Contents
• Overview & Foundations
• Product Development
• Reading Passages
• Instructional Model
• Assessment/Prescription
• Lesson Plans & Teacher Support
• Summary
• 8-10 million children in the United States have trouble reading.
• Students who lack good reading skills in Grade 1 have approximately a 90% chance of remaining poor readers (Juel).
• 50% of reading difficulties, on average, are preventable—if children receive effective, scientifically-based instruction in literacy skills
• >75% of the 1.4 million high school drop outs experienced difficulties in reading.
• 1/3 of eight graders read proficiently (NAEP, 2005)
Reading: Why Research?
A Solid Foundation
• Research Based– Report of the National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000a) – Report of the National Reading Panel: Reports of the Subgroups (NICHD,
2000b)– Alliance for Excellent Education Reading Next– IRA International Reading Association – A Research Agenda for Improving Reading Comprehension, RAND
Reading Study Group – NCTE National Council of Teachers of English – National Institute of Child and Human Development
• Designed by Reading Experts– Lead Advisor: Dr. Victoria Purcell-Gates
• Reading Hall of Fame Inductee May 2005• President of the National Reading Conference• Winner of the Oscar S Causey Award
– Reading Advisory Panels and Subject Matter Experts • Including Leading District Reading Educators
Idea Generation:Gathering customer
requirements
Market Validation:Customer feedback on
product features
Proof of Concept:Customer feedback on
prototype
Product Launch and Professional
Development
Customer Survey:Feedback on results and
suggestions for improvement
Product Updates
User Groups:Collaborate on best
practices
•Quantitative survey of 260 teachers and 3000 students.•Qualitative online focus group with 20 educators•Field Advisory Committee
• Quantitative survey of 430 educators• Qualitative survey of 12 district reading experts; 30 students.• Field Advisory Committee
• Qualitative online focus group with 30 educators; 30 students.• Interviews with 12 district reading experts• Field Advisory Committee
Luminaries:• Dr. Purcell-Gates• WestEd• WonderGroup
Research & Development
Empowers Teachers, Engages Students• Engaging
– The most engaging content for today’s digital natives.– A balance of exploration activities and traditional
question/answer exercises– Includes a multi-genre approach that exposes children to
a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts.
• Flexible– Anytime, anywhere access – Content deliverable in whole class, small groups, or
individually– Customers are using Destination Reading for
intervention, on-level, special needs, and ESL students.
• Individualized – Modular content can easily be assigned by state standard
or learning objective– Over 6,000 formative assessment questions to identify
skill gaps and areas for improvement.
Product Development
Emergent Literacy
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Motivation
Leveraging the foundation ofDestination Reading I & II Grades PreK-3…
• Systematic instruction• Explicit instruction in skills and strategies• Motivating activities• Rich variety of genres• Audio support for reading passages• Learning skills in the context of authentic
reading and writing activities• Professional development to address a
range of implementations– Whole class– Small group– Individual
Thanks for Your Help!!DR I & II POSITIVES• Cross-curricular connections: e.g. some teachers can even use the program during their
science period• Diversity of genres• Consistency of skills across the program• Explicit instruction (big)• Flexibility: resource teachers can use and assign the program• Logical sequence of activities
ISSUES• Wish they could print stories with one click• Need better tracking of progress, not just time on task. Need % correct, % getting answer
right the first time, etc.
BRAINSTORM IDEAS• In upper grades, need more focus on real-life graphics (realism) vs. too much
animation/cartoon. Need a balance. For example video segments..• Real life applications, problem-solving. Put kids in situations where they use the skills they
are gaining to solve, make decisions, etc.• Need to make sure writing is incorporated. Language Arts is more appealing than just
reading, when talking about middle school
• Strong focus on comprehension and vocabulary (with some decoding support)
• Strategic reading section that extends the scaffolding and modeling for reading passages
• Activate prior knowledge and build background knowledge activities
• More writing opportunities to help connect the software to popular, award-winning literature in the classroom
While Meeting the Unique Needs of Students in Grades 4-8
• Direct explanation. The teacher explains to students why the strategy helps comprehension and when to apply the strategy.
• Modeling. The teacher models, or demonstrates, how to apply the strategy, usually by "thinking aloud" while reading the text that the students are using.
• Guided practice. The teacher guides and assists students as they learn how and when to apply the strategy.
• Application. The teacher helps students practice the strategy until they can apply it independently.
Learning SequenceThe steps of explicit instruction typically include direct explanation, teacher modeling ("thinking aloud"), guided practice, and application.
INSTRUCTDirect instruction
explains and models the skill
PRACTICEGuided practice while the student learns how and when to apply the skill
APPLYStudents apply the
skill independently in a new context
INDIVIDUALIZEPre- and post-tests are
given to individualize the content for each student
Learning Sequence
Activate prior knowledge, build background Identify purpose of text Set a purpose for reading Choose strategiesIntroduce Vocabulary Make predictions
Synthesize information Summarize & reflect Write (to show comprehension) Apply learning and present information, verify predictions
Apply comprehension strategies Structural analysis Use context clues Literal comprehension Author’s purpose Inferences and conclusions Organize and integrate new information Self-monitor comprehension
Reading Process
PREPARE & STRATEGIZE
SYNTHESIZE & APPLYREAD
Unit Structure
LESSON 1 (Pre-Reading)
Genre & Vocabulary
LESSON 2 (Pre-Reading)
Reading Comprehension I
LESSON 3Strategic Reading
LESSON 4(Application)
Reading Comprehension II
Learning Objectives Learning Objectives Learning Objectives Learning Objectives
Genre Study (I) Comprehension Skill (IP) Reading Passage (1 or 2) Comprehension Skill (IA)
Build Background (I) Comprehension Strategy (IP) Comprehension Quiz Comprehension Strategy (IA)
Vocabulary Strategy (IPA)-Short Text Passage
(I)NSTRUCT: Direct instruction explains concepts & models the concepts(P)RACTICE: Guided practice as the student learns how and when to apply strategies
(A)PPLY: Students apply the strategy independently in a new context
Product DemoReading Passages
The heart of any reading program!
Reading Levels
Factors to evaluating in selecting the right text:
• Lexile Level
– Lexile Level II or III for grades 4-6 or 6-8
– Levels range from 550-1165
• Length (Endurance)
– 400-1200 words
– Each unit includes short (100-150) word texts to warm up vocabulary
Boredom FrustrationON LEVEL
Lexile Scale
BR
2000L
200L Basal Readers
1400L College and grad school
1100L Typical adult text range
Course 3: 570-970 LCourse 4: 900-1110 L
Grade Level I Level II Level
III Level
IV
4 At or below 365L
370L to 620L
625L to 905L
At or above 910L
5 At or below 495L
500L to 725L
730L to 980L
At or above 985L
6 At or below 515L
520L to 800L
805L to 1055L
At or above 1060L
7 At or below 620L
625L to 875L
880L to 1105L
At or above 1110L
8 At or below 620L
625L to 905L
910L to 1160L
At or above 1165L
How do they do it??
Measuring Text:• Sentence complexity
and length
• Word familiarity Examine Words Examine Sentences
Review Text and Lexile Measure
Calculate Lexile Measure
Edit Text
Scan textinto Electronic Format
How a Book is Lexiled
Predicting Comprehension Level
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
-1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750
Reader - Text (in Lexiles)
Fo
reca
ste
d C
om
pre
hen
sio
n R
ate
75
Less Challenging
More Challenging
50%
90%
Reader Ability
- Text Readability
Forecasted Comprehension
Diverse Readers—One Classroom
The typical range of Lexile levels in a single classroom is 800-900L.
LOW
HIGH
Ran
ge
= 7
57L
Name Grade Ethnicity Gender T1 Lexiles
Letisha 4 B F 261
Jose 4 H M 298
Teressa 4 H F 332
Ashley 4 W F 356
Tania 4 B F 387
Jessica 4 W F 405
Travis 4 W M 437
Karen 4 W F 456
Kahlid 4 M M 460
Maria 4 H F 496
Jon 4 W M 505
Crystal 4 W F 619
Jesse 4 W M 627
Veronica 4 H F 629
Haley 4 W F 651
Levi 4 W M 673
Ming 4 M M 681
Heidi 4 W F 688
Bryce 4 W M 716
Alberto 4 H M 732
Leslie 4 W F 751
Brian 4 W M 752
Jordyn 4 W F 760
David 4 W M 795
Nicholas 4 W M 833
Hanna 4 W F 837
Vladimir 4 M M 929
Peter 4 W M 973
Caitlin 4 W F 1018
Topic – Aligned to Curriculum
Science
Technology
Social Studies
Language arts
Math
Music/Performing Arts
“Connecting cognitive strategies to students’ growing knowledge of a content area enables students to both increase their awareness of and deliberately use the strategies as means for learning”RAND Report
• Correlating topics in all genre to the academic subject scope & sequence
• High-interest issues, events, and people
• Build background videos to introduce the topic (scaffolding)
– Direct correlations between background knowledge & achievement1
– Direct and indirect exposure can bridge gaps2
Relevant and Inspiring Topics
What the students said:• All students were interested in
non-fiction topics – specifically in science– Older students were interested
in more abstract topics– Younger students liked topics
such as animals, rocks, and volcanoes.
– All students were interested in crime scene investigation
• Topics appealed equally to boys and girls
• Popular genres– Websites – Blogs – Mysteries
What the teachers said:• Liked the mix of non-fiction and
fiction• Related that they sometimes
underestimated their students with respect to topics of interest.
• Were surprised because the topics appealed to both boys and girls.
• “The topics all seem to be student-centered.”
Compatible
• Textbooks• Trade books• Assessment• Additional technology
resources
“An experimental study determined that when curriculum is well-articulated and aligned to assessments, the measurable impact is considerable.”- Marzano
• Lexile 1030
• Lexile 1020
• Lexile 920
• Lexile 910
• Lexile 840
• Lexile 770
Monitoring ComprehensionSpiral strategies
• Differentiating instruction
• Building knowledge
Strategies Addressed at Different Lexile Levels
LMS• Riverdeep Scope & Sequence• State Standards• Skills & Strategies