Building Knowledgeable and Skillful Leadership in Vocabulary and Comprehension A Presentation of the National Reading

1. 1 Building Knowledgeable and Skillful Leadership in Vocabulary and ComprehensionA Presentation of the National Reading Technical Assistance Center Developed by the National Reading Technical Assistance Center Arlington, VA Speaker’s notes Additional information Speaker’s notes Additional information

2. 2 Objectives Leadership and Reading Instruction Vocabulary Research Best practices-what to look for Comprehension Research Best practices-what to look for Next Steps Leadership and Reading Research Qualities of a school/district leader Vocabulary Research on Vocabulary What too look for/Best practices Physical environment High quality initial and differentiated instruction Independent practice/literacy centers Comprehension Research on comprehension What to look for/Best practices Physical environment High quality initial and differentiated instruction Independent practice/literacy centers Next steps: Putting it all together—using the tools provided, particularly the vocab and comp action plan checklist, to increase your effectiveness as a leader Leadership and Reading Research Qualities of a school/district leader Vocabulary Research on Vocabulary What too look for/Best practices Physical environment High quality initial and differentiated instruction Independent practice/literacy centers Comprehension Research on comprehension What to look for/Best practices Physical environment High quality initial and differentiated instruction Independent practice/literacy centers Next steps: Putting it all together—using the tools provided, particularly the vocab and comp action plan checklist, to increase your effectiveness as a leader

3. 3 2008 NAEP Results In reading, scores are on the rise: 220 for 9-year-olds, up from 216 in 2004; 260 for 13-year-olds, up from 257; 286 for 17-year-olds, up from 283. Nine- and 13-year-olds have made reading gains since 1971, but scores for 17-year-olds were virtually unchanged. The achievement gap is the smallest it has been since 1971 for 9 and 13 year olds! But, THERE IS MUCH MORE WORK TO BE DONE! Kamil, 2009 The facts: 1. There are three basic problems that create most of the reading difficulties our students experience (the stumbling blocks to becoming a good reader) (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998-Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children): Difficulty learning to read words accurately and fluently Insufficient vocabulary, general knowledge, and reasoning skills to support comprehension of written language Absence or loss of initial motivation to read, or failure to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of reading. 2. The longer a child remains a poor reader, the harder it is to “catch up” with grade level standards. Example: Hart and Risley (vocabulary deficits); Stanovich (Matthew Effect; Oral vocab at end of first grade is a signif predictor of RC ten years later). A student who is a year behind grade level, needs to accelerate through two school years to be on grade level by the end of the year. 3. Each year, the knowledge and skill required to achieve grade level standards in reading increases 4. Children are enormously diverse in their talent and preparation for learning to read…which makes for a variety of different levels of learning ability in each classroom. The achievement gap is the smallest it has been since 1971 for 9 and 13 year olds! But, THERE IS MUCH MORE WORK TO BE DONE! Kamil, 2009 The facts: 1. There are three basic problems that create most of the reading difficulties our students experience (the stumbling blocks to becoming a good reader) (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998-Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children): Difficulty learning to read words accurately and fluently Insufficient vocabulary, general knowledge, and reasoning skills to support comprehension of written language Absence or loss of initial motivation to read, or failure to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of reading. 2. The longer a child remains a poor reader, the harder it is to “catch up” with grade level standards. Example: Hart and Risley (vocabulary deficits); Stanovich (Matthew Effect; Oral vocab at end of first grade is a signif predictor of RC ten years later). A student who is a year behind grade level, needs to accelerate through two school years to be on grade level by the end of the year. 3. Each year, the knowledge and skill required to achieve grade level standards in reading increases 4. Children are enormously diverse in their talent and preparation for learning to read…which makes for a variety of different levels of learning ability in each classroom.

4. 4 Teaching Reading is Urgent The Problem and Context 20% of students have significant reading problems. Most reading failure is unnecessary. The majority of educators underestimate the depth of preparation and practice needed. Teaching Reading is a job for an expert! Moats, 2009 The Problem and Context 20% of students have significant reading problems. Most reading failure is unnecessary. The majority of educators underestimate the depth of preparation and practice needed. Teaching Reading is a job for an expert! Moats, 2009

5. 5 The Solution to the Problem: Prevention! Identify early and intervene strategically. Monitor progress to determine if children are learning enough. Expect and plan for "different" levels of instruction (e.g., small groups, double dose). Focus on the vital signs–the core content Hold instructional time sacred. So what can we do? We can do our best to prevent reading difficulties. Read slide What does leadership have to do with this? Everything…see next slide So what can we do? We can do our best to prevent reading difficulties. Read slide What does leadership have to do with this? Everything…see next slide

6. 6 The Importance of School Leadership “. . . there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around in the absence of intervention by talented leaders. While other factors within the school also contribute to such turnarounds, leadership is the catalyst.” Presenter’s notes This quote is from a 2004 review of the research commissioned by The Wallace Foundation—How Leadership Influences Student Learning—conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Toronto. It underscores the critical role the principal plays in school improvement. The leadership provided by the principal can have a tremendous effect on classroom instructional practices. According to Schmoker (A chance for change 2007), “every close study of actual classroom practice reveals that instruction is typically mediocre, or worse—even in so-called ‘good schools.’ In most schools there is a massive gap between effective practice and actual practice.” “The primary reason for the poor state of instruction is that we do not, in all honesty, supervise it. Therefore, good instruction is voluntary—and rare.”Presenter’s notes This quote is from a 2004 review of the research commissioned by The Wallace Foundation—How Leadership Influences Student Learning—conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Toronto. It underscores the critical role the principal plays in school improvement. The leadership provided by the principal can have a tremendous effect on classroom instructional practices. According to Schmoker (A chance for change 2007), “every close study of actual classroom practice reveals that instruction is typically mediocre, or worse—even in so-called ‘good schools.’ In most schools there is a massive gap between effective practice and actual practice.” “The primary reason for the poor state of instruction is that we do not, in all honesty, supervise it. Therefore, good instruction is voluntary—and rare.”

7. 7 What does it take to sustain an effective reading program? That which is worth sustaining is best supported not by a person but by a system and its culture. Build and nurture the system and its culture. Effective leadership, at the school and district level, and the systems the school and district have put in place, are necessary to implement and sustain effective, evidence-based reading programs. “. . . creating a collaborative environment has been described as ‘the single most important factor’ for successful school improvement initiatives, and ‘the first order of business’ for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their schools.” A collaborative culture is essential to the success of a reading program in a school. Improving reading outcomes for all students demands the energy and momentum of a cooperative, cohesive staff led by an effective principal. Effective leadership, at the school and district level, and the systems the school and district have put in place, are necessary to implement and sustain effective, evidence-based reading programs. “. . . creating a collaborative environment has been described as ‘the single most important factor’ for successful school improvement initiatives, and ‘the first order of business’ for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their schools.” A collaborative culture is essential to the success of a reading program in a school. Improving reading outcomes for all students demands the energy and momentum of a cooperative, cohesive staff led by an effective principal.

8. 8 What is Reading Culture? “How we do things here” (with respect to reading) Materials we use Training and support we provide Instruction we plan and deliver Assessments we conduct Way we use time and other resources Leadership we provide for reading Our shared mission, vision, beliefs, expectations, norms, values, and practices related to reading outcomes Presenter’s notes See HO 1 Culture Culture, in a general sense, can be thought of as “how a group of people does things,” such as how they greet one another, communicate, dress, eat, work, and play. A school’s reading culture can be defined as how the school staff teaches reading: how instructional materials are selected and used, how individual students’ instructional needs are addressed, how and when students are assessed, how assessment information is used, how instructional time is used, and how staff members learn and collaborate with one another (Paine, 2007). More than an effective practice by an individual teacher, school culture is determined by how the school acts as a community to address students’ needs. Strong leadership is essential. It is the principal’s responsibility to build and sustain a strong reading culture in the school (Paine, 2007a). Changing student outcomes is about changing the school culture. School culture doesn’t matter only when outcomes don’t matter. In a reading sense, our school reading culture is reflected in: our common purpose, vision and expectations related to reading outcomes; how we communicate about reading outcomes; the procedures we use in common to address decisions about curriculum, instruction, assessment, and how we use time and other resources to affect reading outcomes; reading culture is a strong determinant of reading outcomes; the reading culture can be strong or weak in supporting outcomes; the principal who holds primary responsibility for developing and maintaining a strong reading culture in the school. See 2nd part of handout for Strategies for developing a strong reading culture. Barriers to a strong reading culture: Change of leadership (principal or coach), Lack of participation by principal, Staff turnover (new teachers), Changing goals/priorities at district/school level, Loss of urgency for improved outcomes, Cultural drift Leaders at all levels can play a key role in breaking down barriers and implementing strategies to promote sustainability. Effective leaders don’t simply encourage schools to go off and do whatever they want, but rather establish clear parameters and priorities that enable schools to work within established boundaries. Richard DuFour Presenter’s notes See HO 1 Culture Culture, in a general sense, can be thought of as “how a group of people does things,” such as how they greet one another, communicate, dress, eat, work, and play. A school’s reading culture can be defined as how the school staff teaches reading: how instructional materials are selected and used, how individual students’ instructional needs are addressed, how and when students are assessed, how assessment information is used, how instructional time is used, and how staff members learn and collaborate with one another (Paine, 2007). More than an effective practice by an individual teacher, school culture is determined by how the school acts as a community to address students’ needs. Strong leadership is essential. It is the principal’s responsibility to build and sustain a strong reading culture in the school (Paine, 2007a). Changing student outcomes is about changing the school culture. School culture doesn’t matter only when outcomes don’t matter. In a reading sense, our school reading culture is reflected in: our common purpose, vision and expectations related to reading outcomes; how we communicate about reading outcomes; the procedures we use in common to address decisions about curriculum, instruction, assessment, and how we use time and other resources to affect reading outcomes; reading culture is a strong determinant of reading outcomes; the reading culture can be strong or weak in supporting outcomes; the principal who holds primary responsibility for developing and maintaining a strong reading culture in the school. See 2nd part of handout for Strategies for developing a strong reading culture. Barriers to a strong reading culture: Change of leadership (principal or coach), Lack of participation by principal, Staff turnover (new teachers), Changing goals/priorities at district/school level, Loss of urgency for improved outcomes, Cultural drift Leaders at all levels can play a key role in breaking down barriers and implementing strategies to promote sustainability. Effective leaders don’t simply encourage schools to go off and do whatever they want, but rather establish clear parameters and priorities that enable schools to work within established boundaries. Richard DuFour

9. 9 Local Reading Culture Think about your school’s or district’s reading culture Does the school/district have clearly articulated and shared purpose, vision and goals? Is the school/district on common ground regarding values, norms, beliefs, language, and expectations for both students and staff around reading outcomes? Common ground creates strong culture This includes: common mission (what’s our purpose?); common vision (what’s possible?); common beliefs (what do we believe is essential for learning to read?); common understanding about what it takes; common practices and expectations of staff; common commitment to student success. See Handout 2 Culture Scale. Take a moment to fill out the scale and think about how you might answer the questions at the bottom. Common ground creates strong culture This includes: common mission (what’s our purpose?); common vision (what’s possible?); common beliefs (what do we believe is essential for learning to read?); common understanding about what it takes; common practices and expectations of staff; common commitment to student success. See Handout 2 Culture Scale. Take a moment to fill out the scale and think about how you might answer the questions at the bottom.

10. 10 Leadership You cannot lead or teach what you do not know and understand. You cannot inspire that which you do not believe in. Read the slide. In order to lead teachers to implement effective vocabulary and comprehension instruction, you must understand it yourself. Let’s talk about vocabulary and comprehension instruction as part as an effective comprehensive reading program. Read the slide. In order to lead teachers to implement effective vocabulary and comprehension instruction, you must understand it yourself. Let’s talk about vocabulary and comprehension instruction as part as an effective comprehensive reading program.

11. 11 Critical Elements of an Effective Reading Program Consistently implemented, high quality initial classroom instruction and follow-up small-group instruction that is well-differentiated according to student needs Use of student performance data to guide instruction and allocate instructional resources Resources to provide interventions for struggling readers We introduce the elements here because they are the core areas of excellence found in almost all schools that have achieved success in teaching reading to diverse student populations. 1. Implement high quality initial EXPLICIT and SYSTEMATIC instruction in the five essential components Teachers have the knowledge of how to plan and deliver effective whole and small group instruction which focuses on the five components of reading. Instruction is delivered using the gradual release of responsibility model with the use of techniques for active student engagement and effective discussions SBRI, 90 minutes, 3 tier model -Plan and deliver direct, explicit and systematic lessons that demonstrate best practices and actively engage students in their learning Teachers have clear objectives for instruction, deliver targeted instruction utilizing the Core Curricula, provide focused activities, and adjust the instructional complexity through differentiation. Differentiation of the literacy block (I-whole, We-small, you-IP) and within each instructional grouping type (whole-I, we, you; small-I, we, you). -Explicit instruction is concrete and visible. The teacher explains new concepts and skills in clear and concise language and models examples. He or she teaches concepts and skills directly. - -Systematic instruction involves carefully sequencing instruction from simple to more complex concepts and skills. -Active engagement refers to the opportunities afforded to the learner to be actively involved in the learning process. 2. Differentiate instruction based on data: First, data provide valuable information to help teachers adapt instruction for individual students. Valid and reliable assessments of reading progress provide key information that allows teachers to target their instruction for individual students, and it also allows them to determine when further adjustments need to be made because of a lack of student progress. Second, reliable data on student progress are useful for principals in making important school-level decisions about instruction and allocation of resources, such as decisions about: a) scheduling classes, b) assigning students to classes, c) planning professional development and support for each grade level as well as individual teachers, and d) allocating resources to support extra instruction for students who need it. 3. Even when teachers are providing excellent initial instruction and effective small-group differentiated instruction, some students’ instructional needs will still not be met. In many elementary schools, the diversity of talent and preparation for learning to read is so great that some students will require four or five times the amount of instruction an average student requires. Some students’ needs are simply too great to expect the individual teacher, by herself, to meet them. Research has shown that we must provide reading instruction for diverse groups of students along a continuum of intensity Since each of these aspects of instruction affects student learning directly, district and school leaders should have a thorough understanding of each as well as the content being taught. Leadership role: The most promising strategy for sustained, school improvement is building the capacity of the school personnel to function collaboratively. But collaboration alone will not guarantee school improvement. See HO 3 We introduce the elements here because they are the core areas of excellence found in almost all schools that have achieved success in teaching reading to diverse student populations. 1. Implement high quality initial EXPLICIT and SYSTEMATIC instruction in the five essential components Teachers have the knowledge of how to plan and deliver effective whole and small group instruction which focuses on the five components of reading. Instruction is delivered using the gradual release of responsibility model with the use of techniques for active student engagement and effective discussions SBRI, 90 minutes, 3 tier model -Plan and deliver direct, explicit and systematic lessons that demonstrate best practices and actively engage students in their learning Teachers have clear objectives for instruction, deliver targeted instruction utilizing the Core Curricula, provide focused activities, and adjust the instructional complexity through differentiation. Differentiation of the literacy block (I-whole, We-small, you-IP) and within each instructional grouping type (whole-I, we, you; small-I, we, you). -Explicit instruction is concrete and visible. The teacher explains new concepts and skills in clear and concise language and models examples. He or she teaches concepts and skills directly. - -Systematic instruction involves carefully sequencing instruction from simple to more complex concepts and skills. -Active engagement refers to the opportunities afforded to the learner to be actively involved in the learning process. 2. Differentiate instruction based on data: First, data provide valuable information to help teachers adapt instruction for individual students. Valid and reliable assessments of reading progress provide key information that allows teachers to target their instruction for individual students, and it also allows them to determine when further adjustments need to be made because of a lack of student progress. Second, reliable data on student progress are useful for principals in making important school-level decisions about instruction and allocation of resources, such as decisions about: a) scheduling classes, b) assigning students to classes, c) planning professional development and support for each grade level as well as individual teachers, and d) allocating resources to support extra instruction for students who need it. 3. Even when teachers are providing excellent initial instruction and effective small-group differentiated instruction, some students’ instructional needs will still not be met. In many elementary schools, the diversity of talent and preparation for learning to read is so great that some students will require four or five times the amount of instruction an average student requires. Some students’ needs are simply too great to expect the individual teacher, by herself, to meet them. Research has shown that we must provide reading instruction for diverse groups of students along a continuum of intensity Since each of these aspects of instruction affects student learning directly, district and school leaders should have a thorough understanding of each as well as the content being taught. Leadership role: The most promising strategy for sustained, school improvement is building the capacity of the school personnel to function collaboratively. But collaboration alone will not guarantee school improvement. See HO 3

12. 12 Providing Leadership for Effective Classroom Instruction The principal must work to increase the consistency with which high quality instruction is provided in all the classrooms in the school. A principal can have a strong impact in this area by doing three things well. Ensuring teachers have excellent, ongoing, professional development Ensuring teachers have adequate materials to support high quality instruction. Monitoring classroom instruction through principal walk-throughs. Read slide. Instruction has a larger impact on student success, college admission, and college graduation than all other factors combined. Schmoker, 2007 Walk-throughs: There is an old adage that effective principals like to quote, “If you expect it, then you need to inspect it.” We recommend that principals focus primarily on three questions about classroom instruction when they visit classrooms in elementary school (Torgesen): a. Are teachers providing explicit, well organized, and engaging whole group instruction? b. Is small-group instruction differentiated appropriately by student need? c. While the teacher is teaching a small group of students, are the other students involved in independent learning activities that are appropriate and engaging?Read slide. Instruction has a larger impact on student success, college admission, and college graduation than all other factors combined. Schmoker, 2007 Walk-throughs: There is an old adage that effective principals like to quote, “If you expect it, then you need to inspect it.” We recommend that principals focus primarily on three questions about classroom instruction when they visit classrooms in elementary school (Torgesen): a. Are teachers providing explicit, well organized, and engaging whole group instruction? b. Is small-group instruction differentiated appropriately by student need? c. While the teacher is teaching a small group of students, are the other students involved in independent learning activities that are appropriate and engaging?

13. 13 Leadership and use of data Effective use of data includes: Data: collecting, inputting, accessing, interpreting, and discussing (training/supervision for all steps, all people involved; fidelity of procedures, accuracy, timeliness) Goals: knowing & going for benchmarks & standards Use of data in effective teams for instructional purposes (district, principal-coach, grade level, school level teams) Meetings that make a difference (options, agreement, implement, follow-up, monitor, adjust, criteria) Sharing data w/staff, district, parents Before we can talk about walkthroughs, leaders need to understand their role in data analysis and utilization and how they work collaboratively with the coach.  Identifying grade level needs based on data is a pre-cursor to the classroom walkthroughs. Leaders can then ensure that what is occurring in the classroom is matching the student needs (across classrooms and grade levels).  See the two part graphic that explicitly explains the principal and coach role in working together to support an evidence-based reading model.  Data is an essential variable for learning. The use of data is multi-faceted. We must train for data collection and inputting, we must learn about accessing and interpreting. But most importantly, we must be able to use it to guide subsequent instruction, and we must have a process for doing so--the grade level team meeting. We need to structure these meetings to make a difference And a way to follow-up to assure that the instructional changes have been made and are working..... (Examples: space flight, driving, medical care--mid-course corrections) Where do the data come into play? In district team meetings, principal-coach meetings, grade level meetings,early literacy team meetings, parent conferences Before we can talk about walkthroughs, leaders need to understand their role in data analysis and utilization and how they work collaboratively with the coach.  Identifying grade level needs based on data is a pre-cursor to the classroom walkthroughs. Leaders can then ensure that what is occurring in the classroom is matching the student needs (across classrooms and grade levels).  See the two part graphic that explicitly explains the principal and coach role in working together to support an evidence-based reading model.  Data is an essential variable for learning. The use of data is multi-faceted. We must train for data collection and inputting, we must learn about accessing and interpreting. But most importantly, we must be able to use it to guide subsequent instruction, and we must have a process for doing so--the grade level team meeting. We need to structure these meetings to make a difference And a way to follow-up to assure that the instructional changes have been made and are working..... (Examples: space flight, driving, medical care--mid-course corrections) Where do the data come into play? In district team meetings, principal-coach meetings, grade level meetings,early literacy team meetings, parent conferences

14. 14 Walk-throughs A basic model for classroom visits: What are the students doing? correlates of learning & achievement What is the teacher doing? indicators of effective teaching What are the students doing? correlates of learning & achievement-“While the teacher is teaching a small group of students, are the other students involved in independent learning activities that are appropriate and engaging?” Correlates of learning and achievement involve active student engagement, such as on-task, academically engaged time; opportunities to respond; the number of positive instructional interactions between the teacher and the student (number of times a teacher gets a student to practice a skill correctly); 100% participation; and teacher pacing (number of student instructional responses per minute). What is the teacher doing? indicators of effective teaching-“Are teachers providing explicit, well organized and engaging whole-group instruction?” “Is small-group instruction differentiated appropriately by student need?” Some indicators of effective teaching include the teacher’s following the lesson plan, the teacher’s ability to use the program and materials, and whether the teacher is teaching for the entire amount of time allocated for instruction. It is also important to observe the teacher’s feedback to students and management of transitions. Teacher feedback to students should include: 1) APE—affirmation, praise, and encouragement, 2) corrective feedback, and 3) checking for understanding following correction. Here’s a basic framework to guide your walk-through observations.....It’s simple, but it captures the essence of the process and allows fulfillment of the purpose. What do you see? (the observed facts) Why might that be? (the present context) What can you learn? (the available lessons) What might you say? It is important to consider what teachers would think if a principal started doing frequent walk-throughs without first discussing it with them. Doing so could lead to doubts and suspicion about the principal’s motives. It is also important to provide frequent, positive feedback during the initial stages of implementing walk-throughs to build a sense of trust about the process. Use walkthroughs and other culture building activities to: Cultivate a team culture focused on student improvement in reading Build a teaching-learning collaboration Communicate the norm of continuous learning for students and adults Focus on the purpose of supporting strong instruction for all students State purpose and plans for classroom visits What are the students doing? correlates of learning & achievement-“While the teacher is teaching a small group of students, are the other students involved in independent learning activities that are appropriate and engaging?” Correlates of learning and achievement involve active student engagement, such as on-task, academically engaged time; opportunities to respond; the number of positive instructional interactions between the teacher and the student (number of times a teacher gets a student to practice a skill correctly); 100% participation; and teacher pacing (number of student instructional responses per minute). What is the teacher doing? indicators of effective teaching-“Are teachers providing explicit, well organized and engaging whole-group instruction?” “Is small-group instruction differentiated appropriately by student need?” Some indicators of effective teaching include the teacher’s following the lesson plan, the teacher’s ability to use the program and materials, and whether the teacher is teaching for the entire amount of time allocated for instruction. It is also important to observe the teacher’s feedback to students and management of transitions. Teacher feedback to students should include: 1) APE—affirmation, praise, and encouragement, 2) corrective feedback, and 3) checking for understanding following correction. Here’s a basic framework to guide your walk-through observations.....It’s simple, but it captures the essence of the process and allows fulfillment of the purpose. What do you see? (the observed facts) Why might that be? (the present context) What can you learn? (the available lessons) What might you say? It is important to consider what teachers would think if a principal started doing frequent walk-throughs without first discussing it with them. Doing so could lead to doubts and suspicion about the principal’s motives. It is also important to provide frequent, positive feedback during the initial stages of implementing walk-throughs to build a sense of trust about the process. Use walkthroughs and other culture building activities to: Cultivate a team culture focused on student improvement in reading Build a teaching-learning collaboration Communicate the norm of continuous learning for students and adults Focus on the purpose of supporting strong instruction for all students State purpose and plans for classroom visits

15. 15 Walk-throughs Purpose: Teacher intentionally plans & instructs for student achievement of essential learning Rigor: Each learner is appropriately challenged as the teacher moves students to higher levels of achievement Engagement: Teacher & student actively participate in the learning & are focused on the lesson Results: The intended learning is achieved The slide describes what leaders should look for when walking through classrooms. -There should be two-way communication between the principal and the teacher about the walk-through process from the beginning. -Principals can defuse anxiety by being positive, supportive, and collaborative, and by asking for teachers’ feedback on the process. They can also communicate that walk-throughs help them learn, too. -Principals should strive to make the collaborative role the overwhelmingly dominant one. This role is formative, relationship-based, student-oriented, and outcomes-focused. This is the role that principals should play day in and day out. It can help transform the school’s reading culture to reflect a strong focus on staff collaboration to enhance teaching and learning. The slide describes what leaders should look for when walking through classrooms. -There should be two-way communication between the principal and the teacher about the walk-through process from the beginning. -Principals can defuse anxiety by being positive, supportive, and collaborative, and by asking for teachers’ feedback on the process. They can also communicate that walk-throughs help them learn, too. -Principals should strive to make the collaborative role the overwhelmingly dominant one. This role is formative, relationship-based, student-oriented, and outcomes-focused. This is the role that principals should play day in and day out. It can help transform the school’s reading culture to reflect a strong focus on staff collaboration to enhance teaching and learning.

16. 16 Sample Format for Follow-Up One positive comment One prompt, question, or suggestion Connected to the instruction that was observed Focused on student response to instruction Truly open-ended—no “right answer” Not “Why did you…?” but “How would you?” One further follow-up component “Where do we go from here?” “Let’s touch base in a day or two.” Presenter’s notes The slide demonstrates a model for providing follow-up with a teacher after completing a classroom walk-through. If the feedback is provided in writing, it is best to follow up with a brief face-to-face conversation (if for no other purpose that to reinforce the positive comments in the written message). This builds trust. In subsequent interactions, the principal (or coach) can follow up with the teacher by: Asking how it is going (and stopping by to see in person) Asking what support the teacher needs Affirming the teacher’s efforts to implement suggestions Asking the teacher to think about connections By increasing their presence in classrooms, principals can support teachers in the reflection and improvement process Walk-throughs can help build a strong culture of collaboration in the school to support reading success To be effective, walk-throughs must be empowering, affirming, and growth-producing, not evaluative Presenter’s notes The slide demonstrates a model for providing follow-up with a teacher after completing a classroom walk-through. If the feedback is provided in writing, it is best to follow up with a brief face-to-face conversation (if for no other purpose that to reinforce the positive comments in the written message). This builds trust. In subsequent interactions, the principal (or coach) can follow up with the teacher by: Asking how it is going (and stopping by to see in person) Asking what support the teacher needs Affirming the teacher’s efforts to implement suggestions Asking the teacher to think about connections By increasing their presence in classrooms, principals can support teachers in the reflection and improvement process Walk-throughs can help build a strong culture of collaboration in the school to support reading success To be effective, walk-throughs must be empowering, affirming, and growth-producing, not evaluative

17. 17 What to look for…regarding vocabulary Research and practice Action plan checklist See HO 4 what to look for in general and HO 5 vocab section of vocab and comp action plan Early frameworks for teaching and learning (up until about 1975) helped educators understand that it was important for students to be “on task” and engaged in academic activities for learning to take place. Research from that point forward has demonstrated the importance of active participation during instructional time. This concept is called “opportunity to respond” and is measured by the average number of active responses a student makes (or a teacher provides) in a given period of time—usually one minute. More recent work has refined this concept to focus on the number of “positive instructional interactions” a student experiences per minute. This refinement takes into account the frequency of responding, the appropriateness of the tasks, and teacher follow-up to a student’s response. Principals are strongly encouraged to monitor the quality and intensity of instruction they observe by attending to students’ opportunities to respond and positive instructional interactions between students and teachers. High levels of these variables will lead to higher levels of learning. See HO 4 what to look for in general and HO 5 vocab section of vocab and comp action plan Early frameworks for teaching and learning (up until about 1975) helped educators understand that it was important for students to be “on task” and engaged in academic activities for learning to take place. Research from that point forward has demonstrated the importance of active participation during instructional time. This concept is called “opportunity to respond” and is measured by the average number of active responses a student makes (or a teacher provides) in a given period of time—usually one minute. More recent work has refined this concept to focus on the number of “positive instructional interactions” a student experiences per minute. This refinement takes into account the frequency of responding, the appropriateness of the tasks, and teacher follow-up to a student’s response. Principals are strongly encouraged to monitor the quality and intensity of instruction they observe by attending to students’ opportunities to respond and positive instructional interactions between students and teachers. High levels of these variables will lead to higher levels of learning.

18. 18 Some Specifics on the Importance of Vocabulary Growing up in poverty can seriously restrict the vocabulary children learn before beginning school and make attaining an adequate vocabulary a very challenging task (Coyne, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 2004; Hart & Risley, 1995). Less advantaged students are likely to have substantially smaller vocabularies than their more advantaged classmates (Templin, 1957; White, Graves, & Slater, 1990). Lack of vocabulary can be a crucial factor underlying the school failure of disadvantaged students (Becker, 1977; Biemiller, 1999). Learning English vocabulary is one of the most crucial tasks for English learners (August, Carlo, Dressler, & Snow; 2005; Kieffer & Lesaux, 2007). ? Hart and Risley (1995, 2003) estimate that by age 3, some less advantaged students have heard 30 million fewer words than their more advantaged peers. ? Hart and Risley further estimate that these students’ vocabularies may be half the size of those of their more advantaged counterparts, and that closing this gap is a huge task. NRP Vocabulary occupies an important position in learning to read. As a learner begins to read, reading vocabulary encountered in texts is mapped onto the oral vocabulary the learner brings to the task. Benefits in understanding text by applying letter-sound correspondences to printed material come about only if the target word is in the learner’s oral vocabulary. When the word is not in the learner’s oral vocabulary, it will not be understood when it occurs in print. Oral vocabulary is a key to learning to make the transition from oral to written forms. Reading vocabulary is crucial to the comprehension processes of a skilled reader. Teaching vocabulary improves general comprehension ability. Oral vocabulary at the end of first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension ten years later. Preteaching helps both word learning and comprehension. A variety of instructional methods should be used. Dependence on a single vocabulary instruction method will not result in optimal learning. Vocabulary can be acquired through incidental learning. The panel recommended that direct and indirect approaches be combined. Elem teachers should teach tier 2 words after reading and expose kids to lots of text. A combination of definitions and contextual examples works better than either one alone. Vocabulary words should be those that the learner will find useful in many contexts. 4. Repetition and multiple exposure in a variety of contexts are important. Lexicon is a net—more exposure word has, more likely it will be stuck in the lexicon (i.e., the more connections that are made to a word, the better the word tends to be learned). Think of a word as a hub, with spokes leading to all of our associations with that word. The more spokes, the better developed our knowledge of the word’s meaning. 5. Vocabulary learning is effective when students are actively engaged in learning tasks. Fortunately, there is no one best way to teach vocabulary effectively. Many approaches have been validated. All of them actively engage students in learning words. All involved in construction of meaning interactively. The panel was not very specific about technology, saying only that some software had shown promise. Vocab challenge: To comprehend what we read, at least 95% of the words must be recognized automatically. How is this possible given the number of words in English? English contains more words than any other language. How can anyone learn enough of them to reach this magic level of 95% automatic word recognition? The answer is that a small number of words occur repeatedly. The word the, for instance, accounts for 7% of all text! So reaching 95% is not that difficult. So, how does this work? How do you understand what you read? There are words that are used more often than others. Most of the words are extremely rare in print. Fewer words are repeated often in print ? Hart and Risley (1995, 2003) estimate that by age 3, some less advantaged students have heard 30 million fewer words than their more advantaged peers. ? Hart and Risley further estimate that these students’ vocabularies may be half the size of those of their more advantaged counterparts, and that closing this gap is a huge task. NRP Vocabulary occupies an important position in learning to read. As a learner begins to read, reading vocabulary encountered in texts is mapped onto the oral vocabulary the learner brings to the task. Benefits in understanding text by applying letter-sound correspondences to printed material come about only if the target word is in the learner’s oral vocabulary. When the word is not in the learner’s oral vocabulary, it will not be understood when it occurs in print. Oral vocabulary is a key to learning to make the transition from oral to written forms. Reading vocabulary is crucial to the comprehension processes of a skilled reader. Teaching vocabulary improves general comprehension ability. Oral vocabulary at the end of first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension ten years later. Preteaching helps both word learning and comprehension. A variety of instructional methods should be used. Dependence on a single vocabulary instruction method will not result in optimal learning. Vocabulary can be acquired through incidental learning. The panel recommended that direct and indirect approaches be combined. Elem teachers should teach tier 2 words after reading and expose kids to lots of text. A combination of definitions and contextual examples works better than either one alone. Vocabulary words should be those that the learner will find useful in many contexts. 4. Repetition and multiple exposure in a variety of contexts are important. Lexicon is a net—more exposure word has, more likely it will be stuck in the lexicon (i.e., the more connections that are made to a word, the better the word tends to be learned). Think of a word as a hub, with spokes leading to all of our associations with that word. The more spokes, the better developed our knowledge of the word’s meaning. 5. Vocabulary learning is effective when students are actively engaged in learning tasks. Fortunately, there is no one best way to teach vocabulary effectively. Many approaches have been validated. All of them actively engage students in learning words. All involved in construction of meaning interactively. The panel was not very specific about technology, saying only that some software had shown promise. Vocab challenge: To comprehend what we read, at least 95% of the words must be recognized automatically. How is this possible given the number of words in English? English contains more words than any other language. How can anyone learn enough of them to reach this magic level of 95% automatic word recognition? The answer is that a small number of words occur repeatedly. The word the, for instance, accounts for 7% of all text! So reaching 95% is not that difficult. So, how does this work? How do you understand what you read? There are words that are used more often than others. Most of the words are extremely rare in print. Fewer words are repeated often in print

19. 19 Project VITAL: Results 2. The words were not reviewed from posttest to delayed testing. 8 weeks after the posttest, expressive vocabulary decreased but receptive vocabulary increased slightly. Evidence: Vocabulary knowledge is durable, but higher and more complete levels of word knowledge may be more susceptible to deterioration over time. 3. RQ: Does systematic review help students maintain vocabulary knowledge? Evidence: Target words were assigned to 1 of 3 types of review. Findings suggest that systematic review (combo of embedded and extended review) or at least continued encounters of target words in supportive contexts are needed to reinforce and maintain strong and complete lexical representations Review provides a large educational benefit for a modest amount of instructional time 4. RQ: Do the effects of vocabulary instruction and intervention transfer to other areas of language and literacy? Implications: Findings suggest that extended vocabulary instruction implemented with kindergarten students can result in statistically and educationally significant differences on both proximal measures of target word knowledge and transfer measures of generalized language and literacy. A much stronger case could be made for the worth of vocabulary instruction if there was evidence to suggest that there were benefits beyond just learning the meanings of words targeted for instruction. 5. RQ: Is extended vocabulary instruction equally effective for all students? Initial level of receptive vocabulary knowledge (at-risk) Language status (ELL, EOL) Implications: Response to the vocabulary instruction was moderated by overall receptive vocabulary knowledge assessed at pretest ELLs, on average, did not respond as strongly to the vocabulary intervention as EOLs After controlling for initial English receptive vocabulary knowledge, language status was not related to outcomes. In other words, something of a matthew effect occurred. On listening comprehension measures, if you started lower (85 vs. 100 and 115) than the rest, it didn’t’ matter if you had intervention. You don’t catch up to the ones who started at 115 (higher). Entry level vocabulary knowledge predicted how they would respond to vocabulary instruction. The more you know the further you go. Therefore, it did not help to know who was an ELL. Good vocabulary instruction works for everyone. Project IVI RQ: Can Tier 2 vocabulary intervention increase the word learning of students at risk of language and learning difficulties? Methods: All Ss received whole class Tier 1 vocabulary instruction Ss with lower levels of vocabulary knowledge received additional Tier 2 intervention on half the target vocabulary words 2. The words were not reviewed from posttest to delayed testing. 8 weeks after the posttest, expressive vocabulary decreased but receptive vocabulary increased slightly. Evidence: Vocabulary knowledge is durable, but higher and more complete levels of word knowledge may be more susceptible to deterioration over time. 3. RQ: Does systematic review help students maintain vocabulary knowledge? Evidence: Target words were assigned to 1 of 3 types of review. Findings suggest that systematic review (combo of embedded and extended review) or at least continued encounters of target words in supportive contexts are needed to reinforce and maintain strong and complete lexical representations Review provides a large educational benefit for a modest amount of instructional time 4. RQ: Do the effects of vocabulary instruction and intervention transfer to other areas of language and literacy? Implications: Findings suggest that extended vocabulary instruction implemented with kindergarten students can result in statistically and educationally significant differences on both proximal measures of target word knowledge and transfer measures of generalized language and literacy. A much stronger case could be made for the worth of vocabulary instruction if there was evidence to suggest that there were benefits beyond just learning the meanings of words targeted for instruction. 5. RQ: Is extended vocabulary instruction equally effective for all students? Initial level of receptive vocabulary knowledge (at-risk) Language status (ELL, EOL) Implications: Response to the vocabulary instruction was moderated by overall receptive vocabulary knowledge assessed at pretest ELLs, on average, did not respond as strongly to the vocabulary intervention as EOLs After controlling for initial English receptive vocabulary knowledge, language status was not related to outcomes. In other words, something of a matthew effect occurred. On listening comprehension measures, if you started lower (85 vs. 100 and 115) than the rest, it didn’t’ matter if you had intervention. You don’t catch up to the ones who started at 115 (higher). Entry level vocabulary knowledge predicted how they would respond to vocabulary instruction. The more you know the further you go. Therefore, it did not help to know who was an ELL. Good vocabulary instruction works for everyone. Project IVI RQ: Can Tier 2 vocabulary intervention increase the word learning of students at risk of language and learning difficulties? Methods: All Ss received whole class Tier 1 vocabulary instruction Ss with lower levels of vocabulary knowledge received additional Tier 2 intervention on half the target vocabulary words

20. 20 What does it mean to know a word?Continuum of Word Knowledge No Knowledge of the word’s meaning General sense, such as knowing mendacious has a negative connotation Narrow, content-bound knowledge, such as knowing that a radiant bride is a beautifully smiling happy one, but unable to describe an individual in a different context as radiant Knowledge, but not being able to recall it readily enough to use it in appropriate situations Rich, Decontextualized Knowledge of a word’s meaning, its relationship to other words, and its extension to metaphorical uses, such as understanding what someone is doing when they are devouring a book What does it mean to know a word? Even as adults, we have varying degrees of knowledge of word meanings. Think about a word that you encounter in your daily reading, maybe from the newspaper. What is your level of knowledge of that word? Use the word knowledge phases above to see where your knowledge of that word lies.What does it mean to know a word? Even as adults, we have varying degrees of knowledge of word meanings. Think about a word that you encounter in your daily reading, maybe from the newspaper. What is your level of knowledge of that word? Use the word knowledge phases above to see where your knowledge of that word lies.

21. 21 Mental map of a partially known word in the lexicon=mental dictionary Look at the next slide. Mental map of a partially known word in the lexicon=mental dictionary Look at the next slide.

22. 22 Mental Map of a Well-Known Word Ideally, this is the extent to which many words should be known. See HO 6 Dimensions of word knowledge answers In addition, knowing a word is more than just knowing what the definition is. It includes knowing how the letters fit together to produce the right spelling, what sounds the letters make, understanding of word parts and their meanings, and even the origins of the words. Owen and Mzee: Extraordinary friendship, Bond, Attachments, Together, Companionship, Astonishing friendship, True affection All of these words are used on 2 pages…a short span of time. All of these words stand for the main idea. Reflection Why does the author use different words for the same concept? To emphasize the main idea and demonstrate the variety of words that have the same or similar meaning. What is the advantage to the reader? Exposes reader to more challenging vocabulary and expands vocabulary What role does vocabulary play in comprehension? Teaching vocabulary improves general comprehension ability. Preteaching vocabulary helps both word learning and comprehension of a selection. Oral vocabulary at the end of first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension ten years later. Ideally, this is the extent to which many words should be known. See HO 6 Dimensions of word knowledge answers In addition, knowing a word is more than just knowing what the definition is. It includes knowing how the letters fit together to produce the right spelling, what sounds the letters make, understanding of word parts and their meanings, and even the origins of the words. Owen and Mzee: Extraordinary friendship, Bond, Attachments, Together, Companionship, Astonishing friendship, True affection All of these words are used on 2 pages…a short span of time. All of these words stand for the main idea. Reflection Why does the author use different words for the same concept? To emphasize the main idea and demonstrate the variety of words that have the same or similar meaning. What is the advantage to the reader? Exposes reader to more challenging vocabulary and expands vocabulary What role does vocabulary play in comprehension? Teaching vocabulary improves general comprehension ability. Preteaching vocabulary helps both word learning and comprehension of a selection. Oral vocabulary at the end of first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension ten years later.

23. 23 What words should we teach? Selection criteria for vocabulary instruction When determining which words to select, Beck indicates the teacher must consider that words can be divided into three tiers: 1. Words already in the student’s oral vocabulary, which he or she needs to learn to recognize in print. These are words that a child needs to learn to decode or recognize by sight. (Stahl & Nagy, 2005) 2. Words not in the student’s oral vocabulary, but which are labels for concepts already familiar to the student. The student may need to learn that apologize means to say one is sorry, or that elaborate means pretty much the same as complicated. These words may represent different shades of meaning from their synonym, but knowledge of the more frequent synonym will usually get a reader through a text containing that word. The different shades will be learned through continued exposure. Less intensive instruction may suffice. (Stahl & Nagy, 2005) Need to know fortunate to be a more complex version of lucky, a word they already know. Do they know a simple synonym? These are taught during language arts. 3. Words not in the student’s oral vocabulary that refer to concepts new to the student. For example, the student may not know the word osmosis, or feudalism, or exponential. In such a case, it is not simply a matter of not knowing the word: The student is likely to be totally unfamiliar with the concept. In this case, a definition or other brief explanation is unlikely to help. Rather, a teacher would need to spend a great deal of time examining such concepts. (Stahl & Nagy, 2005) Third is the hardest. They don’t know them even in their oral language. Mostly for concept area instruction. Concept words they know nothing about. Some considerations when determining tier two words are: Importance and utility – words that are characteristic of mature language users and appear frequently across a variety of domains. Instructional potential – words that can be worked with in a variety of ways so that students can build rich representations of them and of their connections to other words and concepts. Conceptual understanding – words for which students understand the general concept but provide precision and specificity in describing the concept. Be critical to understanding the fundamental concepts Not defined in the context of the textbook One test of whether a word meets the tier two criterion of being a useful addition to students’ repertoires is to think about whether the students already have ways to express the concepts represented by the words. Would students be able to explain these words using words that are already well known to them? About which words to choose, more emphasis should be placed on choosing high utility words, not just publisher chosen words. For instance, contrast is a word that could be used in all areas. The real question to ponder when deciding which words to choose becomes: which words should receive extended instruction? Which should receive embedded and which should be incidental? Activity: Read The big blue whale (HO 2). Select tier 2 words. The important words aren’t always in the text. Ex: This text is about migration but this word is never mentioned. The best words exploit relationships among the ideas and other words. Now select tier 3 words. How will you decide which tier 3 words to teach? Which is a better choice? Baleen, krill, or sieve? When determining which words to select, Beck indicates the teacher must consider that words can be divided into three tiers: 1. Words already in the student’s oral vocabulary, which he or she needs to learn to recognize in print. These are words that a child needs to learn to decode or recognize by sight. (Stahl & Nagy, 2005) 2. Words not in the student’s oral vocabulary, but which are labels for concepts already familiar to the student. The student may need to learn that apologize means to say one is sorry, or that elaborate means pretty much the same as complicated. These words may represent different shades of meaning from their synonym, but knowledge of the more frequent synonym will usually get a reader through a text containing that word. The different shades will be learned through continued exposure. Less intensive instruction may suffice. (Stahl & Nagy, 2005) Need to know fortunate to be a more complex version of lucky, a word they already know. Do they know a simple synonym? These are taught during language arts. 3. Words not in the student’s oral vocabulary that refer to concepts new to the student. For example, the student may not know the word osmosis, or feudalism, or exponential. In such a case, it is not simply a matter of not knowing the word: The student is likely to be totally unfamiliar with the concept. In this case, a definition or other brief explanation is unlikely to help. Rather, a teacher would need to spend a great deal of time examining such concepts. (Stahl & Nagy, 2005) Third is the hardest. They don’t know them even in their oral language. Mostly for concept area instruction. Concept words they know nothing about. Some considerations when determining tier two words are: Importance and utility – words that are characteristic of mature language users and appear frequently across a variety of domains. Instructional potential – words that can be worked with in a variety of ways so that students can build rich representations of them and of their connections to other words and concepts. Conceptual understanding – words for which students understand the general concept but provide precision and specificity in describing the concept. Be critical to understanding the fundamental concepts Not defined in the context of the textbook One test of whether a word meets the tier two criterion of being a useful addition to students’ repertoires is to think about whether the students already have ways to express the concepts represented by the words. Would students be able to explain these words using words that are already well known to them? About which words to choose, more emphasis should be placed on choosing high utility words, not just publisher chosen words. For instance, contrast is a word that could be used in all areas. The real question to ponder when deciding which words to choose becomes: which words should receive extended instruction? Which should receive embedded and which should be incidental? Activity: Read The big blue whale (HO 2). Select tier 2 words. The important words aren’t always in the text. Ex: This text is about migration but this word is never mentioned. The best words exploit relationships among the ideas and other words. Now select tier 3 words. How will you decide which tier 3 words to teach? Which is a better choice? Baleen, krill, or sieve?

24. 24 What should vocabulary instruction look like? What? A complete vocabulary approach to develop word consciousness How? Powerful high quality initial instruction for ALL students Powerful differentiated instruction to meet the needs of ALL students Independent practice/literacy centers Physical appearance of the classroom What should we do to teach vocabulary? Use a complete vocabulary approach to develop word consciousness Incidental, Direct instruction, Review and distributed practice How? High quality initial instruction: Whole group instruction of skills and differentiated, small group instruction for application of skills, re-teaching, and/or additional practice as determined by benchmark and progress monitoring data. Follows the sequence of instruction of the core reading program (systematic instruction) Uses assessment data to guide instructional decisions Provides explicit instruction Uses scientifically-based instructional adaptations when needed Is about teaching ALL children the essential grade level reading concepts, skills, and strategies Differentiation of the literacy block with I do being whole group, we do being small group, and you do is independent work. Differentiation within whole and small. For whole, I do, we do, you do during this time period. For small, I do, we do, you do Independent practice: Having ample opportunities to practice accurately learned skills is critical. Once students have demonstrated accuracy is acquiring a skill, then they need to build skill fluency. This occurs by practicing application of the skill. What we know from the literature is that students do not typically receive enough practice opportunities in the classroom. This is especially true to struggling readers. Reading centers provide independent practice for concepts, skills, and strategies that were already taught and practiced with guidance. Independent practice/center should include leveled book bins for independent reading, individual reading conferences Since the purpose of student centers is to EXTEND student opportunities to learn, the activities and routines will need to be introduced into the centers after students have received: explicit instruction, teacher modeling, and corrective feedback. Once student development in the specific routine and skill has been shaped, students are ready for extended independent practice in the student centers. Differentiate, when possible, within the center/task to provide targeted independent practice that better meets the learning needs of students. Review and distributed practice (especially for those in intervention) How can I help my students gain rich, decontextualized word knowledge? Vocabulary maintenance is critical. Beck says children need 14 exposures for meaningful word learning. Mass vs. distributed practice (much more reliable than mass practice). Don’t cram because you won’t remember later. Ss should be provided with cumulative review. Most core reading programs have cumulative review build into them. However, the amount of cumulative review is appropriate for the grade level reader. Thus, more frequent cumulative review may be needed for struggling readers. Struggling readers also have more difficultly “juggling” multiple skills in working memory, so mastery practice is important to keep previously learned skills fresh. Findings from project VITAL (Coyne et al): Findings suggest that systematic review (combo of embedded and extended review) or at least continued encounters of target words in supportive contexts are needed to reinforce and maintain strong and complete lexical representations Review provides a large educational benefit for a modest amount of instructional time Intervention: Intervention is MORE: Explicit and Systematic, Intensive (Focused, Targeted, Persistent, Accelerates learning), Supportive. What should we do to teach vocabulary? Use a complete vocabulary approach to develop word consciousness Incidental, Direct instruction, Review and distributed practice How? High quality initial instruction: Whole group instruction of skills and differentiated, small group instruction for application of skills, re-teaching, and/or additional practice as determined by benchmark and progress monitoring data. Follows the sequence of instruction of the core reading program (systematic instruction) Uses assessment data to guide instructional decisions Provides explicit instruction Uses scientifically-based instructional adaptations when needed Is about teaching ALL children the essential grade level reading concepts, skills, and strategies Differentiation of the literacy block with I do being whole group, we do being small group, and you do is independent work. Differentiation within whole and small. For whole, I do, we do, you do during this time period. For small, I do, we do, you do Independent practice: Having ample opportunities to practice accurately learned skills is critical. Once students have demonstrated accuracy is acquiring a skill, then they need to build skill fluency. This occurs by practicing application of the skill. What we know from the literature is that students do not typically receive enough practice opportunities in the classroom. This is especially true to struggling readers. Reading centers provide independent practice for concepts, skills, and strategies that were already taught and practiced with guidance. Independent practice/center should include leveled book bins for independent reading, individual reading conferences Since the purpose of student centers is to EXTEND student opportunities to learn, the activities and routines will need to be introduced into the centers after students have received: explicit instruction, teacher modeling, and corrective feedback. Once student development in the specific routine and skill has been shaped, students are ready for extended independent practice in the student centers. Differentiate, when possible, within the center/task to provide targeted independent practice that better meets the learning needs of students. Review and distributed practice (especially for those in intervention) How can I help my students gain rich, decontextualized word knowledge? Vocabulary maintenance is critical. Beck says children need 14 exposures for meaningful word learning. Mass vs. distributed practice (much more reliable than mass practice). Don’t cram because you won’t remember later. Ss should be provided with cumulative review. Most core reading programs have cumulative review build into them. However, the amount of cumulative review is appropriate for the grade level reader. Thus, more frequent cumulative review may be needed for struggling readers. Struggling readers also have more difficultly “juggling” multiple skills in working memory, so mastery practice is important to keep previously learned skills fresh. Findings from project VITAL (Coyne et al): Findings suggest that systematic review (combo of embedded and extended review) or at least continued encounters of target words in supportive contexts are needed to reinforce and maintain strong and complete lexical representations Review provides a large educational benefit for a modest amount of instructional time Intervention: Intervention is MORE: Explicit and Systematic, Intensive (Focused, Targeted, Persistent, Accelerates learning), Supportive.

25. 25 How should we teach words?Two Approaches to Direct Vocabulary Instruction Embedded Instruction: Simple explanation within the context of the story. Provides definitional and contextual information. (Biemiller & Boote, 2006; Penno et al., 2002) Breadth Extended Instruction: Robust approach that “offers rich information about words and their uses.” ( Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Coyne, Simmons, Kame’emnu, & Stoolmiller, 2004) Depth Interactive read alouds of fiction and nonfiction text are an extremely effective method for teaching vocabulary and developing comprehension. The teacher must decide in advance which words will be taught in an embedded manner, like fastmapping, and which will receive more in-depth instruction. Given limited instructional time, do we: 1) teach more word meanings but spend less time on each word or 2) teach fewer word meanings but spend more time on each word. The answer is to use a Tri-level approach: Incidental Exposure Read storybooks to children that contain varied and complex vocabulary Vocab development occurs as the result of incidental and cumulative exposure Ss hear target words in the context of the story. No additional instruction is provided. Read storybooks to children that contain varied and complex vocabulary. Vocab development occurs as the result of incidental and cumulative exposure Embedded Instruction Provide embedded instruction on a subset of words from the storybook Target words that Ss are unlikely to know and that they will continue to encounter in school and in texts Fastmapping Time efficient – allows for introduction of many words (breadth) Few exposures to target words, limited to context of the story Extended Instruction Provides extended instruction on a subset of words from the storybook. Explicit teaching that includes using both contextual and definitional information, giving multiple exposures of target words in varied contexts, and encouraging deep processing. Targets words that are essential for understanding important ideas and concepts in the story and that students need to make immediate use of Time intensive – limits instruction to fewer words (depth) Many encounters with words in varied contexts beyond the story Activities to foster word consciousness Anticipate multiple meaning words Identify categories Scaling for descriptive words Understanding morphology-using structural analysis exercises to help Ss produce language In a few moments, we will look at ways to extend instruction and foster word consciousness. Interactive read alouds of fiction and nonfiction text are an extremely effective method for teaching vocabulary and developing comprehension. The teacher must decide in advance which words will be taught in an embedded manner, like fastmapping, and which will receive more in-depth instruction. Given limited instructional time, do we: 1) teach more word meanings but spend less time on each word or 2) teach fewer word meanings but spend more time on each word. The answer is to use a Tri-level approach: Incidental Exposure Read storybooks to children that contain varied and complex vocabulary Vocab development occurs as the result of incidental and cumulative exposure Ss hear target words in the context of the story. No additional instruction is provided. Read storybooks to children that contain varied and complex vocabulary. Vocab development occurs as the result of incidental and cumulative exposure Embedded Instruction Provide embedded instruction on a subset of words from the storybook Target words that Ss are unlikely to know and that they will continue to encounter in school and in texts Fastmapping Time efficient – allows for introduction of many words (breadth) Few exposures to target words, limited to context of the story Extended Instruction Provides extended instruction on a subset of words from the storybook. Explicit teaching that includes using both contextual and definitional information, giving multiple exposures of target words in varied contexts, and encouraging deep processing. Targets words that are essential for understanding important ideas and concepts in the story and that students need to make immediate use of Time intensive – limits instruction to fewer words (depth) Many encounters with words in varied contexts beyond the story Activities to foster word consciousness Anticipate multiple meaning words Identify categories Scaling for descriptive words Understanding morphology-using structural analysis exercises to help Ss produce language In a few moments, we will look at ways to extend instruction and foster word consciousness.

26. 26 Extended Instruction: Text Talk. The following exchange occurred in a first-grade classroom after experience with Text Talk: Paul: Is this going to be an ordinary day? Ms. T: What would make it ordinary? Paul: If we like did the same thing. Ms. T: What might make it not ordinary, make it exceptional? Paul: If you gave us prizes for being good - I mean exceptional and mature. Other forms of extended instruction to directly teach words and foster word consciousness: See HO7 Vocab 1. Words with multiple meanings: Critical for enhancing speed and automaticity and for verbal fluency. Ex: lap, pool 2. Categories: An orderly mind thinks in categories. If words aren’t “filed” in the lexicon, they will be lost. Categories are fundamental structures of knowledge – aspects of the mental frameworks (schemas) that enable understanding. Ex: Canine-dog (toy, working, herding), wolf (arctic, gray), fox Scaling of attributes: What to do when descriptive words are used? Ex: Blue whale: list all the words that describe the scales of bigness and then do the opposite types of words—example of teaching kids how all theses words are semantically-related. Select vocabulary words pertaining to a descriptive attribute that exists on a continuum. How would you engage students in constructing and using words on a descriptive scale? Ex: big Powerful concept maps; features maps—provide definitions, synonyms, examples, and non examples. For semantic feature analysis: a chart shows the name of a category in the upper left-hand box, with category members below. Features that the members may or may not possess are written in the top row and the remainder of the chart is filled in with plusses and minuses. Interactions with words: Questions, Reasons, Examples: If two planes are landing on intersecting landing strips, they must be cautious. Why? Can a rectangle be a parallelogram? Why or why not? Relating Words Would you prefer to play catch with a sphere or a rectangular prism? If you wanted to build a fence around your rectangular yard, would you need to know the circumference or the perimeter? 6. Morphology and structural analysis-Morphology: the study of the structure of words. Words in academic language are morphologically complex. They add to comprehension problems. We can teach kids to look at morphemes. More research is needed on morphological awareness aka structural analysis. Ex: history historic prehistoric historical historian Word structure analysis: Pare off prefixes and suffixes from roots: echolocation polar extinction protection Flexibility Teach word building by morpheme: tect (protection) How should you teach new words? A recap Some considerations: Provide a definition or synonym when necessary. Frequently use the word during guided reading, reading aloud, and discussions of the content. Test students’ knowledge of the concept with examples and non-examples if appropriate. If the concept is unfamiliar, teach the concept using diagrams, concept maps, and other graphic organizers. Foster word consciousness by playing word games, examining word parts, etc. Extended Instruction: Text Talk. The following exchange occurred in a first-grade classroom after experience with Text Talk: Paul: Is this going to be an ordinary day? Ms. T: What would make it ordinary? Paul: If we like did the same thing. Ms. T: What might make it not ordinary, make it exceptional? Paul: If you gave us prizes for being good - I mean exceptional and mature. Other forms of extended instruction to directly teach words and foster word consciousness: See HO7 Vocab 1. Words with multiple meanings: Critical for enhancing speed and automaticity and for verbal fluency. Ex: lap, pool 2. Categories: An orderly mind thinks in categories. If words aren’t “filed” in the lexicon, they will be lost. Categories are fundamental structures of knowledge – aspects of the mental frameworks (schemas) that enable understanding. Ex: Canine-dog (toy, working, herding), wolf (arctic, gray), fox Scaling of attributes: What to do when descriptive words are used? Ex: Blue whale: list all the words that describe the scales of bigness and then do the opposite types of words—example of teaching kids how all theses words are semantically-related. Select vocabulary words pertaining to a descriptive attribute that exists on a continuum. How would you engage students in constructing and using words on a descriptive scale? Ex: big Powerful concept maps; features maps—provide definitions, synonyms, examples, and non examples. For semantic feature analysis: a chart shows the name of a category in the upper left-hand box, with category members below. Features that the members may or may not possess are written in the top row and the remainder of the chart is filled in with plusses and minuses. Interactions with words: Questions, Reasons, Examples: If two planes are landing on intersecting landing strips, they must be cautious. Why? Can a rectangle be a parallelogram? Why or why not? Relating Words Would you prefer to play catch with a sphere or a rectangular prism? If you wanted to build a fence around your rectangular yard, would you need to know the circumference or the perimeter? 6. Morphology and structural analysis-Morphology: the study of the structure of words. Words in academic language are morphologically complex. They add to comprehension problems. We can teach kids to look at morphemes. More research is needed on morphological awareness aka structural analysis. Ex: history historic prehistoric historical historian Word structure analysis: Pare off prefixes and suffixes from roots: echolocation polar extinction protection Flexibility Teach word building by morpheme: tect (protection) How should you teach new words? A recap Some considerations: Provide a definition or synonym when necessary. Frequently use the word during guided reading, reading aloud, and discussions of the content. Test students’ knowledge of the concept with examples and non-examples if appropriate. If the concept is unfamiliar, teach the concept using diagrams, concept maps, and other graphic organizers. Foster word consciousness by playing word games, examining word parts, etc.

27. 27 Physical appearance of the classroom Vocabulary word wall Graphic organizers Vocabulary activities in literacy centers Pictures of concepts from science and social studies units Door décor Accessible read aloud books Glossaries 1. PDF with words and Vocab maintenance charts Examples include semantic feature analysis, concept map, word-learning strategy charts, etc 2. Posters and pictures with vocab words as part of powerful concept maps (chard) include word cards, picture cards, etc Posted on wall 5. Door décor: Teacher’s words of the day—challenge visitors to use them in a sentence (connect two) 6. Accessible read aloud books: Introduced by the teacher and placed in book baskets 7. Glossaries in anthologies1. PDF with words and Vocab maintenance charts Examples include semantic feature analysis, concept map, word-learning strategy charts, etc 2. Posters and pictures with vocab words as part of powerful concept maps (chard) include word cards, picture cards, etc Posted on wall 5. Door décor: Teacher’s words of the day—challenge visitors to use them in a sentence (connect two) 6. Accessible read aloud books: Introduced by the teacher and placed in book baskets 7. Glossaries in anthologies

28. 28 Comprehension What do good readers do when reading? Locate/recall—access to text Integrating/interpreting—mental map Critiquing/evaluating—application These are three things that readers have to do construct meaning and be successful. -They must be able to access the text to locate and recall information. -They must be able to make a mental map of the text and information and if they are not able to we have to show them how to do it by modeling it for them and scaffolding it into their control gradually. We can’t expect them to do it if we don’t teach them how. -They then have to be able to apply what they have read to new situations. These are three things that readers have to do construct meaning and be successful. -They must be able to access the text to locate and recall information. -They must be able to make a mental map of the text and information and if they are not able to we have to show them how to do it by modeling it for them and scaffolding it into their control gradually. We can’t expect them to do it if we don’t teach them how. -They then have to be able to apply what they have read to new situations.

29. 29 NRP findings regarding direct instruction of comprehension Comprehension monitoring Cooperative learning Graphic and semantic organizers Story structure Question answering Question generation Summarization The NRP identified 16 categories of strategy instruction, with 7 having “firm scientific basis” for concluding they improve comprehension in normal readers. However, one problem with much of this research is that it examined the impact of only one comprehension strategy at a time. Although the studies showed reliable effects on the texts that were read during the study, and on questions generated by the experimenters, their impact on generalized reading comprehension, as measured by standardized tests, was less strong. These limited effects are understandable due to the fact that most of these studies did not actually provide many hours of total instruction, and they only focused on one strategy. Current recommendations are that teachers should teach a small repertoire of effective strategies, and work to support student use of these strategies over at least a year of instruction. Strategies can actually be learned relatively quickly. However, it does take considerable time for many students to learn to think more deeply about text as they apply the strategies they have been taught. CM in which the reader learns how to be aware or conscious of his or her understanding during reading and learns procedures to deal with problems in understanding as they arise. CL in which readers work together to learn strategies in the context of reading G and SO that allow the reader to represent graphically (write or draw) the meanings and relationships of the ideas that underlie the words in the text. SS from which the reader learns to ask and answer who, what, when where, and why questions about the plot and, in some cases, maps out the time line, characters, and events in stories. QA in which the reader answers questions posed by the teacher and is given feedback on the correctness. QG in which the reader asks himself or herself what when where, why, what will happen, how, and who questions. S in which the reader attempts to identify and write the main or most important ideas that integrate or unite the other ideas or meanings of the text into a coherent whole. MS teaching in which the reader uses several of the procedures in interaction with the teacher over the text. MS teaching is effective when the procedures are used flexibly and appropriately by the reader or the teacher in naturalistic contexts. The NRP identified 16 categories of strategy instruction, with 7 having “firm scientific basis” for concluding they improve comprehension in normal readers. However, one problem with much of this research is that it examined the impact of only one comprehension strategy at a time. Although the studies showed reliable effects on the texts that were read during the study, and on questions generated by the experimenters, their impact on generalized reading comprehension, as measured by standardized tests, was less strong. These limited effects are understandable due to the fact that most of these studies did not actually provide many hours of total instruction, and they only focused on one strategy. Current recommendations are that teachers should teach a small repertoire of effective strategies, and work to support student use of these strategies over at least a year of instruction. Strategies can actually be learned relatively quickly. However, it does take considerable time for many students to learn to think more deeply about text as they apply the strategies they have been taught. CM in which the reader learns how to be aware or conscious of his or her understanding during reading and learns procedures to deal with problems in understanding as they arise. CL in which readers work together to learn strategies in the context of reading G and SO that allow the reader to represent graphically (write or draw) the meanings and relationships of the ideas that underlie the words in the text. SS from which the reader learns to ask and answer who, what, when where, and why questions about the plot and, in some cases, maps out the time line, characters, and events in stories. QA in which the reader answers questions posed by the teacher and is given feedback on the correctness. QG in which the reader asks himself or herself what when where, why, what will happen, how, and who questions. S in which the reader attempts to identify and write the main or most important ideas that integrate or unite the other ideas or meanings of the text into a coherent whole. MS teaching in which the reader uses several of the procedures in interaction with the teacher over the text. MS teaching is effective when the procedures are used flexibly and appropriately by the reader or the teacher in naturalistic contexts.

30. 30 What should comprehension instruction look like? What? Focus on the complex process of simultaneously extracting information from the text and previous experience in order to construct a mental image or meaning of a text. (RAND, 2002) How? Powerful high quality initial instruction for ALL students Powerful differentiated instruction to meet the needs of ALL students Independent practice/literacy centers Physical appearance of the classroom What? Instruction that focuses on understanding text—using skills and strategies to get to the meaning of text. What? Instruction that focuses on understanding text—using skills and strategies to get to the meaning of text.

31. 31 effective reading comprehension strategy instruction is very complex, and requires extensive training to be able to do it well. effective instruction involves a combination of explicit instruction and extended, supported practice in using strategies while reading for meaning. a big part of the practice of strategies application (i.e. making predictions, using graphic organizers, summarizing, etc.) involves having high quality discussions about the meaning of text that arise. Refer to HO 8 for information about each specific method. DE: Duffy et al (1987). The Ts were taught first to explain a strategy, skill or process and then to mentally model use of it for students. Then came guided practice in which the Ss initially carried out the processing overtly so that the teacher could monitor their use of the new strategy. Assistance was reduced as students became more proficient. Teachers encouraged transfer of strategies by reviewing when and where the strategies being learned might be used. Ts scaffolded (cued use of the new strategies when Ss encountered situations where the strategies might be applied) throughout the school day. RT: It is an interactive teaching and learning method with a basic goal to improve comprehension monitoring (Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Palincsar et al., 1987). The method is based upon a dialogue between teacher and student where predicting, question generating, summarizing, and clarifying are used to promote comprehension monitoring. CORI: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction is a program designed by John Guthrie and Allan Wigfield to incorporate reading strategy instruction and inquiry science in interesting and unique ways for students. The goals of CORI are to increase students' reading comprehension, reading motivation, and science knowledge. TSI: Transactional strategies instruction--direct explanations, teacher modeling of strategies, and guided practice of strategies. The TSI approach succeeds in stimulating dialogues in which strategic processes are used as interpretive vehicles, with consistently high engagement by all group members. (Pressley, 2000) QTA: Question the Author (QtA) is a comprehension strategy that requires students to pose queries while reading the text in order to challenge their understanding and solidify their knowledge (Beck et al., 1997). Primarily used with nonfiction text, QtA lets students critique the author's writing and in doing so engage with the text to create a deeper meaning. IRA: Why IRA: IRA is a structure that lends itself to student engagement and for developing comprehension and vocabulary development The teacher does the decoding. Natural contexts for words are provided. Children experience decontextualized language. Authentic opportunities for modeling comprehension strategies occur. Student engagement is likely. Discussion is facilitated. Words and strategies can be reinforced in new contexts all year long. IRA GOALS: Enhance comprehension through interspersed open-ended questions Reflect on ideas in the story; Talk about ideas; Make connections among throughout story, Enhance vocabulary development effective reading comprehension strategy instruction is very complex, and requires extensive training to be able to do it well. effective instruction involves a combination of explicit instruction and extended, supported practice in using strategies while reading for meaning. a big part of the practice of strategies application (i.e. making predictions, using graphic organizers, summarizing, etc.) involves having high quality discussions about the meaning of text that arise. Refer to HO 8 for information about each specific method. DE: Duffy et al (1987). The Ts were taught first to explain a strategy, skill or process and then to mentally model use of it for students. Then came guided practice in which the Ss initially carried out the processing overtly so that the teacher could monitor their use of the new strategy. Assistance was reduced as students became more proficient. Teachers encouraged transfer of strategies by reviewing when and where the strategies being learned might be used. Ts scaffolded (cued use of the new strategies when Ss encountered situations where the strategies might be applied) throughout the school day. RT: It is an interactive teaching and learning method with a basic goal to improve comprehension monitoring (Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Palincsar et al., 1987). The method is based upon a dialogue between teacher and student where predicting, question generating, summarizing, and clarifying are used to promote comprehension monitoring. CORI: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction is a program designed by John Guthrie and Allan Wigfield to incorporate reading strategy instruction and inquiry science in interesting and unique ways for students. The goals of CORI are to increase students' reading comprehension, reading motivation, and science knowledge. TSI: Transactional strategies instruction--direct explanations, teacher modeling of strategies, and guided practice of strategies. The TSI approach succeeds in stimulating dialogues in which strategic processes are used as interpretive vehicles, with consistently high engagement by all group members. (Pressley, 2000) QTA: Question the Author (QtA) is a comprehension strategy that requires students to pose queries while reading the text in order to challenge their understanding and solidify their knowledge (Beck et al., 1997). Primarily used with nonfiction text, QtA lets students critique the author's writing and in doing so engage with the text to create a deeper meaning. IRA: Why IRA: IRA is a structure that lends itself to student engagement and for developing comprehension and vocabulary development The teacher does the decoding. Natural contexts for words are provided. Children experience decontextualized language. Authentic opportunities for modeling comprehension strategies occur. Student engagement is likely. Discussion is facilitated. Words and strategies can be reinforced in new contexts all year long. IRA GOALS: Enhance comprehension through interspersed open-ended questions Reflect on ideas in the story; Talk about ideas; Make connections among throughout story, Enhance vocabulary development

32. 32 Instructional process for comprehension Select the text then the strategy Give a clear explanation Model the strategy Support student practice of the strategy Have students practice other strategies Have students tell how the strategy helped them to understand the text Discuss the text Direct and explicit instruction involves a series of steps that include explaining and modeling the strategy, using the strategy for guided practice, and using the strategy for independent practice. Explaining and modeling include defining each of the strategies for students and showing them how to use those strategies when reading a text. Teachers should think aloud while modeling to show students how they would go about summarizing the text or finding the main idea. Guided practice involves the teacher and students working together to apply the strategies to texts they are reading. This may involve extensive interaction between the teacher and students when students are applying the strategies to see how well they understand the particular text they are reading. Or, it may involve having students practice applying the strategies to various texts in small groups. Independent practice occurs once the teacher is convinced that students can use the strategies on their own, and then the student apply the strategies to new text. Even though students may know how to use a strategy as they read, research demonstrates that they have to make the effort to actually use them when they read on their own.Direct and explicit instruction involves a series of steps that include explaining and modeling the strategy, using the strategy for guided practice, and using the strategy for independent practice. Explaining and modeling include defining each of the strategies for students and showing them how to use those strategies when reading a text. Teachers should think aloud while modeling to show students how they would go about summarizing the text or finding the main idea. Guided practice involves the teacher and students working together to apply the strategies to texts they are reading. This may involve extensive interaction between the teacher and students when students are applying the strategies to see how well they understand the particular text they are reading. Or, it may involve having students practice applying the strategies to various texts in small groups. Independent practice occurs once the teacher is convinced that students can use the strategies on their own, and then the student apply the strategies to new text. Even though students may know how to use a strategy as they read, research demonstrates that they have to make the effort to actually use them when they read on their own.

33. 33 Despite which method teachers choose, they need to understand the reason for teaching strategies. This slide summarizes points that have been made earlier 1. This is relevant except, perhaps, in 1st grade. Michael Pressley said he’s never seen effective strategy instruction done in first grade that involved more than one strategy. On the other hand, Palincsar has reported a study of reciprocal teaching that got an effect, but then another one that didn’t. The most commonly used strategy for 1st grade is story structure. Some people would say that might be enough. That’s not a question that we have research about, but something for us to think about. Effective strategy instruction always involves explicit description and modeling of strategies by the teacher Effective instruction requires many opportunities for students to discuss and interpret text using the application of strategies as a way of structuring the discussion in which the teacher scaffolds student strategy use. As students practice understanding text in many different contexts, they become better comprehenders. Use of strategies leads students to think about the meaning of text, and it is practice in thinking about the meaning of text that creates more powerful comprehension processes in students. 4. Always keep in mind that the purpose of strategy instruction is to stimulate students’ thinking about the meaning of text (by providing guided opportunities for them to actually think about, and interpret text). Ultimately, their attention needs to be on the text and not on the strategies. This slide reminds us that it is easy to make a number of mistakes in teaching comprehension strategies that will undermine the impact of the instruction on reading comprehension. Strategies as ends in themselves Instruction should always emphasize that students are learning the strategies in order to help them understand better what they read. When strategies are introduced, teachers should always explain how that strategy can help students to comprehend better. When practicing strategies, the focus should always be on linking the strategy use to a student’s emerging understanding of the text. Teaching too many strategies Best practice currently involves working with about 3-4 strategies. Students should have lots of opportunity to practice and master using these strategies with the goal of understanding and learning from text. Too much time thinking about the process Initially, students may focus a lot on the strategy itself. However, they should have enough opportunities to use the strategies that they become quite routine, and allow the student to focus most on understanding the content of text. Too much time on the “explicit instruction” Again, this emphasizes that the students must have ample opportunities to practice use of the strategies under conditions where they are supported by the teacher and where the goal is to comprehend the meaning of text. Teachers should understand that as students try to use the strategies they are taught, they are led to think more deeply about the text. For comprehension to increase, students need to have many opportunities to think deeply about text. . Despite which method teachers choose, they need to understand the reason for teaching strategies. This slide summarizes points that have been made earlier 1. This is relevant except, perhaps, in 1st grade. Michael Pressley said he’s never seen effective strategy instruction done in first grade that involved more than one strategy. On the other hand, Palincsar has reported a study of reciprocal teaching that got an effect, but then another one that didn’t. The most commonly used strategy for 1st grade is story structure. Some people would say that might be enough. That’s not a question that we have research about, but something for us to think about. Effective strategy instruction always involves explicit description and modeling of strategies by the teacher Effective instruction requires many opportunities for students to discuss and interpret text using the application of strategies as a way of structuring the discussion in which the teacher scaffolds student strategy use. As students practice understanding text in many different contexts, they become better comprehenders. Use of strategies leads students to think about the meaning of text, and it is practice in thinking about the meaning of text that creates more powerful comprehension processes in students. 4. Always keep in mind that the purpose of strategy instruction is to stimulate students’ thinking about the meaning of text (by providing guided opportunities for them to actually think about, and interpret text). Ultimately, their attention needs to be on the text and not on the strategies. This slide reminds us that it is easy to make a number of mistakes in teaching comprehension strategies that will undermine the impact of the instruction on reading comprehension. Strategies as ends in themselves Instruction should always emphasize that students are learning the strategies in order to help them understand better what they read. When strategies are introduced, teachers should always explain how that strategy can help students to comprehend better. When practicing strategies, the focus should always be on linking the strategy use to a student’s emerging understanding of the text. Teaching too many strategies Best practice currently involves working with about 3-4 strategies. Students should have lots of opportunity to practice and master using these strategies with the goal of understanding and learning from text. Too much time thinking about the process Initially, students may focus a lot on the strategy itself. However, they should have enough opportunities to use the strategies that they become quite routine, and allow the student to focus most on understanding the content of text. Too much time on the “explicit instruction” Again, this emphasizes that the students must have ample opportunities to practice use of the strategies under conditions where they are supported by the teacher and where the goal is to comprehend the meaning of text. Teachers should understand that as students try to use the strategies they are taught, they are led to think more deeply about the text. For comprehension to increase, students need to have many opportunities to think deeply about text. .

34. 34 Comprehension Activity The Bear Form groups of three. Select one person to take notes on the comprehension strategies used during the discussion (this person will not participate in the discussion). Read the poem and try to answer the following questions: – What are the big ideas? – How can you relate ideas in the poem to your life? – How might you relate the ideas in the poem to teaching? Note taker shares the strategies used by readers. ? All strategies are not created equal ? Strategies need to be used flexibly and in combination with each other ? Strategy is only effective if focuses attention on text ? Keep eye on goal-constructing meaning!!!! “active use of comprehension strategies should not undermine the point that conceptual knowledge matters very much in comprehension.” Duke, Pressley & Hilden, 2007 ? All strategies are not created equal ? Strategies need to be used flexibly and in combination with each other ? Strategy is only effective if focuses attention on text ? Keep eye on goal-constructing meaning!!!! “active use of comprehension strategies should not undermine the point that conceptual knowledge matters very much in comprehension.” Duke, Pressley & Hilden, 2007

35. 35 Interactive Read Alouds Non-fiction Fiction Using fix-up strategies Interactive read alouds, as mentioned earlier, are frequently used in the primary grades to expose children to new vocabulary. In addition, during interactive read alouds, teachers pose questions throughout the reading that enhance meaning construction and also show how one makes sense of texts. Dialogue during read-aloud events supports students as they construct meaning based on the story and draw upon their personal experiences to build story relevance. These meaning-centered interactions engage students with literacy information and demonstrate strategies that they can adopt for use when reading independently. Fiction and nonfiction read alouds require the use of different comprehension strategies. See HO 8. Teach readers to be aware of their comprehension and to use “fix-up” strategies when comprehension breaks down. Interactive read alouds, as mentioned earlier, are frequently used in the primary grades to expose children to new vocabulary. In addition, during interactive read alouds, teachers pose questions throughout the reading that enhance meaning construction and also show how one makes sense of texts. Dialogue during read-aloud events supports students as they construct meaning based on the story and draw upon their personal experiences to build story relevance. These meaning-centered interactions engage students with literacy information and demonstrate strategies that they can adopt for use when reading independently. Fiction and nonfiction read alouds require the use of different comprehension strategies. See HO 8. Teach readers to be aware of their comprehension and to use “fix-up” strategies when comprehension breaks down.

36. 36 Interactive Read Aloud Wolf! 2nd grade Watch the video to identify practices that are used to support Ss’ understanding of novel vocabulary words. Watch the video to identify practices that are used to support Ss’ comprehension. Note other instructional procedures that were beneficial. Identify practices that are used to support students’ understanding of novel vocabulary words. Brief explanations of novel words are embedded into the read-aloud without interrupting the flow of the story (FASTMAPPING). The teacher pointed to the illustrations to support vocabulary. The teacher added gestures (e.g., peering) to augment vocabulary. Identify practices that are used to support students’ comprehension of the book. The following research-validated practices were used: An engaging book was chosen Performance-based reading was utilized. Questions were asked to verify understanding, to focus students’ attention on critical information, and to increase on-task behavior. Students were actively engaged in the reading of the book. Note other instructional procedures The pace was perky though not frenetic. The teacher connected to the Ss. The classroom climate was positive. The teacher elicited response from Ss including: Group responses (choral responses) Partner responses Partner responses followed by individual turns Thumbs up When a student did not have a response, the teacher did not leave the student but rather provided scaffolding so that the student could be successful. In this case, the teacher told the student an answer. Discuss the benefits of fastmapping Discuss the potential disadvantages of fastmapping Compare fastmapping as a type of embedded instruction to extended instruction—how can you use both effectively in your classroom? Please share Identify practices that are used to support students’ understanding of novel vocabulary words. Brief explanations of novel words are embedded into the read-aloud without interrupting the flow of the story (FASTMAPPING). The teacher pointed to the illustrations to support vocabulary. The teacher added gestures (e.g., peering) to augment vocabulary. Identify practices that are used to support students’ comprehension of the book. The following research-validated practices were used: An engaging book was chosen Performance-based reading was utilized. Questions were asked to verify understanding, to focus students’ attention on critical information, and to increase on-task behavior. Students were actively engaged in the reading of the book. Note other instructional procedures The pace was perky though not frenetic. The teacher connected to the Ss. The classroom climate was positive. The teacher elicited response from Ss including: Group responses (choral responses) Partner responses Partner responses followed by individual turns Thumbs up When a student did not have a response, the teacher did not leave the student but rather provided scaffolding so that the student could be successful. In this case, the teacher told the student an answer. Discuss the benefits of fastmapping Discuss the potential disadvantages of fastmapping Compare fastmapping as a type of embedded instruction to extended instruction—how can you use both effectively in your classroom? Please share

37. 37 Discussion can be effective in promoting reading comprehension only if it leads students to think more deeply about the meaning of text. Such discussions can be stimulated by queries from teachers such as: “What do you think the author is trying to say here?” “What is it in the text that makes you say that?” “Is this the same, or different from what we learned yesterday?” “Why do you think the author included that information here?” Another advantage of increasing student opportunities for discussions is that it has been shown to increase engagement. Engagement, of course, depends on how interesting the discussion is. If students really have a chance to present their ideas, or to confront one another’s ideas in an open and supportive atmosphere, it will be more interesting than if they are just responding to questions from the teacher. A recent meta-analysis of the research literature on discussion-oriented approaches to instruction found that discussions focused on critical analysis of the ideas in text (i.e. what support does the author provide for that idea? What are some other ways of thinking about this? What are the best arguments in support of this idea that the author presents?) had the most reliable impact on improving reading comprehension. Increasing the amount of high quality discussion of reading content is also frequently cited as a way of increasing engagement in reading and reading based assignments (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). Before beginning discussions, teach what a discussion looks and sounds like. Consider putting these behaviors on a chart until it becomes part of the routine. See HO 8 for chart. Discussion can be effective in promoting reading comprehension only if it leads students to think more deeply about the meaning of text. Such discussions can be stimulated by queries from teachers such as: “What do you think the author is trying to say here?” “What is it in the text that makes you say that?” “Is this the same, or different from what we learned yesterday?” “Why do you think the author included that information here?” Another advantage of increasing student opportunities for discussions is that it has been shown to increase engagement. Engagement, of course, depends on how interesting the discussion is. If students really have a chance to present their ideas, or to confront one another’s ideas in an open and supportive atmosphere, it will be more interesting than if they are just responding to questions from the teacher. A recent meta-analysis of the research literature on discussion-oriented approaches to instruction found that discussions focused on critical analysis of the ideas in text (i.e. what support does the author provide for that idea? What are some other ways of thinking about this? What are the best arguments in support of this idea that the author presents?) had the most reliable impact on improving reading comprehension. Increasing the amount of high quality discussion of reading content is also frequently cited as a way of increasing engagement in reading and reading based assignments (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). Before beginning discussions, teach what a discussion looks and sounds like. Consider putting these behaviors on a chart until it becomes part of the routine. See HO 8 for chart.

38. 38 Three types of discussion around text Critical/Analytic Debate ideas Interrogate the text, author, issue Efferent Unpacking the facts of the text Expressive Affective response—’say what you think’ How many questions do teachers ask over a one year period? 10,000-80,000 What percentage of those are at the literal or knowledge level? 80% How many questions do students ask each other over a one year period? 20 Lipson & Cooper, 2002 Three types on slide-efferent is the type of questioning most likely to increase comprehensionHow many questions do teachers ask over a one year period? 10,000-80,000 What percentage of those are at the literal or knowledge level? 80% How many questions do students ask each other over a one year period? 20 Lipson & Cooper, 2002 Three types on slide-efferent is the type of questioning most likely to increase comprehension

39. 39 Discussion around text Carefully prepare for the discussion. Ask follow-up questions that help provide continuity and extend the discussion. Provide a task, or a discussion format, that students can follow when they discuss texts together in small groups. Develop and practice the use of a specific “discussion protocol.” Putting students into groups to talk is not enough to enhance comprehension and learning (Kamil, 2009). We need to really think about our students background knowledge and their vocabulary knowledge and determine a texts appropriateness or how we are going to scaffold the students learning if you need to introduce a new skill. Carefully prepare for the discussion. Use selections that are engaging and describe situations or content that can stimulate discussion. In content-area classes teachers can identify issues or content that might be difficult or misunderstood or ambiguous or subject to multiple interpretations. Ask follow-up questions that help provide continuity and extend the discussion. Questions about a different interpretation, an explanation of reasoning, or an identification of the content from the text that supports the student’s position. For example: Have the students take a position and then defend that position with material straight from the text or If a student provides an answer that may seem off the wall ask them to further explain or reason for you why they thought what they thought. Don’t be quick to dismiss a “wrong” answer allow students the time to defend what they have thought out put the burden of proof and reason on them. Provide a task, or a discussion format, that students can follow when they discuss texts together in small groups. Assign students to read selections together and practice using the comprehension strategies that have been taught. Students should assume various roles, such as leading the discussion, predicting what the section might be about, identifying words that are confusing, and summarizing. Putting students into groups to talk is not enough to enhance comprehension and learning (Kamil, 2009). We need to really think about our students background knowledge and their vocabulary knowledge and determine a texts appropriateness or how we are going to scaffold the students learning if you need to introduce a new skill. Carefully prepare for the discussion. Use selections that are engaging and describe situations or content that can stimulate discussion. In content-area classes teachers can identify issues or content that might be difficult or misunderstood or ambiguous or subject to multiple interpretations. Ask follow-up questions that help provide continuity and extend the discussion. Questions about a different interpretation, an explanation of reasoning, or an identification of the content from the text that supports the student’s position. For example: Have the students take a position and then defend that position with material straight from the text or If a student provides an answer that may seem off the wall ask them to further explain or reason for you why they thought what they thought. Don’t be quick to dismiss a “wrong” answer allow students the time to defend what they have thought out put the burden of proof and reason on them. Provide a task, or a discussion format, that students can follow when they discuss texts together in small groups. Assign students to read selections together and practice using the comprehension strategies that have been taught. Students should assume various roles, such as leading the discussion, predicting what the section might be about, identifying words that are confusing, and summarizing.

40. 40 Develop and practice the use of a specific “discussion protocol.” Ask questions that require students to explain their positions and the reasoning behind them, Model reasoning processes by thinking out loud, Propose counter arguments or positions, Recognize good reasoning when it occurs, Summarize the main ideas of a discussion as it draws to a close Model the process with a read-aloud. Think out loud the entire process of taking a position and providing the reasoning with support from the text. Ex: Is this a House for a Hermit Crab…Model the process with a read-aloud. Think out loud the entire process of taking a position and providing the reasoning with support from the text. Ex: Is this a House for a Hermit Crab…

41. 41 What to look for…regarding comprehension Research and practice Action plan checklist NRP recommends direct instruction of comprehension skills and strategies Take a moment to look at HO 5-comp section of vocab and comp action plan Early frameworks for teaching and learning (up until about 1975) helped educators understand that it was important for students to be “on task” and engaged in academic activities for learning to take place. Research from that point forward has demonstrated the importance of active participation during instructional time. This concept is called “opportunity to respond” and is measured by the average number of active responses a student makes (or a teacher provides) in a given period of time—usually one minute. More recent work has refined this concept to focus on the number of “positive instructional interactions” a student experiences per minute. This refinement takes into account the frequency of responding, the appropriateness of the tasks, and teacher follow-up to a student’s response. Principals are strongly encouraged to monitor the quality and intensity of instruction they observe by attending to students’ opportunities to respond and positive instructional interactions between students and teachers. High levels of these variables will lead to higher levels of learning. NRP recommends direct instruction of comprehension skills and strategies Take a moment to look at HO 5-comp section of vocab and comp action plan Early frameworks for teaching and learning (up until about 1975) helped educators understand that it was important for students to be “on task” and engaged in academic activities for learning to take place. Research from that point forward has demonstrated the importance of active participation during instructional time. This concept is called “opportunity to respond” and is measured by the average number of active responses a student makes (or a teacher provides) in a given period of time—usually one minute. More recent work has refined this concept to focus on the number of “positive instructional interactions” a student experiences per minute. This refinement takes into account the frequency of responding, the appropriateness of the tasks, and teacher follow-up to a student’s response. Principals are strongly encouraged to monitor the quality and intensity of instruction they observe by attending to students’ opportunities to respond and positive instructional interactions between students and teachers. High levels of these variables will lead to higher levels of learning.

42. 42 Leadership support for reading The role of the principal When the principal leads, the school succeeds The role of the coach District support HO 9 Roles The role of the principal: Principal--One who holds a position of presiding rank in an organization, especially in a school. A main participant in a situation. A person having a leading or starring role. And, in this age of accountability, the person responsible for explaining underperformance--or to lead a change process. What does it take? Here are a few lessons we are learning from schools that are beating the odds--schools that wouldn’t be predicted to do well, but which succeed at surprisingly high rates. Principals, do you see yourself here? If not, how could you structure your days, your weeks, your activities--to move closer to this profile? District team leaders, how can you support principals in the things that make the greatest difference for their schools/students? Differential supervision--How might new and experienced teachers differ in their need for support? What tools do you have/need for differential supervision? Culture--”How we do things here” What parts of your school culture best define it as a place committed to reading success? What elements can we borrow from others? Maximizing resources--One school (Cent.) went reduced Title 1 teacher time slightly and without spending more money, nearly tripled the number of EAs, who, with training and support, allowed them to offer significantly more small group instruction. The role of the coach: Coaches--How do you/can you most effectively use your time and differentiate your support? How can your data be used to help govern these decisions? Do you provide support to teaching assistants, as well as to teachers? You are often the catalyst who helps others learn from the data to improve instruc. You have the power in your role to transform training sessions into changes in classroom practices and increases in students’ reading performance supporting instruction in the classroom ensuring the use of data in grade level meetings to guide instruction bridging learning and practice by helping staff apply workshop knowledge and skills in the classroom The role of district leaders: District team leaders--There’s a part of your job which could be more fun than anything else you do--going to schools, talking with kids about what they are reading and listening to them read, and talking with the staff about successes and needs. Much of our time is consumed by routine administrative functions. While these tasks might not always be the most exciting things to do, they can take on renewed importance when viewed through a special lens--the lens of literacy. How can we structure and carry out these tasks in such a way that they have maximum impact on reading? What kind of support is needed in the schools to produce the kinds of outcomes we all want? How can the central office provide this kind of support through budgeting, staffing and management of federal funds? One district established a board policy around reading which incorporated elements of reading first design. How can we assign and support principals to maximize the likelihood of large-scale success at the school level? What qualities are we looking for? How can we find and support these qualities in our leaders? Successful collaboration in SBRR reading programs: District and building staff work together to promote increased achievement for all students Principal & coach assure coordination of reading across classroom, RF, Title 1, ELL & special ed. staff Instructional planning occurs within & across grade levels to assure consistency & seamlessness for students The district office plays a critical role in supporting effective school-based leadership Written policies and procedures help ensure effective practices Principals should work with district staff to develop a powerful reading culture Principals can create, recruit, and maintain district support for Reading First HO 9 Roles The role of the principal: Principal--One who holds a position of presiding rank in an organization, especially in a school. A main participant in a situation. A person having a leading or starring role. And, in this age of accountability, the person responsible for explaining underperformance--or to lead a change process. What does it take? Here are a few lessons we are learning from schools that are beating the odds--schools that wouldn’t be predicted to do well, but which succeed at surprisingly high rates. Principals, do you see yourself here? If not, how could you structure your days, your weeks, your activities--to move closer to this profile? District team leaders, how can you support principals in the things that make the greatest difference for their schools/students? Differential supervision--How might new and experienced teachers differ in their need for support? What tools do you have/need for differential supervision? Culture--”How we do things here” What parts of your school culture best define it as a place committed to reading success? What elements can we borrow from others? Maximizing resources--One school (Cent.) went reduced Title 1 teacher time slightly and without spending more money, nearly tripled the number of EAs, who, with training and support, allowed them to offer significantly more small group instruction. The role of the coach: Coaches--How do you/can you most effectively use your time and differentiate your support? How can your data be used to help govern these decisions? Do you provide support to teaching assistants, as well as to teachers? You are often the catalyst who helps others learn from the data to improve instruc. You have the power in your role to transform training sessions into changes in classroom practices and increases in students’ reading performance supporting instruction in the classroom ensuring the use of data in grade level meetings to guide instruction bridging learning and practice by helping staff apply workshop knowledge and skills in the classroom The role of district leaders: District team leaders--There’s a part of your job which could be more fun than anything else you do--going to schools, talking with kids about what they are reading and listening to them read, and talking with the staff about successes and needs. Much of our time is consumed by routine administrative functions. While these tasks might not always be the most exciting things to do, they can take on renewed importance when viewed through a special lens--the lens of literacy. How can we structure and carry out these tasks in such a way that they have maximum impact on reading? What kind of support is needed in the schools to produce the kinds of outcomes we all want? How can the central office provide this kind of support through budgeting, staffing and management of federal funds? One district established a board policy around reading which incorporated elements of reading first design. How can we assign and support principals to maximize the likelihood of large-scale success at the school level? What qualities are we looking for? How can we find and support these qualities in our leaders? Successful collaboration in SBRR reading programs: District and building staff work together to promote increased achievement for all students Principal & coach assure coordination of reading across classroom, RF, Title 1, ELL & special ed. staff Instructional planning occurs within & across grade levels to assure consistency & seamlessness for students The district office plays a critical role in supporting effective school-based leadership Written policies and procedures help ensure effective practices Principals should work with district staff to develop a powerful reading culture Principals can create, recruit, and maintain district support for Reading First

43. 43 What’s it all about?… “Education is not about the preferences of the adults. It’s about the success of the children.” Wrap up—You had a chance to look at what good vocab and comprehension instruction should look like in the classroom and have received a tool to help you when conducting observations and walk-throughs. Good instruction begins with leadership. Take this knowledge to help to improve the ability of your teachers and schools to provide effective vocabulary and comprehension instruction to increase student achievment. In the end, it’s not about explaining failure. It’s about taking responsibility for success. That’s what “proactive accountability” is about. There are numerous and powerful variables over which we have control in schools. It’s up to us to identify them, to seize them, and to optimize them--in order to maximize learning for our students. Those who do well and those who do not all have the same amount of time in which to do so. We can make a difference. We know enough about what works to do so. It’s up to us, as the leaders in our districts and schools, to lead the way. None of us can do it by ourselves, but together we can change the course of children’s lives for the better by teaching them to read, and to read well. Next Steps; Instructional Rounds in Education A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning Elizabeth A. City, Richard F. Elmore, Sarah E. Fiarman, and Lee Teitel This book is intended to help education leaders and practitioners develop a shared understanding of what high-quality instruction looks like and what schools and districts need to do to support it. Inspired by the medical-rounds model used by physicians, the authors have pioneered a new form of professional learning known as instructional rounds networks. Through this process, educators develop a shared practice of observing, discussing, and analyzing learning and teaching. Wrap up—You had a chance to look at what good vocab and comprehension instruction should look like in the classroom and have received a tool to help you when conducting observations and walk-throughs. Good instruction begins with leadership. Take this knowledge to help to improve the ability of your teachers and schools to provide effective vocabulary and comprehension instruction to increase student achievment. In the end, it’s not about explaining failure. It’s about taking responsibility for success. That’s what “proactive accountability” is about. There are numerous and powerful variables over which we have control in schools. It’s up to us to identify them, to seize them, and to optimize them--in order to maximize learning for our students. Those who do well and those who do not all have the same amount of time in which to do so. We can make a difference. We know enough about what works to do so. It’s up to us, as the leaders in our districts and schools, to lead the way. None of us can do it by ourselves, but together we can change the course of children’s lives for the better by teaching them to read, and to read well. Next Steps; Instructional Rounds in Education A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning Elizabeth A. City, Richard F. Elmore, Sarah E. Fiarman, and Lee Teitel This book is intended to help education leaders and practitioners develop a shared understanding of what high-quality instruction looks like and what schools and districts need to do to support it. Inspired by the medical-rounds model used by physicians, the authors have pioneered a new form of professional learning known as instructional rounds networks. Through this process, educators develop a shared practice of observing, discussing, and analyzing learning and teaching.