Supercharge Interventions with Executive Functioning Support
No reading skill – from decoding and fluency to comprehension – can be successful without the use of executive functioning skills. When older readers struggle, weak executive functioning skills are often to blame. What we know about executive functioning Executive functioning (EF) has gained attention over the last few decades as its effect on learning […]
Choosing and Preparing Texts for Striving Readers
Two steps help you select and prepare texts for use with striving readers!
Phonological Awareness for Older Students
Phonological and phonemic awareness has been thought of as appropriate for only early readers, but research shows that even our older struggling readers benefit from these activities! Learn more here!
What kind of struggling reader do you have?
Identify underlying issues to move students forward! By the time older readers come to us for help, their academic achievement, self worth, and motivation have become imbued with layers of literacy issues. It is easy for us as teachers to become overwhelmed in the journey to help them. Identifying the root issue provides an efficient […]
Bring Them Along
Supporting new teachers in your building It seems as though no matter where you live, there are many new faces appearing in your teachers’ lounge. Even if supporting new teachers is not part of your official job description, mentoring might be a big part of your year! Read on for some ways to effectively influence […]
Make Your Literacy Intervention Schedules Work!
Fitting intervention instruction into your year, day, and class period No one needs to remind teachers of the finite amount of time available each hour, day, week, and semester of the school year. No one feels it more than they do! So it’s no wonder that finding solutions for intervention schedules is a difficult task! […]
Accelerate Reading Skills to Avoid the Avalanche
Protect students from the middle school crash Perhaps it is the triple degree heat (or the Stanley Cup finals!) that makes me think of snow – and avalanches – rather than any summery metaphor. No matter – here we are, talking about how the lack of foundational skills often leads to the avalanche that is […]
Accelerated Instruction: Untangling the Meaning
Remediation No More! Something happened when the entire world slowed down to navigate the pandemic crisis: education coined a new term: Accelerated Instruction (AI). AI has become the buzz phrase for quickly moving students forward to close gaps left by 18 months of educational inconsistency. The term is confusing as it closely resembles Accelerated Learning […]
Assessments for Reading in Secondary Intervention
Beyond the First Five Days You have just been assigned a group of secondary struggling readers who probably failed last year’s state test. You’re expected to bring them to grade level. What do you do now? (Spoiler: Use assessments for reading specially targeted toward older readers!) Chances are, you probably already implemented activities to promote […]
5 Steps to Creating Teacher Led Literacy Training Experiences
Bringing EdCamp structures to literacy coaching Basics of EdCamp You may have heard of or attended EdCamp, an “unconference” structure that began in 2009. EdCamps are free events organized by educators, for educators, and their success relies on the participation of all attendees. In short, everyone arrives at a pre-secured location at a set time. […]