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One Shift That Will Advance Your Child's Oral Language Skills                      | Source: Reading Rockets

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The act of storytelling helps all English learners practice and develop their oral language skills.

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One Shift That Will Advance Your Child's Oral Language Skills

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Resource - 12 Fun Speaking Games for Language Learners                                 | Source: Gantenhammer       

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Public schools are filled with linguistically diverse students.
It is important to develop English oral skills for students in the content area classroom, not only their English instruction. Using activities will help break the ice for these students so they are more comfortable, but will also help develop them!

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

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Social studies will include vocabulary lessons for discipline-specific words uncommonly used elsewhere. Each subject (e.g. geography, economics) within the discipline would have their own list. The approved textbooks will also have vocabulary to develop for that given subject.

Vocabulary in social studies regularly features prefixes and suffixes (morphemes) for students to identify meaning of words.

In addition to vocabulary, storytelling would be a commonly used practice to develop the oral language proficiency. Oral tradition through storytelling is how history was first recorded, so it fits naturally within the social studies context. (Pragmatics)

Eventually as the student develops, social studies will focus on ideas and concepts (e.g. democracy, government) to further extend the oral language skills.

Oral presentations are common in social studies classrooms and also develop oral language skills.

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Gantenhammer, D. 2015, Nov 12. 12 Fun speaking games for language learners. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/12-fun-speaking-games-language-learners

National Geographic Society. 2022, May 20. Oral language. National Geographic. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/oral-language

Oral Langauge (n.d.). Literacyhow. https://literacyhow.org/oral-language/

Oral langauge comprehension: Activities for your pre-K child (n.d.). Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/oral-language-comprehension-activities-your-pre-k-chil

Walqui, A. 2018, Oct 5. Meaningful classroom talk: Supporting English learners’ oral language development. WestEd. https://www.wested.org/wested-bulletin/insights-impact/supporting-english-learners-oral-language-development/

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Having resources for the diversity that represents the classroom is important. There is a great list of rhyming books that connect with non-Caucasian cultures.

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Culturally Diverse Nursery Rhymes to Share | The New York Public Library

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Use these titles with your young ones to learn and embrace other stories and traditions and to discover how similar we are to one another.

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Learn about rhyming and play games with your favorite PBS KIDS characters like Super Why, Elmo, and WordGirl!

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(PA) Resource - Interactive English Phonemes Chart

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(PA) Resource - Interactive English Phonemes Chart

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Butorac, C. (2019, Oct 6). The Easiest way to teach students how to count syllables! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/OHghArMoExY

Essberger, A. (n.d.) Interactive English phoneme chart. EnglishClub.com. https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic/inner.html

Felt, A. (2019, Feb 14). Read Across America and the benefits of rhyming for young readers. Reading Partners. https://readingpartners.org/blog/benefits-rhyming-hidden-genius-dr-seuss/

International Phonetic Association. (2015). IPA Chart. https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart

Moats, L & Tolman, C. (2009) The Development of phonological skills. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/development-phonological-skills

PaTTAN. (2021, Jan 21). Sound Walls [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YKDTPB-Ysc

Phonemic Awareness. (n.d.) Literacyhow. https://literacyhow.org/phonemic-awareness/

Rhyming Games (n.d.). PBS Kids. https://pbskids.org/games/rhyming

Seussville Books (n.d.) Seussville https://www.seussville.com/books/

Strenk, L. (2020, Sep 14). Phonological Awareness: Alliteration [Video]. Emerge Pediatric Therapy. https://emergepediatrictherapy.com/phonological-awareness-alliteration/

Syllable Games. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/syllable_games

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Social studies is full of names, places, and pronunciations that make it the perfect place to practice phonological awareness. English language learners will also have ample opportunity to develop toward fluency while reading primary sources.

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The Easiest Way to Teach Students How to Count Syllables! | Source: Butorac

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What is Oral Language? This resource breaks it down for easy understanding.

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What is it?

Oral language (OL), sometimes called spoken language, includes speaking and listening-the ways that humans communicate with one another. OL skills provide the foundation for word reading and comprehension. They are at the heart of listening and reading comprehension, serving as a predictor for both.

What is it?

Oral language (OL), sometimes called spoken language, includes speaking and listening-the ways that humans communicate with one another. OL skills provide the foundation for word reading and comprehension. They are at the heart of listening and reading comprehension, serving as a predictor for both.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are oral language skills important to literacy?

Oral language is the foundation of written language

Reading is a language-based skill. The relationship between oral language and reading is reciprocal (Kamhi & Catts, 1989) with each influencing the other to varying degrees as children progress through school.

You must be able to understand language at an oral level in order to be expected to understand it at the text level.

It's difficult to learn to read words if you do not know what they mean

Children with weak oral language skills are at risk for learning to read and comprehend.

What is Academic Language and how do I teach my students to use it in my classroom?

Academic Language, also referred as Academic or Standard English, is the language of the classroom and text. Students must have a command of Academic English in order to achieve in school. Teachers should be attuned to their own spoken language and model Academic English by creating spaces and providing opportunities where they would expect their students to use Academic English in both written and oral forms. With younger children, begin with explicit teaching and modeling. Show and Tell, and Circle Time are great places to expand sentences and provide models with Academic English. And keep in mind that all children-whether native English speakers or English Language Learners-receive the same practice and correction. For older children, consider starting with writing because the students have time to think about academic language, as well as time to revise. Then, after giving time to rehearse, ask students to make an oral presentation.

Tips for teachers and administrators

Establish classroom routines for oral language practice by assigning "purposeful partners" as talking and working buddies. Think carefully about how to pair students to increase rigor and cognitive output. This may take up to three weeks of trial and error. Consider your students' behavior and cognition-e.g., will pairing two quiet students prompt each to speak up, while pairing chatty students help them be better listeners? Formally train partners to turn toward each other, to look each other in the eye, to each take a turn answering a prompt, and to be alert for a call back signal. Integrate a brief purposeful partner task into every activity to increase numbers of students participating and to develop an efficient, familiar routine.

Explicitly teach and practice "academic language," the language used in the classroom and workplace, the language of text and assessments, and the language of academic success and power. Try these academic phrases.

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

Beware of a too quiet classroom! You should hear the hum and buzz of children talking to one another and engaging with the teacher throughout the day.

Read More to Learn more

Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G. (2001). Text talk: Capturing the benefits of read aloud experiences for young children. The Reading Teacher 55, 10-35.

Gatlin-Nash, B. (Summer 2020). Linguistic differences and learning to read for nonmainstream dialect speakers. Perspectives in Language and Literacy 46 (3), 28-32.

Goldenberg, C. (Summer 2013). Unlocking the research on English learners. What we know-and don't yet know-about effective instruction. American Educator 4-12, 38.

Hirsch, E.D., Jr. (Spring 2003). Reading comprehension requires knowledge-of words and the world. American Educator 27 (1), 10-22, 28-29, 44.

Komesidou, R., & Hogan, T.P. (Summer 2020). Preschool language precursors to later reading problems. Perspectives in Language and Literacy 46 (3), 37-41.

Spear-Swerling, L. (Summer 2016). Listening comprehension, the Cinderella skill. Giving the neglected stepchild her due. Perspectives on Language and Literacy 42 (3), 9-15.

Literacy How Professional Learning Series

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

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Oral language (OL), sometimes called spoken language, includes speaking and listening-the ways that humans communicate with one another. OL skills provide the foundation for word reading and comprehension. They are at the heart of listening and reading comprehension, serving as a predictor for both.

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Search and browse all of the books Dr. Seuss has written and illustrated! Read all about a book, including links to where you can buy or download it.

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English is the melting pot of languages, just like America is the melting pot of many cultures. Therefore, the studies of phonics and vocabulary, and learning to decode more advanced words in a 6-12 classroom will undoubtedly lead to learning other cultures. Because of this melting pot phenomenon, students will encounter words one is unfamiliar with especially in the history classroom. Being able to successfully teach phonics will be important for these moments.

Social studies 6-12 can also support phonics, but on a more embedded basis. As students learn more vocabulary and become more familiar with phonics of words and their origin, they can begin to decode new words of the similar root language based on that context. For example, teaching about laissez-faire borrowed from French, may be able to help a reader decode rendezvous based on the shared 'ez' syllable. The same is true with encoding.

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"The building blocks of an oral language are the words people speak. ... Syntax refers to how words are arranged into sentences. How people use oral language to communicate is known as pragmatics. Morphology refers to how words are structured and formed in different languages. The study of the sound of speech is called phonology."

Source: National Geographic Society

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The Stages of Oral Production

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(PA) Resource - International Phonetic Alphabet

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(PA) Resource - International Phonetic Alphabet

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This chart includes the different phonemes from international languages, not just English.

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Phonemic Awareness | Source: Literacyhow

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We must Listen to and Speak the language before we can fully read and write the language.
The parts of Oral Language are:

Semantics - the words people speak (vocabulary)

Syntax - sentence arrangement

Pragmatics - how oral communication works in the real world

Morphology - formation and structure of words in multiple languages

Phonology - sounds of speech

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Phonological skill develops in a predictable progression. This concept is important, as it provides the basis for sequencing teaching tasks from easy to more difficult. Table 1 outlines the relative difficulty of phonological awareness tasks. Table 2 is a more specific synthesis of several research reviews and summaries (Adams et al., 1998; Gillon, 2004; Goswami, 2000; Paulson, 2004; Rath, 2001) that ties specific ages to the typical accomplishment of those phonological awareness tasks.

Prerequisite to phonological awareness is basic listening skill; the acquisition of a several-thousand word vocabulary; the ability to imitate and produce basic sentence structures; and the use of language to express needs, react to others, comment on experience, and understand what others intend.

Table 1. Phonological skills, from most basic to advanced

Word awareness

Tracking the words in sentences.

Note: This semantic language skill is much less directly predictive of reading than the skills that follow and less important to teach directly (Gillon, 2004). It is not so much a phonological skill as a semantic (meaning-based) language skill.

Responsiveness to rhyme and alliteration during word play

Enjoying and reciting learned rhyming words or alliterative phrases in familiar storybooks or nursery rhymes.

Syllable awareness

Counting, tapping, blending, or segmenting a word into syllables.

Onset and rime manipulation

The ability to produce a rhyming word depends on understanding that rhyming words have the same rime. Recognizing a rhyme is much easier than producing a rhyme.

Phoneme awareness

Identify and match the initial sounds in words, then the final and middle sounds (e.g., "Which picture begins with /m/?"; "Find another picture that ends in /r/").

Segment and produce the initial sound, then the final and middle sounds (e.g., "What sound does zoo start with?"; "Say the last sound in milk"; "Say the vowel sound in rope ").

Blend sounds into words (e.g., "Listen: /f/ /ē/ /t/. Say it fast").

Segment the phonemes in two- or three-sound words, moving to four- and five- sound words as the student becomes proficient (e.g., "The word is eyes. Stretch and say the sounds: /ī/ /z/").

Manipulate phonemes by removing, adding, or substituting sounds (e.g., "Say smoke without the /m/").

Table 2. Ages at which 80-90 percent of typical students have achieved a phonological skill

4

Rote imitation and enjoyment of rhyme and alliteration

pool, drool, tool
"Seven silly snakes sang songs seriously."

5

Rhyme recognition, odd word out

"Which two words rhyme:
stair, steel, chair?"

Recognition of phonemic changes in words

" Hickory Dickory Clock. That's not right!"

Clapping, counting syllables

5½

Distinguishing and remembering separate phonemes in a series

Show sequences of single phonemes with colored blocks: /s/ /s/ /f/; /z/ /sh/ /z/.

Producing a rhyme

"Tell me a word that rhymes with car." ( star)

Matching initial sounds; isolating an initial sound

"Say the first sound in ride (/r/); sock (/s/); love (/l/)."

6

Compound word deletion

"Say cowboy. Say it again, but don't say cow."

Syllable deletion

"Say parsnip. Say it again, but don't say par."

Phoneme segmentation of words that have simple syllables with two or three phonemes (no blends)

"Say the word as you move a chip for each sound."

6½

Phoneme segmentation of words that have up to three or four phonemes (include blends)

"Say the word slowly while you tap the sounds."

Phoneme substitution to build new words that have simple syllables (no blends)

"Change the /j/ in cage to /n/.
Change the /ā/ in cane to /ō/."

7

Sound deletion (initial and final positions)

"Say meat. Say it again, without the /m/."
"Say safe. Say it again, without the /f/."

8

Sound deletion (initial position, include blends)

"Say prank. Say it again, without the /p/."

9

Sound deletion (medial and final blend positions)

"Say snail. Say it again, without the /n/."
"Say fork. Say it again, without the /k/."

Paulson (2004) confirmed the hierarchy of phonological skill acquisition in 5-year-olds entering kindergarten. Only 7 percent of 5-year-olds who had not yet had kindergarten could segment phonemes in spoken words. The production of rhymes was more difficult for 5-year-olds than commonly assumed, as only 61 percent could give a rhyming word for a stimulus. Only 29 percent could blend single phonemes into whole words. Although some young students will pick up these skills with relative ease during the kindergarten year - especially if the curriculum includes explicit activities - other students must be taught these metalinguistic skills directly and systematically.

Moats, L, & Tolman, C (2009). Excerpted from Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS): The Speech Sounds of English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Phoneme Awareness (Module 2). Boston: Sopris West.

For more information on Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) visit Voyager Sopris .

For any reprint requests, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Basic listening skills and "word awareness" are critical precursors to phonological awareness. Learn the milestones for acquiring phonological skills.

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"The practice of rhyming is enjoyable and provides an engaging and memorable reading experience. It also aids in teaching early literacy skills like phonemic awareness and fluency development. When children learn to rhyme, it helps them develop the ability to break words down into smaller parts like puzzle pieces and string them together, like sleeve and breathe."
Source: Felt

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Phonological Awareness: Alliteration | Source: Strenk

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"Here is a simple sequence of phonics elements for teaching sound-out words that moves from the easiest sound/spelling patterns to the most difficult:

1. Consonants & short vowel sounds

2. Consonant digraphs and blends

3. Long vowel/final e

4. Long vowel digraphs

5. Other vowel patterns

6. Syllable patterns

7. Affixes"

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The National Reading Panel recommends systematic and explicit phonics instruction. Children progress through a sequence of phonics skills as they learn to read.

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Breaking apart language into words, then into syllables, and then into sounds to be able to recognize them and reproduce them leading to fluency. It develops with rhyme, phonemes, syllables, and alliteration.

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(not to be confused with Phonemes)

Phonics is connecting the letters (and combinations of letters) in a word to the sound they make. Success in phonics is the ability to 'decode' (pronounce words) and 'encode' (spell words) based on experience. Teachers should be helping learners with explicit and systematic instruction.

Explicit instruction of phonics starts with the part and works up to the whole (as opposed to implicit that expects readers to learn the word based on context and sounding it out)

Systematic instruction is an established order of teaching phonics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Fluency is the ability to read and understand words at the same time.
Fluent readers are able to read sentences aloud, while comprehending and expressing the tone all at the same time.
Non-fluent readers read word by word, and sometimes have to pause to sound out (or decode) a word to then understand it. Fast readers may be able to read the sentence but are not able to convey the tone/emotion behind it.

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As students progress in their literacy understanding, they move from reading and writing single syllable words (often with consonant-vowel-consonant constructions) to reading and writing multisyllabic words. Instruction focused on teaching students about syllables often focuses on teaching different…

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(PH) Resource - Phonics for Linguistically Diverse

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(PH) Resource - Phonics for Linguistically Diverse

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Phonics for MLs - A World of Language Learners

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Learn about some of the differences between teaching phonics to ELLs and native English speakers. Also discover some new resources.

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This article goes over the struggles some neurodivergent students experience with phonics instruction. Further in the website they also overview techniques that can help!

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Encoding is commonly referring to as spelling. Encoding is the ability to write down a word based on how it is pronounced (i.e. speech-to-print).

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What is it?

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

What is it?

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Should I give my students a weekly spelling test?

Read More to Learn More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Decoding. (n.d.). twinkl. https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/decoding

Marshall, A. (2013). When phonics doesn't work. Dyslexia.com. https://www.dyslexia.com/davis-difference/davis-theory/when-phonics-doesnt-work/

Phonics. (n.d.) Literacyhow. https://literacyhow.org/phonics/

Phonics. (n.d.). Read Naturally. https://www.readnaturally.com/research/5-components-of-reading/phonics

Phonics for MLS. (2022, February 21). A World of Language Learners. https://www.aworldoflanguagelearners.com/phonics-for-ells/

Spelling. (n.d.). Literacyhow. https://literacyhow.org/spelling/

Wordle illuminates the power of play in phonics instruction. (n.d.). Reading Teacher. https://readingteacher.com/wordle-phonics-instruction/

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Phonics Game Wordle Illuminates the Power of Play in Phonics Instruction

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Word games like the viral Wordle can familiarize learners with more common letters and support encoding skills.

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In an EdWeek teacher interview, Kim Palcic, a third grade teacher in Kansas, and Maureen Elliot, a fourth grade teacher in New York, both present Wordle as a teaching tool to support engagement in reading and social development. Palcic plays Wordle with her class using vowel groups and reading anchor charts to visually connect the reading game to their phonics lessons. In Palcic's classroom as well as Elliot's, students are encouraged to collaborate with their neighbors to identify the word: each class starts with a word and begins to play, hardly realizing that they're learning about phoneme-grapheme associations and how letters can make multiple sounds. Elliot notes that while her fourth graders are typically moving away from phonemes and graphemes, COVID-induced learning gaps mean that some kids still require explicit phonics instruction. Elliot subsequently pairs up students with different skill levels for Wordle, allowing some to serve as peer leaders while other students catch up on foundational phonics skills.

Unlike other phone-based word games, Elliot insists that Wordle is not simply a passing trend: as a classroom tool, the power of the game is rooted in the science of reading. Based on the structure and popularity of Wordle, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) recently outlined key insights about effective reading instruction gained from phonics games:

Some letters are more common than others, reminding educators that teaching the alphabet is not as simple as A through Z: rather, research on the science of reading suggests that the English alphabet should be taught based on letter frequency and difficulty.

The positions of letters in words matters. Young readers memorize more letter positions from high exposure to words, along with explicit phonics instruction.

Multiple letters can represent a single sound. For example, the word tough has five letters but only three sounds (/t/ /uh/ /f/), while the word thigh has five letters and two sounds (/th/ /ī/). Although letter-by-letter decoding is appropriate for young readers, they'll soon learn that attending to letters around a letter is necessary for reading comprehension.

Vocabulary knowledge is important for spelling and reading. This is especially important as students become older, encounter more complex texts, and face more challenging assignments in reading comprehension and writing composition.

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Phonics Game Wordle Illuminates the Power of Play in Phonics Instruction

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In an EdWeek teacher interview, Kim Palcic, a third grade teacher in Kansas, and Maureen Elliot, a fourth grade teacher in New York, both present Wordle as a teaching tool to support engagement in reading and social development. Palcic plays Wordle with her class using vowel groups and reading anchor charts to visually connect the reading game to their phonics lessons.

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What is Decoding? - Answered - Twinkl teaching Wiki

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This article has good information about how to pick up on students that struggle with decoding.

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Decoding: Definition in reading

Decoding is the process of working out how to say ('sounding out') an unfamiliar written word. Decoding in primary education reading refers to the student's ability to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. Decoding by understanding these relationships makes it easier for children to understand, recognise and figure out the meaning/ pronunciation of words they may not have seen before.

Decoding is a crucial component of Foundation/Kindergarten/Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 phonics lessons.

Being able to accurately decode a word relies on understanding the rules of phonics, as well as how to break written words down into individual sound units, or phonemes ( segmentation) then bring those phonemes together to form the spoken word (sound blending).

The picture below shows how words can be segmented into individual phonemes - an essential part of the decoding process.

It takes most children around two years to master decoding. As pupils grow more comfortable decoding, the process goes from being a deliberate, conscious effort to something that happens automatically; an instinct that readers utilise for the rest of their reading lives. When decoding becomes an automatic process for a child, he/she/they are considered to be a fluent reader.

If you want to learn how to decode a word - you will need to know:

Which sound or sounds each letter makes: For example, how agsounds differently in 'goose'and how it sounds in 'gel'. Children need to understand how letter sounds interact with the rest of the word.

How to take apart the sounds in a word and blend them. For example, withjam, the first sound is /j/, the next sound is /ă/, and the last sound is /m/. Then slowly blend them in - 'jjjaamm'.

How groups of letters can work together to make a single sound, like shin 'fish'. Kids learn these kinds of letter patterns when they study phonics.

Decoding and Phonics

As mentioned above, decoding makes up a large part of phonics lessons, which are taught in six phases in the UK.

Phase 1 starts in Nursery/Pre-School with lessons about different types of sound. One type of sound that is explored during this phase is voice sounds, including how different words are made from different combinations of voice sounds (e.g. learning how 'bat', 'cat', and 'hat' are different words that only vary by one sound).

The following image depicts an activity from a Phonics Phase 1 resource.

Children move onto Phase 2 of phonics in Reception/Foundation. In this phase, students start learning about the sounds made by different letters and letter combinations, including how to decode simple vowel-consonant (VC, eg. 'in', 'an') and consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC, eg. 'pin', 'man') words.

By the time children finish Reception, they will have progressed through Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 4 of Phonics, and be able to confidently decode new/unfamiliar words.

The following image depicts two activities from a Phonics Phase 4 resource.

Phase 5 of Phonics takes place during the whole of Year 1, and by the end of it, children should be able to decode unfamiliar words up to three syllables long.

The final phase, Phase 6, takes place during the whole of Year 2, and the primary aim during this phase is for decoding to become an automatic process, or as close to an automatic process as possible.

Although formal phonics training ends at the end of Year 2, the skills learned during phonics training, including decoding, are designed to be utilised by readers for the rest of their lives. Think about the last time you came across an unfamiliar word. The chances are that you, without needing to think about it, broke the word down into syllables or phonemes, worked out how each syllable/phoneme should sound, then joined the sounds together and read the word accurately, or near enough to it. That process is decoding, and your ability to do it relies on the same decoding skills that you learned when you were in primary school.

Decoding and the EYFS

Decoding is embedding within children's phonics and Letters and Sounds learning as discussed above.

As children progress throughout the Phases of the Phonics/Letters and Sounds programme, their ability to decode and use this method for reading will develop, as will their growing confidence to use decoding to decipher new words.

Decoding is also an important part of the EYFS, particularly within the Communication and Language and Literacy area of learning. Throughout the EYFS ages/stages of development children are developing the vital foundation skills which will be needed to successfully use decoding.

Children will begin to develop decoding skills whilst they are still focused on the prime areas of learning within the EYFS, particularly Communication and Language. For children to have accurate decoding skills, they need to be able to listen intently to words, and distinguish and sound out the various sounds.

Within the 22-36 month stage of listening development. Children should gain the skill of recognising and responding to familiar sounds. Becoming able to do this with ease supports increased listening, and helps children differentiate between different noises, leading them to eventually distinguish the different sounds in words.

As children progress to the 30-50 months stage and Early Learning Goal (ELG) the learning outcomes predominantly focus on children's abilities to listen intently and focus, vital traits needed to successfully use decoding.

Throughout the Speaking EYFS area of learning children will grow in confidence when speaking with others and conveying their understanding verbally. Being able to speak confidently will help children to read words and confidently sound out different letters or sounds.

Within the Reading area of Literacy children are encouraged to handle printed materials, listening intently to noises and distinguish between different sounds and noises from a young age. These will be the primary skills which will form the pathway to decoding.

As children reach the 40 - 60 months stage of development, direct links between decoding and the EYFS Reading area of development become apparent. Children will be expected to gain skills such as:

Hear and say initial sounds in words.

Segment and blend sounds.

Be able to link sounds and letters together.

This will then lead children to achieve the Early Learning Goal, which is focused on using decoding skills to read simple sentences and sound out words which are unfamiliar aloud.

Once children have refined these skills they can then move onto to use decoding with growing complexity, supporting their reading and writing skills, as well as their progression within the Letters and Sounds scheme of work.

What if a child struggles with decoding?

Children learn how to decode at different rates, depending on their natural aptitude for reading and phonics. But if a child is really struggling with reading unfamiliar words, it could suggest a learning disability like dyslexia.

Problems with decoding are a key sign of dyslexia in preschool and lower primary school children. If a child is having more difficulty with any of the steps involved in decoding than would be expected at their age, such as:

finding it harder to break words down into individual sounds,

struggling to take the individual sounds and bring them together, or

frequently reading similar-looking letters or groups of letters incorrectly

A teacher may suggest that the child be tested for dyslexia.

Teachers and parents will often provide altered lesson plans and resources to help dyslexic children with decoding. As it happens, the same basic decoding process most children master in Phases 2-5 of phonics is often utilised by older dyslexic children and adults when reading.

The following image depicts a Phase 2 Phonics sound mat specifically designed for pupils with dyslexia. Notice how the letters are thicker/heavier-looking towards the bottom? This style of lettering is easier for pupils with dyslexia to read.

What are the steps for decoding?

The steps for decoding an unfamiliar written word are as follows:

1. Segment the word into individual letters/groups of letters. Say each sound separately if need be.

2. Use phonics knowledge to work out how each of the letters/groups of letters sounds.

3. Blend the sounds together to form the word.

Examples of decoding in reading

Example 1: Cat

This word can be separated into three letters/letter groups: c-a-t

The sounds associated with each letter are:

'c', as in 'cap'

'a' as in 'apple'

't' as in 'tea'

When we blend those sounds together, we get "cat".

Example 2: Automatic

This word can be separated into eight letters/letter groups: au-t-o-m-a-t-i-c

The sounds associated with each letter are:

'au' as in 'awful'

't' as in 'tea'

'o' as in 'own'

'm' as in 'mat'

'a' as in 'apple'

't' as in 'tea'

'i' as in 'in'

'c' as in 'cap'

When we blend those sounds together, we get "automatic".

Why can't some words be decoded?

Decoding relies on the rules of phonics. Most words in the English language follow those rules. But some words don't. For example, if kids try to sound out the word of, they might pronounce it 'off'. Or they might try to spell it 'uv'. Some words are trickier to decode by sounding them out phonetically. These include tricky words and homophones that are spelt differently to how you might pronounce them, or have multiple different spellings with different meanings.Tricky or phonically irregular words differ from sight words as children need longer to decode and cannot simply be sounded out in their head.

Tricky words are usually taught specifically in primary education to ensure children are comfortable with these spellings.Tricky wordsare still typically part of the phonic code. For ecample, the word 'want' has the 'o' sound instead of 'a,' which is how it's spelt. This means that children find it difficult to read out the word, as the sounds don't accompany the letters. Othertricky wordsinclude: was, swan, they, my and are.

Tricky wordsshould be learnt through a variety of different methods and not just by sight, as it may lead to difficulty in understanding othertricky wordsthat do not follow the same pattern.

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What is Decoding? - Answered - Twinkl teaching Wiki

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Decoding is the process of working out how to say ('sounding out') an unfamiliar written word. Decoding in primary education reading refers to the student's ability to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words.

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Accuracy is one component of a student's fluency. It is gauged by how many words the student can read correctly in one minute.

A student's ability to read fluently will vary as the student develops and changes content areas.

In general, instruction should begin with resources at a student's independent level.

Source: Partnership for Reading (n.d.).

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Finley, T. (2014, Dec 1).

11 Alternatives to round robin (and popcorn) reading. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/alternatives-to-round-robin-reading-todd-finley

Fluency (n.d.). Literacyhow. https://literacyhow.org/fluency/

Ford, K. (2015, December 1). ELLs and Reading Fluency in English. Colorín Colorado. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/ells-and-reading-fluency-english

Hudson, R., Lane, H., & Pullen, P. (2005). Reading Fluency Assessment and Instruction: What, Why, and How? The Reading Teacher, 58(8), 702–714. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.58.8.1

Madland, J. (2012, January 4).

Straub Middle School Choral Reading and Response [Video]. Streaming Service. https://youtu.be/ArJkNCt7p64

Paired (or Partner) Reading (n.d.). Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading

Partnership for Reading (n.d.). "Fluency: An Introduction". Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/fluency-introduction

Shanahan, T. (2019, January 7). How Important is Reading Rate? Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/how-important-reading-rate

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The reading rate, also known as automaticity, is the total number of words read per minute (different than words read correctly).

Reading rate is not something to focus on specifically, but a slow reading rate can be correlated to other struggles.

Timothy Shanahan (2019) says

Thus, my conclusion from all of this, is that reading rate is not an issue to be overly concerned with, and slow reading is not the problem. However, it is a symptom and it often is likely to appear to be implicated in poor comprehension.
Slow reading is a symptom, not a malady.
Instead of trying to teach students to read faster, it is essential to make certain that they are able to decode easily and continuously, and to maintain their concentration.

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How much does reading speed matter? And if it is important, what is the best way to develop it in our learners? I've heard that 100 wpm is the minimal speed for comprehension. Is that a real thing? I believe the average speed is 200 wpm. Shanahans response:
I can find no minimal reading or listening speed for comprehension in any of the studies I can lay my hands on. I'm sure there must be a minimal reading speed, but it is certainly considerably slower than 100 wpm. Part of the problem, of course, is that everyone interested in reading rate wants to speed readers up rather than slowing them down, so the lowest acceptable rates haven't received much attention. (There are many studies in which the researchers artificially hurry things along, but I found none in which they intentionally try to impede reading rate).

I did find a provocative quote in the influential Becoming a Nation of Readers report:

"The corresponding rate for poor readers at this level is 50 to 70 words per minute. According to one group of scholars, this rate is "so slow as to interfere with comprehension even of easy material, and is certainly unlikely to leave much ... capacity free for developing new comprehension abilities."

The rhetorical move "according to one group of scholars" suggests that the authors of Becoming weren't too sure of its reliability, and the footnoted citation that they provided was incorrect (it referred to a completely different report). So, that 50-70 words per minute requirement sounds terrific, and yet upon what is it based?

Ron Carver did some interesting experiments with the listening comprehension of adults and he found that listening speeds of 75wpm allowed high levels of comprehension in the various conditions that he studied... and that increases in this speed were not problematic until 150wpm or 225wpm were reached (but different comprehension tasks could tolerate different amounts of speed). Perhaps dropping that speed by a third would muck things up, but he didn't look at that.

Given that average third graders can read an unfamiliar story aloud at the rate of about 100wcpm, suggests to me that you're not likely to find many readers (except beginners) at that 50wpm threshold. We tend to read more slowly aloud.

There are theoretical reasons why reading could be too slow to understand ...

As Gibson and Levin (1975) explained long ago: "There is a minimal speed of reading below which the syntactical and meaningful relations within a sentence or a larger unit of discourse do not come through. Reading one word at a time, with pauses between, makes it nearly impossible to extract information beyond the word." (p. 539).

Essentially, short term memory has limited capacity, so as one slows down this capacity starts to get overwhelmed - needing to hold onto words and phrases while waiting for the next information to become available so it can be integrated is problematic for readers. If they go to slow the text stops making sense. And, perhaps, abnormally slow reading would make it difficult to sustain interest and attention, encouraging readers to wander off, mentally and perhaps even physically. (In fact, some supposedly slow readers don't necessarily read slowly, but their concentration is so poor that they allow their mind to frequently wander away from the text rather than reading.)

I'm not sure that 60 words a minute, however, is slow enough to demonstrate what that problem ... as one word per minute would require one to read each word in a second and still have time to pause ... perhaps 30 wpm would be more like the key damaging slow reading speed.

But there is one more explanation that needs attention.

When I was in high school, Evelyn Wood speed reading courses were the thing. The idea was that if you read faster, your comprehension would go up too. Famously, President Kennedy had taken such a course, and in those days, people still wanted to be like the President. I enrolled in Evelyn Wood at age 16, and it's fair to say that it didn't teach me to read faster as much as it taught me to skim (in other words, you didn't read the words as much as you scanned them to get some idea what the text might be about). Not surprising to me, later, studies revealed that speed reading lowered comprehension. It didn't raise it.

Speeding up reading was possible, but reading comprehension declined to a corresponding degree.

These days, in the schools I visit, faster oral reading fluency speeds is an issue. Teachers want their kids to get better DIBELS and AIMSWeb scores, so they encourage faster reading.

However, I said there is another explanation of especially slow reading. Many readers struggle to read words easily, so most of their cognitive attention is devoted to decoding rather than reading comprehension. It is this divided attention, not the slow speed, that may be the source of the problem.

Thus, my conclusion from all of this, is that reading rate is not an issue to be overly concerned with, and slow reading is not the problem. However, it is a symptom and it often is likely to appear to be implicated in poor comprehension.

Slow reading is a symptom, not a malady.

Instead of trying to teach students to read faster, it is essential to make certain that they are able to decode easily and continuously, and to maintain their concentration.

Originally, the idea of teaching fluency was to use extensive oral reading practice to help young readers to apply their phonics skills serially and more quickly. In many phonics programs, the children decode lots of single words, but trying to decode one word after another while thinking about the ideas reveals their limitations. Such practice was meant to teach the application of phonics, not to replace phonics. Often these slow fluency kids, simply are poor decoders who need explicit teaching of those skills.

And, with students who are able to decode with sufficient speed, but who are particularly slow and low comprehending readers, I think you'll find that various strategies can help them to keep their heads in the game so that they can process text more quickly. One thing I do when my mind wanders is to try to summarize each paragraph in a sentence or two ... before long, I don't need that crutch.

Average reading speeds have not been measured a lot. Probably the best estimates are from a study by Taylor (1965). He found the following average silent reading rates for reading with comprehension. I don't think these rates have changed much in that time, so these should give you a good estimate of where average students should be:

College: 280

Grade 12: 250

Grade 11: 237

Grade 10: 224

Grade 9: 214

Grade 8: 204

Grade 7: 195

Grade 6: 185

Grade 5: 173

Grade 4: 158

Grade 3: 138

Grade 2: 115

However, reading rates vary quite a bit. Such rates have large standard deviations (a recent study reported that its fourth-grade subjects had an average rate of 153 wpm - close to the norm listed above - but the standard deviation was 69 words. That means kids at the 35% percentile (a decent level of performance) would only be reading at about 110 words per minute, substantially lower than the mean.

Reading speeds are also going to vary by content and purpose. More demanding texts, for instance, will require that readers slow down to maintain adequate comprehension, while easier texts and lower needs for accuracy should allow faster perusals of the texts.

Not surprisingly mathematicians and scientists read more slowly than folks reading novels for enjoyment!

Bottom line?

Sound reading programs do not make rate itself a goal, any more than physicians make lower temperature a goal when treating strep throat. They recognize that heightened temperature is a result of an infection and treat that directly rather than trying to lower the temperature itself (which could be done rather easily with ice packs and the like).

If you want kids to read faster, try building up their decoding ability and vocabularies, and teaching them comprehension strategies with sufficiently challenging texts.
See comments here >

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How Important Is Reading Rate? | Reading Rockets

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Teacher question: How much does reading speed matter? And if it is important, what is the best way to develop it in our learners? I've heard that 100 wpm is the minimal speed for comprehension. Is that a real thing? I believe the average speed is 200 wpm.

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Prosody is the role of expression and phrasing in reading aloud. Reading out loud helps develop a learning reader's prosody.

Hudson, R.,  Lane, H., and Pullen, P. (2005) write an easy checklist for grading the level of prosody:

1. Student placed vocal emphasis on appropriate words.

2. Student's voice tone rose and fell at appropriate points in the text.

3. Student's inflection reflected the punctuation in the text (e.g., voice tone rose near the end of a question).

4. In narrative text with dialogue, student used appropriate vocal tone to represent characters' mental states, such as excitement, sadness, fear, or confidence.

5. Student used punctuation to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.

6. Student used prepositional phrases to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.

7. Student used subject-verb divisions to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.

8. Student used conjunctions to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.

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(FL) Choral Reading Example / Call & Response

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(FL) Choral Reading Example / Call & Response

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Choral reading not only helps with engagement, but also can increase the confidence in struggling readers (which can be ELLs and neurodivergent students)

Source: Madland, J (2012).

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Straub Middle School Choral Reading and Response

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Paired reading is a great activity for English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with learning disabilities. https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading

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Source: Finley, T (2014)

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11 Alternatives to Round Robin (and Popcorn) Reading

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There’s no evidence that round robin reading helps students improve, so we gathered alternatives that teachers can use instead.

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Social studies is a big discipline and it includes different kinds of primary sources to help learners develop fluency.
For example, satire is one type of genre inside of the discipline that can help develop fluency. Comics are often used to study the popular opinion at a time in history. As students read these types of sources, they would need to practice the expression and sarcastic tone of the authors.

Dramatic readings of historical texts can also assist in developing a student's fluency. Students can also write and perform their own retelling of a historical event to practice fluency. Students can work as a group to locate multiple primary sources, analyze them, and create an end performance to communicate the big idea to the rest of the class.

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As reading out loud is a big part of Fluency, I've gathered multiple book lists that have inclusive features:

LGBTQ
https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2022/06/101-lgbtq-books-for-kids.html

Physical Disabilities
https://www.readbrightly.com/picture-books-physical-disabilities-differences/

Learning Disabilities
https://www.romper.com/p/11-childrens-books-that-help-kids-understand-learning-disabilities-17661

International books https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/81047759/1354497684
https://www.readbrightly.com/read-around-the-world-with-these-8-great-kids-books/

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Students draw on background knowledge to help them understand when reading a text.
Before reading, ask questions on a topic, give an illustration that ties to the lesson.

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What is Background Knowledge?

Background knowledge is the amount of information or knowledge someone has on a particular topic. Background knowledge is acquired by the number of experiences someone has in life or the amount of knowledge they have retained from reading or listening. Reading a variety of genres of books, listening to multiple media sources, and engaging in conversations on multiple topics only increase someone's background knowledge. Background knowledge helps students of all ages and reading levels fully understand text. When students activate their prior knowledge, their reading comprehension grows.

Why is Background Knowledge Important?

Background knowledge is a critical component in determining a student's success in reading comprehension. This one element can often make or break a child's reading comprehension level. Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading. Making connections is an important reading strategy that encourage readers to share text to self connections, text to text connections, and text to world connections. When students share their connections, through conversation, writing, or illustration, this is a strong indicator of a child's background knowledge. Background knowledge can be most helpful in comprehending nonfiction text, which often proves to be a difficult genre for students to fully understand.

When readers have a wealth of previous life experiences or have gained information about a specific topic or content area, their reading comprehension level is automatically increased. When a student already has the background knowledge to support a full understanding of the presented text, their level of comprehension expands. These students are able to easily analyze and interpret, explain their perspective, infer and summarize the text simply because they feel more confident in the subject matter. The more information a student has on a topic, the easier it is for the student to read, recall, and understand the text. Outside of school, a child's level of opportunity or experience often depends on their family's routine or dynamics. In order to provide an equal playing field to support student reading success teachers, teachers should consider implementing background knowledge in every literacy lesson.

How to Implement Background Knowledge in a Literacy Lesson

When we recognize that comprehension is closely correlated to a student's background knowledge, we should make every effort to implement background knowledge in our daily literacy lessons. The background knowledge of a setting, a historical event, an invention, or famous individual can greatly affect a child's understanding of any given text. A student will not fully understand a historical fiction novel that takes place during World War II if they don't have any background knowledge on the history of the war.

How can we add background knowledge to every literacy lesson? Before reading the text, ask students to make connections to find out exactly what they know about the topic. A student's background knowledge of vocabulary words also impacts the comprehension of a text. Therefore, using a picture walk to explore vocabulary terms or asking students to supply synonyms of selected vocabulary terms also help increase background knowledge before reading.

Implementing daily independent reading time is an easy, effective way to organically increase a child's background knowledge. Using paired texts across genres to support social students and science objectives is another way to plan lessons that allow students to active prior knowledge. If a teacher is planning a unit on ocean animals, he or she should gather both fiction and nonfiction books, poems, and songs about them. Reading a biography about an oceanographer or a mystery that takes place near the beach adds to a child's personal vault of knowledge and inquiry-based learning. When a student can use vocabulary and facts from the nonfiction articles and books and apply them to their understanding of a fictional piece, reading comprehension increases.

Implementing background knowledge should be a creative, engaging part of a literacy lesson. Classrooms can take virtual fieldtrips and track settings on a map or globe to understand how the setting impacts the understanding of the text. A story that takes place in China is significantly different from a story that takes place in Ireland. Books take readers to many locations; the background of the location is a key story element to understand. Bringing the book to life also increases background knowledge. If the book takes place in a garden, consider creating a school garden. If the book is about sea life, consider taking a real field trip to the nearest aquarium.

If a book is about a famous musician, listen to the music. If the book is about the weather, invite a meteorologist to come speak to the class. If the book is about Peruvian food, consider making the food or eating at a Peruvian restaurant. Experiences increase reading comprehension; teachers have the opportunity to provide experiences that will result in increased comprehension for students and additional background knowledge for the future. Anything is possible.

Background knowledge is essential in a student's ability to fully comprehend text. When we as educators understand the importance of this literacy component, we develop lessons that lead students to become stronger thinkers and life-long readers and learners.

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The Importance of Background Knowledge in Understanding Text - TeachHUB

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Background knowledge is the amount of information or knowledge someone has on a particular topic. Background knowledge is acquired by the number of experiences someone has in life or the amount of knowledge they have retained from reading or listening.

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Readers combine what they read with what they know and learn to 'read between the lines'.

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Inferences

What Is It?

Making an inference involves using what you know to make a guess about what you don't know or reading between the lines. Readers who make inferences use the clues in the text along with their own experiences to help them figure out what is not directly said, making the text personal and memorable. Helping students make texts memorable will help them gain more personal pleasure from reading, read the text more critically, and remember and apply what they have read.

Why Is It Important?

Researchers have confirmed that thoughtful, active, proficient readers are metacognitive; they think about their own thinking during reading. They can identify when and why the meaning of the text is unclear to them and can use a variety of strategies to solve comprehension problems or deepen their understanding of a text (Duffy et al. 1987).

Proficient readers use their prior knowledge and textual information to draw conclusions, make critical judgments, and form unique interpretations from text. Inferences may occur in the form of conclusions, predictions, or new ideas (Anderson and Pearson, 1984).

How Can You Make It Happen?

Introduce this strategy by modeling it for students, starting with everyday examples, moving to listening activities, and then to text examples. Tell students that good readers make inferences to understand what they are reading. Emphasize that they will bring their own knowledge of events to the text, so each inference may be unique. For example, you may want to introduce making inferences with an example such as the following.

You got to school this morning and you couldn't find a lesson plan. You were reading it over while having breakfast, so you probably left it on your kitchen table.

Point out that you are making an inference based upon the fact that you know you were working on your lesson plan at home. Discuss situations in which students don't have all of the information and have to make logical guesses, such as figuring out what someone is trying to say, figuring out what is happening in a movie, or figuring who the singer is on the radio. They may need practice identifying the inferences they make in every day life.

Another way to introduce this strategy is to use pictures from a magazine or book cover, and cover a part of the picture. Ask about what is happening in the picture, what the picture is advertising, or what the story will be about. Think aloud as you make connections between the facts and your prior knowledge, using phrases such as, "The picture looks like...I know that..." Next, have students respond to questions about new pictures, citing their reasons for their inferences. Have them cite reasons that are facts along with reason that come from their prior knowledge.

Then, model how good readers make inferences while reading. They use ideas from the book and add their own ideas to them. Read this short passage to students:

The young woman walked a bit hesitantly towards the famous cozy Italian restaurant. She did not believe the excuse her parents gave her for having to meet her at the restaurant instead of at their house. To make matters worse, she was a bit grumpy because she was still catching up on the sleep that she lost during exam time. She noticed some cars that looked familiar in the parking lot. As soon as she walked through the door, she heard, "Surprise!"

Now read it again and when you make an inference, tell students about it and describe how you make the inferences. You may say something such as:

The text says: She did not believe the excuse her parents gave her.
I know: Sometimes if people play practical jokes, others don't believe everything they say. Maybe her parents played practical jokes.

The text says: She was a bit grumpy because she was still catching up on the sleep that she lost during exam time.
I know: I know exams are usually given in school, so she is probably in high school or college.

The text says: She noticed some cars that looked familiar in the parking lot. As soon as she walked through the door, she heard, "Surprise!"
I know: If the cars are familiar, that means people she knows are in the restaurant. This makes me change my inference. If her parents wanted to meet her at the restaurant, and other people she knows are there, maybe it's a surprise party.

By modeling your thought process, students can see how you took the information from the text, along with what you knew already and your own ideas, to make inferences. Point out which facts came from the text and which came from your background knowledge. Then put them all together to make the inference that it might be a surprise party.

To make the process more explicit, use a graphic organizer to record students' answers. Ask students to record the facts that are stated in the text, along with their background knowledge. Have students keep in mind that they can change or modify their inferences as they read. Point out that they were able to make an inference based on their knowledge of surprise parties. Have students practice this strategy and use a graphic organizer while reading text.

How Can You Stretch Students' Thinking?

Allow students to share a wide range of interpretations when reading fiction. Make sure the classroom is a safe and non-critical place for students to share their background knowledge, keeping in mind that there may be as many different interpretations as there are students.

Use a variety of genres to practice making inferences. When students read non-fiction, there are fewer inferences or interpretations that are usually made from the text. Discuss how the inferences and conclusions are different when reading science articles, poetry, novels, or historical documents. Have students practice justifying their interpretations, being explicit about which parts of the text they used to gain facts, and the background knowledge they used to make the inference.

Challenge students by having them write a paragraph including facts and inferred facts. Have them exchange their paragraphs and make inferences based on the information in the paragraphs. Ask each student to complete a graphic organizer for their peer's story, and have them discuss their inferences and how they arrived at them.

For younger students, you may generate some questions about a text as a group, place students in pairs, and have pairs work together to fill out the graphic organizer.

When Can You Use It?

Reading:

Have students read a newspaper editorial. Have them infer at least two things that were not explicitly stated by the author. Then have students draw a conclusion about the topic. Ask students to make inferences and draw conclusions from a particular novel you are reading in class.

Have students make inferences about where or when a photograph was taken. Provide photographs of unfamiliar geographic areas, buildings, or landscapes.

Writing:

Have students write a paragraph that describes something they are familiar with — an object, a situation, a place — without explicitly stating what it is. Pair students and have them exchange their papers and infer what their partner's paragraph is describing. Have them list the inferences that led them to their conclusion.

Lesson Plans
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing

This lesson is designed to teach primary students to make inferences as a reading comprehension strategy. In this lesson, students will draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the pictures in the book to articulate (verbalize) the inference the author is making in the text. This is the first of a set of lessons designed to teach students how to make inferences.
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

This lesson is designed to help primary students establish the skill of making inferences. In this lesson, students draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the text to make inferences. This is the second of a set of lessons designed to teach students how to make inferences.

This lesson is designed to expand primary students' skill of making inferences. In this lesson, students will draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the text to make inferences. This is the third of a set of lessons designed to teach students how to make inferences.

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Inferences | Reading Comprehension Exercise

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Making an inference involves using what you know to make a guess about what you don't know or reading between the lines. Readers who make inferences use the clues in the text along with their own experiences to help them figure out what is not directly said, making the text personal and memorable.

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Readers pull out the main idea from a text and rephrase it in a concise manner.

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Getting students in the habit of summarizing and retelling after reading a text is foundational in reading comprehension.

Having students retell helps clear up any misunderstandings (i.e incorrect plot line, confusing multiple characters) - and can then lead to some really valuable discussions!

In this post, I'll explain the key differences between summarizing and retelling. I'll also provide some structured routines and examples of how I'd teach and prompt for these skills!

**This post is part of a series on reading comprehension, so if you haven't had a chance to check out the other posts, here they are:

Reading Comprehension: Making Connections
Reading Comprehension: Main Idea & Details Reading Comprehension: Cause & Effect
What Is the Difference Between Retelling and Summarizing?

Making the distinction between retelling and summarizing is important. Many teachers, and therefore students, interchange the two terms when, in fact, they mean different things.

Retelling is when students tell you about a text and include everything (details and some main ideas).

Summarizing is when students tell you about a text in a more concise manner (focusing more on just main ideas.)

Here's an example of a retell using the story of The 3 Little Pigs:

"In the story of 'The Three Little Pigs," a mother pig tells each of her three kid pigs to build a house for themselves. Each pig decides to build a house out of different materials. The first pig builds his house out of straw. The second pig builds his house out sticks. The third pig builds his house out of bricks. One day, a Big Bad Wolf comes. He wants to find the pigs and eat them. The Big Bad Wolf puts on a disguise and pretends to be a little old lady. He puts on a dress, hat, and glasses, and uses a different voice to cover up his own appearance. He knocks on the first door of the straw house and says 'Little Pig, Little Pig, let me in!" But the first pig isn't too sure and says 'Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.' The wolf responds 'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!' He takes a big breath and blows the house down. Because it was built with straw, he can easily blow it down. The wolf gobbles up the first pig. Then the Big Bad Wolf moves on to the second house...."

If we were to go on, this level of page-by-page detail would continue throughout the entire retell.

Here's an example of a summary using the same story:

"In the story of 'The Three Little Pigs," the first pig builds his house of straw, the second pig builds his house of sticks, and the third pig builds his house with bricks. One day a Big Bad Wolf comes to eat the pigs. He can easily blow down the houses with straw and sticks, so the Big Bad Wolf eats those pigs. At the brick house, though, he can't blow it down because material is too strong."

For a retell, it's important to not leave out any details. This includes characters and plot line.

With a summary, the student has to synthesize every detail in the story and express everything concisely - this means that perhaps only the main characters and plot highlights are mentioned. There's more subjectivity, because the reader has to decide what details are most important.

How Can You Teach Retelling and Summarizing?

A child at any age can begin to learn how to retell a story.

Providing a summary, however, is a more complicated skill that won't develop until later on (usually at least second grade).

So retelling instruction should come first!

Here are a few tips and activities:

With a retell for Kindergarten students, start by having them go back to the beginning and turn page-by-page. They can mostly use the pictures to retell the story. This helps them focus on the actual retell vs. trying to decode words. Usually the books at this level have detailed enough pictures to make retelling easy! I encourage students to use character names, the setting, and simple sequence words (first, next, last) to retell the story.

Once students are familiar with the rubric and what needs to be included, you might have them work with a partner. I assign partners ahead of time, and students know that when both partners have finished reading (i.e. during guided reading / small group), they take turns to retell the story. This also provides an activity for fast finishers so I can work with a struggling reader one-on-one! Eventually, I teach students how to give feedback to one another's retell. (i.e. "You did a great job including all of the character's names. Next time, tell me about the setting.")

A graphic organizer is a perfect tool to help students organize their thoughts! As texts become more complex, sometimes you'll have students retell events out of order. Having a graphic organizer helps sequence the story from beginning -> middle -> end.

When your students have become proficient in retelling, you can introduce summarizing. This will be a big shift for students! I like to explain that summarizing is kind of like the "movie trailer" version of retelling. Pretend as if the audience only has a short time to hear what the text is about. In doing this, students learn that not every single detail can be included. You could even tell students they only have a certain amount of time to help condense their thoughts. Including a graphic organizer that helps separate out "important details" from "interesting details" can be a helpful first step in this process of moving from retelling -> summarizing.

Once the texts are a bit more complex (like in 1st or 2nd grade), students should no longer be going page by page to retell. Depending upon how the text is set up, 1-2 retelling sentences can cover a few pages of text. Students should be weaving the problem and solution into the retell in a natural way.

Here's an example from "The Three Little Pigs:"

An example of an important detail is the material used for each type of house. This information is needed to explain the problem and solution.

On the other hand, an example of an interesting detail is that the pigs' mother asked them to build houses. The audience doesn't necessarily have to know this in order to understand the plot as a whole.

What Can You Do If Students Are Struggling to Retell and Summarize?

One mistake to avoid is waiting until the end of a text to have students retell or summarize.

Instead, provide chunks of text (a paragraph, couple of pages, a chapter at a time) so that students have multiple opportunities to stop and reflect back. They might retell to themselves or to a partner.

What happened first in the story? What happened next? What happened last?

How did the story begin?

What were the names of characters in the story?

Where did the story take place?

Was there anything going wrong for the characters in the story?

How did the story end?

Look at the picture. Tell me what's happening in the picture.

Reread this page. Then tell me what happened on that page.

If students are literally just rereading the story to you instead of retelling, the prompt I use is:

"Right now you're reading the author's words. I want you to tell me about the story in your own words."

If needed, I have them physically close the text so they're not tempted to use the author's words verbatim.

Another option is for students to use sticky notes to jot down ideas for a later retelling or summary.

Is that an important detail or an interesting detail?

Tell me quickly what the text is about.

So far, you've told me about the plot, but you haven't mentioned any character names. Try telling me about the plot again, but mention the characters this time.

If students are still having a difficult time on their own, prompting can help. Here are some prompts I'd use in either a whole group or small group setting:

For retelling:

For summarizing:

Conclusion

Retelling is one of the first ways we introduce reading comprehension to students.

This helps students understand that the purpose of reading is to make meaning: "You just read a text - awesome! But do you actually know what you just read?!"

Adding in the complexity of summarizing forces students to be picky about which information they choose to tell or write about.

As students grow more comfortable with the retell process, keep it interesting! Here's another blog I wrote about 7 Ways to Practice Retelling That Won't Put Your Students to Sleep!

Happy teaching!

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Reading Comprehension: Summarizing & Retell - Learning at the Primary Pond

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Teaching students how to synthesize what they've read and then summarize and retell helps to strengthen their comprehension. In this blog, I'll explain the difference between summarizing and retelling and also provide ideas on how to teach this to your Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students.

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Fluency is the ability to read words accurately and automatically with expression. Because fluent readers do not have to slow down in order to concentrate on decoding the individual words in a text, they can focus their attention on the text's meaning. In this way, fluency acts as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension, and this relationship is reciprocal. That is, when a student understands the meaning of the text he/she is reading, it is much easier to read that text with expression.

Prosody is a term that is frequently heard in discussions of fluency. Prosody refers to the appropriate use of intonation and phrasing in reading. Prosodic reading involves paying attention to punctuation signs like commas and periods, assigning appropriate stress to individual words within a sentence, and raising or lowering voice intonation to match the meaning of the text (e.g., raising the voice at the end of a question). Paying attention to the elements of prosody allows us to quantify and measure what we refer to as "reading with expression."

How fluency relates to ELLs

Instruction in fluency can be particularly beneficial for English language learners because activities designed to enhance fluency in reading can also contribute to oral language development in English. As students practice reading English text accurately, automatically, and prosodically, they are gaining valuable information about the sounds and cadences of spoken English, and they are also developing vocabulary skills that can contribute to oral language fluency, as well as reading and listening comprehension.

Assessing reading fluency

As with any type of instruction, fluency instruction depends upon ongoing assessment to identify individual students' strengths and needs. Effective fluency assessment must include measures of all three components of fluency: reading accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. It is important to note that the accuracy percentages and the reading rate ranges described in this article are based on research conducted in English and should not be applied to reading in other languages. Even languages that use the same alphabet differ in such characteristics as phonetic regularity, syntactical complexity, and even average word length, all of which can affect reading accuracy and rate. Additional research is needed to determine appropriate accuracy and rate ranges for other languages.

Assessing reading accuracy

Accuracy refers to the percentage of words a reader can read correctly in a given text. Measuring accuracy allows teachers to choose texts at an appropriate difficulty level for each student. In order to improve their reading, students need texts that are difficult enough to require them to practice using the reading strategies they are learning without being so difficult that the student is overwhelmed.

In talking about text difficulty, reading teachers often refer to three functional reading levels, which represent the amount of difficulty that a particular level of text presents for a student. Text that is at a student's independent reading level is text that he/she can read with 98-100% accuracy. That is, the student misses no more than two words out of every 100 words of text. At this level, the student can read independently with no support from the teacher. Text that is at a student's instructional reading level is text that the student can read and comprehend, but only with some assistance from the teacher. The accuracy range for instructional-level text is 90-97% for Primer-level text and above and 85-97% for Preprimer-level text. Text that is at a student's frustrational reading level is text that he/she can read with less than 90% accuracy (less than 85% at Preprimer level). At this level, the student would have difficulty reading and comprehending the text, even with the support of the teacher.

Teachers should target a student's instructional reading level for classroom reading instruction. When students read text that they can read with 90-97% accuracy, they encounter enough challenges to require them to practice the strategies they are learning, but the text is not so difficult that students are overwhelmed. Independent-level text can be used for independent reading and for practicing reading speed and prosody, and frustration-level text is great for comprehension instruction during teacher read-alouds.

Here is a quick way to measure reading accuracy:

Find a short reading passage, and ask the student to read it aloud to you.

Make note of any errors the student makes while reading. Errors include: substitutions (substituting an incorrect word or a nonsense word for a word in the text), reversals (reversing the order of two words in the text), omissions (leaving out a word), or words you have to provide to the student. If the student self-corrects after making a mistake, count the word correct.

Divide the number of words the student read correctly by the total number of words in the passage. This number will be a percentage.

Example: The student read a 200-word passage and missed 14 words.
200 - 14 = 186 words read correctly
186 Â Ã· 200 = .93
The student read the passage with 93% accuracy, which is within his/her instructional reading range.

Assessing automaticity

Automaticity is usually measured as reading rate, or the number of words a student reads per minute (WPM). You can measure rate at the same time that you assess a student's reading accuracy. Here's what you do (you'll need a stopwatch):

Select a short reading passage, and have the student read it aloud. Begin timing as soon as the student reads the first word of the passage, and stop the stopwatch as soon as he/she reads the last word. (To measure silent reading rate, let the student know that you will begin timing as soon as he/she looks down at the passage, and you will stop when he/she looks up at the end. Students should not be expected to read silently until they are reading at second-grade level).

Convert the time on the stopwatch to seconds by multiplying the total number of minutes the student read by 60 and adding the number of additional seconds.

Multiply the total number of words in the passage by 60, and divide by the student's reading time in seconds:

Example: The student read a 200-word passage in 2 minutes and 32 seconds (2:32 on stopwatch).
2 minutes x 60 seconds each = 120 seconds
120 + the remaining 32 seconds = 152 seconds
(200 x 60) Ã· 152 seconds = 79 words per minute (wpm)

Many different researchers have suggested guidelines for how many words per minute students should be reading at particular stages of their reading development. Although there is no one accepted scale, the following ranges, developed by Dr. Darrell Morris at Appalachian State University, can be used as guidelines:

Average End-of-Year Reading Rate Ranges (Grades 1-8)

Grade

Oral rates (wpm)

Silent rates (wpm)

Source: Morris, D. (2008). Diagnosis and correction of reading problems. New York: Guilford.

Note: Reading rate is not assessed until students are reading in Primer-level text and above. Students reading below primer level are still reading word-by-word, focusing all of their attention on decoding the text.

Assessing prosody

Teachers often use rubrics to assess whether students are reading with appropriate pitch variation, intonation, phrasing, and expression. One such rubric is the Oral Reading Fluency Scale created for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). To use this rubric, simply have a student read a short passage of text, and assign a score of 1-4, based on the descriptions below.

NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Scale

Level 3

Reads primarily in three- or four-word phrase groups. Some small groupings may be present. However, the majority of phrasing seems appropriate and preserves the syntax of the author. Little or no expressive interpretation is present.

Level 1

Reads primarily word-by-word. Occasional two-word or three-word phrases may occur - but these are infrequent and/or they do not preserve meaningful syntax.

SOURCE: U.D. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2002 Oral Reading Study.

Comprehension caveat

Even though fluency instruction is important, teachers must remember that many ELLs can be deceptively fast and accurate while reading in English without fully comprehending the meaning of the text they are reading. That is because reading comprehension depends upon a variety of complex skills that are not as important to word reading. These include deep vocabulary knowledge, syntactical knowledge, and background knowledge of the subject discussed in the text. For this reason, it is always important to pair fluency instruction with good instruction in comprehension.

For some great ideas on both fluency and comprehension instruction with ELLs, see Reading 101 for English Language Learners.

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Fluency is the ability to read words accurately and automatically with expression. Because fluent readers do not have to slow down in order to concentrate on decoding the individual words in a text, they can focus their attention on the text's meaning.

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Comprehension is when readers use personal experiences and background knowledge to guide them to find meaning in a text.

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https://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension

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Bailey, E. (2020, August 26). Making Inferences to Improve Reading Comprehension. Retrieved October 19, 2022 from https://www.thoughtco.com/making-inferences-3111201

Comprehension. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension

Medcalf, L. (2017, June 20). 5 Resources for reading comprehension. Assistive Technology at Easter Seals Crossroads. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.eastersealstech.com/2017/06/21/5-resources-for-reading-comprehension/

Reading comprehension skills for English language learners. (2018, July 20). Colorín Colorado. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/reading-comprehension-skills-english-language-learners

Reading comprehension: Summarizing & retell. (2022, April 11). Learning at the Primary Pond. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://learningattheprimarypond.com/blog/reading-comprehension-summarizing-retell/

Reading Rockets. (2012, February 16). Cooperative learning: The jigsaw method [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtm5_w6JthA&feature=youtu.be

Rewordify.com | Understand What You Read. (n.d.). Neil M. Goldman. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from http://rewordify.com

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

Stark, K. (2021, August 19). The Importance of Background Knowledge in Understanding Text. TeachHUB. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies/2021/08/the-importance-of-background-knowledge-in-understanding-text/

TeacherVision Staff. (2019, November 15). Inferences. TeacherVision. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.teachervision.com/reading-comprehension/inferences

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A classroom group strategy to help kids build comprehension skills.

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https://www.thoughtco.com/making-inferences-3111201

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Students with dyslexia have difficulty drawing inferences from written text. A study completed by F.R. Simmons and C.H. Singleton in 2000 compared the reading performance of students with and without dyslexia. According to the study, students with dyslexia scored similarly when asked literal questions to those without dyslexia; however, when asked questions that relied on inferences, the students with dyslexia scored much lower than those without dyslexia.

Inference: Key to Comprehension

Inference is drawing conclusions based on information that has been implied rather than directly stated and is an essential skill in reading comprehension. People make inferences every day, both in oral and written communication. Many times this is so automatic most readers or listeners don't even realize the information wasn't included in the conversation or text. For example, read the following sentences:

"My wife and I tried to pack light but we made sure not to forget our bathing suits and sunblock. I wasn't sure if I would get seasick again so I made sure to pack some medicine for upset stomachs."

You can deduct a great deal of information from these sentences:

The author is married.

He and his wife are going on a trip.

They are going to be on a boat.

They will be around water.

They will be going swimming.

They have gone swimming before.

The author has gotten seasick on a boat in the past.

This information was not clearly stated in the sentences, but you can use what was written to deduce or infer much more than what was said. Most of the information students get from reading comes from what is implied rather than direct statements, as you can see from the amount of information available by reading between the lines. It is through inferences that words take on meaning. For students with dyslexia, the meaning behind the words is often lost.

Teaching Inferences

Making inferences requires students to combine what they are reading with what they already know, to reach into their own personal knowledge and apply it to what they are reading. In the previous example, a student needs to know that having a bathing suit means someone is going swimming and that getting seasick means someone is going on a boat.

This previous knowledge helps readers make inferences and understand what they are reading. Although this is a natural process and students with dyslexia may be able to apply these concepts to an oral conversation, they have more difficulty doing so with printed material. Teachers must work with such students to help them understand the process of making inferences, to be aware of inferences made in oral conversations, and then to apply this understanding to written works.

Suggested Activities

The following are ideas and activities teachers can use to reinforce inferring information from text:

Show and infer. Rather than show and tell, have students bring in a few items that tell about themselves. The items should be in a paper bag or trash bag, something the other children can't see through. The teacher takes one bag at a time, bringing out the items, and the class uses them as clues to figure out who brought in the items. This teaches children to use what they know about their classmates to make educated guesses.

Fill in the blanks. Use a short excerpt or passage appropriate for the grade level and take out words, inserting blanks in their place. Students must use clues in the passage to determine an appropriate word to fill the blank space.

Use pictures from magazines. Have students bring in a picture from a magazine showing different facial expressions. Discuss each picture, talking about how the person might be feeling. Have students give supporting reasons for their opinion, such as, "I think he is angry because his face is tense."

Shared reading. Have students read in pairs; one student reads a short paragraph and must summarize the paragraph to her partner. The partner asks questions that have not been specifically answered in the summary to have the reader make inferences about the passage.

Graphic thought organizers. Use worksheets to help students organize their thoughts to help come up with inferences. Worksheets can be creative, such as a picture of a ladder going up a tree to a treehouse. Students write their inference in the treehouse, and the clues to back up the inference on each rung of the ladder. Worksheets can also be as simple as folding a paper in half and writing the inference on one side of the paper and the supporting statements on the other.

Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions. 6 Nov. 2003. Cuesta College.

On Target: Strategies to Help Readers Make Meaning through Inferences. South Dakota Department of Education.

The Reading Comprehension Abilities Of Dyslexic Students in Higher Education. Fiona Simmons-Chris Singleton - Dyslexia - 2000.

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How Can Teaching Inferences Help Dyslexic Children?

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Students with dyslexia have difficulty drawing inferences from written text. A study completed by F.R. Simmons and C.H. Singleton in 2000 compared the reading performance of students with and without dyslexia. According to the study, students with dyslexia scored similarly when asked literal questions to those without dyslexia; however, when asked questions that relied on inferences, the students with dyslexia scored much lower than those without dyslexia.

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English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills.

Examples of comprehension skills that can be taught and applied to all reading situations include:

Summarizing

Sequencing

Inferencing

Comparing and contrasting

Drawing conclusions

Self-questioning

Problem-solving

Relating background knowledge

Distinguishing between fact and opinion

Finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details

These skills are particularly important for comprehending what is generally known as information reading or expository reading.

For more information, see our related articles and classroom videos:

Why reading comprehension skills are particularly important for ELLs

ELL students will still need a lot of vocabulary development and teaching of comprehension strategies even if they:

have been mainstreamed after some bilingual instruction;

are being pulled out for English as a Second Language or Sheltered English instruction; and/or

have been assessed as English proficient but you know that they still need additional help with language, reading, and writing.

Here is a way of thinking about the support your ELLs will need:

Classroom strategies: Steps for explicitly teaching comprehension skills

The following steps are useful for all students. However, these need to be complemented with the additional steps below to ensure comprehension for ELLs.

Introduce the comprehension strategy or skill (see above list) through examples. Discuss how, when, where, and why the strategy or skills are used. For example: contrast main idea with details, fact with opinion, good summaries with poor summaries.

Have students volunteer additional examples to contrast and discuss.

Label, define, model, and explain the strategy or skill. For example, after listing four facts about a healthy diet and four opinions about what is good to eat, label one list as facts and the other list as opinions.

Give students opportunities to practice using the strategy with a peer as they apply it to a short, simple paragraph from a science text or any expository text.

Debrief with the whole class to ask students to share how they applied the strategy or skill.

Additional steps for ELLs

Identify vocabulary words that you think might be difficult for students to understand when they read the text. Write ELL-friendly definitions for each - that is, simple, brief definitions ELLs can easily understand.

Model think-alouds. For example: verbalize a confusing point or show how you use a strategy to comprehend something. "This sounds very confusing to me. I better read this sentence again."

Demonstrate fix-up strategies. For example: I need to think about this. Let me rethink what was happening. Maybe I'll reread this. I'll read ahead for a moment.

Partner ELLs with more dominant English speakers and ask each student to take a turn reading and thinking aloud with short passages.

After working with partners successfully, ask ELLs to practice independently by using a checklist such as the following. Be sure to explain all the terms and model each.
While I was reading, how did I do?

Celebrate each ELLs' progress with recognition notes, praise, and/or class applause.

For advanced ELLs

When students' English proficiency and basic reading skills have increased, you can teach the following steps not just to ELLs, but to all students - because everyone will benefit.

In pairs, have students survey the text and use an idea map to record the main idea and details.

Ask partners to read the text.

Have partners restate the main idea and supporting details. At this point, they can add to their idea map or make necessary corrections.

Then ask students to reread the text and either develop their own questions (pretending to prepare a test for their partner) or write a short summary of what they just read.

After that, have partners check each other's work.

Finally, partners can share their questions or summaries with other teams.

Other ideas

For building ELL comprehension

Teach students how to use these tools for informational or expository reading:

Ask students to use the following strategies to summarize (orally or in writing):

Retell what you read, but keep it short.

Include only important information.

Leave out less important details.

Use key words from the text.

Questioning ELLs after reading

After the ELLs and/or whole class have completed the reading comprehension activities above, you can anchor or 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:

Literal level (Why do the leaves turn red and yellow in the fall?)

Interpretive level (Why do you think it needs water?)

Applied level (How much water are you going to give it? Why?)

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Reading Comprehension Skills for English Language Learners

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English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills.

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What is it?

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

What is it?

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is explicit instruction in vocabulary so important?

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

Do students learn the meanings of words from context?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read More to Learn More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Literacy How Professional Learning Series

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

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

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Pre-teach
Focus on cognates
Use technology
Encourage oral language use
Model

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Knowing vocabulary words is key to reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the better he or she will understand the text. Using a variety of effective teaching methods will increase the student’s ability to learn new words.

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(CO) 5 Resources for Reading Comprehension 

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(CO) 5 Resources for Reading Comprehension 

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https://www.eastersealstech.com/2017/06/21/5-resources-for-reading-comprehension/

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This website allows you to input a difficult sentence and have it simplify what words are being used. This can develop vocabulary and assist in comprehension.

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Students can use a rating system to evaluate their understanding of words they’ll encounter during the upcoming lesson.

In this activity, the teacher provides students with a list of words. Students indicate next to each word their level of comfortability.

A ‘one’ if they can use the word in a sentence and understand its meaning without any help.

A ‘two’ if they have heard of the word and understand it but would not be able to describe it without support.

A ‘three’ if it is a new word they do not know.

This rating system can help inform the teacher’s instruction.

(Vocabulary Strategies: How to Teach Social Studies Effectively, n.d.)

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In Social Studies (SS) classes, students will regularly learn from texts. Social studies provides the background knowledge needed for comprehension in other areas. For example, as students learn about the Irish famine and poverty, they can apply the knowledge when reading Swift's A Modest Proposal.
The procedural knowledge of how to determine meaning is built by analyzing and corroborating sources.
The skill of summarizing is a key element of social studies courses. The SS concepts of sequencing and cause & effect will scaffold the student's reading comprehension skills.

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Words and phrases used as building blocks for comprehension and communication. Vocabulary is in a constant stage of development.

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Organizing words into sentences and then into content to express ideas.

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Words to understand what is spoken and what is written. This vocabulary is passively received.

Vocabulary. (n.d.).

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Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia

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(V) Activities for Students with Dyslexia	

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(V) Activities for Students with Dyslexia	

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Building reading vocabulary is a challenge for students with dyslexia, who have a hard time learning new words in print and in word recognition. They often have a discrepancy between their spoken vocabulary, which may be strong, and their reading vocabulary. Typical vocabulary lessons may include writing a word sometimes 10 times, looking it up in a dictionary and writing a sentence with the word.

All of these passive approaches to vocabulary will not by themselves help students with dyslexia very much. Multisensory approaches to learning have been found effective in teaching children with dyslexia and there are many ways this can be applied to teaching. The following list provides tips and suggestions for teaching vocabulary to students with dyslexia.

Assign each student one or two vocabulary words. Depending on the number of students in the class and the number of vocabulary words, there may be several children with the same word. During class or for homework, students must come up with a way of presenting the word to the class. For example, a student could write a list of synonyms, draw a picture to represent the word, write a sentence using the word or the write the word in different colors on a large paper. Each student comes up with their own way to explain and present the word to the class.

All the students with one word stand up and present their word, giving the class a multi-dimensional view of the word and its meaning.

Begin with multisensory information on each vocabulary word. Use pictures or demonstrations to help the students see the meaning of a word as each word is presented.

Later, as the students are reading, they can recall the illustration or the demonstration to help remember what the word means.

Create a word bank where vocabulary words can have a permanent home in the classroom. When words are seen often, students are more likely to remember them and use them in their writing and speech. You can also create customized flash cards for each student to practice vocabulary words.

Talk about synonyms and how these words are both the same and different than the vocabulary words. For example, if your vocabulary word is terrified, a synonym might be frightened. Explain how terrified and frightened both mean you are scared of something but that being terrified is being very frightened. Have students demonstrate the varying degrees of being scared to make the lesson more interactive.

Play charades. This is a great way to review vocabulary words. Write each vocabulary word on a paper and place in a hat or jar. Each student draws one paper and acts out the word.

Give points when a student uses a vocabulary word while talking. You can also give points if a student notices someone, in or out of school, use a vocabulary word. If outside of the class, the student must write down where and when they heard the word and who said it in their conversation.

Include vocabulary words in your classroom discussions. If you keep a word bank in the classroom, continue to review it so you can use these words when teaching to the whole class or when speaking individually with a student.

Create a classroom story with the vocabulary words. Write each word on a piece of paper and have each student pick out one word. Start a story off with one sentence and have students take turns adding a sentence to the story, using their vocabulary word.

Have students choose vocabulary words. When beginning a new story or book, have students glance through the story to find words they are unfamiliar with and write them down. Once you have collected the lists, you can compare to see which words turned up most frequently to create a custom vocabulary lesson for your class.

Students will have more motivation to learn words if they help to pick out the words.
Use multisensory activities when learning new words. Have students write the word using sand, finger paint or pudding paint. Have them trace the word with their fingers, say the word out loud, listen as you say the word, draw a picture to represent the word and use it in a sentence. The more senses you include in your teaching and the more often you include and see vocabulary words, the more the students will remember the lesson.

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Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia

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Building reading vocabulary is a challenge for students with dyslexia, who have a hard time learning new words in print and in word recognition. They often have a discrepancy between their spoken vocabulary, which may be strong, and their reading vocabulary.

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Vocabulary is absolutely essential to the social studies discipline. Texts are often flooded with new words and terms for students to learn and remember, maybe even more so than any other discipline.
The key to vocabulary instruction in the Social Studies context will be to show students how to learn new vocabulary on their own.
A vital component to this will be teaching word parts like prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Teaching prefixes like inter- or anti- will help students build word knowledge without learning all of the words that include those prefixes.

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8 Social Studies Vocabulary Activities You Must Do with Your Students - Mr and Mrs Social Studies

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Multiple tools to use in the Social Studies classroom, including graphic organizers.

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Do you ever feel like you do the same vocabulary activities over and over again and want to try something new? Or do you feel like you don't really have the time in the school day to prioritize social studies vocabulary activities? This blog post will give you 8 social studies vocabulary strategies to help you succeed! Even better, many of these activities are perfect for distance learning!

Social Studies Vocabulary: The Struggle

Before we get into the activities, there is some surprising, but important information to share that can change our perspective about how we teach vocabulary. While we were doing some research about the best vocabulary strategies to use in social studies, we found this 2018 study from Hannah Chai and V. Lee Welz from Wright State University. This article featured a chart that demonstrated how social studies textbooks expose students to approximately five times the number of words as each of the other core subject areas. For specific examples, take a look at the chart below.

In our teaching experience, we have found trying to do too much or teach too much content, and in this case, too many vocabulary words, does not yield lasting results. Instead of trying to teach all of the vocabulary words shared in a unit or in a textbook, select the most important 20-25 or so words to emphasize more. This is especially important as it takes at least 10 exposures to a word for students to understand it well enough to use it, as cited by Aimee Alexander-Shea in this study.

Social Studies Vocabulary Strategies

Quizlet

Quizlet is an amazing free resource to help students with social studies vocabulary... simply create a set with your vocabulary words or find a set that already exists and duplicate it. Quizlet is also a great tool to help students practice vocabulary independently. We especially recommend using the flashcards and playing the Match game or Quizlet Live with your students for engaging practice.

Frayer Model

The Frayer Model is a popular graphic organizer tool that can help students build their vocabulary. This vocabulary chart works great on a handout or for Google Slides. Traditionally, the Frayer Model has students incorporate the definition of a word, an image or picture of it, and both examples and non-examples of the word. In our own teaching, we have found that a variation with the official definition, a definition in the student's own words, an example sentence, and an image or picture are a better fit. You can take a closer look here for a sample version on Google Slides.

Semantic Mapping

Semantic mapping, or a word sort, is a wonderful way for students to make connections between different vocabulary words, especially with social studies vocabulary. In this activity, students can sort words into a chart with some basic categories, such as people, places, inventions, religions, or any other categories that make sense. For a more advanced option, students can decide which categories they would like to create. You can do this on a Google Doc or handout, but our favorite method is using a Google Slideshow with moveable tiles that students can drag into the correct column!

Synonyms + Antonyms

One way to improve our understanding of vocabulary is with synonyms and antonyms. We create self-grading Google Forms with a variety of synonyms and antonyms of different vocabulary words. This helps students make connections between different words, as well as helps them understand the nuance between certain terms.

Related Words

One of our favorite social studies vocabulary activities is using related words. In this type of activity, students look at three sample words that are somewhat related to one of their vocabulary words and must figure out which vocabulary word they are referring to. It is a fun mystery challenge for students and makes for a great game or board race, in addition to a simple activity on Google Forms.

Fill in the Blank

You probably have already used fill in the blank vocabulary activities, as these are commonly provided by textbooks. This type of activity usually contains sentences with a word missing, and students must decide which vocabulary word makes the most sense to fill in the blank. This is a simple activity to set-up (we use self-grading Google Forms) and can help students with context.

Historical Fiction Journal

A fun writing assignment that showcases student creativity is a historical fiction journal! We love using these as impromptu activities in many units, and they also work great for vocabulary. In a historical fiction journal, students take on the role of a historical figure that lived during the time period they are studying. You can have students incorporate as many vocabulary words as they can in their response. This is one of the most advanced strategies listed here as students must see if they can fit the word in the context of what they are writing about.

Vocabulary Bingo

While it is pretty simple, one of our favorite social studies vocabulary activities is some good old-fashioned bingo! This can also be a perfect activity for a Friday or on a transition day between larger activities. Simply have students fill in their vocabulary words onto a bingo grid (5X5 chart with a free space in the middle). Then, read aloud the definitions, and students must figure out which vocabulary word you are referring to.

Social Studies Vocabulary Word Wall

A list of social studies vocabulary activities would not be complete without including a word wall! Displaying a word wall in your classroom can be a great visual reminder of the vocabulary you are studying. While word walls take many forms, we prefer using a version with the word, the definition, and an image.

Next Steps

Now that we have shared all about how we teach vocabulary to our students, we encourage you to give these activities a try! You can either create your own activities following the framework we have described or check out the versions we already have created here! We currently have versions for most of the Ancient Civilizations curriculum, and will start work on US History versions this summer!

Are you looking for some new teaching ideas to engage your students in your social studies class? If so, you'll love our FREE guide: 5 Creative Projects to Ignite Student Engagement in Your Social Studies Class. These activities have both printable and digital options and can work for any social studies subject!

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8 Social Studies Vocabulary Activities You Must Do with Your Students - Mr and Mrs Social Studies

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These 8 creative social studies vocabulary activities will be a great addition to your teaching and can be used with Google Drive!

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Bailey, E. (2020, August 26). Tips for Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/teaching-vocabulary-to-students-with-dyslexia-3111207

Colorín Colorado. (2007). Vocabulary development with ELLs. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/vocabulary-development-ells

IELTS listening test: Tips to build key vocabulary. (n.d.). IELTS. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://ielts.idp.com/prepare/article-common-vocabulary-ielts-listening

Settanni, S., & Settani, J. (n.d.). 8 Social studies vocabulary activities you must do with your students. Mr And Mrs Social Studies. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://mrandmrssocialstudies.com/social-studies-vocabulary-activities/

Tyson, K. (2021, December 30). Building academic vocabulary: Marzano’s 6-step process. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/building-academic-vocabulary/

Vocabulary. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/vocabulary

Vocabulary strategies: How to teach social studies effectively. (n.d.). Secondary Social Studies Diversified. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://secondarystudies.com/vocabulary-strategies/

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Writing is a vital component to every classroom, but especially Social Studies. Without writing the discipline would be drastically different. Exploring past writings is a common activity that students will do which will help develop their own writing skills.

A large part of Social Studies writing is evidence-based arguments. Students of social studies often read a source, pull data from that source, and respond to a prompt supporting one side.

Social studies classroom can scaffold the student’s learning of writing by including different writing activities such as journals, essays, storytelling, and creative writing.

The social studies classroom can also break the writing process apart and scaffold individual components. In group activities students can revise a historical account, or translate it from historical English to modern-day English.

Writing in social studies can include multiple forms as well. Students can write narratives, expository essays, persuasive arguments, and simple research articles.

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Baldwin, C. (2022, May 5). Race writing prompt #3: Appreciating different countries & cultures - jsk stories. JSK Stories. https://jskstories.com/race-writing-prompt-3-appreciating-different-countries-cultures/

Carmichael, J. A., & Hale, J. B. (2015, March 17). Interventions for Students with Writing Disabilities. LD@School. https://www.ldatschool.ca/developing-interventions-for-students-with-writing-disabilities-addressing-the-most-complex-academic-problem/

Cox, C. (2012). Journal writing. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/journal-writing

Dyslexia Improvements. (2016, May 25). How to help a dyslexic child of any age with writing skills (full version)[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjS88-rSByM&feature=youtu.be

NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program. (n.d.). https://ywp.nanowrimo.org

WIDA. (2020, March 1). WIDA Writing rubric grades 1–12. https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/WIDA-Writing-Rubric-Gr-1-12.pdf

Writing. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/writing

Writing overview. (2022, June 5). Literacy Ideas. https://literacyideas.com/writing/

Written expression. (2021, January 20). Literacy How. https://literacyhow.org/written-expression/

Zagora, V. (2011). An approach to integrating writing skills into the social studies classroom. Social Education, 75(1), 17–21. https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/75/1/approach-integrating-writing-skills-social-studies-classroom

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Choice of words when speaking or writing. This type of vocabulary is actively used.

Vocabulary. (n.d.).

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These are all the little things that go along with writing such as:

Spelling

Capitalization

Punctuation

Handwriting

Keyboarding

Organization of ideas

Sentence structure

Paragraph

Essays

(Writing, (n.d.))

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IELTS Listening test – Tips to build key vocabulary | IDP IELTS

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The IELTS is used to test English proficiency for ELLs. This resource can be used to help build their listening vocabulary skills.

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Increasing your vocabulary range is important if you want to become a more proficient language learner. Understanding words and knowing how to use them and write them correctly is important and will help you perform better in the IELTS Listening test. You are being tested on understanding what you hear, however, if your answer is spelled incorrectly, your 'correct' answer will be marked as incorrect.

Each part of the Listening test presents different vocabulary groups, starting with the most frequently used vocabulary in Part 1, to vocabulary that is specific to a range of topics in Part 4. We will look at the most commonly used words in all four parts of the IELTS Listening test along with tips and advice on how to spell English words correctly.

Part 1: familiar vocabulary

Basic vocabulary that you would have studied when first learning English is included in Part 1 of the Listening test. You will hear a conversation between two people set in an everyday social setting. The vocabulary used will be familiar word groups relating to everyday life, dates, times, places, activities, work and leisure.

Even though these words are used commonly, they are often spelled incorrectly so valuable marks are lost in the easiest part of the Listening test.

1. Days of the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

2. Months and seasons of the year: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, winter, spring, autumn, summer
Quick Tip: The first 'r' in Quick Tip: the final 'n' in autumn Quick Tip: Shapes can be used when we refer to places in a city, King George Square, so it's important that you can spell common shapes. is often forgotten as we don't hear the silent 'n'. Quick Tip: 'commuter Quick Tip: Colour spelled with a 'u' is the Canadian/British spelling. In the US, it is spelled 'color' without a 'u'. Both are correct and a matter of preference. ' is often misspelled, confusing it with 'computer'! February is often forgotten. If you struggle with spelling, you can choose to write the date using numbers as long as these numbers are written in the correct format. E.g. 'the 10th of February, 2020' = 10/02/2020 Quick Tip: Make sure that you note adjectives that have double consonants (ss/mm). It is easy to miss a letter.
3. Shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, cylinder, oval

4. Transportation: automobile, truck, tractor, tram, subway, airplane, train, bicycle, car, pedestrian, passenger, commuter
Quick Tip: When deciding on whether the answer is 30 or 13, listen to the stressed syllable. If it's 13, the stress is on the second syllable 'thir Quick Tip: Copy the correct symbol from the Listening question to make sure you are using the correct currency. If you use '$' instead of '£', the answer will be incorrect. teen', if it's 30, the stress is on the first syllable 'thir ty'.
5. Colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, brown

6. Verbs: suggest, develop, borrow, persuade, discuss, review, concentrate, believe, crash

Quick Tip: Sometimes verbs are conjugated for gender, tense, etc. The difference could give you an incorrect answer.

7. Adjectives: beautiful, necessary, fantastic, comfortable, convenient, wonderful, terrible, temporary, permanent, knowledgeable, exciting, boring, difficult, easy

8. Numbers, times, and currencies: commonly appear in Part 1 of the listening test. Recording the corresponding number or symbol is suggested because this will help eliminate the possibility of spelling the word incorrectly.

For example, thirty dollars is the same as $30 on the listening test. Also, six o'clock and 6:00 are the same as well. Finally, ten thousand and 10,000 are also both correct. Writing the number or symbol allows you to feel more confident that you have not made a spelling mistake.

Read our recent blog on how to write numbers in the IELTS test.

Part 2: a monologue, speech or talk

In Part 2 of the IELTS Listening test, you will hear a monologue which is set in an everyday context. You might hear a speech about local facilities, describing the layout of a recreation centre, or you will hear a description of rooms in a particular building. There are a variety of question types in this part of the test and some questions may involve maps so there is vocabulary that may be helpful to know.

If you see a map or diagram, the first piece of advice is to write L and R on either side of your booklet, to make sure you don't confuse your right with your left! It would also be useful to draw a compass with the points North, South, East and West if this has not been already done for you. Remember when you are under test conditions, you will be nervous, and may confuse left with right, meaning you cannot follow the description.

1. Rooms in buildings: kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room, dining room, lounge, library, gymnasium (gym), cafeteria (cafe), classroom, waiting room, reception, ticket desk, storage room, theatre

2. Place markers: street, road, avenue, lane, drive, court, place, terrace, way

There is some vocabulary you should be listening for, but may not have to write down when doing a map question in Part 2, which will allow you to follow the map more easily. Make sure you know where these direction words point to.

3. Directions and prepositions of place: north, south, east, west, up, down, right, left, straight, across from, between, beside, diagonal, corner, opposite, adjacent to, near, past, before, after

4. Verbs: turn, move, continue on, walk, cross, pass, start, finish, end, stop, go straight ahead

5. Places on a map: tennis court, river, courtyard, laboratory, building, bridge, road, path, traffic lights, bench, seat, table, basketball court, running track, swimming pool, beach, forest, garden, castle

Part 3: a conversation between people

In Part 3 of the IELTS Listening test, you will hear a conversation between up to four people. This conversation will generally be set in an educational or training context, for example, an university lecturer discussing an assignment with two students.

Being familiar with academic related vocabulary connected to learning, study and assessment may be helpful for this part of the test.

1. School terms: presentation, project, teamwork, pairs, organisation, outline, proofreading, experiment, reference, lecture, tutor, teacher, attendance, specialist, knowledge, faculty, bachelor's, master's, schedule, management, leadership, questionnaire, statistic, percentage, laboratory, school, university, college
Quick Tip: North Americans pronounce 'laboratory' in three syllables: lab-bra-tory. British English speakers pronounce the same word using four syllables: lab-or-a-tory.
2. Subjects in school: Mathematics (Maths), Science, English, Physical Education (PE), Art, Music, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, History
Quick Tip: When students study a subject at school, their school year is divided into terms or semesters. They have breaks or holidays between each term.
3. Subjects in university: Commerce, Science, Psychology, Engineering, Marketing, Sociology, Medicine, History, Geography, Architecture, Law, Philosophy, Economics, Education
Quick Tip: When students study at university, their university year is divided into semesters. They usually have exam blocks at the end of each semester following by a break. They can study part-time or full-time and combine it with employment.
4. Examination: assessment, test, revision, pass, fail, repeat, supervise, supervisor, assess, exam, results, degree, certificate

Part 4: a university lecture

Even though Part 4 is the most difficult part of the IELTS Listening test, the vocabulary used is still words that are common knowledge. Part 4 is also based on academics, so there could be a range of different topics spoken about.

Look through the range of topic areas below and some vocabulary that is frequently used.

1. Health: vegetarian, vegan, healthy, unhealthy, leisure, disease, vitamin, protein, carbohydrates, exercise, treatment, obese, overweight, fit, doctor, check up, medicine, vitamin, pandemic, virus, cure, vaccination

2. Animals and their habitat: mammals, reptile, primates, predators, prey, mountain, jungle, forest, island, pond, river, stream, zoo, pet, endangered, species, ocean, sea

3. Continents and Countries: North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Antarctica, Australia, Oceania, England, Canada, China, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland

4. Environment: global warming, disaster, earthquake, tornado, blizzard, hurricane, pollution, temperature, drought, flood, cyclone, volcanic eruption, deforestation, desertification, bush fires

5. Government: politics, leader, politician, senator, mayor, laws, regulations, senate, president, society, individual, council, rules
Quick Tip: The word 'society' is one of the most commonly misspelled words on the IELTS test.
6. Energy: nuclear, oil, coal, hydro electrical power, natural gas, solar power, source, generate, electricity, dam, windmill, wind turbine, renewable, non-renewable
Quick Tip: Remember to check your spelling of nuclear, it is often written as 'unclear', a simple typo that result in an incorrect answer.
7. General: appointment, cooperation, employment, government, exhibition, occupation, aluminum, century, decade, millennium, individual, creativity, guarantee, satellite, opportunity, licence, frequently, calendar, different
Quick Tip: The words 'government' and 'different' are two of the most commonly misspelled words in the IELTS test. Also, 'aluminum' is pronounced with four syllables in North American English: a-lu-min-num. It is pronounced with five syllables in British English: al-u-min-i-um.
To help you feel confident in the Listening test as well as the rest of the IELTS test, try to be knowledgeable on a variety of topics and have a good range of vocabulary to discuss those topics. If you need more tips and advice on how to build your vocabulary, read our blog on building mind maps. You will notice that the more you use these words, the more likely that you will be able to remember their meaning and also how to spell them.

If you feel that your vocabulary resource is good enough to do a test, why not practice with our official online Progress Check practice tests to see if you are ready to take a real IELTS Listening test.

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IELTS Listening test – Tips to build key vocabulary | IDP IELTS

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Prepare for your IELTS Listening test by increasing your vocabulary resource with words that are most frequently used.

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Interventions for Students with Writing Disabilities

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(W) Interventions for Students with Writing Disabilities

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(W) Interventions for Students with Writing Disabilities

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This page has a wealth of information about students that struggle with writing (the physical component and mental component).
It goes into brain functions behind certain things and also has resources at the end for implementing different strategies.

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Add to favorites
By Jessica A. Carmichael and James B. Hale
Debunking the Myths: If You Can Talk, You Can Write

An old myth still can be heard in some schools: If you can talk (expressive language), and are taught handwriting and spelling in school, then you can also write well. For some children this may be true, but explicit instruction in handwriting, spelling, and written expression is needed for children to successfully convey their ideas in writing. As Hooper et al. (2011) note, there are many brain systems and neuropsychological factors that influence written expression competency. While some of these are related to literacy can lead to both writing and reading learning disability (LD) when impaired, other causes of writing LD, such as visual-motor integration skills and executive functions (Fenwick et al., 2015), require additional attention during assessment and instruction.
Approximately 4-6% of students have a written language learning disability (Bernstein, 2013)
WHAT IS INVOLVED IN WRITTEN EXPRESSION?

Written expression includes the basic skills of handwriting and spelling, but other important skills - related to executive (brain boss) functions, play a critical role as well. As a result, it is important to note that children with literacy problems often have problems with handwriting (e.g., comorbidity of "aphasia" and "apraxia"; Hale & Fiorello, 2004) and other children with executive function problems (e.g., ADHD, depression, anxiety) are likely to struggle with written expression (Mayes & Calhoun, 2006).
WARNING! A telltale warning sign of writing difficulties is when a child can present her ideas well using spoken language but the writing product is much more limited or poorly constructed.
Handwriting: Visual-Tactile-Motor Connections

The physical act of handwriting may cause some students difficulty. Students with graphomotor (i.e. paper and pencil) difficulties often have signs of constructional apraxia, which can be caused by visual, tactile, and/or motor aspects of handwriting. If they have this problem, they may write less, regardless of whether they have good ideas or not. That is why an evaluation of the visual-tactile-motor functions, and the coordination of these processes, can help guide an intervention for a child (Feder & Majnemer, 2007). The following table highlights the issues at hand (pun intended!)

Basic Skill Automaticity and Written Expression Orthographic-motor automaticity is necessary to free up higher level processes for adequate written expression (Jones & Christensen, 1999)

Students may have difficulty feeling the pressure they put on a pencil, which may cause print that is too dark (pushes too hard) or too light (pushes too little), or handwriting inconsistencies due to a kinesthetic (movement) problem. This is a touch problemStudents have print that is too big or too small, have poor spacing and/or alignment of words and letters, or produce directional errors (e.g., writing "q" for the letter p). This is a visual problem.

Students can struggle with connecting many different processes at once, like sensory and motor functions. The problem is white matter connections in the brain. These children may do better using one hand or the other, but have more difficulty when both hands are required. These children also tend to be slower at doing things quickly and efficiently, so can be slow at processing speed and fluency tasks.

Students can have difficulty with motor plans, organization, sequential motor steps, control and coordination. This apraxia problem is in the front of the brain. It can lead to problems with writing, drawing, building blocks or puzzles, tying shoes, or dressing. Students often have problems with oral expression and grammar too, because these are also motor acts from a brain perspective. These children need motor control interventions to address their poor letter formation and spacing, so you have to see if a child's poor handwriting is due to sensory, motor, or integration.

Spelling: Understanding and Producing Sound-Symbol Connections

Spelling is an important part of writing that many students struggle with, but there are many causes of spelling problems. There is a strong link between a student's reading and spelling, because sound (phoneme)-symbol (grapheme) connections are needed for both (Nag & Snowling, 2013).

Although sound-symbol connections needed for spelling and reading are more related to perceiving and mapping these relationships, some students have difficulty with the motor memory of spelling (Planton, Jucla, Roux, & Démonet, 2013). Some students can read words well, but because they have difficulty with representing the orthography (visual representation) in motor memory. The practice of handwriting spelling words improves sound-symbol connections when spelling and reading (Berninger et al. 2008).
KEYBOARD WARNING! Don't automatically provide keyboarding or computers for handwriting and spelling problems, children need to practice both to learn sound-letter connections!
Error analysis is critical for helping children learn correct spelling patterns, as noted in the table below.

Sources: Hale & Fiorello, 2004; Cassar et al., 2005.

More teachers are turning to keyboarding and computers for children with writing or spelling difficulties, which often results in improved written output (Berninger et al., 2014). While these computer skills are useful, they can actually cause more difficulties for children with sound-symbol association problems in spelling and reading if introduced too early. As noted earlier, extensive research findings show that when a child uses handwriting to spell words they often improve their word reading too (Berninger et al., 2008), so handwriting and spelling are not only important for writing, but reading as well!

Written Expression: Most Complex of All Academic Tasks

Written expression is the most complex academic task, but little time is spent on it during classroom instruction (Hooper et al., 2011). One thing that written language requires is what is known as brain boss skills or executive functions.

During writing tasks, students must:

Brainstorm main and supporting ideas

Plan and organize their ideas so they are presented in logical order

Write sentences that include nouns and verbs that logically convey ideas

Monitor their writing to ensure sentences are grammatically correct

Evaluate their sentences in terms of grammatical accuracy, and in relation to the initial plan

Revised the writing draft to ensure an optimal error-free final product, something seldom accomplished by children with writing disabilities

The myth that if you can handwrite, spell, and use expressive language that you will write well has now been dismissed. Direct instruction in written expression is critical, especially for children with executive function problems (e.g., ADHD, depression, anxiety), who are likely to have significant written expression LDs (Mayes & Calhoun, 2006). These children may have excellent ideas, but translating them into writing is a struggle. Interventions that foster metacognitive (i.e., thinking about thinking) competency (Harris, Graham, Brindle, & Sandmel, 2009) may be quite helpful.

Executive functioning (EF) in Writing - the process of planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and changing the writing sample a student produces.

THE BRAIN AND WRITING

Written expression requires the whole brain, but the frontal-lobe circuits are most important, as they coordinate motor, internal and internal executive control, and decision/error monitoring (see table below).

Anterior Cingulate Circuit

Self-monitoring

Cognitive switching

Decision making and error monitoring

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Circuit

Planning, flexibility, and organizing ideas

Retrieving words and content from memory

Implementing and monitoring the writing

Exner's Area

Handwriting and spelling

Written expression - similar to Broca's

Broca's Area

Grammar and syntax, oral expression

Sequencing in sentences and writing sample

INTERVENTIONS FOR HANDWRITING, SPELLING, AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION

Given that there are a number of cognitive processes that can cause writing difficulties, it is important to tailor interventions based on individual student needs. The following section discusses various evidence-based strategies that can be implemented, but targeted interventions should address individual child needs.

STRATEGIES FOR LETTER FORMATION AND SPACING

GOAL - Have students learn to write using appropriate letter size, shape, and spacing.

Cognitive Instruction (Zwicker & Hadwin, 2009)

1. Student Alphabet Warm-Up for mapping sounds and letters

2. Teacher modeling of directionality and steps for producing letter parts (e.g., Berninger approach)

3. Student traces letters following teacher model (imitation)

4. Teacher and student discussion of similarities/differences of letter formation

5. Student names letter, directional steps, and then writes; repeats without arrows, then copies

6. Student circles best formed letter (visual discrimination required)

Handwriting Letters/Words Critical Writing
Hoy, Egan & Feder, (2011) note handwriting of actual letters/words is critical; sensory-motor interventions without handwriting are ineffective
à Graph Paper (Hale & Fiorello, 2004) Practice Makes Perfect!

1. Provide student with graph paper instead of lined paper during writing tasks

2. Have the student fit each written letter into one square of space on the graph paper

3. Have the student use one square of space to indicate a space between words

4. Over time and with increased accuracy, use increasingly faded graph paper until the student is able to write appropriately sized/spaced letters and words on regular lined paper

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SPELLING ACCURACY

GOAL - Increase spelling accuracy and sound (phoneme) - symbol (grapheme) correspondence

Cover-Copy-Compare (Skinner, McLaughlin, & Logan, 1997)

1. Student looks at a correctly spelled word

2. Correctly spelled word is covered

3. Student spells the word from memory

4. The correct spelling of the word is unveiled for the student to compare with their spelling

5. If the student spelled the word correctly, they move on to a new word; if the student is incorrect, they repeat the cover-copy-compare method with the same word again

Empirical Support: Cover-Copy-Compare found to increase spelling fluency and accuracy in a number of students, including those with LD (Skarr et al., 2012), and high school students with severe behavioural disabilities (Carter et al., 2011)

Combining Oral and Written Spelling:
Since oral and written language brain areas are close in structure/proximity, linking oral and written spelling can be useful in facilitating both (Hale & Fiorello, 2004). Having children say words aloud while writing could facilitate greater automaticity of word recognition and subsequently better spelling accuracy.

Say-Trace-Write Model (Graham & Freeman, 1986)

Uses oral language to assist with the learning of motor scripts

1. Have the student say the word out loud

2. Student writes the word

3. Student checks their word against a model to determine accuracy

4. Student traces the model and says the word aloud

5. Student writes the word from memory

6. Student checks their word against the model to determine accuracy

Self-Correction with Verbal Cues (Gettinger, 1985)

1. Teacher trains students in spelling self-correction methods, followed by practice tests with teacher feedback

2. Spelling pre-test with 5 words each session.

3. Check work and correct errors. Student given flash cards to compare to spelled words (8 steps)

Spelling post-test administered, flash cards used by student to check accuracy

STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING WRITTEN EXPRESSION

GOAL - Increase written output/word count and improve quality of ideas in the written product.

Sentence Combining (Saddler, 2005)

Kernel sentences¹ are developed into more diverse and complex sentences using direct instruction

Skills targeted: Flexibility and complexity of thought conveyed in sentences, more interesting writing

Target age group: Grade 2 and higher

¹ A kernel sentence is a simple, active, affirmative declarative sentence with only one verb.

1. Teacher provides sentence-combining examples using think-aloud approach.

2. Students given kernel sentences, usually in pairs or small groups

3. Students use multiple kernels to combine words and phrases using connecting words, isolating and expanding key points

4. Eventual metacognitive brainstorming of related ideas leads to word or phrase additions

5. Guided practice, then independent practice.

Students with writing problems often write simple sentences that lack syntactic maturity (Robinson & Howell, 2008). Unlike traditional grammar instruction, having students expand kernel sentences improves both sentence complexity and diversity, and more interesting written language product.

Teacher-Directed Strategy Instruction (Troia & Graham, 2002)

1. Pre-instruction in SPACE (setting, problems, actions, consequences, emotions) and DARE (Develop position statement, add supporting arguments, report/refute counterarguments, end conclusion)

2. Direct instruction in the STOP & LIST (Stop, Think of Purposes, List Ideas, Sequence Them) approach to planning the writing sample

3. Process approach to writing (drafting, revising, proofreading, editing, publishing) for guided practice and then independent practice

Integrated Writing Instruction (MacArthur, Graham, & Schwartz, 2005)

1. Status-Checking Teacher checks with students about writing goals for day

2. Mini-Lesson Teacher provides mini-lesson on writing process with writing strategies offered

3. Student Writing Students draft authentic sentences based on self, group, or teacher topic ideas

4. Peer & Teacher Conferences Feedback from peers and teachers leads to revision and improved product

5. Publishing/Group Sharing Students share revised passages in group discussion, bulletin board, or approved computer website

Click here to access LD@school's template for the PLEASE strategy.
PLEASE (Welch, 1992)

Adapting these strategies for younger students. Young children do not typically write essays, but these metacognitive strategies can be adapted to suit the narrative writing tasks of early curricula.

PLAN and WRITE (De La Paz, 1999)
Click here to access LD@school's template for the PLAN and WRITE strategy.

Metacognitive strategy that helps students plan/organize their ideas

Helps students refer back to the goal of the assignment to aid in the writing process

Skills targeted: planning, writing expository essays, and goal-directed writing

Target age group: Grades 6-12

Empirical Support: PLAN and WRITE found to increase length and quality of writing assignments in LD and non-LD students when used in an inclusive setting (De La Paz, 1999).

TOWER WITH COPS (Mercer & Mercer, 2001)
Click here to access LD@school's template for the TOWER strategy. Click here to access LD@school's template for the COPS strategy.

Skills targeted: planning, organization, monitoring, and revision of written work using TOWER and COPS techniques

Target Age Groups: Grades 1+

Helpful for ALL Students and ALL Ages! These interventions are easily implemented for all beginning writers. Posting one or more of these mnemonics in class for all students to refer to during writing assignments is a great class-wide strategy for writing success!

Additional Resources

Great resource to use when choosing words to use in spelling interventions

References

Berninger, V. W., Nielsen, K. H., Abbott, R. D., Wijsman, E., & Raskind, W. (2008). Writing problems in developmental dyslexia: Under-recognized and under-treated. Journal of School Psychology, 46(1), 1-21.

Bernstein, J. H. (2013). Process Analysis in the Assessment of Children. The Boston Process Approach to Neuropsychological Assessment: A Practitioner's Guide, 300.

Carter, M., McLaughlin, T. F., Derby, K. M., Schuler, H., & Everman, J. (2011). Differential effects of cover, copy, and compare in spelling with four high school students with severe behavior disorders. Academic Research International, 1(1), 43-51.

Cassar, M., Treiman, R., Moats, L., Pollo, T. C., & Kessler, B. (2005). How do the spellings of children with dyslexia compare with those of nondyslexic children?. Reading and Writing, 18(1), 27-49.

De La Paz, S. (1999). Teaching Writing Strategies and Self-Regulation Procedures to Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities. Focus on exceptional children, 31(5), 1-16.

Feder, K. P., & Majnemer, A. (2007). Handwriting development, competency, and intervention. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 49(4), 312-317.

Fenwick, M., Kubas, H. A., Witzke, J. W., Miller, D. C., Maricle, D. E., Harrison, G. L., Macoun, S. J., Hale, J. B. (2015). Neuropsychological profiles of written expression learning disabilities determined by concordance-discordance model criteria. Applied Neuropsychology: Child.

Gettinger, M. (1985). Effects of teacher-directed versus student-directed instruction and cues versus no cues for improving spelling performance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18(2), 167-171.

Graham, S., & Freeman, S. (1986). Strategy training and teacher-vs. student-controlled study conditions: Effects on LD students' spelling performance. Learning Disability Quarterly, 9(1), 15-22.

Hale, J. B., & Fiorello, C. A. (2004). School neuropsychology: A practitioner's handbook. Guilford Press.

Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Brindle, M., & Sandmel, K. (2009). 8 Metacognition and Children's Writing. Handbook of metacognition in education, 131.

Hooper, S. R., Costa, L. J., McBee, M., Anderson, K. L., Yerby, D. C., Knuth, S. B., & Childress, A. (2011). Concurrent and longitudinal neuropsychological contributors to written language expression in first and second grade students. Reading and Writing, 24(2), 221-252.

Jones, D., & Christensen, C. A. (1999). Relationship between automaticity in handwriting and students' ability to generate written text. Journal of educational psychology, 91(1), 44.

MacArthur, C. A., Graham, S., & Schwartz, S. S. (1993). Integrating strategy instruction and word processing into a process approach to written instruction. School Psychology Review, 22, 671-681.

Mayes, S. D., & Calhoun, S. L. (2006). Frequency of reading, math, and writing disabilities in children with clinical disorders. Learning and individual Differences, 16(2), 145-157.

Mercer, C. D., & Mercer, A. R. (1989). Teaching students with learning problems. Merrill Publishing Co.

Nag, S., & Snowling, M. J. (2013). Children's reading development: learning about sounds, symbols and cross-modal mappings.

Planton, S., Jucla, M., Roux, F. E., & Démonet, J. F. (2013). The "handwriting brain": a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of motor versus orthographic processes. Cortex, 49(10), 2772-2787.

Robinson, L. K., & Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation & written expression. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 439-452). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Saddler, B. (2005). Sentence combining: A sentence-level writing intervention. The Reading Teacher, 58, 468-471.

Skarr, A., McLaughlin, T. F., Derby, K. M., Meade, K., & Williams, R. L. (2012). A comparison of direct instruction flashcards and cover, copy, compare to teach spelling to elementary school students. Academic Research International, 2(2), 247-263.

Skinner, C. H., McLaughlin, T. F., & Logan, P. (1997). Cover, copy, and compare: A self-managed academic intervention effective across skills, students, and settings. Journal of Behavioral Education, 7(3), 295-306.

Troia, G. A., & Graham, S. (2002). The effectiveness of a highly explicit, teacher-directed strategy instruction routine changing the writing performance of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(4), 290-305.

Welch, M. (1992). The PLEASE strategy: A metacognitive learning strategy for improving the paragraph writing of students with mild learning disabilities. Learning disability quarterly, 15(2), 119-128.

Zwicker, J. G., & Hadwin, A. F. (2009). Cognitive versus multisensory approaches to handwriting intervention: A randomized controlled trial. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 29(1), 40-48.

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Interventions for Students with Writing Disabilities

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By Jessica A. Carmichael and James B. Hale Debunking the Myths: If You Can Talk, You Can Write An old myth still can be heard in some schools: If you can talk (expressive language), and are taught handwriting and spelling in school, then

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Also known as text-generation, it is putting one’s thoughts into written language to convey an idea. This includes:

Vocabulary (word choice)

Details (elaboration)

Expression of ideas

(Writing, (n.d.))

Text Generation happens at three levels: word, sentence, and text. (Written Expression, 2021)

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The series of actions of how writing is done
This includes:

Planning

Drafting

Revising

Getting feedback

Editing

Publishing

Translating

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The understanding of form, genre, and audience.

Form, writing can vary in from narrative, expository, descriptive, rhetoric.

Genre, the style of the writing. Writings are group together when they have common tone, form, purpose, and theme.

Audience, writing is a connection between author and audience. The author can choose to interact with the audience through all aspects of writing. That interaction will determine how the author chooses words, writes sentences, includes content, etc. Factoring the audience into the writing is a high-level concept of writing.

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NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is a non-profit organization that builds a community around writing.
They have developed a Young Writers Program to encourage the writing process. They have resources for K-12 writers and educators. This is a great resource for creative writing skills and for any student that enjoys storytelling! Participating in

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National Novel Writing Month is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!

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Journal writing is an effective tool in any classroom. Writing often is a component to developing writing skills.

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Writing in journals can be a powerful strategy for students to respond to literature, gain writing fluency, dialogue in writing with another student or the teacher, or write in the content areas. While journaling is a form of writing in its own right, students can also freely generate ideas for othe…

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How to help a dyslexic child of any age with writing skills (full version)

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(W) Tips for helping students with dyslexia develop writing skills 

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(W) Tips for helping students with dyslexia develop writing skills 

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This video has a variety of tips for helping students with dyslexia develop basic writing mechanics. This video is parent-friendly as well and can be shared with those that want to help their children with dyslexia but aren’t education experts.

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How to help a dyslexic child of any age with writing skills (full version)

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Race Writing Prompt #3: Appreciating Different Countries & Cultures - jsk stories

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This is a valuable writing prompt / activity for incorporating ethnic diversity into the classroom.

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jsk stories - Race Writing Prompt #3: Appreciating Different Countries & Cultures

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Something wonderful about racial diversity are the different countries and cultures that can be appreciated. There are so many amazing foods, sites, and music that inspire many of the plays and films we see today. When we learn about other countries and cultures, we can gain respect and appreciation for that culture. Plus it's always exciting to learn something new!

Race Writing Prompt # 3: Appreciating Different Countries & Cultures

Think about another country or culture you would like to learn more about. Research a specific aspect that you find interesting. This could be a specific food, the language, an animal, a celebration, or even clothing. Write down what you learn and consider the following questions. Why did you choose this particular country or culture? What are some fascinating things you learned? Write your thoughts in 1-2 paragraphs.
Download Race Writing Prompt #3: Appreciating Different Countries & Cultures (English) here. Download Race Writing Prompt #3: Appreciating Different Countries & Cultures (Spanish) here.

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Race Writing Prompt #3: Appreciating Different Countries & Cultures - jsk stories

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IXAGlfXeQU Something wonderful about racial diversity are the different countries and cultures that can be appreciated. There are so many amazing foods, sites, and music that inspire many of the plays and films we see today. When we learn about other countries and cultures, we can gain respect and appreciation for that culture.

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This rubric classifies English language learners into 6 categories of fluency. Teachers can use this resource to build upon existing skills and help bridge the student to the next level.

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This page has a plethora of tools for teachers including many how-to articles and prompt ideas.

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WRITING OVERVIEW

Browse our complete guide to text types for teachers and students. By clicking on the links below you can learn all aspects of different types of writing covered in the classroom.

These guides contain instructions, writing examples, prompts, graphic organizers, checklists and much more to ensure you can both cover the basics or master these different types of writing.

Be sure to read our complete guide to understanding different text types, genres and styles of writing if you need further clarification.

WRITING TEXT TYPES TO ENTERTAIN

WRITING TEXT TYPES TO INFORM

TEXT TYPES TO PERSUADE

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Browse our complete guide to text types for teachers and students. By clicking on the links below you can learn all aspects of different types of writing covered in the classroom. These guides contain instructions, writing examples, prompts, graphic organizers, checklists and much more to ensure you can both cover the basics or master these different types of writing.

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What is it?

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

What is it?

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

frequently asked questions

What are some important concepts to know about teaching writing?

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

How important is handwriting instruction?

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

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

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

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

Read More to learn more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Literacy How Professional Learning Series

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

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

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An Approach to Integrating Writing Skills into the Social Studies Classroom

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When teachers incorporate writing regularly in the social studies classroom, students not only become better prepared for reading and writing assessments, but gain a deeper comprehension of social studies content.

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An Approach to Integrating Writing Skills into the Social Studies Classroom

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When teachers incorporate writing regularly in the social studies classroom, students not only become better prepared for reading and writing assessments, but gain a deeper comprehension of social studies content.