Reading Intervention Strategies

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3 Comments

Comment by Carrie Coremin on October 8, 2009 at 3:59pm

I loved your ideas. I am taking a Problems in Literacy Development class and this is the perfect blog to refer to for great reading ideas.

Comment by Carol A. Smith on August 6, 2009 at 8:15am

I found this group while exploring resources for a graduate course I teach, Problems in Literacy Development. One course requirement is for my masters' level students -- almost all of whom are practicing teachers -- to participate in a web-based learning community that explores ways to help struggling readers. This requirement accomplishes two goals. First, my students communicate and collaborate globally to solve instructional problems (a la the global learning model described by Don Leu). The course learning expands exponentially in terms of time, space, and participants. The second goal is that my graduate students become familiar and comfortable with computer-mediated global learning so that they might be more inclined to engage their own students in such experiences.
So I am delighted to find this group, and I will guide my students to participate in your discussions this fall.
And regarding the recommendation for differentiating fluency instruction, as a former literacy coach in a middle and high school district, I believe the described approach would be highly effective. I am emailing former colleagues in that district this morning to direct them to your post.

Comment by Mark Pennington on July 2, 2009 at 1:56pm

I'll start things off by sharing a classroom-tested strategy for differentiating fluency instruction in reading intervention classes. I used this with a middle school reading intervention class last year.

After dividing students into instructional fluency groups by their reading levels and fluency rates, I pass out high-interest expository passages and corresponding timing charts. Using the modeled reading/repeated reading design, I quickly rotate from group to group to pre-teach the few tough words and begin the reading at the appropriate "challenge pace (about 20-30% higher than the group norm)." Assigned peer leaders stand at each group and lead choral reads, carrying on after I move to the next group. The integrated behavioral plan is key here. See Differentiating Fluency Practice for details. Teachers and students love this strategy.

Hope you'll share your reading intervention strategies, favorite blog sites, and resource links and build up this community. Reading intervention teachers need all of the mutual support they can get!