Research has indicated that a large percentage of primary-grade students who struggle in reading have not achieved full competency in the foundational reading competencies (word recognition and fluency). In this article, the author argues that more intensive instruction of the foundational competencies is needed and proposes a simple lesson…

Comprehending expository reading material is a challenge for many students. Research has shown that students' expository reading comprehension can improve with the help of text structure instruction. The purpose of this article is to present teachers with a framework for effectively implementing text structure instruction in their classrooms.…

The ability to ask questions is essential to learning, reasoning, and understanding. This column introduces a sequence of activities that incorporate the use of digital images and online texts into intentional opportunities for even the youngest learners to work with their teachers and classmates as they wonder, anticipate, explore, and think…

Effective teachers are continuously striving to improve their instruction. Reading Recovery teachers have detailed and specific literacy training and expertise that can be of great value to classroom teachers, especially in the area of guided reading instruction. This article explores the ways in which key Reading Recovery strategies can be…

The teaching approach described in this article was originally designed for kindergarten students who are at risk for reading disorders. In a 30-minute session, students practiced attending to and identifying the spelling patterns, pronunciations, and meanings of common morphological suffixes through listening activities, interactive book reading,…

In this paper, we seek to inform policy regarding the professional development of teachers of students who are learning English. To do this, we employ a framework that considers the pedagogical knowledge, practical teaching skills, and dispositions recommended by PD researchers and ELL teacher educators. We then present an approach that…

In this article, the authors propose four principles to guide teachers' thinking as they use technology to support teaching and literacy learning in 21st century classrooms. Specifically, teachers must be aware of emerging technologies, recognize the complexities of new literacies, realize tech-savvy students may not be skilled readers and writers…

Fluency is a critical skill of adept readers. As listening to read alouds and performing Readers Theatre scripts are two prevalent strategies that can increase students' fluency skills, this article provides suggestions in using these strategies with digital texts through free, online resources. Digital texts can be accessed using a desktop,…

It is common for many students with developmental disabilities to demonstrate characteristics of emergent readers beyond kindergarten and first grade, even if they are members of classes that offer many rich literacy opportunities. This article proposes a lesson frame for intensive reading instruction for students with developmental disabilities…

The purpose of this article is to describe the changes in reading instruction that teachers made that contributed to students' growth in reading. Teachers made the transition from instruction that was primarily teacher-directed and focused on lower-level questions to instruction that supported students in their higher order talk and writing about…

Constrained skills theory is a reconceptualization of reading development that suggests a continuum of skills, with some, such as letter knowledge and decoding abilities, more tightly constrained than others, such as phonological awareness and oral reading fluency. The most constrained skills consist of a limited number of items and thus can be…

Using poetry to teach fluency through repeated reading is an effective way to improve students' reading fluency. Repeated reading of poetry is effective with students whose instructional reading level is between the first and third grades. Ten to 15 minutes of repeated reading per day over an extended length of time has proven successful for both…

The socioemotional factors, which influence students' trajectories on their pathways to reading success, are often overlooked in literacy screenings and reading instruction. This article outlines the connections between personality factors, in particular resilient personalities, and early literacy success. It also offers teachers a series of six…

Comprehension is the reason for reading, and vocabulary plays a significant role in comprehension. The question is, What kind of instruction best promotes the development of comprehension and vocabulary? The National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000) concluded that there are eight effective or promising…

Lists 42 ways of motivating students to read. (RB)