Reading Rate – The Answer to Good Comprehension?
With the publication of the National Reading Panel's April 2000 report, "The National Reading Panel's Report: Teaching Children to Read," many people have identified the five essential elements of good reading instruction as phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. The last item, fluency, has been an area of particularly strong investigation...
0 Comments Posted Thursday, September 20, 2007
Reading is NOT a Content Area
Ask a reading teacher, particularly one at the secondary level, to tell you the worst thing a content area teacher can say about reading. You're sure to get the same answer time and time again: "I don't teach reading!" Often such teachers insist that they teach math, science, or social studies, but they certainly don't teach reading. It's time that secondary teachers, in particular, have a change of heart about reading. Reading is not a content area.
0 Comments Posted Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Balanced Math Instruction?
For years there has been a heated debate in the reading community: phonics instruction or whole language instruction? The surge of back-to-basics instruction has repeatedly conflicted with the views of educators who look at reading within a larger frame of reference. While teachers all seemed to agree that comprehension was the ultimate goal, they openly disagreed on the instructional path to get there. Many reading educators now agree on a "balanced" program of literacy, one that builds foundation skills while simultaneously engaging students with meaningful texts and opening discussions about meaning-making.
0 Comments Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007
“I’m a Stupid Reader”: Image Issues in Reading
"I hate reading." "I'm not a good reader." "I'm a stupid reader." "I wish I didn't have to read..." As a reading specialist, those are the responses I often get from struggling readers when I ask them how they feel about reading, what they think about themselves as readers, or what they wish for. Those negative responses to reading make sense for my struggling readers; because they read two, three, or even four grade levels below their current school grades, reading is a daunting task for them. But how about high-achieving kids, or kids who don't struggle with reading? Why might they feel like they're "stupid readers"?
0 Comments Posted Monday, September 10, 2007
No Miracle Cure: Selecting a Reading Curriculum
The What Works Clearinghouse has recently released the results of several studies of early elementary reading programs, giving some accolades and others heavy criticism. It comes as no surprise, however, that no one program was effective for teaching all reading students...
0 Comments Posted Thursday, September 06, 2007
Hopes of the “Harry Potter Effect”...Vaporized?
For decades, the amount of "quality reading" in which children engage has been of vast concern for parents and educators alike. The idea is that the more children read novels and quality literature, the better readers they become; the better prepared they are for college; and the better chance they have of succeeding in the world when they grow up...
0 Comments Posted Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Sooner Is Better: When to Assess
Elementary school teachers in Vail, Colorado have got it right! According to an article in Vail Daily, this year elementary teachers spent the first two days of school administering a one-on-one reading assessment to all of their students.
0 Comments Posted Friday, August 31, 2007
Are we teaching the “right stuff?”
Recent studies are showing us two facts. According to a recent study by the Center on Education Policy, math and reading are being taught MORE during the school day in 62% of America’s school districts, often at the expense of other subjects like science, social studies, and the arts. But progress in raising math and reading scores has actually decreased since the passing of No Child Left Behind instead of going up, according to a study published in the Educational Researcher, despite the increased “back-to-the-basics” emphasis. So if we’re teaching more reading and math, why are our students’ test scores not improving? Why are the gaps in achievement not narrowing? Perhaps we’re teaching the wrong things....
0 Comments Posted Monday, August 13, 2007
Myth: “Reading level” testing is effective for diagnosing reading problems
Reading-level testing is often used to place students within a reading series, usually for instructional purposes. While this might sound like diagnostic testing and a good idea, in reality, it is not.
0 Comments Posted Monday, July 30, 2007
Reading Software Takes a New Role in the Classroom
An article in Education Week, "Computer Software Helping Students' Reading," focuses on the benefits of computer-based educational programs as supplemental instruction inside the classroom and out.
0 Comments Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Myth: Benchmark assessments = good classroom diagnostics
Benchmark assessments measure student growth against a series of benchmarks established for a grade level.
1 Comments Posted Monday, July 16, 2007
Fluency Gone Wild!
Fluency is a hot topic in reading instruction these days, but what is fluency?
0 Comments Posted Monday, July 16, 2007