Reading comprehension is the goal of reading, and making inferences is vital. Authors usually expect readers to make multiple types of inferences, including anaphoric, background knowledge, predictive, and retrospective. Common core assessments include all of these, yet instructional materials focus mostly on only one type, retrospective. This…

The schwa sound, as the most frequent in English, is a near constant in words of three syllables or longer in academic texts. As linguistic research has shown, it characteristically recurs in rhythmic alternation with stressed syllables, contributing to a word's distinctive sound shape. The location of strong stress and therefore schwa is often…

This article describes how one second-grade teacher implemented Follow the Reader, her term for dyad reading. Common Core expects students to read increasingly complex texts. Teachers can implement dyad reading with this end in mind. It is a modified version of the neurological impress method in which a lead reader and an assisted reader sit side…

This article describes a 2-year exploratory research study of alphabet knowledge instruction in 13 kindergarten classrooms in four at-risk urban schools. Based on insights for teaching from five evidence-based advantages that influence acquisition of letter names and sounds, instruction of letter names and sounds was enhanced to increase students'…

In spite of calls for increased literacy instruction in secondary content classes, there appears to be little change in practice. One reason for this may be that content area literacy courses inadequately prepared teachers to teach literacy skills specific to their content area. This article describes a program that embeds content area literacy…

Many schools mandate that teachers use scripted lessons and specific reading programs. To minimize the many problems that such instructional inflexibility can create for struggling readers, this article describes five principles of motivation and shows how teachers can apply these principles with struggling readers within the framework of mandated…

Describes a project that heightens teacher awareness of research on four types of beneficial classroom practices: (1) use of wait time when asking students questions, (2) attention to academic learning time, (3) use of prompting or cuing, and (4) use of reinforcement when questioning students. (SKC)

Argues that students' problems in reading content area materials can best be solved by helping them make effective use of their skills through skill-centered instruction. Describes the purpose and rationale for an approach involving the "glossing" of expository text--the addition of intratext notations to direct students' attention while they…