Young children's meaning-focused skills are foundational for reading comprehension and begin to develop prior to formal reading instruction. In this article, we argue for the importance of supporting meaning-focused skills in early childhood classrooms. We describe authentic, real-life examples of engaging preschool children in activities that…

In this article, I showcase an informational text reading comprehension unit that centers on text features commonly found in science textbooks. I taught this unit to a sixth-grade class and highlighted the work samples of three focal students here. The overarching question that guided this work was as follows: How can I focus my instruction on…

In online and blended learning environments, students may experience learning barriers that are more pronounced than in the traditional classroom. When designing online instruction, teachers can use digital tools along with instructional strategies to reduce those barriers. Digital tools have various instructional and assistive features, which can…

This chapter presents drama-based pedagogy as an instructional strategy to increase comprehension of a novel or informational text in a content area, to encourage collaborative discussions about a text, and to help students apply knowledge acquired from a text to one's own life and world. This essay proceeds with a brief discussion of relevant…

Since pairing the classics with young adult literature can increase reading comprehension and spark interest amongst our students, this essay explores a unit plan for connecting Will Hobbs's "Downriver" (1991) with William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" (1954). Both works espouse significant and timely themes: the importance of…

After several years of study, many English as a foreign language (EFL) learners have a large enough vocabulary and sufficient reading fluency to silently read English stories and books outside class. Once students have reached this threshold, teachers can introduce and encourage independent reading in EFL courses, as there is rarely time in class…

This article discusses two strategies to improve reading outcomes for middle and high school adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The first is providing secondary students a choice of accessible, engaging activities to more actively engage them during reading instruction and foster intrinsic motivation to engage in literacy…

In this article, the author describes teaching a Spanish lesson to non-Spanish undergraduate students. This lesson contained instructional strategies identified as effective practices: physical involvement with language, multiple media to present language, and opportunities to demonstrate language comprehension through physical expression.…

Current education standards in the U.S. require school students to read and understand complex texts from different subject areas (e.g., social studies). However, such texts usually contain figurative language, complex phrases and sentences, as well as unfamiliar discourse relations. This may present an obstacle to students whose native language…

This Kindergarten Teacher's Guide provides information for kindergarten teachers on how to support families as they practice foundational reading skills at home. It serves as a companion to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade. Both guides present four…

The goal of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade," is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. The guide suggests…

For the past few decades, stylistics has emerged as a discipline that encompasses both literary criticism and linguistics. The integration of both disciplines opened many opportunities for English literature and language teachers to get creative in their teaching--by introducing the stylistic approach in their classrooms. However, in a typical…

After briefly reviewing how reading is conceptualised in the "Progress in International Reading Literacy Study" and the English National Curriculum, this article examines two unofficial reading activities in a class of 10-11-year-olds' to see how far these activities match up with the official definitions of reading, or whether they…

One of the rumors making the rounds of K-12 educators goes something like this: The Common Core State Standards do not allow "prereading"--the pedagogical practice meant to help students better understand a text they are about to read--or for that matter any classroom activities that contextualize a text through outside sources. The interesting…

This article discusses the flexible nature of the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) as a frame for inquiry-based science instruction. Given the mandate for the use of text-supported learning (Common Core Standards), the GRR can be used to allow students to learn as scientists as they collaboratively develop testable questions and experiments…