Differentiated Reading Instruction: Strategies for the Primary Grades

This book provides a research-based framework for making differentiated instruction work in the primary grades. It includes scientifically validated techniques for teaching each component of the beginning reading program. The authors describe how to use assessment to form differentiated small groups and monitor student progress; plan which skills to target and when; and implement carefully selected instructional strategies. Vivid classroom examples illustrate what differentiated instruction looks like in action in each of the primary grades. For additional helpful resources, including classroom-ready lesson plans, teachers can purchase the complementary volume, How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction: Resources for Grades K-3.

Table of Contents:
1. Planning Differentiated Instruction 2. Using Assessment to Differentiate Instruction 3. Differentiating Phonemic Awareness Instruction 4. Building Word Recognition 5. Building Fluency 6. Building Vocabulary 7. Building Comprehension 8. A Kindergarten Differentiation Plan 9. A First-Grade Differentiation Plan 10. A Second-Grade Differentiation Plan 11. A Third-Grade Differentiation Plan Glossary of Reading Terms

About the Author :
Sharon Walpole, PhD, is Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. She has extensive school-based experience designing and implementing tiered instructional programs. Dr. Walpole has also been involved in federally funded and other schoolwide reform projects. Her current work involves the design and effects of schoolwide reforms. She has coauthored or coedited several books, including How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction, Second Edition: Resources for Grades K-3; The Literacy Coach’s Handbook, Second Edition; and Organizing the Early Literacy Classroom. Dr. Walpole is also Series Editor, with Michael C. McKenna, of The Essential Library of PreK-2 Literacy. She is a recipient of the Early Career Award for Significant Contributions to Literacy Research and Education from the Literacy Research Association and the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Delaware. Michael C. McKenna, PhD, was Thomas G. Jewell Professor of Reading in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia until his death in 2016. He authored, coauthored, or edited more than 20 books, including Assessment for Reading Instruction, Third Edition; How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction, Second Edition: Resources for Grades K-3; and Organizing the Early Literacy Classroom; as well as over 100 articles, chapters, and technical reports on a range of literacy topics. Dr. McKenna also served as Series Editor, with Sharon Walpole, of The Essential Library of PreK-2 Literacy. His research was sponsored by the National Reading Research Center and the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. He was a corecipient of the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association and the Award for Outstanding Academic Books from the American Library Association, and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame.

Review :
'Useful for both inservice and preservice teachers, this book offers a sensible and research-based approach to differentiated instruction. The organization makes the book especially useful: First it explains and illuminates what differentiation is, and then it provides detailed descriptions of highly useable instructional practices in the areas of phonemic awareness, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The concluding chapters put it all together in the form of realistic differentiation plans for kindergarten through the third grade. Differentiation is key to effective instruction, and Walpole and McKenna provide lessons and plans that will give teachers what they need to optimize their teaching.'" - Sylvia Read, PhD, Department of Elementary Education, Utah State University, USA " 'There is much to like about this book. It discusses a very complex instructional practice in a clear, straightforward manner; provides a basic blueprint for implementing this practice in the classroom; and perhaps best of all, provides specific guidance for differentiating instruction in the five essentials of primary grade reading. This is a practical, easy-to-follow book that classroom teachers will find very useful.' "- Kathleen Roskos, Department of Education and Allied Studies, John Carroll University , USA" 'Literacy coaches and reading specialists will find this book invaluable as they guide and support teachers of reading. Each topic lends itself to a session of professional development. The organization and detailed table of contents enable teachers to read the book in its entirety or draw on specific chapters as needed. In my 32 years in education, I have read hundreds of methods books. The majority of these books are read and digested, a few salient ideas are extracted, then they go on a shelf or are given away. "Differentiated Reading Instruction" is not that kind of book - rather, it's a 'bible' of reading instruction for primary grades. Teachers will consult this book on a regular basis: It will help drive their reading instruction, not sit on their shelves.' - "Harri Wasch, MEd, Literacy Coordinator, Paul H. Cale Elementary School, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA"