This study investigated how 15 kindergarten teachers from one school district implemented small-group Guided Reading (GR). Analysis of video recordings indicates substantial differences in how GR was conducted, with none of the teachers fully implementing GR as conceptualized by Fountas and Pinnell (2012). Consistency across teachers was limited…

Even though small group instruction is a research-based intervention and has many benefits, researchers have shown that many students are reading below grade level and struggle with mastering reading skills, and this may be due to the ineffectiveness of small-group reading instruction. The problem that was addressed in this study was teachers'…

Providing instruction to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be challenging for teachers since students can have a range of unique learning needs, particularly in reading comprehension. Given that reading comprehension is a complex process requiring the use of various knowledge and skills simultaneously, many students with ASD often…

The teaching approach described in this article was originally designed for kindergarten students who are at risk for reading disorders. In a 30-minute session, students practiced attending to and identifying the spelling patterns, pronunciations, and meanings of common morphological suffixes through listening activities, interactive book reading,…

Differentiated instruction means matching instruction to meet the different needs of learners. To deliver the wide range of instruction required to accommodate differing levels of learners in a classroom, teachers must use data-informed, small group instruction designed specifically to meet students' needs (Kosanovich, Ladinsky, Nelson, Torgesen,…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law. The law changed the kindergarten entry cutoff so that children must turn five by September 1 to enter kindergarten. The law also established a new grade level--Transitional Kindergarten (TK)--which is the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for…

How literacy develops has been of interest to scholars and practitioners of literacy for at least the past century. The Vygotskian perspective of literacy emphasizes social interaction but places les emphasis on stages of behavior. Children build new concepts by interacting with others, such as teachers, who either provide feedback or help them…

This publication helps educators create differentiated reading instruction experiences for their students by showing the relationship between two distinct resources: Student Center Activities (SCAs) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSSs). Reading specialists, reading coaches, and teachers will find this document useful in lesson planning, as…

Get your students motivated! As a teacher, you know how essential student buy-in is to instructional effectiveness: It is not enough to merely have students participate in the classroom activities you select--you need to get them to want to participate. In "Fun-tastic Activities for Differentiating Comprehension Instruction, Grades 2-6", you will…

With a unique focus on grades 4 and 5, this book explains how to design and implement a research-based reading program that helps all students build major literacy skills (word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). The expert authors present ready-to-use activities, strategies, and lesson plans, along with detailed guidance for…

The jigsaw reading technique maximizes the interactive basis of cooperative learning. The advantages of cooperative learning are that it increases student independence; promotes peer teaching; can be used in multi-level classrooms; can be used in a variety of content areas; can be adapted for use in all age groups; promotes individual and group…

Reports on five different strategies (repeated readings, peer reading, choral reading, modeling, and small group instruction) that can be used in the classroom to promote fluency in emerging readers. States that, although some of the strategies are intended for remedial uses or in small groups, all are adaptable to the regular reading classroom…

Designed for teachers of high school students, the unit proposes an individualized approach for teaching vocabulary. Students choose from three vocabulary word lists which represent levels of difficulty and which are chosen from words selected by students during the previous semester. In vocabulary notebooks, students enter pronunciation…

As many schools are adapting to an ever-increasing broad range of learners, it becomes more important than ever to develop instruction to respond to these academically diverse students. Without differentiated reading instruction, some children will fall further behind, while others will be left unchallenged. This book presents the Small-Group…