Expository text offers particular challenges to the reader because of the abstract and unfamiliar concepts that it presents. In order to solve these problems in reading classes, students should be taught the hierarchical structure of the expository text and the interrelationships among ideas. This is what experts in this field refer to as text…

As teachers, we are always reflecting on and refining our craft. In this article, the author shares how her understanding and implementation of comprehension strategy instruction has evolved over the past ten years. These shifts include her current thinking about the gradual release of responsibility instructional model, how content and big ideas…

This article details one teacher's implementation of reading workshop in her second grade classroom. She provided a framework for authentic reading using the five components of reading workshop: time, choice, response, community, and structure. She found that reading workshop is a highly effective practice for not only increasing students'…

This article describes the implementation of a read-aloud routine focused on the development of vocabulary knowledge and comprehension for English Learners (ELs) in grades K-3. This paper describes the steps of a daily read-aloud system, including key applications of second language acquisition and culturally responsive pedagogy with examples of…

Travel provides students with multiple opportunities to learn about people, places, and the world around them. At times, students are given opportunities to travel causing them to be absent from the classroom. This manuscript provides a practical suggestion for engaging students in learning while on the journey. Students are asked to share and…

Each disciplinary community has its own criteria for determining what counts as evidence of knowledge in their academic field. The criteria influence the ways that a community's knowledge is created, communicated, and evaluated. Situating reading, writing, and language instruction within the content areas enables teachers to explicitly…

As readers encounter children's literature in new formats and modes of delivery, the basic processes of reading, sharing, discussing and analyzing texts will change. Because of these changes, new instructional approaches and resources will be required to support the development of young readers in a Reading Workshop 2.0 environment. In a…

The challenges of understanding how reading abilities vary within the classroom can be daunting. This article offers techniques to organize a variety of assessment data to give teachers a clear picture of individual achievement, how students compare with one another, and how reliably various assessment instruments yield an accurate picture of…

Students entering school with limited vocabularies are at a disadvantage compared to classmates with robust knowledge of words and meanings. Teaching a few unrelated words at a time is insufficient for catching these students up with peers and preparing them to comprehend texts they will encounter across the grades. This article presents…

As teachers and leaders move forward in implementing the Common Core State Standards within classrooms across 46 states, it is essential to consider the question of what knowledge is included in the English Language Arts Standards, and what knowledge is not present. The authors of the Common Core delineate an increasingly complex body of knowledge…

English learners (ELs) often struggle with asking questions in the classroom. They frequently need support to become confident questioners when confusion arises during reading. This skill becomes even more significant when such learners transition into mainstream classrooms. One possible framework for helping ELs make this transition includes the…

Since Emmett Betts first devised a framework of independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels in the 1940s, these levels have played a large role in classroom assessment and instruction. It is important for teachers to have a deep understanding of the research that supports the reading level framework. This article identifies four key…

This article documents the experiences of a diverse group of second grade students during a nine week unit of study focused on graphic stories. The project begins as the class is immersed in reading graphic stories designed for young readers. Images, written text, and dialog are utilized to scaffold reading comprehension and to practice fluency.…

Students read multiple-genre texts such as graphic novels, poetry, brochures, digitized texts with videos, and informational and narrative texts. Features such as overlapping illustrations and implied cause-and-effect relationships can affect students' comprehension. Teaching with these texts and drawing attention to organizational features hold…

Numerous research studies prove that wide reading improves children's comprehension, background knowledge, vocabulary, fluency, and writing. The author, a sixth-grade language arts teacher, describes the classroom conditions and instructional practices that encourage wide reading and increase her students' reading motivation such as choice in…