In this article we investigate the systems that need to be in place for students to learn from increasingly complex texts. Our concept, drawn from past research, includes clear learning targets, teacher modeling, collaborative conversations, close reading, small group reading, and wide reading. Using a "proof of concept" model, we follow…

This article defines academic language by examining the central features of vocabulary, syntax, and discourse function. Examples of each feature are provided, as well as methods of identifying them in oral language and printed text. We describe a yearlong study that found teachers used different types of academic language based on instructional…

This article shares a monthly curricular model that can help teachers and families bridge the gap between home and school by using literature and response inspired from the cultures in the classroom. Integrating culturally responsive texts and family response journals into the classroom and the home can help children, their families, and peers…

Language and, specifically, vocabulary development plays a critical role in early literacy development. This article describes Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy (ExCELL), which is a research-based, effective preschool program that focuses on developing Head Start enrollees' language and preliteracy skills. The ExCELL program…

There are many effective strategies that can be used to support student learning from expository text, but how do teachers choose and use them? The authors provide readers with a process for selecting instructional strategies that embed literacy instruction into teaching with content area text. A a veteran sixth-grade teacher is followed as she…

The secondary level of a Response to Intervention system, sometimes referred to as Tier II intervention, targets students who experience inadequate response to good classroom instruction for 10-15 weeks of validated small-group instruction. The twin purposes of secondary prevention are to (a) prevent the development of long-term reading difficulty…

Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI) is widely understood as representing a multilevel framework that integrates assessment and instruction to provide strong early intervention and valid methods of disability identification. There are currently many approaches to RTI, which are creating confusion among educators as they try to conceptualize,…

An instructional focus on critical literacy (CL) encourages students to become active readers and writers of cultural texts so that they can create their own meanings in order to shape and transform their social conditions (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993; Shor, 1992). It is, however, seldom pursued with English learners (ELs) because teachers…

Suggests that good teaching is not the successful execution of a teacher-directed plan but the collective weaving of personal knowledge and understanding teachers create with students in literacy experiences. (MG)

Argues that teaching techniques should be consistent with the objectives of the lesson and provides several examples. (RB)