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By Cathy Puett Miller Of the five key reading components identified as essential by the National Reading Panel, fluency is the stepchild. It certainly gets less attention than the others, perhaps, in part, because its exact meaning often is cloudy. Many educators seem even less certain about how to teach it effectively. This article provides a three step approach and some tips on how to increase fluency. It's a short read with some great ideas... I hope you enjoy it!

Fluency has recently come more to the forefront. Some say it's a good proxy for comprehension, which makes sense, because if you are spending all or most of your brain power just figuring out what the text says, there isn't much left to figure out what it means. +2

This article is all about how the diet of a student impacts their ability to learn. It is a very interesting article. Many people don't understand what kind of an impact nutrition has on learning. This article explains some of the ways that diet impacts learning and ways to make corrections to students' diets to improve performance. This is an article that is just good to read for general knowledge. I would love for many parents to read this article knowing what some of my students are ingesting on a daily basis.

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This article is about teacher-student relationships. The student-teacher relationship is one of the most important factors of teaching that can be neglected. The article found that enhancing teacher-student relationships is necessary to raising student achievement because that achievement is linked to adolescent's need of having secure attachments. This is like students attachments to parents, but only with teachers. Thus research has shown that students with secure attachments do better in school. It also offers some ways in which teachers can improve teacher-student relations. Some of these methods include having an increased sensitivity and have positive interactions with students, to be well-prepared for class and hold high expectations for students, be responsive to students and provide choices whenever possible, and help students be kind, helpful and accepting of one another. By understanding the roles in which teachers have in their relationships with students will help educators become more effective.

Although this article is brief, it details three techniques that teachers can use to improve skills needed for informational reading. The techniques that the article details are: text impression, guided questions, and retelling pyramid. If you hope to encourage your students to read informational text and understand it, the three techniques described in the article are simple ways that can help you teach these skills to your class.

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A neat website that has premade packets that are ready to go. Includes flash cards with specific letters, worksheets, picture cards, and different games. Helpful to very young students learning their alphabet and looking to improve their reading as they are starting out. 26 Alphabet Packets Download, Print, and Assemble--Anytime, Anywhere Build a foundation for successful reading and writing with these research-based alphabet materials. Alphabet resources are one part of a comprehensive reading tutor/mentor program targeting essential reading strategies.

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The ability to read well is the most important skill children can acquire. Reading ability and the desire to read vary significantly among groups of children, however. This article discusses the results of a study taken in 98-99 of kindergarteners. It provides information on how schools and families can improve the reading skills of native English speaking children, particularly poor elementary school level boys of color. It states that boys typically learn to read at an older age than girls, take longer to learn, and comprehend less easily than girls. It talks about reading genres that boys prefer, such as adventure, science fiction and fantasy and books that have characters like themselves. They discuss the value of reading aloud to students and in providing silent reading time along with a wide variety of books for boys to choose from. Lastly, it gives suggestions for parents and communities to provide opportunities for young people to help engage them in regular reading.

Based on reading this article, what strategies might you incorporate in your classroom/school? Have you previously engaged in any practices to increase boys' reading?

I always try to do a survey with students for likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses. I use this information to help students find reading material they are interested in and give them a choice when reading. I also purchased books like Guiness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and MythBusters to put on my informational book shelf. Boys seemed to have liked these books very much.

Mike Schmoker's "Focus" is a tremendous commentary on the elements of good instruction and the current state of education and teaching.

This reference text is divided into two sections: "What we teach, How we teach, and Literacy" and "Curriculum, Instruction, and Literacy in the Content areas." If one was to read this book, you would not necessarily need to read it "cover to cover." I believe that Section I is important for all teachers or those who have a hand in education. Section II, because of the way it is divided, could be read based on interests. There are specific discussions about how to integrate literacy into content areas. I felt that the discussion of literacy in mathematics and science was extremely interesting. Mike Schmoker's message was calling educators "back to the basics." As I read, I found myself scribbling in the margins, because the comments being made were so true they were almost "taboo." Schmoker contradicts the current "educational bandwagons" that so many administrators and districts may jump on. He quotes Pfeffer and Sutton, saying "leaders resist simplicity; they are often irrationally enamored by novelty and complexity" (p 16). It was refreshing to read such a strong argument for "pure, effective teaching." Regardless of the technology or other tools in the classroom, without a firm grasp on the ways to provide clear instruction, students will not learn. I have already used sections from this text in my building's PLC time. Though I have not used a specific strategy, I opened the dialogue about what should "be in a good lesson." Schmoker encourages the "five minute limit" where lectures cannot span longer than that before students are given a moment to talk or write. Formative assessments need to be used throughout daily lessons in order for the teacher to be guided into the next portion of the lesson. I have started to integrate more of these checks for understanding into my teaching, and I have found that I catch more misconceptions sooner than I would have normally. I also see that sections I felt required more time were grasped at a faster rate than anticipated

 http://www.amazon.com/Motivation-Breakthrough-Secrets-Turning-Tuned-Out/dp/0743289617/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1328620537&sr=1-2-catcorr The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child, author Richard Lavoie, is a well written resource guide for teachers who wish to figure out how to motivate their students. Parents can learn from the guide as well, but the author primarily addresses educators who seek to improve relations with their students and figure out how to help them work to potential. Richard Lavoie is a consultant and a lecturer with over thirty years of experience as a teacher and an administrator at special education facilities. He explores strategies and techniques that are proven to inspire children to learn. He outlines strategies that will be most effective in igniting the interest and eagerness of kids, especially given their different needs. He outlines several different ways that children are motivated to do their best work. He teaches of the six Ps to motivate children. Some seek praise; others seek prizes, power, projects, or prestige. Some are people-oriented and are motivated when they work with people. Six different chapters address the various motivating factors and how they can be identified and used in the classroom. Personal accounts from Lavoie's years as a teacher allow us to see how he has put his lessons into practice. I appreciate the way that Lavoie challenges teachers to find out what motivates their students, even those students with special needs or who are classified as difficult. He encourages parents and teachers to work together to spark any child to reach his/her full potential. He covers learned hel

Wendy, it looks like maybe your review got cut off. You can add to it by adding an additional comment.

This sounds like an interesting book, and strategies for inspiring students to learn is always a good thing. I would like to add this book to my professional library. Even though I will not be a special education teacher per se, I have special education students in my classroom. Anything that I can do to help them will be valuable.