Core Classroom Reading Instruction: Addressing the Needs of Students at Tier I

Christa Macomber M.S.E.

Melissa Smith, M.S.

Monona Grove School District

Acknowledgments

Oregon Department of Education

Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement, College of Education, University of Oregon

Texas Education Agency, College of Education, University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs

Content Development

Content developed by:Edward J. Kame’enui, Ph. D. Deborah C. Simmons, Ph. D.Professor, College of Education Professor, College of EducationUniversity of Oregon University of Oregon

Beth Harn, Ph.D. Michael D. Coyne, Ph. D. University of Oregon University of Connecticut

David Chard, Ph. D. Patrick Kennedy-Paine University of Oregon Katie Tate

University of Oregon

Nicole Sherman-Brewer Jeannie WanzekOregon Reading First University of Texas

Michael Ford, Ph.D. Christa Macomber, M.S.E .University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Monona Grove School District

Ed P. O’Connor, Ph.D. Melissa Smith, M.S.Monona Grove School District Monona Grove School District

Core Classroom Reading Instruction

• Focus Instruction on the Big Ideas• High Impact Skills at Each Grade Level • Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction

Focus Instruction on the Big Ideas

What are the Big Ideas of early literacy?

Phonemic Awareness Alphabetic Principle Fluency with connected text Vocabulary Comprehension

What Makes a Big Idea a Big Idea?

A Big Idea is:– Predictive of reading acquisition and later reading

achievement– Something we can do something about, i.e.,

something we can teach– Something that improves outcomes for children

if/when we teach it

Big Idea: Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken words

and the understanding that spoken words and syllables are made up of sequences of speechsounds (Yopp, 1992).

Essential to learning to read in an alphabetic writing system, because letters represent sounds or phonemes. Without phonemic awareness, phonics makes little sense.

“cat” is composed of the sounds /k/ /a/ /t/

Phonological Awareness Development Continuum

- Word comparison– Rhyming

• Sentence segmentation– Syllable segmentation & blending

» Onset-rime blending and segmentation Blending & segmenting individual phonemes Phoneme deletion & manipulation

(Modified from O'Connor, Notari-Syverson, & Vadasy, 1998)

High Priority Skills

What Skills Does PA Include?

PA Instructional Guidelines: Application

Highlight hierarchy of skills using the Gradual Release Model 15 – 20 minutes of instruction a day for all (Universal) - More for those who demonstrate difficultyBlending and segmenting high priority skillsTeach children to manipulate sounds in connection to print– Identify sounds associated with letters/words in reading– Writing letters associated with sounds (early learning for

spelling)

Assessing Phonemic Awareness

There are curriculum-based assessment tools designed to measure specific indicators of PA.

Examples include:– DIBELS Initial Sound Fluency (ISF)

• Administered Grade K (fall/winter) – DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF)

• Administered Grades K (winter/spring) & 1

Big Idea: Alphabetic Principle

Alphabetic Principle: Based on two parts:

– Alphabetic Understanding: Letters represent sounds in words.

a m vp s

Big Idea: Alphabetic Principle (AP) Alphabetic Principle:

– Phonological Recoding: Letter sounds can be blended together and knowledge of letter-sound associations can be used to read/decode words.Translation from written representation into a sound based system to arrive at the meaning of words in the lexicon (stored vocabulary) in long-term memory (Wagoner & Torgesen, 1987).

am p

What Skills Does AP Include?Progression of Regular Word Reading

Sounding Out (saying the

sound of each letter)

Whole Word Reading (vocalizing each sound

and blending it to a whole word)

Sight Word Reading (sounding the word out in

your head and then reading the whole word)

Automatic Word Reading (reading the word without sounding it out)

What Skills Does AP Include?

What Skills Does AP Include?

To develop the alphabetic principle across grades K-3,

students need to learn two essential skills:– Letter-sound correspondences: comprised initially of individual

letter sounds and progresses to more complex letter combinations.

– Word reading: comprised initially of reading simple CVC words and

progresses to compound words, multisyllabic words, and sight

words.

What Skills Does AP Include?

Definitions Related to Word Reading

Regular word: A word in which all letters represent their most common sounds (e.g., sit, fan, got).Irregular word: A word in which one or more letters does not represent the most common sound (e.g., was, of) or a word for which the student has not learned the letter-sound correspondence or the word type (e.g., CVCe).Sight word reading: The process of reading words at a regular rate without vocalizing the individual sounds in the word.

Decodable text: Text in which the reader can read the majority of words accurately because the reader has been taught the sounds and word types.

Assessing Alphabetic Principle

There are curriculum-based assessment tools designed to measure specific indicators of AP.

Examples include:– DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency

• Administered Grades K - 2

Accuracy & Fluency with Connected Text

A fluent reader’s focus is on understanding the passage by reading each word accurately and with speed to enable comprehension.

Automaticity with fundamental skills so that reading occurs quickly and effortlessly (e.g., driving a car, playing a

musical instrument, playing a sport).

Fluent reading is not speed reading.

Big Idea: Fluency

Fluency provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension (National Institute for Literacy, 2001).

Proficient readers are so automatic with each component skill (phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary) that they focus their attention on constructing meaning from the print (Kuhn & Stahl, 2000).

If a reader has to spend too much time and energy figuring out what the words are, she will be unable to concentrate on what the words mean (Coyne, Kame’enui, & Simmons, 2001).

What the Research Says About Fluency

Fluent readers Focus their attention on understanding the text

Synchronize skills of decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension

Read with speed and accuracy

Interpret text and make connections between the ideas in the text

Nonfluent readers:Focus attention on decoding

Alter attention to accessing the meaning of individual words

Make frequent word reading errors

Have few cognitive resources left to comprehend

What the Research Says About Fluency

Phonological Awareness

+ Letter/Sound Knowledge

Prio

rit

y

Fluent word recognition +

reading connected text + comprehension

activities

Time

Temporal Change in Instructional Priorities

Word Recognition

Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 3

Smith, S., Simmons, D. C., & Chard. D. (1996). First things first: Instructional priorities and beginning reading. Learning Dis-abilities Forum, 20(4), 10-15.

What Skills Does Fluency Include?

Enhancing Fluency

Repeated PracticeFirst through third graders should spend approximately 20 minutes each day on fluency related activitiesAt least once per month teachers should time students on an unpracticed passageMeta-cognition - students graph their WPM and monitor progress

Assessing Fluency

There are curriculum-based assessment tools designed to measure specific indicators of fluency.

Examples include:– DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF)

• Administered Grades 1 – 6

Big Idea: Vocabulary

Vocabulary:– Using and understanding words:

• Ability to say a specific word for a particular meaning

• Ability to understand spoken/written words

Vocabulary Instruction

Good readers have developed adequate background knowledge and vocabulary to ensure connections between what is known to the unknown.Children use their knowledge of word meanings to make sense of the words they see in print.Beginning readers have a much more difficult time reading words that are not already part of their oral vocabulary.

Direct Vocabulary Instruction

Teaching specific words before reading helps both vocabulary and comprehension.Extended instruction that promotes active engagement with vocabulary improves word learning.Repeated exposure to vocabulary in many

contexts aids word learning.

Indirect Vocabulary Instruction

Children/Adults engage in daily oral language.Children listen to adults read to them.Children read on their own.

What does the research say about vocabulary development?

Independent reading by proficient readers has a substantial effect on vocabulary development.Children who are not yet proficient readers learn little vocabulary through the reading process.Children from low SES environments are exposed to dramatically fewer words on a daily basis. “Children come to us unequally prepared.”

The question is, what are we going to do about it?(Lyon, NICHHD, 2000)

Vocabulary Usage

Points to remember:Define what the word is and what it is not.Continual use and review.Do not introduce other new vocabulary words to define a new word (e.g., to define boat, do not use the word buoy).On-going promotion of word awareness and clarification of word usage.

Assessing Vocabulary

There are curriculum-based assessment tools that are being researched as indicators of the Big Idea of Vocabulary.

Examples include:– DIBELS Word Use Fluency

• Administered Grades K - 3

Big Idea: Comprehension Comprehension:

– The process of getting meaning from spoken language and/or print.

Good comprehenders:Relate new information to existing knowledgeHave well developed vocabulariesCan summarize, predict, and clarifyUse questioning strategies to monitor

their comprehension

What does the research say about comprehension?

Comprehension is the active process that requires intentional and thoughtful interactions between the reader and the text, it involves accessing previous knowledge, understanding vocabulary and concepts, making inferences, and linking key ideas.Text comprehension can be improved by explicit instruction that helps readers use specific strategies.Instruction in using strategies flexibly and in combination is important.

(Lyon, NICHHD, 2000)

Reading Comprehension StrategiesComprehension cannot be learned through rote instruction,

but requires a series of strategies that influence understanding of text. Prior Knowledge Making Connections Questioning Visualizing Inferring Summarizing Evaluating Synthesizing Strategies Together

Teachers must be skillful in their instruction and must respond flexibly and opportunistically to student’s needs for instructive feedback as they read.

Assessing Comprehension

There are curriculum-based assessment tools that are being researched as indicators of the Big Idea of Comprehension.

Examples include:– DIBELS Retell Fluency

• Administered Grades 1 - 6

Focus on the BIG IDEAS

Effective instruction means teach less more thoroughly– If you don’t know what is important, everything is.– If everything is important, you will try to do everything.– If you try to do everything you will diminish the

outcomes of the high impact skills.– If you do everything you won’t have time to figure out

what is important.

Focus on Best Practice

Most children do NOT learn to read or spell “naturally” but instead learn from instruction.Good word identification instruction does NOT include guessing words from context or picture cues.Instructional time spent on independent, silent reading with minimal guidance or feedback has NOT currently been confirmed by research to improve reading fluency.

Focus on Best Practice

Assessing comprehension is NOT effective comprehension instruction.

“We don’t fatten a cow by weighing it!”

Effective reading instruction is NOT adding one new program after another to programs already in your school without determining each one’s alignment with scientifically-based reading research.

5 Big Ideas - Diet of Literacy

Identify critical features of instruction

Identify high priority skills

Establish routines

Employ independent strategies

All the Big Ideas are Important

Different students will require different levels of instruction to acquire and apply the skills contained in the big ideas.

Not “one size fits all” but…– Which strategy for which students– Based upon where the student is on the reading continuum.

Prioritize High Impact Skills

Time: K 1 2 3

Phonemic Awareness * *

Alphabetic Principle * * * *

Fluency * * *

Vocabulary * * * *

Comprehension * * * *

Focus: Kindergarten – 3rd Grade = Learning to Read 4th Grade into Adulthood = Reading to Learn

Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction

Explicit – Overtly teaching each step through teacher modeling and many examples (Gradual Release Model).Systematic – Breaking lessons and activities into sequential, manageable steps that progress from simple to more complex concepts and skills.Practice and Feedback – Providing many opportunities for students to respond and demonstrate what they are learning, which may include teacher modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Mastery and Application – Generalizes what is learned in different contexts.

Explicit Instruction

Skills are directly taught through:1. Modeling - Demonstrate the skill exactly with concise

language.2. Supported practice - “Say it with me” or “Let’s do it

together.” Repeat until firm or model again if necessary.

3. Test - Ask student to demonstrate the skill independently. “Your turn” Provide corrective feedback.

ALWAYS IN THIS ORDER- teach before testing

Systematic Instruction

A plan for instruction is critical to be sure all essential skills are taught and follows a logical sequence from beginning skills to more difficult skills. Planned and not incidental.Follows a particular order that enhances learning.Includes all essential elements with nothing left to chance to prevent gaps in knowledge.

Repeated Practice

Some children need more exposures to information and/or skills to learn them. You may need to triple the number

of practice opportunities for some students through: Choral responding - Whole class responseSmall group instruction- Increase number of opportunities to respondCall on individualsReview previously learned information for a few minutes daily

Repeated Practice (Cont.)

Corrective FeedbackImmediate.Model skill again, if needed.Concise and direct (Give the correct answer and repeat task).Available any time a child is learning a new skill before it is mastered.

Teach To Mastery

Before a student can apply the new skill with automaticity, they need to have mastered the skill.

• Test student frequently to determine mastery level.

• Reteach skill until student reaches mastery level.• Do not move on until student has mastered the

skill.

Application

• Don’t assume that every child is going to automatically apply the mastered skill in different contexts.

• Model the application of the skill in a variety of contexts.• Provide support and corrective feedback to learner

when learner is applying newly mastered skill.

Goal: To transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

As far as I know. . .

There was a farmer who was an expert at cows. One day his friend asked, “When someone comes to buy a cow and they wonder, ‘Is it a good cow?’--what do you say?” The farmer, being the expert, replied, “I say, ‘Well yes, it is a good cow.’”The friend gently pressed on, “How do you know?”

How much do you want to know?

The friend asked, “How do you know?” The farmer said, “Because I am the expert at cows! This is my business; I have done this for a long time. Selling cows is who I am.”His friend interrupted, but what about. . .

Do you really want to know?

Instructional Strategies to Improve Outcomes for all Students

• Motivation• Social/Emotional/Academic Learning

Motivation

Motivation is particularly important for struggling students because they often require repeated opportunities with effective instruction in order to begin demonstrating measurable improvements and transferring these skills to new situations.

(Therrien, 2004)

The FUNdamentals Motivating ALL Readers

So What Does It Take?Choice

Modeling Challenging Tasks

(Ford, 2006)

Academic Skills Deficit Vs. Performance Skills Deficit

Lesser Skills

Limited Success

Avoidance

Expectation of Difficulty/Failure

Expectation of Difficulty/Failure

Avoidance

Limited Success

Lesser Skills

Differentiating Between a Academic Skills Deficit Versus a Performance Skills Deficit

What Influences Skill Development? Individual differences in rehearsal requirementsAdequacy of instructionFrequency of instructionContent of instruction

Matched to skill levelPushes comfort zone - not too easy, not too hard

Practice/High Expectations Social-Emotional Factors

MotivationEngagement – saying “Yes”Self-Efficacy – belief “I can do it!”

Teaching and Learning Efficacy Proactive Management Techniques

• Body and brain ready to learn - visuals• Jobs as a learner and Jobs as a child • Teacher/student points• Punch card

Daily Strategies to Support Students in Managing Emotions• Five Tribles• Check in on a Scale of 1 to 10• Acknowledging feelings – (i.e., “This is hard work.”)• Calm down and shift to thinking• Use Tools – (i.e.,“Can you be flexible?”)

Progress Monitoring• On-going reflection on academic skills and performance skills development

“Reflection is the glue that makes learning stick.” Tribes TLC Process• Meta-cognition – students graph their academic or social/emotional progress

Assessment Strategies to Improve Outcomes for all Students

• Benchmark Assessment• Progress Monitoring• Putting It All Together

Using Data to Guide Instruction

Benchmark Assessment – given three times per year and are used to guide instructional decision-making (e.g., determine if students are making adequate progress toward grade-level benchmarks or objectives) and identify students who need intervention.

Progress Monitoring – conducted at regular intervals to track student progress and inform instruction.“You have to weigh the pig along the way to make sure it is gaining weight, so it can be sold at market for the top price.”

Key Questions when Examining Data

In what reading areas are students on track?In what reading areas do students need additional instruction?What specific skills have been mastered?What instruction can be provided?Which students have similar instructional needs and will form an appropriate group for instruction?

(Reading First Initiative: Secretary’s Leadership Academy)

Individual Student Decisions Using Data

Use benchmark and progress monitoring assessment.Need data for specific students who are below benchmark.Key areas:– In what instructional areas is this student progressing well?– In what instructional areas is this student progressing

inadequately?– Does it appear to be more of a academic skills deficit or a

performance skills deficit?– Which instructional strategies will I use?– Are the instructional changes or interventions effective?

Teaching and Learning Efficacy

Putting it all TogetherNeeds Assessment Pre/Post – Academic Skills vs. Performance Skills Determine:• Where is the student now and where does s/he want to get to?• Set Goals• Provide Instruction or Intervention• Monitor Comfort Zone – Balance the frequency of known to

unknown• Progress Monitor• Adjust as necessary

Don’t Assume You Need To Reinvent the Wheel

Which instructional strategies are “good”?Which instructional strategies should we choose?How do we implement?How do we know the instructional strategies are effective?How do we support teachers, students, and parents?

Final Thoughts!

If you want to see it, teach it!One-size does not fit all!Self-Efficacy impacts motivation, engagement and success for both teachers and students!– Self-Efficacy can be addressed

If you teach it, assess it!If you assess it, analyze it, use it to guide instruction!Assess again to see if instruction was effective!

Contacts:

Christa Macomber, M.S.E. School Psychologist Monona Grove School District christa_macomber@mononagrove.org

Melissa Smith, M.S. School Psychologist Monona Grove School District melissa_smith@mononagrove.org