Small Group Reading Instruction

Until the 70's fluency was not studied extensively as a reading component, but people have found that fluency is integral to successful comprehension. The author states that fluency is effected by automacity and prosody. I thought that it was very interesting that the most effective way of enhancing fluency is by doing repeated reading orally. Intermediate readers should be doing this in small group instruction, and even advanced readers are advised to work on this at home. In the classroom this could manifest in a couple of different ways: reader's theatre, choral reading, etc.

5 Homework Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities

I really enjoyed this article because it gave very practicle homework strategies for struggling students. Infact, many of the suggestions are beneficial for all students. For example, teachers must give clear and appropriate assignments to students. I loved how she tells teachers to establish homework routines at the beginning of the year. This includes information about credit, late assignments, etc. I found as a classroom teacher that this is crucial to holding high expectations! I also liked how she suggests that students graph their homework returns and completion. This will give struggling students the visual accountability they need to stay on track. Also she suggests that students keep a homework calendar. Students with disabilities need this additional organizational support.

ELL's and Reading

This article made a couple very important points when adjusting instruction to meet the needs of 2nd language learners. All of these are critical to succesfully teaching ESOL kids. The following are some of the most interesting points to consider:

1. Teachers need to be aware their ESOL kids language structures. Spanish phonetics and sentence structure is similar to English in many ways, but many Asian languages are very different in not only their sounds but their writing styles. This can easily hold back students until they can associate an English sound with a letter.
2. Read alouds are very important as they model intonation and expression. These kids need to hear fluent readers as much as possible.
3. Reading instruction must have connections with prior learning or with real life. These kids need to make connections to facilitate the reading process.
4. Finally, Students must receive direct vocabulary instruction by the ESOL teacher.