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Instructional
Strategies Resources for K-12 Reading and Writing
 Center
on Instruction:
http://www.centeroninstruction.org/ contains
publications and presentations on reading, the research syntheses, and exemplars
of best practices in reading arranged by grades K-3, grades 4-12, special
education, and English language learning.
Early Reading Info:
http://www.earlyreading.info/ from the Pacific Regional Education
Laboratory, this website is designed to help classroom teachers and grant
writers find resources for preK-3 in five reading components. These components
(phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) are
consistent with the Reading First initiative.
Education Commission of the States Reading/Literacy: http://www.ecs.org/html/issue.asp?issueid=97
contains selected readings and research, programs and practices, and
more. One such document is Put
Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read,
which includes the findings of the National Reading Panel Report. This
booklet provides analysis and discussion in five areas of reading instruction:
phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and text comprehension. Each
section suggests implications for classroom instruction.
English Biz:
http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/index.html Pages at this site are devoted to
writing better essays and writing to inform, persuade, argue, describe, explain,
review, and so on. Punctuation, grammar essentials, and better spelling
are included. Parts of this site are devoted to English literature for secondary
learners.
Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that Work (2nd ed.).
Stenhouse Publishing. Available:
http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=310&r=sb070426t
This book is completely online and written for those who wish to "explicitly
teach thinking strategies so that students become engaged, thoughtful,
independent readers." There are four parts. As described at the web
site:
- Part I highlights what comprehension is and how to teach it, including
the principles that guide practice, a review of recent research, and a new
section on assessment.
- Part II contains lessons and practices for teaching comprehension.
- Part III, Comprehension Across the Curriculum, deals with comprehension
strategies and includes chapters on social studies and science reading,
topic study research, textbook reading and the genre of test reading.
- Part IV has Resources That Support
Strategy Instruction.
International Reading Association: http://www.reading.org
has numerous resources on topics and issues as adolescent literacy, beginning
readers, children's and young adult literature, critical literacy, language and
cultural diversity, No Child Left Behind, reading assessment and comprehension,
struggling readers and writers, teacher education, technology, and urban
education initiatives.
Learning First Alliance: http://www.learningfirst.org/
is a partnership of 12 educational associations that have come together to
improve student learning in America's public elementary and secondary schools.
Through the website, visitors may download Every Child Reading: An Action
Plan, and Every Child Reading: A Professional Development Guide,
which provide reading tips for parents, teachers, and schools.
Math and Reading Help for Kids:
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/article_directory/Reading.html
This site is an American Library Association corporate member. While there
are several sections at this site, the reading section "covers several age
groups ranging from early childhood to high school. Topics range from building
strong literary skills to suggested reading lists for all age groups."
Promoting
Reading Strategies for Developmental Mathematics Textbooks:
http://www.nade.net/documents/SCP97/SCP97.2.pdf by Anne E.
Campbell, Ann Schlumberger, and Lou Ann Pate of Pima Community College presents
three reading and study strategies designed to facilitate student comprehension
of and learning from developmental mathematics textbooks. The discussion
includes a preview, predict, read, and review reading strategy; concept cards;
and a Question Answer Relationship technique. For example, concepts cards
can include definitions, characteristics, examples, and nonexamples. Common
kinds of concept cards in math include: (a) strategy cards for solving problems;
(b) fact cards that include rules, laws, or theorems; and (c) cards for symbols
and specialized vocabulary.
Read, Write, Think.org: http://www.readwritethink.org/, supported by the National Council of Teachers of English, is devoted to free
standards-based resources for reading and language arts instruction. It
also contains resources for high school students.
Reading is Fundamental: http://www.rif.org/
contains resources for parents and educators, including articles on the latest
reading research, books, activities, web resources, advice and tips.
Tankersley, K. (2005).
Literacy strategies for grades 4–12: Reinforcing the threads of reading.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
ASCD has made available the Introduction, Chapter 1 on Struggling Readers,
Chapter 5 on Higher Order Thinking and a study guide for this 202-page book.
Effective strategies for improving reading skills are provided, along with
suggestions for doing well on high stakes tests (see this latter in ch. 5).
Supporting Web site links for additional information are provided throughout.
The author's Web site is
http://www.threadsofreading.com/ Threads of reading include phonetic
awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and higher order
literacy (i.e., reading for analysis, synthesis, interpretation, and
evaluation).
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Reading Programs
 Failure Free Reading:
http://www.failurefree.com/index.php,
a research-based program, targets and is most effectively used with At-Risk
and English as a Second Language Students, nonreaders, Special Education
students with severe learning difficulties and others in the lowest 10% of
the reading population.
FreeReading.net:
http://www.freereading.net
is a free, sequential,
research-based reading intervention program for K-1 students and those at risk
in later grades. It's based on open source technology. It also provides a
forum where teachers can openly and freely share their successful and effective
methods for teaching reading in grades K-1 and for at-risk students in later
grades. [Note: The program is on the approved list of K-3 curriculum
resources in Florida.]
MightyBook: http://www.mightybook.com
Reading Rockets:
http://www.readingrockets.org
offers strategies for kids who struggle, strategies for teaching reading, books,
free reading guides, reading research, blogs about reading, PBS shows on
reading, and so much more.
Read 180:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/read180/
This research-based intervention program is for elementary through high
school students (grades 4-12) whose reading level is below proficient. Students
using Read 180 show gains at least double the equivalent control groups.
Sesame Workshop:
http://www.sesameworkshop.org
Seussville:
http://www.seussville.com/
Starfall.com: http://www.starfall.com,
a free site designed to teach children how to read. Select one of the
online books with its associated activities.
StudyDog: http://www.studydog.com/
is designed for K-6 struggling readers. There is also a free online
placement test that is appropriate for children Pre-K through 1st Grade, and
struggling readers in 2nd and 3rd grades.
Thinking Reader:
http://www.tomsnyder.com from Tom Snyder Productions is based on principles
of universal design. This researched-based program is suitable for
struggling readers in grades 5-8 and learners with special needs. "The program
presents core, authentic literature—the books your whole class reads—in a highly
motivating and supportive environment. It embeds prompts, hints, model answers,
and instant feedback into the text to provide individualized instruction.
Students practice and master 7 scientifically proven reading comprehension
strategies while they read" (Thinking Reader Product Description, para. 1).
These strategies are summarizing, questioning, clarifying, predicting,
visualizing, feeling, and reflecting.
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References:
Camilli, G., Vargas, S., and Yurecko, M. (2003, May 8). Teaching children to
read: The fragile link between science and federal education policy. Education
Policy Analysis Archives, 11(15). Available:
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n15/ .
Chrisman, V. (2005, February). How schools sustain success. Educational
Leadership, 62(5), 16-20.
Cunningham, P.,
& Hall, D. (n.d.). The Four-Blocks Literacy Model Web Site. Available:
http://www.four-blocks.com/
Eaton, C.
(2005). Sparking a revolution in teaching and learning. T.H.E. Journal, 32(13),
21-24.
Shaywitz, S., & Shaywitz, B. (2007, February). What neuroscience
really tells us about reading instruction. Educational
Leadership, 64(5), 74-76.
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