READING INTERVENTIONS RESOURCE HANDBOOK

READING INTERVENTIONSRESOURCE HANDBOOKJose M. Chavez, M.A.Orli Lahav, M.A.

2To the ReaderThe purpose of this resource book is to provide concrete support toparents and teachers of struggling readers. Extensive research hasshown the numerous benefits to education of multisensory approachesto learning, explicit instruction, and parental involvement; however,many parents continue to miss out on opportunities to becomeinvolved members in their children’s education.This resource book provides an alternative approach to increasingstudents’ academic success. It is intended that teachers add thestrategies and interventions provided in this resource book to theirrepertoire of activities and are encouraged to provide parents withmodifications to use these activities at home with their children. Theseactivities can be done in or out of the classroom by parents andteachers alike. The goal is for teachers to dialogue openly with theirstudents’ parents and to encourage both parents and teachers to beaccountable for positive educational outcomes. With proper support,teachers and parents can help increase students’ academic success.All materials in this book not specifically identified as being fromanother source are copyright 2013 by Jose Chavez & Orli Lahav.You have permission to reproduce these pages for use in your ownclassroom. You may not distribute, copy of otherwise use any of thisbook for sale, for commercial presentation, or commercial use withoutthe written permission of the authors.

3Table of ContentsA Snapshot of Research4Strength Based Approach5Overview of Reading6Simple View of Reading7Steps to Lifelong Reading8Phonemic Awareness9-12Phonics13-18Reading Fluency19-24Vocabulary25-30Reading Comprehension31-36Technology: iPads37-47Work Cited48-49Samples50-62

4A Snapshot of ResearchPhonemic Awareness: Phonemic Awareness (PA) refers to the ability to hear,identify and manipulate sounds in spoken words. PA should be taught explicitly andresearch shows explicit instruction in PA and decoding yields an effect size betweenthree and half to four times larger than those for studies that did not use a literacyfocused curriculum (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008).Phonics: Phonics is the study of sound-symbol correspondence. Research reveals“systematic and explicit instruction in phonics produces significant benefits for childrenfrom kindergarten through sixth grade and for children having difficulty learning toread” (NRP, 2001).Fluency: Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression.Research shows that effective fluency instruction requires passages and books thatcontain limited and controlled vocabularies. Utilizing material with limited vocabularyensures multiple encounters with words; repeated reading is key.Vocabulary: Vocabulary knowledge is an important predictor of readingcomprehension. Vocabulary should be taught consistently, directly, and intensively.Students need to learn multiple meanings for words and need to be provided withnumerous opportunities to encounter and utilize new vocabulary. Research shows thatstudents should be provided with both definitional and contextual information about anew word.Reading Comprehension: Reading Comprehension is the understanding ofinformation read. It demonstrates the ability to extract and construct meaning fromwritten text. Research shows that cognitive skills strengthen reading comprehension asdoes direct, explicit instruction in comprehension skills. These skills include, but are notlimited to: compare and contrast, inference, visualization, prediction, and synthesizinginformation.

5Strength-Based Approach“Individuals gain more when they build on their talents, than when theymake comparable efforts to improve their areas of weakness.” (Clifton& Harter, 2003).A strength-based approach involves assessing, teaching, anddesigning activities that help students identify their greatest talents andthen applying those strengths in the process of learning to achievepersonal success.Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Modelof Child Development (1994)places the child at the centerand identifies significant factorsthat support children’s learningand development. Families,schools, and peers are essentialto providing each student witha strong network of support.Utilizing a child’s strengths results in higher levels of intrinsicmotivation, greater engagement in school, increased productivity withthe task at hand, and improved self-confidence.

6An Overview of ReadingReading is a multifaceted process involving decoding, sight wordnaming, comprehension, fluency and motivation.Research shows that students make significant gains in reading whenteachers provide interventions that are explicit and intensive; morespecifically, when teachers individualize interventions to fit the targetedstudent’s deficit (Torgesen, 2004).There are many contributing factors linked to reading challenges.Spencer (2010) indicates that other contributors may include heredity,memory, auditory processing, and educational history. Each one ofthese contributors impacts reading in their own way, as indicated inTable 1.Reading Challenges ContributorsContributorImpactHeredityThe probability of having dyslexia is 50% greater if arelative has dyslexia.MemoryRecall can be inhibited because of the need to holdsounds, words, and concepts in short term memory whilereading.Auditory ProcessingPhonological processing deficits are highly correlated withword reading difficulties.Educational BackgroundEarly success in acquiring reading skills leads tocontinued success in reading, while initial difficulties canbe indicative of prolonged struggles with reading.Table 1. Reading Challenges adapted from Spencer (2010).

7Simple View of ReadingEstablishing a clear definition of reading provides an importantperspective for evaluation and intervention. For the purpose of thisresource book we will use the Simple View of Reading as thefoundation for our strategies and interventions.The Simple View of Reading (SVR) indicates that reading is comprisedof word recognition and language comprehension. Therefore,processes are established by which the words on the page can berecognized and understood, i.e. phonological decoding and sight-wordnaming skills develop, while the language comprehension processesthat underlie both spoken and written language comprehensioncontinue to mature.SVR presents Reading Comprehension (RC) as the product ofListening Comprehension (LC) and Decoding (D) .[RC LC x D]PoorPoor GoodWord RecognitionLanguage ComprehensionGoodPoor language comprehension, andgood word recognition.Good language comprehension, and goodword recognition.Poor language comprehension, and poorword recognition.Good language comprehension, and poorword recognition.

8Steps to Lifelong Reading

9Phonemic Awareness“Correlation studies have identified phonemic awareness and letterknowledge as the two best school-entry predictors of how well childrenwill learn to read during their first two years of school” (NRP, 2000).In order to benefit from formal reading instruction, children must have acertain level of phonemic awareness (Yopp, 1992). Phonemicawareness refers to the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate soundsin spoken words. Before children learn to print, they must understandthat words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes.Phonemic awareness instruction should be focused on multiple skillsets. These skills include: rhyming, segmentation, isolation, deletion,substitution, and blending.Rules to TeachPhonemic Awareness It is not dependent on PrintMake it Fun (Think Outside the Box)Work with GroupsPlay with language (Piglatin)Look for Teachable MomentsTeach across Settings (Generalize)Note: Once a student has mastered thisskill do not continue teaching.

10Hip Hop MaryRhymes and SongsDirections:1.2.3.4.5.6.Play music that contains rhymingwords in the lyrics.After listening to the song have thestudents talk about which rhymingwords they were able to identify.Then provide students with a copy ofthe lyrics and read the lyrics ornursery rhymes aloud as a group.Assign students a verse and havethem work in pairs. Each pair shouldhighlight all of the rhyming words intheir verse.Have partners come up with multiplewords that rhyme with each rhymingword.Replace some of the words in thesong with the new rhyming words andsing the song or nursery rhyme withthe new words.Estimated Time: 15-30 minMaterials: Lyrics and CDPHONEMIC AWARENESS

11Picture BingoDirections:Students must each have a bingocard and counters.2. Teacher says initial sound andstudents must locate a picture thatbegins with the same sound.3. If the student has all of the picturescovered diagonally, across in a row, orvertically in a column, they should callout BINGO.4. If a student calls BINGO and they areincorrect, then they sit out until thenext new round begins.*Variations - focus on medial or finalsounds., e.g. teacher says /i/ and studentcovers the picture for “pig”.1.Estimated Time: 5-15 minMaterials: Counters, bingocards, and bingo sheetsPHONEMIC AWARENESS

12The Sound TrainDirections:1.2.3.4.5.Students will line up in the classroomor outside.Teacher will identify a sound topractice, e.g. /th/.Then the teacher will lead thestudents around the room like a trainas they practice the sound.When the train stops, students willstay quiet and raise their hand whenthey have identified an object in theirenvironment that begins with thesame sound that they are practicing.The train will continue to move,making multiple stops. The teacherwill determine when enough items orobjects have been identified.Estimated Time: 15 minMaterials: N/APHONEMIC AWARENESS

13PhonicsPhonics is the study of sound-symbol correspondence for the purposeof learning to read and write. Phonics is essential to a child’s literacydevelopment. Research shows that young children benefit significantlyfrom systematic and explicit instruction in phonics.There are many views on phonics and at least three ways to approachit in the classroom. Phonics instruction can be taught through directsystematic instruction, integrated instruction or embedded phonics(Savage, 2001).Rules to TeachPhonics Make it Fun (Think Outside the Box) Systematically introduce DecodableWords Explicitly teach Rules Teach Syllabication Skills Consider Learning Styles andPreferred ModalitiesNote: Repetition is Key

14Monster SoundsDirections:Students will be divided into groups.Students will be assigned parts of amonster, e.g. head, body, arms, legs.3. Students will make their body parts outof multi-colored construction paper andglue or tape them together.4. Once the monster is glued together,students will be asked to identify a wordthat corresponds to a particular lesson.1. For example: If you are working onrhyming the teacher will provide abody word (lead word) to each groupand the students will identify a wordto correspond with every body part.They will then write the word on thebody part.5. Once students have completed theirgroup monsters, they will practicereciting the words written on theirmonster with their group. They can thenshare their words with students in othergroups.1.2.Estimated Time: 5-15 minsMaterials: Multi-coloredconstruction paper, pencil,scissors, and glue or tape.PHONICS

15Criss-Cross PhonicsDirections:1.2.3.4.5.6.All students stand up and organizeinto rows.Teacher shows a word or a pictureand designates initial, medial, or finalsound.Students raise their hands andidentify the selected sound.If the sound is identified correctly thestudent must sit down and chooseanother student to answer the nextsound question.Repeat step 2-5.Once there is a row of students thathas successfully sat down they win(winning rows can be diagonal,vertical, or horizontal as long as thereare the same number of students ineach possible row).Estimated Time: 10-15 minMaterials: Grade-levelwords and picture cardsPHONICS