research has demonstrated that access to self-selected texts improves students' reading performance (Krashen, 2011), whereas no evidence indicates that workbooks, photocopies, or computer tutorial programs have ever done so
If school principals eliminated the budget for workbooks and worksheets and instead spent the money on real books for classroom libraries, this decision could dramatically improve students' opportunities to become better readers.
Studies of exemplary elementary teachers further support the finding that more authentic reading develops better readers
struggling readers typically encounter a steady diet of too-challenging texts throughout the school day
remediation that emphasizes comprehension can change the structure of struggling students' brains.
to enable the brain to develop the ability to read: It takes lots of reading and rereading of text that students find engaging and comprehensible.
he intensity and volume of high-success reading, that determines a student's progress in learning to read
exemplary teachers were more likely to differentiate instruction so that all readers had books they could actually read accurately, fluently, and with understanding.
Writing provides a different modality within which to practice the skills and strategies of reading for an authentic purpose.
Time for students to talk about their reading and writing is perhaps one of the most underused, yet easy-to-implement, elements of instruction
Research has demonstrated that conversation with peers improves comprehension and engagement with texts in a variety of settings
better outcomes when kids simply talked with a peer about what they read than when they spent the same amount of class time highlighting important information after reading
When students write about something they care about, they use conventions of spelling and grammar because it matters to them that their ideas are communicated, not because they will lose points or see red ink if they don't
This high-impact, low-input strategy is another underused component of the kind of instruction that supports readers
simply requires a decision to use class time more effectively.
eliminate almost all worksheets and workbooks
ban test-preparation activities and materials from the school day
no studies demonstrating that engaging students in test prep ever improved their reading proficiency—or even their test performance
INSERT is a strategy with several uses. Students mark a text (with pencil or sticky flags) with symbols such as +. -. !, ? to monitor their comprehension during reading. These marks can then be used by the teacher to help students engage in discussions, and clarify understanding. Students can also use the marks to make notes after reading.
This is actually 2 articles from American Educator Spring 2011
-Putting Students on the Path to Learning: The Case for Fully Guided Instruction
-Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know
The first article asserts that "teachers are more effective when they provide explicit guidance accompanied by practice, not when they require students to discover many aspects of what they must learn."
The second article presents 10 research-based principles of instruction, along with suggestions for classroom practice.
This week's topic is "Making and Taking Notes." One of the suggested activities in our text is "dictoglos," a strategy first proposed by Wajnryb (1990; see text for original citation). Through some (brief) searches, it looks like dictoglos (more references spell it "dictogloss") is an instructional strategy for use with English language learners (ELL), and incorporates listening, writing, reading, and speaking. What are your thoughts as to the usefulness of this technique with students whose primary/only language is English?
"This article describes dictogloss, an integrated skills technique for language learning in which students work together to create a reconstructed version of a text read to them by their teacher."