Useful Links:

Dyslexia:

1) https://www.thereadingape.com/single-post/dyslexia-disputed-distortive-disease-discuss

Comprehension is more than decoding!

For example, I could decode many Latin words, albeit with a few odd pronunciations, but I would understand very little. An individual needs working memory to decode and hold the information long enough to make sense of it. Readers also require sufficient vocabulary and background knowledge. For a student without these two components, the average sentence or paragraph could feel like a university physics lecture!

Growing a student’s vocabulary:

Morphology:

Morphology is one of the often-overlooked building blocks for reading fluency, reading comprehension, and spelling. Research is now demonstrating the importance of strong morphological teaching. This would be an area that could be taught in the general classroom and is also a great vocabulary booster for all.

Dr. Deb Glaser has recently developed a great resource, Morpheme Magic. This is particularly useful to students in grades 4-12. Morpheme Magic – Lessons to build morphological awareness

Examples:

Find the Roots: Teach the concept of root words to your students. You might say, "A root word is the 'main' word in a longer word." Give examples and then have your students practice identifying the root words. Ask your students to highlight the root words in the following complex words. E.g. hopeful, helpful, sleepless, etc.

• Fix the Affixes: Explicitly teach students that affixes are extra parts that are "fixed on" to the root word. The affixes at the beginning of words are called "prefixes" because "pre-" means before, and a "suffix" comes at the end of a root word.

• Word Sort: Ask students to sort the following words according to their affixes. Then they should guess the meaning of the affix based on their prior knowledge and the patterns they see. e.g. Forgetful, careful, beautiful, statement, government, shipment, etc.

• Building Blocks: Make flashcards and ask your students to make as many real words as they can with these cards. Make sure that the cards contain several root words and multiple affixes.

• Syllabicating the "Big Words": Ask your students to preview the next chapter of their textbooks and write down 10 "Big Words." Next, have them highlight the root words that they recognize and take off any affixes that they see. Next, they should break up the remaining parts of the word into syllables. Encourage them to infer the meaning of the word based on these word parts. Ask them how they would pronounce the word.

• Tri-Bonds can be a fun game that will also grow vocabulary and flexible thinking. Group three words together e.g. picnic, pool, and card & and ask what is the common connection. Others include; earth…book…inch and wagon…cart…steering!

SCIENCE OF READING

"The body of work referred to as the “science of reading” is not an ideology, a philosophy, a political agenda, a one-size-fits-all approach, a program of instruction, nor a specific component of instruction. It is the emerging consensus from many related disciplines, based on literally thousands of studies, supported by hundreds of millions of research dollars, conducted across the world in many languages. These studies have revealed a great deal about how we learn to read, what goes wrong when students don’t learn, and what kind of instruction is most likely to work the best for the most students."

-Dr. Louisa Moats

Learning the Science of Reading isn’t something that happens by reading one book, attending one webinar, or taking a single course. Just like most things in life the science of reading takes practice. It’s a process just like learning to drive or learning to play the guitar. Time is required to apply the information to your practice.

Think back to your first few years as a teacher. You had to learn how to teach, organize your classroom, and manage your classroom. It was like the circus act of keeping all the plates spinning without them falling. This journey may be difficult and long, but I promise you it will be a professional game changer.

RESOURCES



Professional Development Through Webinars and Training

Reading Rockets Reading 101 Reading 101 is a self-paced professional development course for K-3 teachers, developed by Reading Rockets. The program provides teachers with an in-depth knowledge of reading and writing so they are prepared to guide their students into becoming skilled and enthusiastic readers and writers.

Cox Campus. Learn best practices for both teachers and administrators. Free training and professional learning communities.

Zaner Bloser Science of Reading Webinar Series Three half-hour webinars explaining the science of reading with the why, what, and how.

The Reading Teacher’s Top Ten Tools by Deb Glaser This is an inexpensive way to learn about the science of reading and how it impacts your instruction. Tools are Knowledge, Oral Language, Phonemes, Phonics and Spelling, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Fluency, Writing, Read Aloud, Collaboration. IDA Accredited Program

Really Great Reading offers free diagnostic testing materials and professional webinars to understand the process of learning to read.

Bookworms Webinar Series with Sharon Walpole Free 9-week video series on how to teach using evidenced based strategies and materials.

Professional Development through Reading

Young Children’s Oral Language Development

Structured Literacy and Typical Literacy Practices-Understanding Difference to Create Instructional Opportunities by Louise Spear Swirling. Comparison between typical literacy practices and structured literacy practices and how to modify your instruction.

Structured Literacy: Effective Instruction for Students with Dyslexia and Related Reading Difficulties

UFLI.education.ufl.edu UFLI Foundations provides teachers with detailed, but easy-to-use, lesson plans that follow an eight step routine.

Classroom Suggestions and Routines

An Example of the 90 Minute Reading Block . Research shows that students need at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction each day to become strong readers, and that this instruction must be systematic, explicit, scaffolded, and differentiated across the classroom.

Structured Intervention Lesson . Fifteen-minute intervention lesson. Please note. During the oral reading the teacher taps after every word. I am unclear why she is doing that. It is not considered a part of the typical routine.

STEPS Lesson Small group instruction by Dr. Glaser using Next Steps in Literacy Instruction by Dr. Susan Smartt

Anita Archer’s Explicit Instruction Dr. Archer presents 10 short video segments on Golden Principles of Explicit Instruction. May need to be purchased but some examples on the website.

Pam Kastner’s Wakelets A collection of padlets storing a large variety of resources on the Science of Reading.

Ceedar has Course Enhancement Modules (CEMs) that include everything a teacher needs for structured literacy training.