Reading Instruction

All words are powerful, but some words have superpowers. Consider words and phrases that indicate relationships between ideas, like also, however, as a result, in addition, for example, and in contrast. These are signal words, and they are sentence superheroes. The ability to identify and understand the meaning of signal...

In the fall of 2016, Scholastic and YouGov conducted their biannual survey and put together the “Kids and Families Reading Report.” The results underscored the relationship between student reading and educational success, while also demonstrating the critical role that literacy educators play in fostering a love of reading. Perhaps the...

Your students probably already know that writers don’t just tell them the theme. Readers need to look for themes, and that's not easy. What else isn't easy? Convincing students that identifying themes is worth the effort and can improve their comprehension. These engaging activities can help by giving your students...

At the staff meeting, Principal Karla Gómez discussed the school’s goal of building students’ vocabulary knowledge and stressed just how much instructional ground there is to cover in a short time. The obvious take-away: teach more words. But Rebecca Hoye, a second grade teacher, has a different perspective. She raised...

Learning to read can be hard. For children with dyslexia, it can be especially hard. In a 2017 interview with American Public Media reporter Emily Hanford, neuroscientist Guinevere Eden argued that “reading is not a natural skill,” as our brains were designed to recognize objects—such as an animal loping toward us...

Improving literacy rates among adolescent students is a growing area of focus in education, and rightfully so. Statistics from the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress test (NAEP) given in 2017 revealed that just 36 percent of fourth-graders who took the reading test scored “at or above” the proficient...

For many literacy educators, student engagement is measured by what we see, not what we hear. After all, students are primarily learning reading and writing skills, so if they are busy processing and analyzing the text, the classroom should be quiet—right? Not at all. In fact, encouraging student discussion can...

Ms. Hoye and a small group of second-grade students sit around a kidney-shaped table. The students whisper-read from individual copies of the same book—about life in the ocean—moving along at their own pace. “Ms. Hoye–” Isaiah looks up. “What does this say?” He points to the word school. After several prompts...

Educators are always on the lookout for quick ways to check student comprehension. After all, no teacher wants to get to the end of a unit only to find out that students have been struggling all along. Periodic, low-stakes, informal assessments allow educators to see whether students need more review...

If you’ve worked with students who are beginning to read and write, you’ve likely found yourself explaining the difference between b, d, and p. Why are these letters so often confused? Not only do b, d, and p have similar names and shapes, they also sound alike. Making the distinction...