This lesson introduces the study of insects in science by using poetry. Students work in cooperative groups to prepare choral poetry readings and present factual information on an assigned insect to the class. The choral poetry readings also serve to increase fluency in English-as-a-second-language students. During four 30-minute sessions,…

This report presents results from an analysis of the adult basic education (ABE) reading instruction research base, focusing on principles derived from the research and a future research agenda. After an introduction, Chapter 2 presents methods used to select and evaluate research related to ABE reading instruction. Chapter 3 serves as an index to…

A first-grade teacher investigated the use of daily poetry readings to help students develop certain characteristics of skilled readers, including fluency and comprehension. Students in a class receiving poetry-reading instruction had higher comprehension scores and reading levels than students in a control class receiving basal-reader…

Students learning English as a new language are the fastest-growing group in U.S. schools today. These students speak many languages, their reading levels cover a wide range, and they experience great cognitive demands as they learn both language and content in order to participate fully in class. Literature can play a critical role in immersing…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a readers' theater fluency program. The participants were 12 students with learning disabilities in a combined second/third grade exceptional education classroom. Through the use of pre and post reading attitude surveys, field notes recorded by the observer, and pre and post oral fluency…

The influence of social relationships, positive interdependence, and teacher structure on the quality of partner reading interactions was examined. Partner reading, a scripted cooperative learning strategy, is often used in classrooms to promote the development of fluent and automatic reading skills. Forty-three pairs of second grade children were…

Research was conducted to ascertain if a combined repeated reading and question generation intervention was effective at improving the reading achievement of fourth through eighth grade students with learning disabilities or who were at risk for reading failure. Students were assigned to a treatment or control group via a stratified random…

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) of silent reading fluency using the maze task has been shown to be a useful tool for evaluating students' silent reading skills. No prior research has evaluated whether the source of the maze passages has a relationship with the obtained reading scores. Prior research with CBM of oral reading fluency (ORF) has…

This study examined the effects of a systematic, phonics-based reading intervention on the oral reading fluency and accuracy of adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) receiving educational services in a juvenile correctional facility. A multiple-baseline design across four participants was used to calculate the effect of daily,…

This study evaluated the effects of a repeated reading (RR) intervention on the oral reading fluency and comprehension of six urban fourth and fifth-grade students with and at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to study RR effects according to gains in reading fluency,…

This document was prepared to provide guidance to "Reading First" coaches and teachers regarding alternative lesson structures for providing small group, differentiated instruction to students in grades K-3 within "Reading First" schools in Florida. The motivation for the development of this document stemmed from specific…

This experimental/comparison study of secondary-level, small-group instruction included 318 first- and second-grade students (170 ELL and 148 English-only) from six elementary schools. All schools served high numbers of ELL students with varying school SES in urban and suburban communities. Experimental schools implemented a three-tier model of…

This report presents findings from the third and final year of the Reading First Impact Study (RFIS), a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government's initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 established Reading First (RF) and mandated its…

Some tips can assist teachers in guiding each pupil to achieve more optimally, with respect to the ability to read well and reading comprehension. Among these 10 specific tips are: (1) teach individualized phonics in context; (2) assist the student to read in proper thought units by covering up words in sentences for clarification; (3) assist…

Offering instructional strategies in an informal, easy-to-read, yet scholarly approach, this book presents instructional strategies and activities for children who are having difficulty learning to read. In contrast to other books that offer highly analytic and prescriptive approaches, the activities in the book are arranged around general areas…