Elements of Effective Reading Instruction

Beginning Reading

• Language-rich activities that develop oral language proficiency
• Immersion in a print-rich environment to develop concepts of print and foster a love of reading
• Linguistically-rich environments that develop phonemic awareness through play with the sounds of language
• Interactive strategies that teach students the names and shapes of letters
• Systematic, explicit phonics instruction that is engaging and involves students in building and decoding words
• Sufficient practice in a variety of early reading material
• Daily opportunities for students to write
• Teacher-directed, integrated instruction in comprehension strategies that increases the students' abilities to gain meaning and to engage in thoughtful interaction with and around print
• Integration of language arts instruction in content areas
• On-going daily assessment and evaluation to monitor student progress and guide instruction

Expanded Reading Power

• Teacher-directed, integrated instruction in comprehension strategies that increases the student's ability to gain meaning and to engage in thoughtful interaction with printed materials
• Extensive use of varied and abundant authentic printed materials
• Daily discussions that include literal, interpretive, and evaluative responses to printed materials that require students to defend their understandings
• A motivational component that includes opportunities for choice in selecting printed materials, social interaction about materials read, and incentives resulting in large amounts of student reading
• Vocabulary expansion through large amounts of reading and explicit instruction
• A connected reading and writing program

Effective Intervention

• Accelerated, highly specialized instruction that significantly increases the pace of learning and is based on on-going assessment
• On-going assessment and evaluation to monitor student progress and guide instruction
• Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics that enables students to understand how print maps to speech
• Extensive practice in appropriate text material
• Teacher-directed, integrated instruction in comprehension strategies that increases the students' abilities to gain meaning and to engage in thoughtful interaction with and around printed material
• Accelerated, extensive practice in reading and writing
• Substantial daily practice to ensure accuracy and fluency and to increase comprehension
• Special practices and organizational patters to provide struggling readers with what they need