Reading Instruction for Students Who Are at Risk or Have Disabilities

Organized according to the Reading First categories of reading development and instruction as presented in the report of the National Reading Panel, this exciting and timely new text presents teaching strategies for children at-risk, including children of poverty, children for whom English is not their primary language, and children with learning and behavioral disabilities. These are the children No Child Left Behind challenges teachers to serve more effectively.    The book is more than a list of teaching strategies that are scientifically-validated; the scientifically-validated practices included are integrated into a systematic teaching process that stresses the use of student outcome data within authentic classroom contexts to guide practice.  The teaching strategies have been field tested with at-risk children in both rural and urban teaching settings. Most of the strategies have resulted from work the authors did in their recent four-year federally-funded model-demonstration grant in which they have implemented an extensive reading problem prevention model in grades K-3 in three inner-city schools. Thus, the teaching strategies in the book are ones that the authors implemented every day with at-risk children, not just findings from research articles.   Features of this First Edition Include: Content organized around the five components validated by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Readers learn how to use DIBELS and other curriculum-based assessment results for early identification of children at risk of reading failure and to monitor student progress. A unique feature is using DIBELS assessments to pinpoint student skill development as they acquire alphabetic principle. Accompanying DVD shows teacher explicitly teaching letter sound recognition, regular word decoding, sight words, multisyllable word reading, passage reading, vocabulary, and comprehension. Text explains how to use Differentiated Instruction to maximize learning for all students. Specific strategies are detailed for implementing Response To Intervention (RTI) multi-tier instruction during the reading block. Examines building vocabulary knowledge through direct and indirect teaching strategies. Comprehension strategies identified by the National Reading Panel that help students derive meaning from text are emphasized.  Strategies for individualizing instruction for adolescents and children who are bilingual and/or ESL are included within each chapter. Effective strategies for managing classroom behavior, including instruction groups are provided so that student behavior does not interfere with reading instruction.  

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1        An Introduction to Systematic, Explicit Reading Instruction                         Key terms                        Objectives Who Are The Students At-risk For Having Reading Problems? What Is The Best Time To Begin Reading Instruction For Children Who Are At-risk? How Can I Identify Which Students Are Likely To Struggle When learning To Read? How Can I Set Goals For Them And Monitor Their Progress? What Essential Skills Do Students need To Become Mature Readers? What Does The Research Say About The Most Effective Way To Teach Essential Reading Skills To Children Who Are At-Risk? What Letter Sounds Do Teachers Need To Know To Teach Phonemic Awareness And Phonics Skills To Students Who Are At-Risk?   Chapter 2        Phonemic Awareness                         Key Terms                         Objectives                         What Skills Do I Need To Teach? How Can I Efficiently Assess And Monitor The progress In Phonemic Awareness Skills? How Do I Teach Students To Segment And Blend? What Can I Do For Students Who Still Are Not learning To Segment And Blend Even With Enhancements Added To The Classroom Reading program? What Can I Do For Students Who Still Are Not learning To Segment And Blend, Even Though They Receive Daily Tier 2 Booster sessions? How Can I Teach Phonemic Awareness To English Language Learners? How Important Is Phonemic Awareness For The Older learner? How Can I Use games To Reinforce the Phonemic Awareness Skills That Students Have Learned/ What Activities Help Students Apply Their New Skills In Phonemic Awareness?   Chapter 3: Alphabetic Principle                         Key Terms                         Objectives                         What Skills Do I Need To Teach? How Can I Efficiently Assess And Monitor The Progress Of My Students In Attaining the Alphabetic Principle? How Do I Teach Students So That They Attain The Alphabetic Principle? Putting The Pieces Together: What Does A Tier 1 Classroom Look Like? What Can I Do For Students Who Still Aren’t learning To identify Letter Sounds Or Read Regular Words And Longer Decodable Passages Even With Enhancements Added To The Classroom Reading Program? What Can I Do For Students Who Struggle To Acquire The Alphabetic Principle, Even Though They receive Daily Tier 2 Booster Sessions? How Can I Teach Alphabetic Principle To English Language Learners? How Important Is Alphabetic Principle For The Older Learner? How Can I Use Games And Activities To Reinforce The Decoding Skills That Students Have learned? What Activities Help Students Apply Their Newly-Acquired Alphabetic Principle?   Chapter 4: Advanced Word Reading                         Key Terms                         Objectives Why Is it Necessary To Teach Advanced Word Reading Skills When Students Have Already Attained The Alphabetic Principle? What Are The Advanced Word Reading Skills I Need To Teach? How Can I Assess Student Advanced Word Reading Skills? How Can I Teach Students To Decode Advanced Words And Words Having Multiple Syllables? How Can I Teach Advanced Word Reading Skills To English Language Learners? How Important Are Advanced Word Reading Skills For The Older Learner? How Can I Use Games And Activities To Reinforce The Advanced Word Reading Skills That Students Have Learned?   Chapter 5:      Reading Fluency                         Key Terms                         Objectives What Is Reading Fluency and Why Do I Need To Teach It? How Can I Assess Reading Fluency? How And Why Do I Chart Progress On The DORF? How Do I Measure The Growth Of Students Who Are Significantly Behind Their Peers? How Can I Measure How Well Students Read With Expression? How Can I Diagnose Student Error Patterns Using the DORF And Prosody Measures? How Can I Teach My Students To Be More Fluent Readers? How Do I Place My Students In The Right Reader? How Can I Increase My Students’ Oral Reading Fluency And Develop More Expression? How Important Is Fluency For The Older Learner? Putting the Pieces Together: What Does a Tier 1 Classroom Look Like? What Can I Do For Students Who Struggle To Acquire Advanced, Fluent Reading Skills Even Though They Receive Daily Tier 2 Booster Sessions? What Can I Do For Students Who Struggle To Acquire Advanced, Fluenct Reading Skills Even Though They Receive Daily Tier 2 Booster Sessions? How Can I help develop The Expressive Reading Skills of My English Language Learners? How Can I Use Games and Activities To Reinforce The Fluency Skills That Students Have Learned?   Chapter 6: Vocabulary Instruction             Key Terms             Objectives What Vocabulary Words Do I Choose For Instruction? How Do I Assess The Vocabulary Knowledge Of My Students? What Methods Do I Use To Teach Key Vocabulary Words? How can I teach my students to answer vocabulary questions on high-stakes tests? How Can I Provide Extra Vocabulary Practice For My Students? How Do I Teach the Language Of Learning? How Important Is Vocabulary For The Older Learner? How Can I Teach Vocabulary To English Language Learners? How Can I Use Games And Activities To Reinforce the Vocabulary And Language Skills That Students Have Learned?   Chapter 7: Comprehension             Key Terms             Objectives What is Reading Comprehension And Why Do I Need To Teach It? What Underlying Skills Do Students Need To Comprehend Text? What Are The Seven Essential, Scientifically-Based Reading Comprehension Strategies That The National Reading Panel Identified As Effective Based On Research? How Can I Assess And Monitor The Progress Of My Students In Reading Comprehension? How Do I Motivate Students To Read Widely? What Can I Do For Students Who Struggle Acquiring Comprehension Skills And Need a More Systematic, Explicit Approach? How Do I Prepare My Students To Pass High Stakes tests In Reading? How Do I Teach Comprehension To Older learners? How Can I Teach Comprehension To English Language Learners? How Can I Use Games And Activities To reinforce Reading Comprehension Skills That Students Have Learned?    

About the Author :
Mary Damer is an adjunct professor at the Ohio State University and an educational consultant and co-founder of Multi-Tier LLC, a consulting company that works with school districts to increase reading achievement through an intensive multi-tiered model based on preventing reading failure.  A former teacher, principal, and behavior consultant she is the co-author of Managing Unmanageable Students: Practical Solutions for Administrators.  For four years she was the field director for Project PRIDE, an OSEP funded multi-tier reading project in three high poverty urban schools. William D. Bursuck has more than 35 years experience as a general and special education teacher in the public schools as well as a university teacher educator. Although he has written numerous research articles and is a successful grant writer, Dr. Bursuck takes particular pleasure in providing classroom and future teachers with practical, evidenced-based strategies to help students with special needs be more successful in school. He is currently professor in the Department of Specialized Education Services at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Review :
“While the first chapter captures the very essence of teaching reading, the rest of the text is an absolute gold mine of additional research based instructional strategies appropriate for the college student, the first year teacher, and the veteran reading teacher. I wish I had written it!” -Pam Matlock, Murray State University   Recommended Reading from LETRS! Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2007). Reading instruction for students who are at risk or have disabilities. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. "This is a very useful textbook with several unique features. It thoroughly describes direct instruction procedures in all components of reading. It integrates illustrations and discussions of informal, curriculum-based assessments, including DIBELS, into explanations of all instructional components. It explains what special approaches, programs, and techniques are most appropriate for Tier II and Tier III students and includes charts comparing the characteristics of some often-used intervention approaches. The authors are more focused on instructional design than on the structure of language, however. For example, they do not clearly differentiate phonemes from graphemes or explain the structural principles of orthography that are important in teaching reading, spelling, and word analysis for vocabulary acquisition. This book, however, offers a great deal of valuable, practical information and is strongly recommended as a textbook for a reading methods course." -Toni Backstrom, LETRS Program Coordinator READ THE REVIEW ONLINE HERE: http://www.sopriswest.com/newsletters/NewsLETRS_Apr07.htm