The Case Method Approach in Reading Education

Imagine sitting in on a course in reading education where the class is engaged in a lively discussion of the application of some method of reading instruction. The discussion focuses on a real incident that the students had read about the evening before. Some students agree with the approach taken by the teacher in the case in handling the instruction. Others approve of the general methodology employed but disagree with the teacher\u27s instruction and timing

Aspects of a Caring Reading Curriculum

Education in America has traditionally maintained two basic mandates: one academic, the other social (Commis sion on the Reorganization of Secondary Schools, 1918; Levine and Haselkorn, 1984; Wynne and Walberg, 1985). The first mandate is the education of the young in academic skills that will enable them to lead productive lives. Reading, obviously, is one academic area that schools teach in order to fulfill this responsibility

Picture This: Using Imagery as a Reading Comprehension Strategy

Research of the past few years seems to suggest that imagery can be used as an effective instructional tool. It is the purpose of this paper to review the promising work in the connection between imagery and reading which has been going on recently. We may thus find ways in which research findings can be turned into productive classroom practices to aid reading comprehension

Parent Communication in a Whole Language Kindergarten: What We Learned From a Busy First Year

Among recent developments in literacy research and practice is the increased recognition of the critical roles that parents play in the education of their children (Rasinki and Fredericks, 1989). Involving parents in their child\u27s literacy learning is particularly important for kindergarten teachers. The kindergarten literacy curriculum should build upon what children have begun to learn at home, and, continue to involve parents in supporting their child\u27s literacy development. Communicating with parents on how they can continue to give active support to their children\u27s literacy learning is an important task for kindergarten teachers

Teacher Perceptions of Parent Involvement in Literacy Education

Parent involvement appears to hold great potential for the improvement of literacy education. Without the coordination and support ofthe classroom teacher, however, the effects of such involvement may not be maximized. A question central to the development of parent involvement programs is, Do teachers recognize and support parent involvement as a significant component of children\u27s education? The purpose of this informal study was to describe perceptions of parent involvement in literacy education. Over sixty teachers from a cross section of schools in a Midwestern metropolitan area were interviewed in depth about their attitudes toward parent involvement in reading. A structured interview combining closed and open-ended questions was used to gather data. Results indicated that teacher perceptions of what constitutes parent involvement differed by grade level. Over 90 percent of the teachers recognized the importance of involving parents. Less than 5 percent, however, supported involving parents as partners. Teacher perceptions of the role of parents appeared to restrict involvement and limit dialogue

Time for Reading Instruction: How Much Time Should Schools and Teachers Devote to Reading Instruction in Grades K-2?

Although research has indicated that time allotted for instruction in reading is associated with reading achievement, no studies have examined what is the appropriate or optimal time that should be given to reading instruction in the primary grades (grades K-2). Given the understanding that it is the teachers themselves who would have the best sense of the appropriate time for reading instruction and its various components. Results of the survey indicate that teachers feel that 178-198 minutes be devoted to the general literacy curriculum, while 62-71 minutes be devoted to the core reading curriculum per day. We note that the allocation of time to the major components of reading instruction (word study, fluency, and comprehension) varied considerably. In follow-up survey inquiries, a significant number of teachers manifest difficulties in actually meeting their own recommendations for time appropriation for reading instruction. Among the factors that keep teachers from meeting their recommendations for instructional time are special events that disrupt and disturb the time given for instruction. Recommendations for making time for literacy instruction for effective and efficient are considered

Multi-Touch Tablets, E-Books, and an Emerging Multi-Coding/Multi-Sensory Theory for Reading Science e-Textbooks: Considering the Struggling Reader

Pavio’s Dual-Coding Theory (1991) and Mayer’s Multimedia Principal (2000) form the foundation for proposing a multi-coding theory centered around Multi-Touch Tablets and the newest generation of e-textbooks to scaffold struggling readers in reading and learning from science textbooks. Using E. O. Wilson’s Life on Earth: An Introduction (2012) as a simulation for our essay, we theorize that text, graphics, interactive elements, and audio represent four distinct encoding schemes. Each of these encoding schemes can be used as separate but mutually supportive scaffolds to assist struggling students in reading and learning with science textbooks.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Tiered Fluency Instruction: Supporting Diverse Learners in Grades 2-5

https://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/facultybooks/105/thumbnail.jpgFluency is an important part of comprehension, but how can teachers make sure they\u27re providing the support that all readers need? Tiered Fluency Instruction: Supporting Learners in Grades 2-5 will help teachers meet this challenge. This resource will provide fluency support for all students, including disfluent readers. Chapters are included on RTI Tiers, assessment and ways to integrate technology.</p

Prosodisches Lesen als Strategie für das Leseverständnis?

Emerging research on reading prosody, an indicator of fluent reading, is finding that it contributes to comprehension processing in students across elementary, middle, and secondary grades. In this study we measure the growth of reading prosody and comprehension of 250 first-, second-, and third-grade readers across the school year using the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MDFS; Zutell & Rasinski, 1991). Our results show that students gradually improve their reading prosody and reach asymptote with grade-level text by the end of second-grade. We found that reading rate was not a significant predictor of comprehension while word identification accuracy and prosody accounted for 64.9% of unique variance in reading comprehension. Using both a three-step (Baron & Kenny, 1986) and bootstrap resampling approach to mediation analysis (Preacher & Hayes, 2004; Preacher & Kelly, 2011), we found that prosody exerts a significant mediating effect on the relationship between automaticity and comprehension. Additional analysis revealed that a reader’s ability to accurately read connected text with appropriate pacing emerges more quickly than does expressive reading and phrasing. Finally, we use the Implicit Prosody Hypothesis (Fodor, 2002) to advance the notion that prosodic readers may leverage reading prosody as a problem-solving tool to interpret ambiguous text, and thus increase reading comprehension. (DIPF/Orig.)Die aufstrebende Forschung zur Leseprosodie als ein Indikator für flüssiges Lesen zeigt, dass Prosodie bei Schülerinnen und Schülern verschiedener Altersklassen zum Leseverständnis beiträgt. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde unter Verwendung der Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MDFS; Zutell & Rasinski, 1991) die Entwicklung der Leseprosodie und des Leseverständnisses von 250 Erst-, Zweit- und Drittklässlern über ein Schuljahr hinweg untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Schülerinnen und Schüler schrittweise ihre Leseprosodie verbessern und sich bis zum Ende der zweiten Klasse dem der Jahrgangsstufe entsprechenden Niveau annähern. Während sich die Lesegeschwindigkeit nicht als signifikanter Prädiktor des Leseverständnisses erwies, konnten die Genauigkeit der Wortidentifikation und die Leseprosodie 64.9 % der Eigenvarianz beim Leseverständnis aufklären. Mithilfe eines Three-Step-Resamplings (Baron & Kenny, 1986) und eines Bootstrap-Resamplings zur Mediationsanalyse (Preacher & Hayes, 2004; Preacher & Kelly, 2011) konnte ein signifikanter Mediationseffekt der Prosodie auf das Verhältnis von Automatizität und Leseverständnis gezeigt werden. Weitergehende Analysen verdeutlichten, dass sich Lesegenauigkeit und angemessenes Lesetempo schneller entwickeln als die Fähigkeiten zu expressivem Lesen und Phrasierung. In Anlehnung an die Implicit Prosody Hypothesis (Fodor, 2002) wird der Gedanke weitergeführt, dass Leseprosodie als problemlösendes Hilfsmittel zum Interpretieren nicht-eindeutiger Wortlaute eingesetzt und das Leseverständnis dadurch verbessert werden kann. (DIPF/Orig.

The Fluency Factor: Authentic Instruction and Assessment for Reading Success in the Common Core Classroom

https://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/facultybooks/106/thumbnail.jpgReading fluency has been identified in the Common Core State Standards as a foundational competency for reading proficiency. This resource provides teachers with approaches to fluency instruction that are effective, engaging, and easy to implement. The authors begin with a comprehensive definition of reading fluency, a discussion of why fluency has fallen out of favor in recent years, and evidence of its importance to literacy instruction. They follow up with authentic approaches to reading fluency that teachers and literacy interventionists can immediately use to improve students’ overall proficiency in reading. A unique feature of the book is the participation sections “What Do You Think?” and “What We Think,” which challenge the reader to engage in issues related to fluency—from concept, to assessment, to instruction—and then compare their views to those of the authors. This important new book updates and adds to Timothy Rasinski’s classic text, The Fluent Reader. Book Features: Vignettes of teachers implementing research-based fluency instruction. Teaching strategies and classroom activities to help struggling readers. Full descriptions of the authors’ original, highly successful approaches to improving fluency. Resources for assessment and instruction of reading fluency. A new concept of reading instruction as an art as well as a science. </ul