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Jan 12, 2022
Using Visualizing as a Reading Comprehension Strategy to Engage High School Learners
Common Language for Reading Comprehension Much like developing a base for discussing decoding and fluency with students, establishing a common language for reading comprehension is of great importance. Many teachers focus on the six active reading strategies: Visualize; Clarify; Question; Predict; Connect; Evaluate. I’ve even heard the catchy mnemonic device, “Vicky called Queen Penelope cute
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Jan 6, 2022
Bottom-up and Top-down Teaching
Teacher training models where component skills and content are acquired and then passed on encourage us to think “bottom-up” as educators. There are many benefits to what might be termed bottom-up teaching: the inductive practice of introducing specific skills in sequence and with abundant, success-oriented practice. A teacher leading her students on this journey often
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Nov 29, 2021
The Simple View of Reading
Decoding refers to word-level reading and linguistic comprehension refers to the ability to understand the spoken language in which the words are written. When students are able to decode, they engage their cipher skills and word-specific knowledge. Cipher skills reflect an understanding of the code of the language and how to use that code to
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Nov 18, 2021
Supporting Students in Developing Automatic Word Recognition
Why do we need to perform rocket science for some students? Reading researcher, Maryanne Wolf, reports in her book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (2007) that reading ability is not an inherent genetic trait in humans: it is a specific skill that must be taught. Spoken language has
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Oct 28, 2021
Handwriting and Literacy Development
Although every student can benefit from handwriting instruction and practice, focus and attention on letter formation are especially necessary for students who are diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD), like dyslexia or dysgraphia. Often, students with SLD write more slowly and less clearly than their peers. In an effort to help students record information quickly
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Oct 12, 2021
Paraphrasing to Support Reading Comprehension
Reflect back on the first pages of To Kill a Mockingbird. They make many references to American history and relevant locations in the American south: Andrew Jackson, “Creeks up the creek,” Battle of Hastings, Mobile, Montgomery, and the list goes on. Imagine trying to make a mental movie of the setting of this novel if
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Oct 1, 2021
Reading Fluency in High School: Beyond Rate and Accuracy
Traditional reading fluency programs focus on rate and accuracy. Attention is seldom given to prosody or reading with intonation and expression. However, with the new push for science and evidence-based reading instruction, Rasinski argues that we should no longer consider commercial reading programs that focus solely on rate and accuracy to be as effective, citing
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Sep 8, 2021
Using a Decoding Toolkit to Develop a Common Language
Establishing a Common Language A successful skill progression will begin with phonemic practice and syllabication principles and move toward learning orthographic expectancies (common letter patterns) and vocabulary with the goal of developing sight words and automaticity. However, before engaging in any skill instruction, it is important for students and teachers to ensure that they are
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Apr 14, 2021
Developing Number Sense with Number Strings
Number Strings in Practice A small group of fifth grade students gather around a table. The teacher begins the lesson by asking students to brainstorm strategies they know for multiplication. One student shares, “counting by 10s, 5s, any number,” which the teacher labels as skip counting. They review repeated addition (e.g., 5 + 5 +
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