, K. (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders, pp. 433-460. New York: Guilford.

Grace, K. (in press). Phonics and spelling through phoneme-grapheme mapping. Longmont, Colo.: Sopris West.

Graham, S., Harris, K.R., and Loynachan, C. (1994). The spelling for writing list. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27 (4), 210-214.

Hanna, P.R., Hanna, J.S., Hodges, R.E., and Rudorf, E.H., Jr. (1966). Phoneme-grapheme correspondences as cues to spelling improvement (USDOE Publication No. 32008). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Henry, M. (2003). Unlocking literacy. Baltimore, Md.: Brookes Publishing.

Henry, M. (1997). The decoding/spelling curriculum: Integrated decoding and spelling instruction from pre-school to early secondary school. Dyslexia, 38, 178-198.

Kessler, B. and Treiman, R. (2001). Relationships between sounds and letters in English monosyllables. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 592-617.

King, D. (2000). English isn't crazy. Baltimore, Md.: York Press.

Lindamood, C.H. and Lindamood, P. (1998). The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for reading, spelling, and speech. Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed.

Mehta, P., Foorman, B.R., Branum-Martin, L., and Taylor, P.W. (2005). Literacy as a unidimensional construct: Validation, sources of influence, and implications in a longitudinal study in grades 1 to 4. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2), 85-116.

Moats, L.C. (1995). Spelling: Development, disability, and instruction. Baltimore, Md.: York Press.

Moats, L.C. (1996). Phonological spelling errors in the writing of dyslexic adolescents. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 8, 105-119.

Moats, L.C. (2000). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore, Md.: Brookes Publishing.

Moats, L.C. (2003). The speech to print workbook. Baltimore, Md.: Paul Brookes.

Moats, L.C. (2004). Language essentials for teachers of reading and spelling (LETRS), Module 2, The Speech Sounds of English, and Module 3, Spellography for Teachers. Longmont, Colo.: Sopris West Educational Services.

Moats, L.C. and Rosow, B. (2002). Spellography. Longmont, Colo.: Sopris West.

Montgomery, D.J., Karlan, G.R., and Coutinho, M. (2001). The effectiveness of word processor spell checker programs to produce target words for misspellings generated by students with learning disabilities, Journal of Special Education Technology, 16 (2).

National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges (2005). Writing: A Powerful Message from State Government. New York: College Board.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000). The Report of the National Reading Panel.Washington, D.C.: NICHD.

Pennington, B. F., McCabe, L.L., Smith, S.D., Lefly, D.L., Bookman, M.O., Kimberling, W.J., and Lubs, H.A. (1986). Spelling errors in adults with a form of familial dyslexia. Child Development, 57, 1001-13.

Sacks, D. (2003). Language visible: Unraveling the mystery of the alphabet from A to Z. New York: Broadway Books.

Singer, B. and Bashir, A. (2004). Developmental variations in writing. In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E.R., Ehren, B.J., and Apel, K. (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders, pp. 559-582. New York: Guilford.

Snow, C. E., Griffin, P., and Burns, M. S. (Eds.) (2005). Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading: Preparing Teachers for a Changing World. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Tangel, D. and Blachman, B. (1995). Effect of phoneme awareness instruction on the invented spelling of first-grade children: A one-year follow-up. Journal of Reading Behavior, 27, 153-185.

Templeton, S. and Bear, D. (Eds.) (1992). Development of orthographic knowledge and the foundations of literacy. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Treiman, R. and Bourassa, D. (2000). The development of spelling skill. Topics in Language Disorders, 20, 1-18.

Uhry, J. K. and Shepherd, M. J. (1993). Segmentation and spelling instruction as part of a first-grade reading program: Effects on several measures of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 28, 219-233.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many young readers are puzzled by the rules and exceptions of spelling. Research shows that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying knowledge. Learn more about the relationships between letters and sounds and how a proper understanding of spelling mechanics can lead to improved reading.

# data[].attributes.headline
Phonological Awareness Activity Cards (Louisiana Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.subject
Phonological Awareness Activity Cards (Louisiana Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.headline
Five Research-based Ways to Teach Vocabulary

# data[].attributes.subject
Five Research-based Ways to Teach Vocabulary

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Did you know that typically, only 5% to 10% of instructional time is devoted to vocabulary instruction, yet students, especially struggling students and English learners (ELs), need between 12 and 14 exposures to words and their meanings to fully learn them (Durkin, 1978/79; Roser & Juel, 1982; Scott, Jamieson, Noel, & Asslin, 2003)? Teaching the meanings of important words before learning new content activates students' background knowledge and prepares them for learning and comprehending. In other words, teaching vocabulary provides the "Velcro" for new information to "stick to."

What Research Says About Effective Vocabulary Instruction

Vocabulary instruction must be explicit. Explicit vocabulary instruction includes an easy-to-understand definition presented directly to students along with multiple examples and nonexamples of the target word, brief discussion opportunities, and checks for understanding.

Vocabulary instruction must include multiple practice opportunities for using words within and across subjects. That is, instruction must be extended over time with opportunities for students to hear, speak, read, and write words in various contexts. This builds students' breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge.

Vocabulary should be taught schoolwide and across all subject areas. Each subject has a unique set of vocabulary terms, and students need to know their meanings and how to use them in various contexts.

Word Selection

Instructional time is precious, and teachers are not able to address every unknown word students might encounter, so careful word selection is key. When deciding which words to target for explicit instruction, consider words that are

essential to understanding the main idea of the text or unit,

used repeatedly or frequently encountered across domains, and

not part of students' prior knowledge.

ELs may require even more careful word selection and extensive vocabulary instruction because they may be learning conversational language and academic language at the same time. Colorín Colorado provides additional information about selecting vocabulary words to teach ELs.

Some of Our Favorite Vocabulary Instructional Activities for ALL Content Areas

The five activities described below are effective ways to teach vocabulary for all students, but especially for struggling students, students with learning disabilities, and ELs.

1. Essential Words Routine

Teachers use a simple graphic organizer to preteach the meanings of important words in about 5 minutes per word. During this routine, teachers introduce target words with definitions, visual cues, and examples. Students engage in immediate practice using the words through collaborative student turn-and-talk activities.

Resources

2. Frayer Model

One way to have students extend their knowledge of important words is through a Frayer model. This graphic organizer builds vocabulary and conceptual knowledge across content areas. The strategy requires students (not the teacher) to define a vocabulary word and then list its characteristics, examples, and nonexamples. Frayer models can be completed in collaborative groups using textbooks and other subject-matter materials while the teacher circulates around the classroom and assists students.

Resource

Online module, examples, and templates from the IRIS Center

3. Semantic Mapping

Semantic maps visually display and connect a word or phrase and a set of related words or concepts. Implementing semantic map activities in your classroom will help students, especially struggling students and students with learning disabilities, recall the meanings of words and understand how multiple words or concepts "fit together." Teachers will find that using a semantic map, combined with explicit instruction and practice opportunities, is an effective way of expanding students' vocabulary and supporting their content knowledge.

Resources

4. Vocabulary Review Activities

Multiple opportunities to practice using new words is an important part of vocabulary instruction. In previous TCLD research studies, brief review activities were built into novel unit lesson plans to help students practice (and remember) the meanings of important words. Each of these activities takes 5 to 10 minutes and is easy to prepare.

Partner Review Routine: Partners work together to quickly review words learned the previous day.

Sentence Review Routine: Partners create sentences using words assigned by the teacher.

Examples and Nonexamples: The teacher tells students scenarios or shows pictures and students respond chorally to each scenario, indicating whether it is an example or nonexample.

What Word Fits? The teacher asks a question and student partners hold up an index card with the word that fits or answers the question.

Resource

Each activity is described in more detail beginning on page 33 of the TCLD booklet Reading Instruction for Middle School Students: Developing Lessons for Improving Comprehension

5. Morphemic Analysis Routine

Explicit instruction of words is important, but it is impossible to teach all the unfamiliar words students will encounter. One way to help students develop strategies for approaching unfamiliar vocabulary is to teach morphemes (prefixes, roots, and suffixes). Students can be taught the following morphemic analysis routine to help them engage in independent word study.

Resource

Learn more about the morphemic analysis routine by reviewing this online learning module from the Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies.
Have questions? Feel free to drop us a line!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities: Five Research-Based Ways to Teach Vocabulary

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD) website disseminates resources on learning disabilities to parents, teachers, and researchers.

# data[].attributes.headline
Scientifically Based Reading Terms to Know (CDE)

# data[].attributes.subject
Scientifically Based Reading Terms to Know (CDE)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5. Glossary of Scientifically Based Reading Terms 

# data[].attributes.headline
Examples of Phonological Awareness Tasks (FCRR)

# data[].attributes.subject
Examples of Phonological Awareness Tasks (FCRR)

# data[].attributes.headline
Vocabulary Teacher Resource Guide (FCRR)

# data[].attributes.subject
Vocabulary Teacher Resource Guide (FCRR)

# data[].attributes.headline
Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (CAL)

# data[].attributes.subject
Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (CAL)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Resources

Browse our collection of resources on relevant topics for educators, policy makers, and anyone interested in learning more about the research-based SIOP Model and sheltered instruction. These resources include lesson plans, instructional activities, case studies of professional development, research briefs, digests, publications, products, frequently asked questions, and an electronic newsletter.
Online Resources
Lesson Plans and Activities
View our collection of free lesson plans and activities that can be downloaded for use in implementing the SIOP Model in your classroom. Learn more.

Briefs and Digests
Download summaries of evidence-based information on issues related to using the SIOP Model and sheltered instruction.

Products
View our collection of products available for purchase to support learning about or using the SIOP Model.
Learn more.

Newsletter
Sign up to receive our periodic electronic newsletter, the CAL SIOP Bulletin, or read past issues.
Learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions
The CAL SIOP team has compiled answers to frequently asked questions about the SIOP Model, its implementation, and CAL SIOP services and resources.
Read the FAQs.

Spotlight

CAL was a partner in the Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE). The following briefs outline the program of research relating to the SIOP Model.

Click on the links below to read and download the free briefs.

Using the SIOP Model to Improve Middle School Science Instruction
This brief describes how the SIOP Model provides teachers with specific lesson features that, when implemented consistently and to a high degree, lead to improved academic outcomes for English language learners.
Download the brief.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Browse our collection of resources on relevant topics for educators, policy makers, and anyone interested in learning more about the research-based SIOP Model and sheltered instruction. These resources include lesson plans, instructional activities, case studies of professional development, research briefs, digests, publications, products, frequently asked questions, and an electronic newsletter.

# data[].attributes.headline
Decodable Text Sources (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.subject
Decodable Text Sources (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Click on Note: any word on this site to experience Interactive Orthography .

According to the U.S. Department of Education more than 60% of all K-12 students are reading below the level of proficiency required for the brain-work of reading to be transparent to the mind-work of learning at the grade level they are in.

Obviously, reading is the skill that matters most to success in school and children who fall behind in reading are in great academic danger. But it is not just the lack of reading skills that most endangers these children. It's the collateral damage to their faith in their ability to learn - it's the MIND-SHAME.

Kids Describe Public Shame of Reading Difficulties

Remember to click on Note: any word on this page to experience the next evolutionary step in technology supported reading.

More American children suffer long-term life-harm as a consequence of reading difficulties than from parental abuse, accidents, and all other childhood diseases and disorders combined. In purely economic terms, reading related difficulties cost more than the war on terrorism, crime, and drugs combined. We need to reframe our society's thinking about what's at stake and what's involved in learning to read.
Note: Click on any word on this page to experience the next evolutionary step in technology supported reading.

In the U.S. alone approximately one hundred million and physical children and adults have difficulty reading. The cognitive, linguistic, academic, emotional , social , health consequences of their reading difficulties significantly diminish their opportunities in school, work, and life. In the aggregate, reading difficulties skew ourdemocracy , drag our economy , perpetuate poverty, and cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars each year. R eading improficiency is our nation's most wide-spread and costly learning disability and nothing short of a complete REFRAME in how our society thinks about 'what's at stake' and 'what's involved' is going to improve the situation.

The first step in 'reframing' how our society thinks about reading is to update our understanding of what reading is.

See also:Learning Stewards on What Is Reading

"I t's not by chance that the word spell has this double meaning - to cast a spell, or to arrange the letters in the correct order to spell out a word ... it was experienced by oral peoples, who had not met the written word before, as magic, as a very powerful form of magic." -Dr. David Abram, Author: The Spell of the Sensuous

"When we read we take in a code and get a set of instructions and we perform cognitive processes." - Dr. Johanna Drucker, Author the Alphabetic Labyrinth

Why is learning to read so difficult? The root cause of reading difficulties (in most children) can be understood in terms of the complex interplay between:

Note: Click on any word on this page to experience the next evolutionary step in technology supported reading.

"Some people there are who, being grown; forget the horrible task of learning to read. It is perhaps the greatest single effort that the human undertakes, and he must do it as a child." - John Steinbeck, Nobel Prize Winning Author

"No one is to blame, we are all responsible"

"We're saying that it's a miracle that it ever happens. It's very unsurprising that many people struggle with it." - Dr. Michael Merzenich, Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences, University of California at San Francisco

Many other factors contribute to and exacerbate these root issues: I nnate learning differences and disabilities, parental education and involvement, preschools and print exposure all contribute to a child's readiness or lack thereof. Limited English proficiency, the proliferation of media (TV, Video Games...), incompetent instruction, inadequate teacher training, the 3rd-to-4th grade switch to 'reading to learn", our education system's resistance to change, and our society's shallow thinking about reading all exacerbate the confusion. Making all of the above more difficult, educators, parents, and society as a whole, conspire (unintentionally but insidiously-pervasively) to cause children to feel like they are at fault for the difficulties they experience.

Children's early life learning trajectories determine their level of readiness for the challenges involved in learning to read. Understanding these trajectories involves understanding:

Note: Click on any word on this page to experience the next evolutionary step in technology supported reading.

"So the sobering message here is that if children don't have the right experiences during these sensitive periods for the development of a variety of skills, including many cognitive and language capacities, that's a burden that those kids are going to carry; the sensitive period is over, and it's going to be harder for them." - Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Chair, National Scientific Council on the Developing Child

"...children who have trouble with oral language generally will go on to have difficulty with written language..." - Dr. Paula Tallal, Co-Director, Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers

"...Children of professional parents -- I mean, talkative families and college educated -- heard forty-eight million words addressed to them by the time they're four. Children in welfare families who were taciturn heard thirteen million words addressed to them by the time they were four." - Dr. Todd Risley, co-author "Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children"

"They feel like they're failures; they tell us that. Lousy reading produces a perception of stupidity and dumbness to peers and clearly to the youngster who is struggling. That is the shame." - Dr. G. Reid Lyon

Note: Click on any word on this page to experience the next evolutionary step in technology supported reading.

Building on 'CHILD'S FAULT' from 'Causes and Contributing Factors', this module's first segment provides the starting point for appreciating the "SHAME" that struggling readers experience. Next, "The Power of Shame" discusses shame's painful life-long and often life-distorting effects. The next three segments explore the "Public Shame" of the classroom; the "Fear of Shame" felt by children as they anticipate being asked to read out loud in classrooms, and how both drive the "Secret Shame" that causes children to hide their reading difficulties from parents, teachers, and peers. "Emotionally Learning Disabling" and "Avoidance" build on the previous segments and show how powerfully behavior-determining and learning-disabling shame avoidance can be. Finally, "Cognitively Learning Disabling" begins our discussion of the "Downward Spiral of Shame" (From our chapter the "Brain's Challenge") and describes how shame disrupts, distracts, and chokes the cognitive processing that is necessary for learning to read in the first place.

See also: "The Downward Spiral of Shame"

Dr. Maryanne Wolf: You know I haven't thought in these terms. But as you say them there is no question that's our enemy. Shame.
Dr. Donald Nathanson: "Like most scholars, until awakened by the "Children of the Code" project, I took reading as much for granted as eating and drinking. Very few of us have paid sufficient attention to the specific emotions triggered in children as they begin to read. Yet any impediment to mastery of the confusing code that connects spoken and written English must trigger shame, the emotion that stops all useful thought. So painful does shame become in the public arena of the schoolroom that our children swiftly divide into two streams and two futures purely on the basis of their response to the shame that accompanies the struggle to learn our written language.

Understanding the code and its history is essential to understanding the "CONFUSION' involved in learning to read it today. The "Power of Writing" begins our journey into the profound cognitive and institutional consequences of becoming code users (writers and readers). Next, "The Alphabet's Big Bang" and "Grecian Formulas" explore the origin of the Alphabet and it's unparalleled effects on the minds and institutions that gave rise to western civilization (future segments will address oral cultures and pre-alphabetic writing systems). In "Lend Me Your Ears" we introduce the initial relationships between letters and sounds (critical background for future segments on how the code became so complex). And, in the "Code of da Vinci" we present the code as both the 'DNA of science' and the 'media that enabled the Renaissance'. Finally, we review the "Spread, Rise, and Fall of Literacy" which sets the stage for "A Brief History of the Code - Part 2: Ye First Millennium Bug".

"The big step between civilization and more primitive forms of human society is written language." Dr. John Searle, Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Language at U.C. Berkeley

"We have all become children of the code" - Dr. Malcolm Richardson, Chair, Department of English, LSU

"I think it was much easier to learn how to read in the 8 th century B.C. than it is today." - Dr. Frank Moore Cross, Professor Emeritus of Ancient Languages, Harvard University

"Once we start writing, we are able to then reflect back upon what we have written, and we enter into this kind of recursive relation to our own written signs. And, so, only then, a certain degree or experience of self-reflection that we now sort of take for granted, comes into being." - David Abram, Philosopher and Ecologist, Author: The Spell of the Sensuous.

"In learning to read... we were satisfied when we knew the letters of the alphabet" - Plato, The Republic

Though readiness and readiness differentiated instruction reduce the difficulty, working through the code's confusing letter-sound relationships is what most challenges the brains of most struggling readers. There is a direct and causal relationship between the confusion in the code and the 'stutters' heard in the voice of a struggling reader. Obviously, understanding this confusion is critical to understanding the challenges involved in learning to read. As importantly, understanding how the code became so confused is critical to reframing the experience of struggling readers. The more we understand the accidents and negligence that led to the confusion in the English code the more it becomes obvious that it is absurdly negligent to blame and shame children for their struggle with it.

- -- Latin Roots - The clergy begin to write English using the letters/sounds of Latin
- French Rules - French displaces English as the official language of England
- The King's English - Henry V resurrects English writing
- The Chancery Scribes - The King's scribes forge the roots of modern English
- The Roots of Confusion - How written English became such a mess.
The Great Vowel Shift - Major shifts in pronunciation add further confusion
Casting Spells - The printing press standardizes the unstable writing system

...In Greek, or Latin, for example, once you could view the letters, you could read... there was almost a perfect match... Dr. Guy Deutscher, Author: The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention

...[in English] "we have fifty some sounds and only twenty-six letters. So we have to adopt a whole variety of mechanisms to close the gap." - Dr. Richard Venezky, Author: The American Way of Spelling: The Structure and Origins of American English Orthography

"We are always compromised in certain areas by having to represent sounds with symbols that weren't designed to suit those sounds." - Dr. Johanna Drucker, Author: The Alphabetic Labyrinth

"it's easy to forget that the system we have learned is a system that is based on a series of accidents that result in layers of complexity"- Dr. Thomas Cable, Co-author: A History of the English Language

..."the accident of the printing press, which in England served to freeze spelling in the fifteenth century so you have these bizarre spellings" - Dr. Malcolm Richardson, Chair, Department of English, LSU
See also: Dr. Louisa Moats on the Confusion in English
See Also: The First Millennium Bug - The fall of phoneticism and rise of confusion

With the printing of the King James Bible literacy began to spread. As it did, reading teachers began to realize that the letter-sound relationships in the code made learning to read English difficult. Phonics was born in the 16th century as an attempt to train the reader to process the unruly code. Over a century later the whole word method (originally developed for the hearing-impaired) began being used as an alternate to the 'tedious' 'rote' work of phonics.

Paralleling the battle between these two teaching social, political, institutional, and even scientific around the code polarities, another movement began which focused on reforming the code itself. The story of our attempts to change the code is fascinating and understanding these attempts, and why they failed, sheds important light on the inertia that limits our understanding of the challenges involved in learning to read.

See also " Paradigm Inertia In Reading Science and Policy"

"The heart of our trouble is with our foolish alphabet. It doesn't know how to spell and can't be taught." - Mark Twain

"Delay in the plan here proposed may be fatal... the minds of men may again sink into indolence; a national acquiescence in error will follow, and posterity be doomed to struggle with difficulties which time and accident will perpetually multiply". - Noah Webster

"People are more likely to change their religion than change their writing system." - Charles Hockett, Anthropological Linguist

"...as every letter ought to be, confin'd to one; the same is to be oberv'd in all the Letters, Vowels and Consonants, that wherever they are met with, or in whatever Company, their Sound is always the same." - Benjamin Franklin"

The second great obstacle is our absurd spelling, which scholars agree is the worst on the planet. In trying to learn this, two or three years are worse than waster" - Melvile Dewey (Dewey decimal system - champion of simplified spelling).

See also Stanislas Dehaene on how the mess of English affects "How The Brain Learns to Read"

Learning to read can be difficult for any one of a number of reasons.

CRITICAL ELEMENTS: To construct the reading experience the brain must DIFFERENTIATE and process a number of elements including: Letters, Phonemes, Morphemes, and Vocabulary. CRITICAL PROCESSING: The brain mustAutomatize and Synchronize the sub processing of the critical elements. CRITICAL SPEED: The brain must process all the above fast enough to constructRecognizable Words at Speeds that approximate the rate at which the brain is accustomed to Recognizing Spoken Language. Processing speed is critical. Analysis of the Eye Movements of good readers reveals that, on average, the brain must process letters into sounds in less than a tenth of a second. THE BOTTLENECK: The 'stutters' in the voice of struggling readers reflect the time it takes the brain to work through the confusion in the code - the time it is taking toDISAMBIGUATE the code. Code disambiguation is the brain's greatest challenge during the process of learning to read. Exacerbating all the other challenges is the DOWNWARD SPIRAL that disrupts and dissipates the brain's processing when shame sets in.

"The majority of our kids who have a tough time, they are slow, they are labored in their reading" -Dr. Reid Lyon, former Branch Chief of NICHD "You wouldn't have to have much of a fault in this machine operating with high speed in this incredible processing efficiency that's required to begin to see somebody be a little slower at it or a lot slower at it." -Michael Merzenich, Neuroscientist, Member of National Academy of Sciences "The problem with automatization is that, at any step, if you've got a slow down step, if any piece of that enterprise has a block or you can't hold enough of the information, the whole house of cards falls apart" -Dr. Terrence Deacon, Neuroscientist, Anthropologist, Linguist "The more complicated the translation from the orthography to the phonology is, the more complicated this processing dance has to be within the brain." -Dr. Paula Tallal, Board of Governors Chair of Neuroscience, Rutgers

The Problem is essentially social-educational.

For every child and adult who struggles and for all of us as a society, 'reading problems are always a consequence of 'learning problems'. Improving the learning trajectories of children (and adults) who struggle with reading requires an Orientation Shift in how Parents and Teachers think about learning and the challenges involved in learning to read.

"The problem is our society's lack of insight into what is involved in acquiring literacy." -Dr. Louisa Moats, Reading Scientist, Sopris West
"We need to reconceptualize what it means to learn to read and who's responsible for its success if we're going to deal with the problem." - Dr. Grover Whitehurst, Former Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education

Reading is an unnaturally confusing challenge to our brains. It takes a lot of (early life learning) brain exercise for a brain to be ready for the challenges involved in learning to read. Depending on how well Instruction meets brain Readiness, children follow one of Two Paths: the upward spiraling of Matthew Effects or the downward spiral of Confusion and Shame.
Suggestions:
We need to Boost Brain Readiness, Reduce Extraneous Ambiguity, and Reframe the emotional experience to minimize learner's propensity to blame themselves and trigger shame. We need to engage learners in ever more frequent, complex and rapid turn-taking Dialogue. We need to learn to Isolate, Vivify and give Feedback on the real-time edge of learning. We need to be very careful to Minimize our contributions to the shame struggling learners feel.

"So painful does shame become in the public arena of the schoolroom that our children swiftly divide into two streams and two futures purely on the basis of their response to the shame that accompanies the struggle to learn our written language." - Donald L. Nathanson, M.D. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College, Author: Shame and Pride and Knowing Feeling
"Children are developing a pre-conscious aversion to the feel of confusion and a pre-conscious aversion to the feel of confusion decapitates learning"- Children of the Code

View More Videos

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
1000+ hours of deep-dive conversations with 100+ field leading experts, teachers, students and parents, about our collective understanding of what's at stake and what's involved in learning to read.

# data[].attributes.headline
Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors (Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop)

# data[].attributes.subject
Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors (Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors

# data[].attributes.headline
How the Science of Reading Informs 21st Century Education (Petscher, et al)

# data[].attributes.subject
How the Science of Reading Informs 21st Century Education (Petscher, et al)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How the Science of Reading Informs 21st Century Education

# data[].attributes.headline
Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in K - 3rd Grade (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in K - 3rd Grade (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This practice guide was prepared for the WWC by Mathematica under contract ED-IES-13-C-0010.

The following research staff contributed to the guide: Nicholas Beyler, Kelley Borradaile, Joshua Furgeson, Juliette Henke, Betsy Keating, Samina Sattar, Andrei Streke, and Sarah Wissel.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This practice guide provides four recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common obstacles. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Science of Reading - The Reading League

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Reading League's mission is to advance the understanding and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction through the science of reading.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This practice guide was prepared for the WWC by Mathematica under contract ED-07-CO-0062.

The following research staff contributed to the guide: Cay Bradley, Virginia Knechtel, Nancy Murray, Bryce Onaran, and Cassie Pickens Jewell.

These videos were prepared by WestEd under the Doing What Works Contract (ED-PEP-11-C-0068).
All videos are based on recommendations from the WWC practice guides and are designed to complement the guides.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching elementary school students to be effective writers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This practice guide provides four recommendations for improving elementary students’ writing. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common roadblocks. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence. This guide is geared toward teachers, literacy coaches, and other educators who want to improve the writing of their elementary students.

# data[].attributes.headline
Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This practice guide was prepared for the WWC by Mathematica under contract ED-07-CO-0062.

The following research staff contributed to the guide: Kristin Hallgren, Scott Cody, and Cassie Pickens Jewell.

These videos were prepared by WestEd under the Doing What Works Contract (ED-PEP-11-C-0068).
All videos are based on recommendations from the WWC practice guides and are designed to complement the guides.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
response to intervention assisting students struggling with reading: response to intervention and multi-tier intervention in the primary grades beginning reading struggling reading elementary student reading multi-tier intervention tier 1 tier 2 tier 3 reading instruction progress monitoring screening explicit instruction supplemental instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This guide offers five specific recommendations to help educators identify struggling readers and implement evidence-based strategies to promote their reading achievement.

# data[].attributes.headline
Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This practice guide was prepared for the WWC by Mathematica under contract ED-07-CO-0062.

The following research staff contributed to the guide: Cassie Pickens Jewell, Emily Sama-Miller, and Sarah Wissel.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
data-driven decision making data driven decision making educational data system data warehouse assessment data distributed leadership modify instruction teacher professional development student data use data system cycle of inquiry common assessment data data culture data literacy summative assessment interim assessment triangulation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This guide offers five recommendations to help educators effectively use data to monitor students' academic progress and evaluate instructional practices.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (IES)

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (IES)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This practice guide was prepared for the WWC by Instructional Research Group under contract ED-IES-12-C-0016.

The following research staff contributed to the guide: Joseph Dimino, Kelly Haymond, Russell Gersten, Madhavi Jayanthi, and Rebecca Newman-Gonchar.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWC | Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This practice guide provides four recommendations that address what works for English learners during reading and content area instruction. Each recommendation includes extensive examples of activities that can be used to support students as they build the language and literacy skills needed to be successful in school.

# data[].attributes.headline
Colorado Elementary Teacher Literacy Standards

# data[].attributes.subject
Colorado Elementary Teacher Literacy Standards

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Flyleaf Publishing - Online Materials Portal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Click on on any book cover below to begin reading, or use the Menu to navigate.

Use the book's homework button to open a downloadable homework packet.

Use the book's SMART Board button to download SMART Board files that are designed to assist you in the delivery of Flyleaf's Foundational Skill and Close Reading Guide instruction.

*Foundational Skills Guides and Close Reading Guides are sold separately and are not available as online resources. Visit flyleafpublishing.com for details about our instructional guides. **If you do not currently have access to SMART Notebook software, you can download it here: SMART Notebook.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
For Instructors - Flyleaf Publishing - Online Materials Portal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Online Materials PortalFor Instructors Click on on any book cover below to begin reading, or use the Menu to navigate. Use the book's homework button to open a downloadable homework packet. Use the book's SMART Board button to download SMART Board files that are designed to assist you in the delivery of Flyleaf's Foundational Skill and Close Reading Guide instruction.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PEBC | Structured Literacy Small Group Lesson Plan Template

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From 2004 to 2010, a team of researchers and teachers at FCRR collected ideas and created Student Center Activities for use in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. The activities are designed for students to practice, demonstrate, and extend their learning of what has already been taught, sometimes with teacher assistance and sometimes independently. Students can complete the activities in small groups, pairs, or individually.

Accompanying these Student Center Activities is a Teacher Resource Guide that offers important insights on differentiated instruction and how to use the Student Center materials.

Component

Name of the reading component: Phonological Awareness (PA), Phonics (P), Fluency (F), Vocabulary (V), or Comprehension (C). Each component is color coded: PA is purple, P is orange, F is red, V is green, C is blue.

Subcomponent

Name of the reading subcomponent, which is a subskill of the component.

Activity Name

Activity Number

The letters correspond with the reading component (PA, P, F, V, or C). The numbers are listed in ascending order within each component. The activities are sequenced from simple to more complex within each component and subcomponent.

Student Icon

The suggested number of students for the activity. One student icon indicates that students may work independently or with a small group. Two student icons indicate that the activity requires students to work in pairs. Two student icons with a plus sign indicate that the activity requires two or more students.

Objective

States the goal of the activity, which is aligned with the subcomponent.

Materials

Materials are located on the pages that follow the Activity Plan. Most materials are non-consumable to be prepared and used repeatedly (e.g., word cards can be laminated). Some materials are consumable and will need to be duplicated for each student doing the activity. Other materials, such as counters, are commonly found in most classrooms.

Activity Statement

One sentence explanation of the purpose of the activity and what students do to complete the activity.

Activity Steps

The first step describes how to setup the center. The second step begins with: The student, Students, Working in pairs, or Taking turns depending on the number of students needed to complete the activity. The second step also starts the series of steps to complete the activity. The next steps explain what the student does to complete the activity. The last step lists one of three accountability methods: Self-check, Peer evaluation, or Teacher evaluation.

Example

A visual of the activity and key materials.

Extensions and Adaptations

Suggestions that extend or provide an adaptation for additional practice on the skill addressed in the activity. Materials for the extensions and adaptations are included after the pages that align to the Activity Plan.

Users may use the FCRR Student Center Activities resources as long as modifications are not made, the resources will only be used for non-profit educational purposes, and the copyright belong jointly to the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Center for Reading Research. These resources may not be used for any commercial purposes. These resources on our site may be linked to but not reposted, reproduced, modified, or copied to other sites. For questions about the use of these resources, please contact The Florida Center for Reading Research at fcrr@fcrr.org.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From 2004 to 2010, a team of researchers and teachers at FCRR collected ideas and created Student Center Activities for use in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. The activities are designed for students to practice, demonstrate, and extend their learning of what has already been taught, sometimes with teacher assistance and sometimes independently.

# data[].attributes.headline
Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (free CDE course by David Kilpatrick)

# data[].attributes.subject
Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (free CDE course by David Kilpatrick)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Colorado Education Learning Management System

This site provides free courses developed by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) for educators and other K-12 professionals.

Here's what's happening!

Join an active community of users and choose from a large selection of courses on a variety of education-related topics.

FAQ

Please search for a course you are interested in and then reach out to the CDE course contact listed; that person can assist you with creating an account and enrolling in a course. We don't currently allow self-registration.

While some courses offer a self-enrollment option, most do not. Please reach out to the CDE course contact listed on the course and that person can assist you with the enrollment process. If you don't yet have an account on this site, they can also help you with registering.

If you need support within a course, please reach out to the CDE contact listed for the course. If you don't see a contact, or need additional help, please contact CDE here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
colorado education learning management system

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Colorado Education Learning Management System

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This site provides free courses developed by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) for educators and other K-12 professionals. Join an active community of users and choose from a large selection of courses on a variety of education-related topics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Heart Word Routine (For irregularly spelled words)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A vowel team is a combination of letters that represents a vowel sound. In some cases, a vowel team represents the sound of the first vowel (e.g., team, rain), while in other cases, it represents the sound of the second vowel (e.g., field), and in still others, it represents another sound altogether (e.g., beige, book). In some cases, vowel teams can include letters that aren't vowels (e.g., dew, high). These activities help students develop automaticity with their recognition of vowel teams and the sounds associated with them.

Visual Drill
Visual Drill: Vowel Teams (PowerPoint) Visual Drill: Vowel Teams (Google Slides)
Grapheme Introductions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A vowel team is a combination of letters that represents a vowel sound. In some cases, a vowel team represents the sound of the first vowel (e.g., team, rain), while in other cases, it represents the sound of the second vowel (e.g., field), and in still others, it represents another sound altogether (e.g., beige, book).

# data[].attributes.headline
90-Minute Reading Block with Additional Time for Intervention

# data[].attributes.subject
90-Minute Reading Block with Additional Time for Intervention

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading 101: Self-Paced Learning Modules

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Core knowledge about reading is a key to effective literacy instruction. Our free, self-paced learning modules can help you deepen your understanding of the building blocks of reading and writing.

# data[].attributes.headline
Choosing and Using Complex Text (MA Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.subject
Choosing and Using Complex Text (MA Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Literacy Block: Choosing and Using Complex Text - Evidence Based Early Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

# data[].attributes.headline
Text Set Project: Building Knowledge and Vocabulary (Achieve the Core)

# data[].attributes.subject
Text Set Project: Building Knowledge and Vocabulary (Achieve the Core)

# data[].attributes.headline
Sample 90-minute Literacy Block (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.subject
Sample 90-minute Literacy Block (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
An Example of the 90 Minute Reading Block

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Research shows that students need at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction each day to become strong readers, and that this instruction must be systematic, explicit, scaffolded, and differentiated across the classroom.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading 101 for English Language Learners (Colorin Colorado)

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading 101 for English Language Learners (Colorin Colorado)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Learning to read is a complicated process. If you teach English language learners (ELLs), however, there are a number of ways you can support their literacy and language development through targeted instruction.

This article highlights ELL instructional strategies based on the five components of reading as outlined in Teaching Children to Read by the National Reading Panel (2000). This report is a study of research-based best practices in reading instruction and it focuses on the following five instructional areas: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, Comprehension. In addition, the article includes information related to two additional important areas of instruction for ELLs, oral language and the role of the home language.

Each of these topics is explored below, and each section includes:

a definition

an explanation of why the component is important when learning to read

challenges that ELLs may face

strategies for ELL instruction

You will find references to more in-depth information about ELLs and effective reading instruction from recommended resources below.

Note: Since this article includes in-depth information on a number of topics, we encourage you to use it in professional learning communities, jigsaw activities, and other collaborative settings!

What does the research say?

Before jumping in, it's important to note that, in general, what we know about effective literacy instruction for English speakers holds true for ELLs, but modifications and adjustments may be needed (Goldenberg, 2008). Since the original National Reading Panel did not include ELLs' literacy development as part of its research review, a subsequent panel reviewed the research related to language learners and released a report authored by principal investigator Dr. Diane August and panel chair Dr. Timothy Shanahan titled Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth.

Within the executive summary of that report, the authors note that, "Instruction that provides substantial coverage in the key components of reading - identified by the National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000) as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension - has clear benefits for language-minority students." They continue, "However, while approaches that are similar to those used with native-language populations are effective, the research suggests that adjustments to these approaches are needed to have maximum benefit with language-minority students." (p. 3)

For example, many practices may need modifications or scaffolds which may not be reflected in different reading programs or materials (August, 2018; Goldenberg, 2008), and in some cases, certain strategies may not be appropriate even with adjustments. In addition, the authors note the important role of two areas that were not addressed in the original National Reading Panel: students' home language and oral language.

Many examples of specific modifications are outlined in the strategies below, along with discussion of home language and oral language. You can find additional research resources at the end of the article, including a recent working paper published by Pivot Learning, Narrowing Down to Find Common Ground: Shared Agreements for Effective Literacy Instruction in California.

An in-depth video book study highlighting Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is also publicly available on YouTube.

When working with ELLs, students' home languages are a powerful tool that educators can use - even if they don't speak those languages or are working in a classroom with students who speak many languages. Drs. August and Shanahan write, "Oral proficiency and literacy in the first language can be used to facilitate literacy development in English" (2006, p. 5). And in hisColorín Colorado article about the value of students' home language, Dr. Fred Genesee writes:

Extensive research, again from around the world, has found that children who are learning to read in a second language are able to transfer many skills and knowledge from their first language to facilitate their acquisition of reading skills in the second language. The best evidence of this comes from studies showing that students with strong reading skills in the home language also have strong reading skills in their second language. Much of this work has been done on ELLs in the U.S. (August & Shanahan, 2006; Riches & Genesee, 2006).

Tapping into students' home languages (also referred to as a first or native language) as a resource can take different forms:

Helping students make connections between their language and English in order to identify similarities and differences, such as English/Spanish cognates

Providing opportunities to use the home language in the classroom for reading, writing, and discussion

Encouraging students to draw on all of their language skills across languages, which is called translanguaging

Promoting biliteracy through bilingual or dual-language instruction, which can support students' future opportunities and family ties (not to mention brain health!), with initiatives such as the Seal of Biliteracy, which has been adopted in many states

It is important to keep in mind that the extent to which a student's literacy skills from their first language transfer depends on many factors, such as how similar the alphabetic systems between the two languages are and whether they share any connection in their origins, such as two languages that both derive from Latin (Nieser & Cárdenas-Hagan, 2020, p. 65). The students' levels of literacy in their home language will also have an impact on their literacy development in their new language. Learning more about the languages students speak can help educators target instruction, notice patterns among speakers of the same language, and help students understand the relationship between their language and English

You can also provide students and families with access to bilingual books and texts and encourage families to continue using and developing the home language through activities such as rhymes, storytelling, and conversation at home. You will also find specific strategies related to home language throughout the key components below.

Recommended resources

In addition, as you will see below, oral language has a role to play across all reading skills, yet it often does not receive much attention as a critical part of ELLs' language and literacy development. Drs. August and Shanahan write, "Instruction in the key components of reading is necessary - but not sufficient - for teaching language-minority students to read and write proficiently in English. Oral proficiency in English is critical as well - but student performance suggests that it is often overlooked in instruction." (2006, p. 5)

Oral language supports students' literacy skills in different ways. For example, students need to be familiar not only with the sounds and letters they are learning but also the words in which they appear in order to support their word recognition and comprehension. Other more global oral language skills, such as facility with English syntax and grammar, and the ability to navigate specific language functions like describing, predicting, and comparing, also contribute to both reading and writing development for ELLs.

In addition, strengthening oral language supports students' ability to participate in peer groups and their proficiency in speaking and writing using academic language. Students need opportunities to practice applying their emerging oral language skills through partner talk and peer work (scaffolded with supports such as sentence frames), activities such as partner reading, and responding to comprehension questions using academic language.

Dr. Carrie Simkin, the director of our sister site AdLit.org, offers the following suggestions related to oral language:

Make it a learning target for lesson planning (e.g. be intentional about planning for it).

Consider how much of the learning time in your classroom is text based vs. discussion. Do students have opportunities to discuss ideas or do they mostly respond in written formats? We want to engage students in lively discussions!

Consider if students have opportunities to work in pairs as well as small groups and not just respond to teacher-generated questions.

Have you modeled how to orally respond to questions using the question as a sentence starter? Do you have sentence starters visible for share-outs?

Our strategies related to oral language are also woven throughout the components below.

Recommended resources

Note: You can read more about the role of oral language in the foreword of Comprehension and English Language Learners.

Phonemic Awareness and ELLs

Keeping the areas of home language and oral language in mind, let's dive into the five key skill areas, starting with phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is an important indicator of how well children will learn to read. Sometimes it is difficult, however, for speakers of a second language to "hear" and say sounds in the language they are learning. If you have had a student who could not master a particular sound in English, the sound may not have been a part of the student's native language.

In her chapter of Literacy Foundations for English Learners, Dr. Virginia Lovelace-Gonzalez notes that, "Phonological awareness skills can transfer across languages when students have opportunities to build these skills in their native language and English" (2020, p. 53).

For example, there are multiple sounds in English and Spanish that will directly transfer between languages, even if the sounds are associated with different letters (p. 50). Dr. Lovelace-Gonzalez writes, "For ELs, phonemic activities in English can be complicated by having to recognize sounds in English that do not exist in their native language...Instructionally, it is important for teachers to determine some of the similarities and differences between English and the student's native language to ensure the opportunity to learn" (p. 53).

Phonemic Awareness: Considerations and Strategies

What: The ability to hear and manipulate the different sounds in our language.

Why it matters: Phonemic awareness is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills.

Considerations for ELLs

Learn more about the students' home languages.

Start by visiting a resource such as MyLanguages.org or Omniglot.com, which shares an overview of many different global languages.

Ask bilingual colleagues about how their languages are similar or different from English and common areas that need attention when learning English. For example, a group of Ukrainian teachers shared some of the questions that Ukrainian speakers have when learning English in this Colorín Colorado article.

Identify whether there are any sounds that your students' languages share with English. Use these as a starting point in your instruction. In addition, find out which sounds might be new to your students and be sure to include explicit practice of those sounds.

Help students think about the connection between their language and English.

Ask students how their language is the same or different than English in terms of how the language is written, the sounds that letters or symbols make, and words that might be related.

Help students become familiar with sounds, letters, and symbols that are shared between languages, as well as those that are not shared between the languages. (Some examples across different languages are included in Literacy Foundations for English Learners.)

Ask students if they have words that begin with a particular sound, or if there are any words related to a particular word in English. This can work with students who have limited literacy skills in their first language too.

Help beginning readers learn to identify sounds in short words.

Have students practice identifying the sounds in the beginning, middle, and end of these words. You may wish to use words that begin with a consonant, have a short vowel, and end in a consonant (CVC words) such as mat, top, and bus.

One very effective method is having students match pictures of words that have the same beginning, middle, or ending sound.

Use words that students already know in English.

Videos

Learn how to pronounce the 44 phonemes in English.

Phonics and ELLs

Phonics instruction aims to help new readers understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Students benefit from learning and practicing sounds and symbols, including blended combinations. ELLs often show many strengths in mastering early phonics skills but it's important to remember that decoding while reading and correctly spelling words does not ensure good comprehension.

That's why it's important to ensure that ELLs are familiar with the words they are learning to decode in order to support their comprehension. The authors of Words Their Way with English Learners write, "English learners need structured opportunities to learn many new words to add to their repertoires so that these words can become the material of their literacy learning" (2011, p. 79).

Phonics: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

Use a word study approach.

Word study is a powerful approach that connects letters, sound, meaning, word parts, and usage so that students are learning explicit foundational skills within a meaningful context. For example, ELLs need lots of opportunities to connect the sounds, letters, and words they are learning.

The authors of Words Their Way with English Learners write, "What is key to literacy development for English learners in the emergent stage is that they use language with teachers and peers and see oral language they understand captured in print" (Helman et al, 2011).

Look for opportunities to reinforce phonics in context.

Using literature and content material, you can introduce and reinforce:

letter recognition

beginning and ending sounds

blends

rhyming words

silent letters

homonyms

Vocabulary and ELLs

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read, as well as in understanding what is read.

As students learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary. For ELLs, vocabulary development is especially important as students' develop academic language - in all subjects and activities! There are numerous ways to support explicit vocabulary instruction, which is essential for developing students' vocabulary knowledge. Dr. Coleen D. Carlson writes,

For EL students, drawing attention to unknown words during the initial presentation of the text, providing appropriate levels of definitions (e.g., providing English labels for words for which concepts and labels in one's native language are understood, quick definitions or demonstrations for simple words) and tying to background knowledge is critical. No amount of simply reading and rereading words will produce knowledge of unknown vocabulary. (2020, p. 97)

Vocabulary: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

Draw upon students' home languages.

You can draw upon students' home languages to build vocabulary by:

It is important to give students as much exposure and experience with new vocabulary words as possible before asking students to use them in a lesson or activity.

Select words that will support the reader's understanding of the story or text, as well as for other phrases and connectors that affect comprehension (even though, except, etc.). You can pre-teach vocabulary by using English as a second language (ESL) methods such as:

Role playing or pantomiming

Using gestures

Showing real objects

Pointing to pictures

Doing quick drawings on the board

Using the equivalent in students' languages and then asking students to say the word in English

Providing a student-friendly definition

Using graphic organizers

Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same original word or root. About 40% of all English words have cognates in Spanish (such as the English/Spanish cognate "family/familia"). This is an obvious bridge to the English language for Spanish speakers if the student is made aware of how to use this resource.

Teach students to recognize and use cognates, or words that are related across languages, and encourage students to be on the lookout for cognates from other languages as well.

Give students an opportunity to practice using new words.

As the teacher, you can explicitly teach word meanings to improve comprehension. However, to know a word means knowing it in all of the following dimensions:

The ability to define a word

The ability to recognize when to use that word

Knowledge of its multiple meanings

The ability to decode and spell that word

The ability to use different definitions word accurately in different contexts

Ensure students understand a new word by asking them to produce it themselves either orally or in writing.

I taught a summer school unit on habitats and healthy environments, and every student had to learn the phrase, "Reduce, reuse, recycle." Over the course of four weeks I gave students many opportunities to use those words to describe what we were doing: "We are reusing the grocery bag," or "We reused the scratch paper."

Build students' academic vocabulary.

You can increase students' academic vocabulary by teaching common structures and terms used in a specific content area. For example, sentence frames are a great way to get students familiar with these structures and can be used in writing and speaking:

You can learn more strategies in this related article.

The _____ is ______ than the _____.

I can conclude ______ because _______.

Videos

ESOL Specialist Sheila Majdi: Using sentence frames with ELLs

ESOL specialist Sheila Majdi from Arlington, VA explains what a sentence frame is and how she might use this strategy with ELLs.

Interactive reading of a story

In this classroom clip, first-grade teacher Albuquerque teacher Ali Nava leads her students through an interactive reading of Burro's Tortillas, a Southwestern adaptation of "The Little Red Hen."

Focusing on language in literacy instruction

In this classroom clip, fifth-grade teacher Clara Gonzales-Espinoza helps her students expand their understanding of the way language is used in a picture book version of Cinderella.

Instruction of key academic vocabulary with high school ELLs

In this lesson, students read a letter that Captain John Smith of the English Army wrote to Queen Anne in 1616. You can see lesson materials and reflection interviews from ELL teacher Anne Formato in our related classroom module.

Fluency and ELLs

Fluency is a tricky area when it comes to ELL reading instruction. For native English speakers, fluency and reading comprehension often share a strong correlation because fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time. This is not always the case for ELLs.

Many ELLs can be deceptively fast and accurate in their reading because they are good readers in their primary language and have strong decoding skills. Yet they may demonstrate little understanding of the text, and hearing the text out loud may not necessarily provide a step towards comprehension as it is likely to do for native speakers. One important factor in the connection between fluency and comprehension is ELLs' oral language skills, which Dr. Carlson describes as "an important foundation that supports the role of fluency as a bridge to comprehension" (p. 93).

Fluency: Considerations and Strategies

Inaccurate indicator of ELLs' comprehension

It is not unusual for an ELL student to read a passage beautifully and then not be able answer more than a couple of comprehension questions correctly. Decoding skills (sounding out words) and comprehending the text are two different skills.

Limited benefit from hearing texts read aloud

Native speakers who are not strong decoders can often comprehend text that is read to them better than text that they read themselves. That's because when someone else is doing the reading, they can focus on meaning without having to struggle to get the words off the page.

With ELLs, however, comprehension problems tend to be associated with limited vocabulary and limited background knowledge. Thus, listening to text read by someone else won't enhance comprehension.

Comprehension and ELLs

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to 1) decode what they read; 2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and 3) think deeply about what they have read. Comprehension can be the most difficult skill to master, however, and can elude students who have mastered word-level skills. According to the executive summary of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth,

An important finding that emerges from the research is that word-level skills in literacy - such as decoding, word recognition and spelling - are often taught well enough to allow language-minority students to attain levels of performance equal to those of native English speakers. However, this is not the case for text-level skills - reading comprehension and writing. (p. 4)

ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy development, will benefit from explicit instruction in comprehension skills along with other skills because improved comprehension will not only help them in language arts and ESL classes - it will help them in content-area classes and in daily activities. It will also improve the chances of their interest in reading for pleasure.

Learn more from the following articles:

Comprehension: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

ELLs who struggle with comprehension may read more slowly, have a hard time following a text or story, have a hard time picking out important events, and feel frustrated. They may also have problems mastering new concepts in their content-area classes or completing assignments and assessments because they cannot comprehend the texts and tests for these subjects.

Check comprehension frequently.

As students read, ask them open-ended questions about what they are reading, and informally test students' ability to sequence material from sentences or a story by printing sentences from a section of the story on paper strips, mixing the strips or word order, and having students put them in order.

Use questions after reading.

After the ELLs and/or whole class have completed the reading, you can test their comprehension with carefully crafted questions, taking care to use simple sentences and key vocabulary from the text they just read.

These questions can be at the:

Videos

This video showcases a 5 th-grade team planning a science lesson about the difference between vascular and non-vascular plants. ESOL specialist Katy Padilla plays a key role in advocating for ELLs throughout the lesson planning process and sharing her strategies for engaging and supporting students.

Making Dual-Language Immersion Work

This video provides an introduction to Claremont Immersion School's dual language model and shows how teachers collaborating to develop a language arts language in English and Spanish.

Assessment for ELLs

Learn how third-grade teacher Samantha Kirch uses informal assessment in her classroom to better evaluate ELLs and their progress.

Story setup: Pre-reading strategies for comprehension

Learn about pre-reading strategies that will lay the groundwork before high school newcomer ELLs tackle a new text.

Teaching ELLs in upper elementary, middle school, and high school

Older ELLs bring a lot of valuable experience and interests to the classroom. At the same time, they face the double challenge of needing to learn content and a new language at the same time, which is further complicated if their literacy skills are limited. While they may still need foundational skills work, it can be hard to find materials that are age-appropriate. You can learn more about specific tips for supporting this diverse population from the following resources:

For great classroom videos at the secondary level, see our classroom video library!

Concluding Thoughts

This is a lot of information, but we hope that these resources and recommendations can inform your work with students as well as the conversations about literacy in your setting. The more familiar your team is with best practices for ELLs, the more effectively you can determine which practices and resources will best support your students in their ongoing literacy development - and future successes!

Recommend Resources

This new working paper released by Pivot Learning reflects collective consensus among literacy experts on key topics concerning (1) literacy and multilingual and English learner students; (2) early screening and assessment; and (3) foundational skills.

To learn more about the paper and how it was developed, see Can common ground be found on teaching reading in California? (EdSource)

Research articles and chapters

Books

Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan (You can see the related book study on YouTube.)

Words Their Way with English Learners: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling (2nd Ed.) by Dr. Lori Helman, Dr. Donald R. Bear, Dr. Shane Templeton, Dr. Marcia Invernizzi, and Dr. Francine Johnston

Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners by Dr. Nancy Cloud, Dr. Fred Genesee, and Dr. Else Hamayan

Dual Language Instruction from A to Z: Practical Guidance for Teachers and Administrators by Dr. Else Hamayan, Dr. Fred Genesee, and Dr. Nancy Cloud

Webcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading 101 for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning to read is a complicated process. If you teach English language learners (ELLs), however, there are a number of ways you can support their literacy and language development through targeted instruction. This article highlights ELL instructional strategies based on the five components of reading as outlined in Teaching Children to Read by the National Reading Panel (2000).

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Literacy in English to K-5 English Learners

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Literacy in English to K-5 English Learners

# data[].attributes.headline
Components of the Core Literacy Block (MA Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.subject
Components of the Core Literacy Block (MA Dept of Ed)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A core literacy block in grades preK-3 should allocate time for the three main components: Foundational Skills, Engaging with Complex Text, and Writing.

Oral language, a bedrock of literacy, develops throughout all three components.

Oral language develops through speaking and listening interactions, engaging with text, and explicit language instruction across all components of the literacy block.

All three core components can include differentiated instruction, such as small group instruction, independent, or center-based activities, depending on student needs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

# data[].attributes.headline
Purposeful, Direct, Explicit, and Systematic Instruction (CDE)

# data[].attributes.subject
Purposeful, Direct, Explicit, and Systematic Instruction (CDE)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Go back to The Elements outline
What is Direct, Explicit, Systematic Instruction and Why is it important?

In contrast to listening and speaking, which develop naturally, the intricacies of written language must be explicitly taught.Direct, explicit, systematic instruction has been recognized as an important strategy for this purpose.The Florida Center for Reading Research provides definitions of direct, explicit and systematic instruction:

Direct Instruction: The teacher defines and teaches a concept, models the learning process, guides students through its application, and arranges for extended guided practice until mastery is achieved.

Systematic Instruction: A carefully planned sequence for instruction, similar to a builder's blueprint for a house characterizes systematic instruction. A blueprint is carefully thought out and designed before building materials are gathered and construction begins.
As stated by Adams (2001, p. 74)
The goal of systematic instruction is one of maximizing the likelihood that whenever children are asked to learn something new, they already possess the appropriate prior knowledge and understandings to see its value and to learn it efficiently.
The plan for instruction that is systematic is carefully thought out, builds upon prior learning, is strategic building from simple to complex, and is designed before activities and lessons are planned. Instruction is across the five components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

Explicit Instruction:Explicit instruction involves direct explanation. Concepts are clearly explained and skills are clearly modeled, without vagueness or ambiguity (Carnine, 2006). The teacher's language is concise, specific, and related to the objective. Another characteristic of explicit instruction is a visible instructional approach which includes a high level of teacher/student interaction. Explicit instruction means that the actions of the teacher are clear, unambiguous, direct, and visible. This makes it clear what the students are to do and learn. Nothing is left to guess work.

The following is an example an explicit instruction routine from Colorado Reading First:

Set Purpose

Today we are going to learn...

The reason we are learning this is ...

Provide Opportunity For Independent Practice

I want to give you a chance now to show that you can do this independently.

When you're working independently today, I would like you to ...

Researchers Laine, Bullock, and Ford (1998) charted the types of reading and instruction that took place in middle school classrooms. The findings were consistent with the time spent within a 45-minute period.

Results from two studies of high school freshman and sophomores looked at the effectiveness of combining strategic instruction with direct explanation and modeling. The studies found that students taught with explicit instruction improved in teacher-created quizzes, standardized reading tests, and even implicit questions (Alfassi, 2004).

Implications for Best Practice

The concept of direct instruction is not new to education. Its effectiveness for teaching literacy is well-supported by research, as demonstrated by the Follow-Through project, the largest and longest educational research study conducted to date, carried out over 28 years and involving more than 20,000 students. Adams & Engelmann's (1996) comprehensive review and meta-analysis of 30+ studies on the effectiveness of direct instruction revealed findings consistent with those in Follow Through; they concluded that across diverse learning populations, direct instruction consistently resulted in considerable advances in literacy achievement.

The "Report of the National Reading Panel" (NICHD, 2000) provides equally compelling evidence forexplicit, systematic instruction for each of the five essential components of literacy (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). "Explicit instruction in reading makes a difference in student outcomes, especially for those who are low achieving." (Denton et al., 2003, p. 202) "Explicitness has been a component of instruction in studies documenting improved outcomes in phonological awareness, decoding, and the application of comprehension strategies for the understanding of text." (Denton et al., 2003, p. 202)

Preventing reading difficulties requires skill development in the components of reading by "targeting such skills explicitly and directly" (Walpole et al., 2004, p. 265). Explicit teaching means that nothing is left to chance. Wong (1998) identifies the three characteristics of successful teachers, all of which include elements of explicit and systematic instruction resulting in effective teaching, which results in increased student achievement.

1. Positive expectations for student success
Students tend to learn as little or as much as their teachers expect. Teachers who set and communicate high expectations to all of their students obtain greater academic performance from these students than do teachers who set low expectations (U.S. Department of Education, 1986).

2. Effective classroom management
"Students want a well-managed classroom more than the teachers do because a well-managed classroom gives students SECURITY. There are no surprises, no yelling in a classroom where everyone, teacher and students, know what is happening. It comes from installing procedures and routines."(Wong, 1998, p. 85)

Wong's four characteristics of a well-managed classroom are: 1) high level of student involvement with work; 2) clear student expectations; 3) relatively little wasted time, confusion, or disruption; 4) work oriented but relaxed and pleasant climate (Wong, 1998).

High level of student involvement with work

Students are working

Teacher is working

Clear student expectations

Students know that the assignments are based on objectives and have a purpose.
Students know that assessments are based on objectives.

Teacher says, "Read Chapter 3 and answer the questions at the end." I'll be giving you a text covering the material in Chapter 3."

Relatively little wasted time, confusion, or disruption

Teacher has a management plan.

Teacher starts class immediately.

Teacher has assignments and objectives posted.

Teacher makes up rules and punishes according to his or her mood.

Teacher takes roll and time is wasted during transitions.

Students ask questions about objectives and clarification of assignments.

Work-oriented but relaxed and pleasant climate

Teacher has invested time in practicing procedures until they become routines. Explain, Rehearse, Reinforce.

Teacher knows how to bring class to attention.

Teacher knows how to praise the deed and encourage the student.

Teacher tells but does not rehearse and reinforce procedures. There is just telling and no explaining, rehearsing, or reinforcing.

Teacher yells and flicks light switch.

Teacher uses generalized praise or none at all.

Adapted from Wong, 1998, p. 87.

3. Designs lessons for student mastery

Students are not made to infer what is being taught, which confuses struggling readers (Denton et al.). Instead, students are given a direct explanation of what they are learning. Teachers include a model so that students can see and hear the task that they are being asked to complete. Often, the model comes in the form of a think aloud, "providing cognitive modeling for students" (Pressley et al., 2006, p. 288). Explicit teaching may come from a script in some programs, but is not necessarily the case in all classrooms (Denton et al.; Tivnan & Hemphill, 2005). See resource section for read aloud lesson examples that include explicit and systematic instruction.

All of the effective characteristics listed above include procedures and routines that must incorporate explaining, rehearsing, and reinforcing; all elements of explicit and systematic instruction.

Explaining

Define the procedure or routine in very clear terms.

Demonstrate the procedure or routine in very clear terms and don't just tell students what to do.

Demonstrate the procedure or routine step by step. The more complex the process, the more explicit steps are necessary.

Rehearsing

Have students practice the procedure or routine, step by step, with teacher guidance and feedback. Teachers need to make sure every step is performed correctly.

Have students continue practicing the procedure as long as needed until they can perform it without constant teacher supervision.

Reinforcing

Determine if students have learned the procedure through formative assessment (monitoring) and whether they need additional explanation, modeling, or guided practice.

Reteach the procedure if the rehearsal part is unacceptable and continue to give corrective feedback.

Provide positive reinforcement when the rehearsal is acceptable.
(Based on The First Days of School, Wong, 1998)

Explicit instruction of strategies and skills "consistently produces greater effects than implicit or embedded instruction in which students needed to infer strategies or instruction in which skills were left to natural development" (Coyne et al., 2001, p.66). Even through extensive research clearly demonstrates that all students reach higher level of achievement at a much faster pace with explicit and systematic instruction, this type of instruction is still not always used (Gill & Kozloff 2004). The only hope for improving the literacy levels of struggling adolescent learners is to provide, "direct instruction in the processes, knowledge, and skills students have not yet had the opportunity to acquire (Curtis and Longo, 1999)."

Exemplary Practices in Action
Go back to The Elements outline

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Elements Comprising the Colorado Literacy Framework:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Go back to The Elements outline In contrast to listening and speaking, which develop naturally, the intricacies of written language must be explicitly taught.Direct, explicit, systematic instruction has been recognized as an important strategy for this purpose.The Florida Center for Reading Research provides definitions of direct, explicit and systematic instruction: Direct Instruction : The teacher defines and teaches a concept, models the learning process, guides students through its application, and arranges for extended guided practice until mastery is achieved.

# data[].attributes.headline
Digital Decodables (Academic Success for All Learners)

# data[].attributes.subject
Digital Decodables (Academic Success for All Learners)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
March 2020 -

We're making this free version available to support teachers and parents impacted by the pandemic. We'll keep in online for free for as long as possible. If we do have to start charging to support this edition we promise to post news of any changes here at least three weeks prior to implementing them.

Please contact us if you find errors, problems, or have suggestions for making this edition more useful.
If you are new to Reading for All Learners please spend a few minutes reviewing the Instructor Guide. The Instructor Guide is a very quick read and following this guide is vital!
If you are new to teaching reading take a look at the pronunciation guide to make use you are modeling sounds accurately. If you aren't sure which books to start with please consider running our free placement assessment series. Also you can find a correlation to leveled readers which can be useful in determining a starting point. Finally, visit the Reading For All Learners resources page to find progress tracking sheets, completion certificates and lots more.

Thanks for all you are doing to help kids learn during this challenging time. We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to support your efforts. Please help us with this effort by sharing this resource. As always, feel free to reach out to us using any of the methods found at the bottom of this page with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Andy Hofmeister
CEO
Academic Success for All Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
reading for all learners home education and school closure edition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading for All Learners Home Education and School Closure Edition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
March 2020 - We're making this free version available to support teachers and parents impacted by the pandemic. We'll keep in online for free for as long as possible. If we do have to start charging to support this edition we promise to post news of any changes here at least three weeks prior to implementing them.

# data[].attributes.headline
Decodable Reading Protocol (Student Achievement Partners)

# data[].attributes.subject
Decodable Reading Protocol (Student Achievement Partners)

# data[].attributes.body
Core Knowledge Language Arts Decodable Books

# data[].attributes.headline
Decodable and Leveled Text Comparison (CDE)

# data[].attributes.subject
Decodable and Leveled Text Comparison (CDE)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Decodable Text

Decodable text is the type of text that focuses on the phonetic code and presents words to students that follow the concepts that they have been taught. In this way, students are encouraged to attend to the code and use their phonics knowledge to decode words. Using decodable texts is a method that helps all and harms none for beginning readers. The use of decodable text provides a reliable pathway to moving students to accurately and successfully reading authentic literature of their choosing. When students are able to apply their decoding skills with fluency, they are able to transition away from decodable books to less phonetically controlled, authentic text.

Students need to develop fluent word recognition and skilled language comprehension to become proficient readers. With our most beginning readers, we use varied types of text for different purposes with the end goal of students being able to pick up any book of their choosing and successfully read and enjoy it. This document details the difference between decodable and leveled text, when and why decodable text should be used, the role of appropriate text in orthographic mapping, why leveling is problematic, and the circumstance where leveled text is appropriate.

This document can help guide decision-making in selecting and purchasing decodable materials. Because decodable text is only decodable if children have been taught that particular letter pattern, it is important to align the text with what children have learned. Quality decodables will include a scope and sequence of the books to help match the book with the reader. When using decodable text, the focus is on the phonetic code and decoding, ensuring that students are applying phonics knowledge rather than guessing strategies. This text should not be highly repetitive to the point where students can guess or predict what happens next, nor should pictures be used to support word identification by matching the picture to the word.

This page includes three decodable booklists with links for checkout through local public library resources. Titles are available for checkout at your local public library through the Prospector program or through the hoopla ebook platform. Prospector is a unified catalog of academic, public, and special libraries in Colorado and Wyoming. The hoopla platform is not available through all public libraries, please check with your local library for access.

Authentic Text

Authentic text is a text that has been written to entertain, inform, explain, or evoke a response. Authentic text are used in read-alouds to build vocabulary knowledge and background knowledge, as a model for complex sentence and text structure, and to build other language comprehension skills like inference or learning figurative language. This type of text is not controlled by phonics patterns or leveled in any way. The text often uses more robust and precise language to describe things. By building decoding skills in beginning readers, we are able to meet our end goal of all students being able to read authentic text independently. A more complex "leveled text" might be used as an authentic text for readers who are able to apply their decoding skills automatically and successfully read it.

Text Talk is an approach to read-alouds that is designed to enhance young children's ability to construct meaning from decontextualized language. The Text Talk Lessons provide educators with a resource to accomplish the complex and demanding task of developing children's literacy using read-alouds. These lessons were put together by the Utah Department of Education. The ebook contains discussion questions and vocabulary activities to go along with each title. The book is over 400 pages with detailed instructions and questions for many read-aloud books such as A Bad Case of Stripes, Chrysanthemum, Fancy Nancy, I Wanna Iguana, The Polar Express, and Stellaluna.

Stories that Reflect Own Experiences and Experiences of Others

Books teach us about the world-- and because of this, it's important to choose books that reflect the multicultural nature of the world. Culturally responsive literature is important in classrooms and libraries and benefits all children. It's important for students to have access to books that reflect their lives, reveal other experiences, and help expand their thinking. Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop used the metaphor of mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors to describe this. Children need to read books where they can see themselves (mirrors), where they are introduced to different world views that can be both real or imagined (windows), and opportunities to step into and get lost in those worlds (sliding glass doors).

Tips for Beginning Readers
Child Reading to Adult Adult Reading to Child
Because of their potential interest or usefulness to the education community or the general public, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) occasionally provides links from this site to external web sites. It attempts to monitor such links on a regular basis. However, the Department cannot be responsible for the content of any site external to its own.

Further, by linking to other sites, CDE is not endorsing any particular product, practice, service, provider or institution, nor does it necessarily endorse views expressed or facts presented on these sites.

In addition, neither CDE nor any of its employees makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information linked to from this site.
< Return to READ Act Educator Resources Page

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Text Types: Decodable, Leveled, & Authentic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Decodable text is the type of text that focuses on the phonetic code and presents words to students that follow the concepts that they have been taught. In this way, students are encouraged to attend to the code and use their phonics knowledge to decode words.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
R.I.S.E Arkansas Science of Reading Resources - The Four Part Processor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Four-Part Processing Model for word recognition is a simplified model that illustrates how the brain reads or recognizes words. There are four processors that are active in the reading brain - phonological, orthographic, meaning, and context processors (Moats & Tolman, 2019). Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SST3 Literacy - The Four-Part Processing Model

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Four Part Processing Model for Word Recognition

# data[].attributes.headline
Strategies for Teaching the Alphabetic Principle

# data[].attributes.subject
Strategies for Teaching the Alphabetic Principle

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This toolkit helps parents and educators learn about dyslexia and how to support the literacy development of students with dyslexia.

# data[].attributes.headline
READ Act Minimum Reading Competency Matrix

# data[].attributes.subject
READ Act Minimum Reading Competency Matrix

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to the READ Plans 101 video series!
Once a student has been identified as having a Significant Reading Deficiency, a READ Plan will need to be created. This series of instructional videos walks through the purpose, creation, and implementation of READ Plans.

Please note: this training does not cover identifying an SRD or information on exiting a student from a READ Plan.

1. Introduction to the READ Plan Process

Welcome to the READ Plan 101 webinar! READ Plans are tools for success created to ensure that students receive the instruction needed to remediate significant reading deficiencies. This video will give a brief overview of READ Plans and the topics covered in the series.

3. Interim and Diagnostic Outcomes

The K-3 READ plan process begins with Interim assessments and their outcomes. This video walks through interim and diagnostic assessments-- what they are and how they support the development and implementation of a READ Plan. ​

5. Creating Specific Goals and Benchmarks

After identifying the area of need, the creation of specific goals and benchmarks are needed to support student reading growth. This video discusses using data to determine goals and building goals and objectives into the READ Plan.

7. Progress Monitoring and Progress Towards Goals

This video covers progress monitoring as an important part of READ Plan implementation to determine next steps for students who are struggling with reading.

9. Special Considerations for English Learners

All Kindergarten-3rd grade students in Colorado are subject to the READ Act, including our English Learners. This section addresses considerations for these students.

2. What is a READ Plan?

This video covers the basics of READ Plans, who qualifies for them, who develops them, and parent/guardian involvement and responsibilities.

4. Identify the Specific Skill Deficiency

Once a student has been identified for being at risk for a Significant Reading Deficiency, a diagnostic assessment to pinpoint the specific skill deficit needs to be administered. This video details determining the skill deficit, what a body of evidence entails, documenting the data, and data considerations in the READ Plan.

6. Evidence-Based Programming

This video discusses core instruction, supplemental instruction, intervention instruction, and what evidence-based programming will work best to meet students' reading deficiency needs.

8. Family Strategies to Use at Home

This video covers family strategies to use at home, their role in the READ Plan, key talking points with families, and ongoing communication as a vital piece of the READ Plan.

10. READ Plans 101 Conclusion

This final video covers key takeaways, the terminology used, research and resources referenced, and contact information for further questions not covered in this series.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the READ Plans 101 video series! Once a student has been identified as having a Significant Reading Deficiency, a READ Plan will need to be created. This series of instructional videos walks through the purpose, creation, and implementation of READ Plans.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Exiting a Student from a READ Plan
This document provides guidance for determining reading competency and covers the process of exiting a K-12 student from a READ Plan.

READ Plan Sample (DOCX) (updated July 2021)
Word document to include all components of a READ Plan

End of Year Parent Meeting
This guidance document covers the collaborative process of the end of the year parent meeting and includes teacher responsibilities, parent responsibilities, required topics to be discussed during the meeting, and on-going communication.

Archived Office Hours
The Literacy Team in the Office of Elementary Literacy and School Readiness (ELSR) previously hosted office hours to discuss topics related to the READ Act. The linked webpage provides the information discussed and the corresponding guidance document and/or video.

READ Plans in Subsequent Years
This document walks through guidance on planning for the year ahead and includes the development of a READ plan, plan implementation, and revising and preparing services for the next year with guiding questions to help in this process.

READ Plan Guidance for Students in Grades 4-12
In response to the numerous inquiries received from school and district leaders and educators regarding how to support the reading literacy proficiency of students who remain on READ plans beyond the third grade, the Colorado Department of Education formed a cross-departmental working group comprised of literacy experts from the Office of Standards and Instructional Support, the Elementary Literacy and School Readiness Office, the Culturally Linguistic and Diverse Education Office, the Exceptional Student Services Unit, and the Office of Learning Supports to create, compile, and provide detailed guidance and considerations grounded in scientific and research-based practices aligned to READ Act and other federal and state legislation (e.g., IDEA).

Frequently Asked Questions about READ Plans for Grades 4-12
The frequently asked questions and subsequent responses provide guidance, support, and resources regarding the topic of READ Plans beyond third grade.

READ Plans and Kindergarten School Readiness
This webinar includes background information on required Kindergarten assessments in Colorado, how to use the problem-solving process across these assessments, and the requirements and flexibilities in documentation in creating and maintaining individual student plans.

< Back to Literacy Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Exiting a Student from a READ Plan This document provides guidance for determining reading competency and covers the process of exiting a K-12 student from a READ Plan.

# data[].attributes.headline
Determining a Significant Reading Deficiency (SRD)

# data[].attributes.subject
Determining a Significant Reading Deficiency (SRD)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Scores decline in NAEP reading at grades 4 and 8 compared to 2019

In 2022, the average reading score at both fourth and eighth grade decreased by 3 points compared to 2019. At fourth grade, the average reading score was lower than all previous assessment years going back to 2005 and was not significantly different in comparison to 1992. At eighth grade, the average reading score was lower compared to all previous assessment years going back to 1998 and was not significantly different compared to 1992. In 2022, fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores declined for most states/jurisdictions compared to 2019. Average scores are reported on NAEP reading scales at grades 4 and 8 that range from 0 to 500.

Figure Trend in fourth- and eighth-grade reading average scores

Accommodations not permitted

Between January and March 2022, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment was administered to representative samples of fourth- and eighth-grade students in the nation. Results for the nation reflect the performance of students attending public schools, private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Department of Defense schools. Results are also available for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 26 participating urban districts. Students' academic achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic is compared to pre-pandemic performance on the 2019 NAEP Reading assessment as well as to previous reading assessments dating back to 1992.

This Report Card Highlights contains key findings from the 2022 reading assessment. See the NAEP Reading Report Card to explore the full set of student performance results and information about students' learning experiences inside and outside of school. Download a summary of the 2022 reading results.

Scroll to read details for each grade or select items in the table of contents.

Grade 4Region, state, and district performance

Fourth-grade reading scores declined across all regions of the country and in 30 states/jurisdictions

Results for states/jurisdictions reflect the performance of students in public schools only and are reported along with the results for public school students in the nation.

Figure Change in average scores between 2019 and 2022 for fourth-grade public school students in NAEP reading, by state/jurisdiction

Across all states/jurisdictions in 2022, the percentage of students performing below ranged from 20 to 52 percent; the percentage was 39 percent for public school students nationally. In the 26 states/jurisdictions with larger proportions of students performing below NAEP Basic compared to 2019, percentage increases ranged from 3 to 9 percentage points; nationally, there was a 4 percentage point increase for public school students.
Explore detailed state achievement-level results in the NAEP Reading Report Card
Fourth-grade reading scores declined in nine of 26 participating urban districts; no significant score changes in 17 districts

The Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) is intended to focus attention on urban education and measure educational progress within participating urban districts. Fourth-graders in 26 urban districts participated in the reading assessment in 2022. TUDA district results are compared to results of public school students in large cities with a population of 250,000 or more.

Figure Change in average scores between 2019 and 2022 for fourth-grade public school students in NAEP reading, by district/jurisdiction

Across all participating districts in 2022, the percentage of fourth-graders performing below ranged from 30 to 79 percent and the large city average was 47 percent. In the 7 districts with larger proportions of students performing below NAEP Basic compared to 2019, percentage increases ranged from 7 to 14 percentage points; the increase at fourth-grade for large city schools was 4 percentage points. There were no significant changes for students performing below NAEP Basic in 19 districts compared to 2019.

Four of the 9 districts with average reading score declines since 2019 had average scores that were either at NAEP Basic or within the NAEP Basic range in 2022. Five of the 9 districts with average score declines compared to 2019 scored below NAEP Basic in 2022; among these 5 districts, one shifted the average score from within the NAEP Basic range in 2019 to below the NAEP Basic level in 2022.
Explore detailed district achievement-level results in the NAEP Reading Report Card

Grade 4Closer look at student performance

Reading scores decreased at all selected percentiles except at the 90th percentile

NAEP reports scores at five selected percentiles to show the progress made by lower- (10th and 25th percentiles), middle- (50th percentile), and higher- (75th and 90th percentiles) performing students.

In 2022, fourth-grade reading scores declined for students performing at the 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles compared to 2019; there was no significant score change for the highest-performing students at the 90th percentile. Score declines for lower-performing students at the 10th and 25th percentiles (6 and 5 points, respectively) were greater than the 1 point decline for higher-performing students at the 75th percentile.

Across the states/jurisdictions at grade 4 in 2022, score declines since 2019 for lower-performing students (10th and 25th percentiles) were more prevalent than score declines for higher-performing students (75th and 90th percentiles) in 2022. Among the 30 states/jurisdictions with score declines, scores decreased for lower-performing students in 16 states/jurisdictions while scores decreased for higher-performing students in 3 states/jurisdictions.
Explore detailed percentile results in the NAEP Reading Report Card
Thirty-seven percent of fourth-graders performed below NAEP Basic in reading; larger percentage compared to 2019

In 2022, the percentage of fourth-graders who performed below the level in reading (37 percent) was larger by 4 percentage points compared to 2019. This percentage was larger than all previous assessments dating back to 2005. Thirty-three percent of fourth-graders performed at or above the level, which was 2 percentage points lower compared to 2019.
Explore detailed Reading achievement-level results in the NAEP Reading Report Card
Reading scores at fourth grade declined for most student groups

In 2022, average reading scores at fourth grade decreased for most student groups compared to 2019. For example, results by race/ethnicity show that scores declined for American Indian/Alaska native, Black, Hispanic, and White students.

Performance at the lower (25th) and higher (75th) percentiles provides insight into the score declines for selected student groups. Compared to 2019, average scores in 2022 declined at the lower percentile for Black students and students of Two or More Races; scores declined at the lower and higher percentiles for Hispanic and White students.

Examining results by school location, average reading scores declined since 2019 for fourth-graders attending schools in city, suburban, and town locations while the average score did not significantly change for students attending schools in rural locations. Percentile performance showed the following:

Scores declined at the lower and higher percentiles for students attending suburban and town schools.

Scores declined at the lower percentile for students attending city schools.

There were no significant percentile score changes for students attending rural schools.

Grade 8Region, state, and district performance

Eighth-grade reading scores declined in three of four regions of the country and in 33 states/jurisdictions

Results for states/jurisdictions reflect the performance of students in public schools only and are reported along with the results for public school students in the nation.

Figure Change in average scores between 2019 and 2022 for eighth-grade public school students in NAEP reading, by state/jurisdiction

Across all states/jurisdictions in 2022, the percentage of eighth-graders performing below ranged from 10 to 43 percent; the national public percentage was 32 percent. In the 30 states with larger proportions of students performing below NAEP Basic compared to 2019, percentage increases ranged from 3 to 9 percentage points; nationally, there was a 3 percentage point increase for public school students. There were no significant changes in the percentage of students performing below NAEP Basic in 22 states/jurisdictions.
Explore detailed state achievement-level results in the NAEP Reading Report Card
Eighth-grade reading scores decreased in four of 26 participating urban districts and increased in one district; no significant score change in 21 districts

The Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) is intended to focus attention on urban education and measure educational progress within participating districts. Eighth-graders in 26 urban districts participated in the mathematics assessment in 2022. TUDA district results are compared to results of public school students in large cities with a population of 250,000 or more.

Figure Change in average scores between 2019 and 2022 for eighth-grade public school students in NAEP reading, by district/jurisdiction

Across all participating districts in 2022, the percentage of eighth-graders performing below ranged from 28 to 68 percent and the large city average was 36 percent. In the 4 districts with larger proportions of students performing below NAEP Basic compared to 2019, percentage increases ranged from 5 to 8 percentage points; nationally, there was no significant change in the percentage performing below NAEP Basic for large city schools at grade 8. The percentage of students who performed below NAEP Basic was smaller by 9 percentage points in one district; there were no significant changes in 21 districts compared to 2019.

Two of the 4 districts with reading score declines in 2022 had average scores that were within the NAEP Basic range. One district had a score decline in 2022 that shifted the average score to below the NAEP Basic level.
Explore detailed district achievement-level results in the NAEP Reading Report Card

Grade 8Closer look at student performance

Reading scores decreased for lower-, middle-, and higher-performing eighth-graders

Reading scores were lower in 2022 than in 2019 for eighth-graders across all five selected percentiles. The magnitude of score declines for lower-performing students at the 10th and 25th percentiles (3 and 4 points, respectively) were not significantly different than the declines for higher-performing students at the 75th and 90th percentiles (both 2 points lower than in 2019).

In 2022, among the 33 states with average score declines since 2019, scores decreased for higher-performing students (75th and 90th percentiles) in 4 states and scores decreased for lower-performing students (10th and 25th percentiles) in 9 states. Compared to 2019, scores increased in one jurisdiction for higher-performing students; this jurisdiction had an overall score increase in 2022.
Explore detailed percentile results in the NAEP Reading Report Card
Thirty percent of eighth-grade students performed below NAEP Basic in reading; larger percentage compared to 2019

In 2022, the percentage of eighth-graders performing below the level was larger by 3 percentage points compared to 2019. The percentage of students performing below NAEP Basic in 2022 was larger than all previous assessments dating back to 1998. Thirty-one percent of eighth-graders performed at or above , which was 3 percentage points lower compared to 2019.
Explore detailed Reading achievement-level results in the NAEP Reading Report Card
Eighth-grade reading scores decreased for many student groups; no significant score changes for most racial/ethnic groups

Among racial/ethnic groups in 2022, the average reading score did not change significantly since 2019 for American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students, and students of Two or More Races.

The non-significant score changes since 2019 for Black and Hispanic students, along with the score decline for White students in 2022, contributed to the narrowing of White-Black and White-Hispanic score gaps between 2019 and 2022. Score gaps between White students and their Asian peers widened in comparison to 2019. See detailed student score gap results in the reading report card.

Performance at the lower (25th) and higher (75th) percentiles provides insight into the score declines for selected student groups. Compared to 2019, average scores in 2022 declined for lower-performing students of Two or More Races and lower- and higher-performing White students. There were no significant score changes for lower- and higher-performing students among the other racial/ethnic groups compared to 2019.

Average reading scores decreased for male and female students compared to 2019. While female students scored higher on average than their male peers, the 4-point decline for female students was greater than the 1-point decline for male students. Scores in 2022 were lower than in 2019 for female students at the lower and higher percentiles while scores declined for male students only at the lower percentile.
Explore detailed student group score and score gap results in the NAEP Reading Report Card

Looking at eighth-grade student performance by school location, average scores decreased since 2019 for students attending suburban and rural schools while scores did not significantly change for students attending city and town schools. Performance across selected percentile levels showed that scores declined at the lower and higher percentiles for students attending suburban and rural schools.

Grades 4 & 8Deeper dive into disrupted learning

The selected NAEP grades 4 and 8 reading survey questionnaire results below describe learning disruptions and recovery efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as learning contexts, opportunities, and student and educator perspectives. A special COVID-19 module was added to the 2022 NAEP grades 4 and 8 survey questionnaires to collect self-reported information about students' learning experiences during the pandemic.

Although comparisons in students' performance shown below are made based on self-reported student and teacher characteristics and educational experiences, these results cannot be used to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the characteristics or experiences and student achievement. NAEP is not designed to identify the causes of performance differences. There are many factors that may influence average student achievement, including local educational policies and practices, the quality of teachers, and available resources. Such factors may change over time and vary among student groups.

More frequent access to resources for higher performers learning remotely

Figure Percentage of fourth-grade students in NAEP reading who learned remotely during the last school year by selected percentiles and by various remote learning experiences: 2022

57% of students recalled experiencing remote learning last school year. What supports did those students have?

Proportion of lower-performing students (below 25th percentile)

Proportion of higher-performing students (at or above 75th percentile)

Had a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet all the time (full question)

Had a quiet place to work at least some of the time (full question)

Had their teacher available to help with schoolwork at least once or twice a week (full question)

* Significantly different ( p < .05) from students performing at or above the 75th percentile.

All students who took the reading assessments in 2022 were asked if they ever attended school from home or somewhere else outside of school for any duration during the last school year (2020-21) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among fourth-grade students, 57 percent recalled learning remotely during the last school year, 20 percent reported they did not learn remotely, and 23 percent did not remember. Among eighth-grade students, 75 percent recalled learning remotely during the last school year, 16 percent reported they did not learn remotely, and 8 percent did not remember.

Of the fourth- and eighth-grade students who learned remotely during the 2020-21 school year, higher performers (those at or above the 75th percentile) had more frequent access to a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet all the time; a quiet place to work available at least some of the time; and a teacher available to help them with English/language arts schoolwork about once or twice a week or more compared to lower performers (those below the 25th percentile). Additionally, higher-performing grade 8 students reported more participation in real-time video lessons with their teacher every day or almost every day compared to their lower-performing peers.

Most students had teachers who were confident in doing remote instruction tasks; half or fewer had teachers who were confident in their ability to address pandemic-related learning gaps

Teachers of grades 4 and 8 students reported their confidence in teaching their students and addressing their students' pandemic-related learning gaps in the current school year (2021-22). They also reported their confidence in performing four remote instruction tasks (creating materials to engage students, conducting a distance learning lesson in real-time, providing feedback to students, and helping students with difficulties in distance learning).

Figure Percentage of fourth-grade students in NAEP reading whose teachers reported how confident they are in performing several tasks related to remote instruction: 2022

Loading...

Over 80 percent of students at each grade had teachers who were quite or extremely confident in teaching their students this school year. However, 50 percent of students or fewer at each grade had teachers who were quite or extremely confident in their ability to address learning gaps that may have occurred due to pandemic-related school closures. For each of the four remote instruction tasks, over 80 percent of students at grades 4 and 8 had teachers who reported they probably or definitely can perform them.

Grades 4 & 8Explore students' reading comprehension

The NAEP reading assessment measures students' reading comprehension of literary and informational texts. Students read grade appropriate texts and answer questions about them that require both literal and interpretive understanding as well as critical thinking skills. Learn more about the reading assessment.

In 2022, average scores decreased for both literary and informational texts at both grades 4 and 8 compared to 2019. Among the states/jurisdictions with overall average score declines between 2019 and 2022, 18 states/jurisdictions scored lower in 2022 than in 2019 on literary reading while 29 states scored lower on informational reading at grade 4; at eighth grade, 22 states scored lower in 2022 on literary reading and 30 states scored lower for informational reading. Fewer score changes for either subscale occurred at the district level in 2022 but the pattern was similar; for example, of the 9 districts with score declines at grade 4 in 2022, three scored lower in 2022 than in 2019 on literary and 8 of the 9 scored lower on informational reading.

The 2022 digitally based reading assessment at grades 4 and 8 used discrete question sets as well as scenario-based tasks, which consist of connected questions and concepts integrated into a single real-world scenario. To better understand students' reading comprehension of literary and informational texts, explore student performance on samples of publicly released reading test questions from the 2022 reading assessments at grades 4 and 8.
Explore sample questions, student performance data, and student response data in the NAEP Reading Report Card

Figure Change in average scores between 2019 and 2022 for fourth- and eighth-grade students in NAEP reading, by type of texts

Grade 4

Type of texts

2022 score

2019 score

Change

Grade 8

Type of texts

2022 score

2019 score

Change

Figure Change in average scores between 2019 and 2022 for fourth- and eighth-grade public school students in NAEP reading, by type of texts and by state/jurisdiction and participating district

Type of texts

Number of states/jurisdictions with score declines from 2019 to 2022

Grade 4
(Among those 30 states/jurisdictions with overall score declines)

Grade 8
(Among those 33 states/jurisdictions with overall score declines)

Literary

18

22

Informational

29

30

Type of texts

Number of districts with score declines from 2019 to 2022

Grade 4
(Among those 9 districts with overall score declines)

Grade 8
(Among those 4 districts with overall score declines)

Literary

3

2

Informational

8

3

Grades 4 & 8About the reading assessment

Learn more about the NAEP Reading assessment

NOTE: The NAEP reading scale ranges from 0 to 500. Accommodations were not permitted in NAEP reading assessments prior to 1998. Black includes African American, and Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. See more information about student group variables. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding or the omission of categories. Although the estimates (e.g., average scores or percentages) are shown as rounded numbers in the charts, the positions of the data points in the graphics are based on the unrounded numbers. Unrounded numbers were used for calculating the differences between the estimates, and for the statistical comparison test when the estimates were compared to each other. Not all apparent differences between estimates are statistically significant. NAEP reports results using widely accepted statistical standards; findings are reported based on a statistical significance level set at .05, with appropriate adjustments for multiple comparisons. Only those differences that are found to be statistically significant are referred to as "higher" or "lower."

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 1992-2022 Reading Assessments.

# data[].attributes.headline
A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.subject
A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words (Reading Rockets)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Overview of suggested restructuring

Teach 10-15 "sight words" before phonics instruction begins

Flash Words and Heart Words defined

Flash Words with advanced vowels to teach with early phonics instruction

Flash Words with two and three syllables

Implementing the new model

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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Integrating high-frequency words into phonics lessons allows students to make sense of spelling patterns for these words. To do this, high-frequency words need to be categorized according to whether they are spelled entirely regularly or not. This article describes how to "rethink" teaching of high-frequency words.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lesson Resources

The UFLI Foundations Toolbox contains all the lesson resources to accompany the lesson plans provided in the UFLI Foundations manual. (Don't have a manual yet? Click here to order one) Every lesson has companion resources that will help you implement the lessons efficiently, effectively, and consistently.

Some of the companion lesson resources you will find below include:

Lesson slide decks (in PowerPoint and Google Slide formats)

Decodable passages

Homework sheets

Games and activities for additional practice

We have grouped the lessons into smaller units so you can access these resources more easily. Scroll down to use the buttons below to find the resources for each lesson or groups of lessons.

Please note that we are still building out these free resources, and we will be editing this page over the next few weeks. We wanted you to be able to access some materials as soon as possible, but be sure to come back later to see the rest!
New to UFLI Foundations? Learn about its development, check out a sample lesson plan, view the scope and sequence, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The UFLI Foundations Toolbox contains all the lesson resources to accompany the lesson plans provided in the UFLI Foundations manual. (Don't have a manual yet? Click here to order one) Every lesson has companion resources that will help you implement the lessons efficiently, effectively, and consistently.

# data[].attributes.headline
Activities for Teaching Alphabet Knowledge

# data[].attributes.subject
Activities for Teaching Alphabet Knowledge