—Graeme Sloan/Education Week Braydan Finnerty, 2nd grade, chooses letter magnets off the board while doing a spelling exercise in front of the rest of the class at Beverly Gardens Elementary in Dayton, Ohio.

Recharging Reading Success Getting Struggling Readers Back on Track

EDITORS NOTE How Do Kids Learn to Read? What OPINION How can educators optimize literacy the Science Says...... 2 education among students who struggle to Connecting Reading & Writing ‘Is a read? In this Spotlight, learn how teachers These Schools Filled Vending High-Leverage Move’...... 12 are implementing scientific research on Machines With Books. Will It Motivate Reading?...... 6 Why I Created Book Groups for My reading into curriculum, how schools are Students...... 15 helping students foster a love of reading, A Look Inside One Classroom’s and how teachers are using writing to Reading Overhaul...... 8 How to Make Reading Instruction compliment reading instruction. Much, Much More Efficient...... 16 ‘Decodable’ Books: Boring, Useful, or Both?...... 10 Recharging Reading Success

Published on October 2, 2020, in Education Week’s Special Report: Getting Reading Right How Do Kids Learn to Read? What the Science Says By Sarah Schwartz and Sarah D. Sparks

ow do children learn to read? For almost a century, re- searchers have argued over the question. Most of the dis- agreement has centered on Hthe very beginning stages of the reading process, when young children are first starting to figure out how to decipher words on a page. One theory is that reading is a natural process, like learning to speak. If teachers and parents sur- round children with good books, this theory goes, kids will pick up reading on their own. Another idea suggests that reading is a series of strategic guesses based on context, and that kids should be taught these guessing strategies. But research has shown that reading is not a natural process, and it’s not a guessing game. Written language is a code. Certain combina-

tions of letters predictably represent certain —Video still from “ What the Science Says About How Kids Learn to Read”/Education Week sounds. And for the last few decades, the research has been clear: Teaching young kids how to crack sent spoken sounds, recognize patterns of let- Don’t children learn to read the the code—teaching systematic phonics—is the ter sounds as words, and match those to spoken way they learn to speak? most reliable way to make sure that they learn words whose meanings they know. This differs how to read words. Infants learn to speak by listening to and from Chinese, for example. It uses a tonal spo- Of course, there is more to reading than seeing repeating sounds made by adults and connect- ken language, conveying meaning with small a word on a page and pronouncing it out loud. As ing them to meanings. They don’t consciously differences in stress or pitch. Its writing system such, there is more to teaching reading than just distinguish individual sound units (called pho- is partially logographic—in which written sym- teaching phonics. Reading requires children to nemes) when hearing spoken language. Some bols correspond directly to a word or concept— make meaning out of print. They need to know the research suggests infants learn probabilisti- and also includes words that couple symbols for different sounds in spoken language and be able to cally—for example, hearing the sound “ball” at meaning and symbols for sound. Someone read- connect those sounds to written letters in order to the same time as the sight of a round, bouncy ing Chinese hanzi characters could not “sound decipher words. They need deep background and object over time makes the child associate the out” unfamiliar words character by character. vocabulary knowledge so that they understand the two—while other studies suggest children map words they read. Eventually, they need to be able meaning to a word after experiencing it just once What is systematic, explicit phonics to recognize most words automatically and read or twice. Within the first two years, typically instruction, and why is it important? connected text fluently, attending to grammar, developing toddlers’ brains focus on the most punctuation, and sentence structure. common sounds in their native languages and Connecting printed letters on a page to writ- But knowing how to decode is an essential step connect those sounds to meaning. A child devel- ten sounds isn’t intuitive. While some young chil- in becoming a reader. If children can’t decipher the ops understanding of speech through exposure dren may make those connections themselves, precise words on the page, they’ll never become to language and opportunities to practice the most do not. One set of studies from 1989-90 il- fluent readers or understand the passages they’re “serve and return” patterns of conversation, even lustrates this phenomenon well. reading. without explicit instruction. In these studies, conducted by Brian Byrne That’s why we’ve put together this overview By contrast, children do not naturally develop and Ruth Fielding-Barnsley, researchers taught of the research on early reading, in grades K-2. It reading skill through exposure to text. The way young children between ages 3 and 5 to read whole covers what’s known about how we should teach they learn to connect oral and written language words aloud, like “fat” and “bat.” These children letter-sound patterns, and what we don’t know depends on what kind of language they are learn- didn’t already know their letter names. for sure yet. It touches on what else should be part ing to read. Then, the researchers tested whether the chil- of early reading programs. And it explains why Alphabetic languages, like English or French, dren could transfer their knowledge to reading a we know that most children can’t learn to read use letters to stand for sounds that make up new word. They gave them the word “fun,” and through osmosis or guessing. spoken words. To read an alphabetic language, asked whether the word was “fun” or “bun.” Very Here’s what the evidence shows. children must learn how written letters repre- few of the students could do this successfully. 2 Recharging Reading Success

They couldn’t break down the original word into accuracy for young students. phonemes and then transfer their knowledge of A systematic phonics program teaches an those phonemes to a new word. ordered progression of letter-sound correspon- But children could succeed on this task if dences. Teachers don’t only address the letter- they were first given some explicit instructions. sound connections that students stumble over. When children were taught how to recognize Instead, they address all of the combinations me- that certain letters represented certain sounds, thodically, in a sequence, moving on to the next and taught how to segment words to identify once students demonstrate mastery. Teachers those individual letters and sounds, they had explicitly tell students what sounds correspond to much greater success on the original transfer what letter patterns, rather than asking students test. Neuroscience research has since confirmed to figure it out on their own or make guesses. and helped explain these findings. When learning In one series of experiments, Stanford Uni- how to read new words in an unfamiliar made-up versity neuroscientist Bruce McCandliss and language, participants had more long-term suc- his colleagues made up a new written language cess if they were first taught which symbols cor- and taught three-letter words to students either respond to which sounds, than if they tried to re- Lack of exposure and by asking them to focus on letter sounds or on member words as wholes. Brain imaging of these whole words. Later, the students took a reading readers finds that the two teaching strategies tap practice on the part of test of both the words they were taught and new into different neural pathways in the brain. Read- the less-skilled reader words in the made-up language, while an elec- ers taught to connect print to meaning directly troencephalograph monitored their brain activ- could recall words initially more quickly, but delays the development of ity. Those who had focused on letter sounds had less accurately; readers taught to connect print more neural activity on the left side of the brain, to sound and then to meaning read aloud more automaticity and speed at which includes visual and language regions and is quickly and correctly, better recalled the correct the word recognition level. associated with more skilled reading. Those who meanings of words, and transferred their knowl- had been taught to focus on whole words had edge to new words. Slow, capacity-draining more activity on the right side of the brain, which Decades of research has shown that explicit has been characteristically associated with adults phonics instruction benefits early readers, but word-recognition processes and children who struggle with reading. More- particularly those who struggle to read. require cognitive resources over, those who had learned letter sounds were That’s because small strengths or deficits at better able to identify unfamiliar words. the start of reading compound over time. It’s what that should be allocated Early readers benefit from systematic phonics reading expert Keith Stanovich in 1986 dubbed instruction. Among students in grades K-1, pho- the “Matthew Effect in Reading,” after the Bible to comprehension. Thus, nics instruction led to improvements in decod- verse in which the rich get richer and the poor get reading for meaning is ing ability and reading comprehension across the poorer: “The combination of deficient decoding board, according to the National Reading Panel. skills, lack of practice, and difficult materials re- hindered; unrewarding Children at risk of developing future reading sults in unrewarding early reading experiences reading experiences problems, children with disabilities, and children that lead to less involvement in reading-related from all socio-economic backgrounds all bene- activities,” Stanovich wrote. “Lack of exposure multiply; and practice is fited. Later research reviews have confirmed that and practice on the part of the less-skilled read- systematic phonics instruction is effective for er delays the development of automaticity and avoided or merely tolerated students with disabilities, and shown that it also speed at the word recognition level. Slow, capac- without real cognitive works for English-language learners. ity-draining word-recognition processes require Most studies of phonics instruction test its cognitive resources that should be allocated to involvement.” immediate effectiveness—after the intervention, comprehension. Thus, reading for meaning is are children better readers? Among students in KEITH STANOVICH hindered; unrewarding reading experiences mul- NEED A BIO HERE (?) THE ARTICLE SITES older grades, the results are less clear. A recent tiply; and practice is avoided or merely tolerated HIAS READING EXPERT. meta-analysis of the long-term effects of read- without real cognitive involvement.” ing interventions looked at phonics and phone- mic awareness training, mostly in studies with children in grades K-1. Both phonics and phone- My reading curriculum includes mic awareness interventions improved reading letter-sound instruction. Am I comprehension at an immediate post-test. But providing enough phonics? while the benefits of phonemic awareness inter- Not all phonics instruction is created equal. ventions persisted in a follow-up test, the benefits The most effective phonics programs are of phonics interventions faded much more over those that are systematic. The National Reading time. The average length of all interventions in- Panel found this in 2000, and since then, further cluded in the study was about 40 hours, and the research reviews have confirmed that this type of follow-up assessments were conducted about a instruction leads to the greatest gains in reading year after the interventions were complete, on 3 Recharging Reading Success

average. edge and context, such as vocabulary a student has already learned; Some of my students didn’t need Structure/Syntax, or how the word fits in phonics instruction to learn to read. •  common grammar rules, such as whether the Why are you saying that all kids word’s position in a sentence suggests it is a benefit? noun, verb, or adjective; and Depending on the estimate, anywhere from 1 percent to 7 percent of children figure out how • Visual/Graphophonics, or what a word looks to decode words on their own, without explicit like, such as how upper- and lowercase letters instruction. They may spot the patterns in books are used (suggesting a proper noun, for exam- “The association between read to them or print they see in their environ- ple) or common spelling patterns. ment, and then they apply these patterns. These hearing written language include children with a neurotypical form of Cueing systems are a common strategy in “hyperlexia”—a condition in which children may whole-language programs, and also are used in and feeling loved provides begin decoding as early as 3—but this is more many “balanced literacy” programs that incor- the best foundation for this frequently associated with children who have au- porate phonics instruction. Cueing systems were tism-spectrum disorders and often have separate designed by analyzing errors rather than prac- long process [of emergent problems with reading comprehension. tices of proficient readers, and have not shown It may seem like these children are reading benefits in controlled experiments. literacy], and no cognitive words as whole units, or using guessing strategies Moreover, cognitive and neuroscience stud- scientist or educational to figure out what comes next in the story. But ies have found that guessing is a much less effi- they are attending to all of the words’ individual cient way to identify a new word, and a mark of researcher could have letters—they’re just doing it very quickly. beginning or struggling readers, not proficient A systematic phonics program can still ben- readers. Skilled readers instead sound out new designed a better one.” efit these students, who may have gaps in their words to decode them. MARYANNE WOLF knowledge of spelling patterns or words that Balanced literacy programs often include COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENTIST they haven’t encountered yet. Of course, phonics both phonics and cueing, but studies suggest instruction—like all teaching—can and should cueing instruction can make it more difficult for be differentiated to meet the needs of individual children to develop phonics skills because it takes students where they are. If a student can dem- their attention away from the letter sounds. onstrate mastery of a sound, there’s no need to continue practicing that sound—he or she should I know phonics instruction is move on to the next one. supposed to be explicit and There’s another answer to this question: Stu- systematic. But beyond that, how dents may look like they’re decoding when they’re should I teach it? Does the research actually not. For example, a child may see an il- ing comprehension, research has also found that say anything about what content I lustration of an apple falling from a tree, and cor- it’s a component in decoding ability. One study need to cover, and how should it be rectly guess that the sentence below the picture found that when children know a word’s mean- sequenced? describes an apple falling from a tree. This isn’t ing, they can more quickly learn how to recognize reading, and it doesn’t give the teacher useful in- There is a general path that most children fol- it automatically, because the visual letters, corre- formation about how a student will tackle a book low as they become skilled decoders. Research sponding sounds, and meaning all map together without pictures. can tell us how children usually progress along when a reader recognizes a word. this path, and which skills specifically predict bet- There are other early skills that relate to later ter reading performance. reading and writing ability as well, regardless of Can cueing strategies help Before starting kindergarten, children gen- IQ or socio-economic status. Among these are students to read? erally develop some early phonological aware- writing letters, remembering spoken informa- Many early reading classrooms teach students ness—an understanding of the sounds that make tion for a short time, rapidly naming sequences of strategies to identify a word by guessing with the up spoken language. They can rhyme, break down random letters, numbers, or pictures, and other help of context cues. Ken and Yetta Goodman multi-syllable words, and recognize alliteration. phonological skills—like the ability to segment of the University of Arizona developed a “three- A next step in the process is understanding words into phonemes. cueing system,” based on analysis of common that graphemes—combinations of one or more To decode words, students need to be taught errors (or “miscues”) when students read aloud. letters—represent phonemes, the smallest units to blend together the phonemes that graphemes Ken Goodman famously called reading develop- of spoken language. It’s easier for students to represent on the page. For example, a young ment a “psycholinguistic guessing game,” and learn these letter-sound correspondences if they reader must learn to recognize that /r/, /o/, /d/ are cueing systems teach students to guess at a new already have early phonological skills like rhym- three sounds that together form the word “rod,” word based on: ing and alliteration, along with knowledge of the but also that the word “rock” also contains three names of the letters of the alphabet. sounds, /r/, /o/, /k/ This is a process that builds on • Meaning/Semantics, or background knowl- And while vocabulary is important for read- itself rapidly. Though there are some 15,000 syl- 4 Recharging Reading Success

lables in English, after a child has learned the 44 and sounds when they see any written word. But the authors of the NRP are quick to point most common sound and letter combinations, When those two systems conflict, the reader may out that these patterns are descriptive, not pre- they will begin to sound out words as they read. call on additional rules, such as understanding scriptive. The studies they looked at weren’t spe- These include both the basic letter and vowel that words at the end of lines of a rhyming poem cifically testing the effectiveness of different time sounds, but also common combinations such as (such as “has” and “jazz”) likely rhyme even if lengths, and it may be that time wasn’t the rele- “th,” “sh,” and “-ing.” There are two main ways to their spelling would not suggest it. vant factor in these shorter programs performing demonstrate to children that words are made up Some research has found that teaching com- better. of sound-letter correspondences. In one method, mon irregular words, like “one” and “friend,” as Eventually, a skilled reader doesn’t need to students learn the sounds of the letters first and sight words can be effective. Still, in these stud- sound out every word that she reads. She sees the then blend these phonemes together to sound ies, children were also taught phonics along with word and recognizes it immediately. Through read- out words. That’s synthetic phonics—they’re syn- sight words—and that’s important. Understand- ing the word again and again over time, her brain thesizing phonemes into greater whole words. ing phonics gives students the foundation to read has linked this particular sequence to this word, The other method, analytic phonics, takes an these irregular words. Take “friend.” While the through a process called orthographic mapping. inverted approach: Students identify—or ana- “ie” doesn’t produce the same sound it normally But neuroscience research has shown that even lyze—the phonemes within words, and then use does, the other letters in the word do. Research if it feels like she’s recognizing the word as a whole, that knowledge to read other words. has suggested that children use the “fr” and the she’s still attending to the sequence of individual Take the word “bat.” In synthetic phonics, stu- “nd” as a framework when they remember how to letters in the word for an incredibly short period of dents would first learn the /b/ sound, then the /a/ read the irregular word “friend.” time. That’s how skilled readers can tell the differ- sound, then the /t/ sound and blend them together ence between the words “accent” and “ascent.” to sound out “bat.” In analytic phonics, students When should children start to learn would learn the word “bat” alongside words like how to sound out words? Is there a What else—aside from phonics— “cat,” “mat,” and “hat,” and would be taught that all “too early”? is part of a research-based early these words end in the “at” sound pattern. reading program? Even very young children can benefit from in- struction designed to develop phonological aware- Phonics is essential to a research-based read- So there’s synthetic phonics and ness. The National Early Literacy Panel Report ing program. If students can’t decode words, analytic phonics—is one way better (2009), a meta-analysis of early literacy studies, they can’t derive any meaning from them. But than the other? found that teaching preschoolers and kindergart- understanding the alphabetic code doesn’t auto- A few studies have found synthetic phonics ners how to distinguish the sounds in words, wheth- matically make students good readers. There are to be more effective than analytic phonics. Most er orally or in relationship to print, improved their five essential components of reading: phonemic notably, a seven-year longitudinal study from reading and writing ability. The children in these awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and Scotland found that synthetic phonics taught in 1st studies were generally between the ages of 3 and 5. comprehension. grade gave students an advantage in reading and Studies suggest progress in phonics is less The National Reading Panel addressed all five spelling over analytic phonics. Still, when exam- closely linked to a child’s age than to the size and of these components. The researchers found that ined as a whole, the larger body of reading research complexity of his spoken vocabulary, and to his having students read out loud with guidance and doesn’t surface a conclusive winner. Two land- opportunities to practice and apply new phonics feedback improved reading fluency. Vocabulary mark research reviews haven’t found a significant rules. There is some evidence that “decodable” instruction, both explicit and implicit, led to bet- difference in the effectiveness of the two methods. books, designed to help students practice specific ter reading comprehension—and it was most ef- Other more recent research is still inconclusive. letter-sound combinations, can benefit the earliest fective when students had multiple opportunities readers. But it is mixed, and students very quickly to see and use new words in context. They also progress enough to get more benefit from texts found that teaching comprehension strategies Do these strategies apply to words that provide more complex and irregular words— can also lead to gains in reading achievement, that don’t follow traditional sound- and often texts that students find more interesting. though most of these studies were done with stu- spelling patterns? What about words dents older than 2nd grade. like “one” and “friend”—can those For younger students, oral language skills; words still be taught with phonics? How much time should teachers understanding syntax, grammar, vocabulary, spend on teaching about letters Yes, but not alone; spelling and semantic rules and idioms; and having general and topic-spe- and sounds in class? go hand-in-hand with teaching letter sounds. cific background knowledge are also essential for Words like “lime” and “dime,” have similar spell- There isn’t yet a definitive “best” amount of reading comprehension. ing and pronunciation. But some words with time to spend on phonics instruction. In several This is one of the premises of the Simple View similar spelling have different pronunciations, meta-analyses, researchers haven’t found a direct of Reading, a framework to understand reading like “pint” and “mint.” And others have different link between program length and effectiveness. first proposed by researchers Philip B. Gough spellings and similar pronunciations, like “jazz” The National Reading Panel report found that and William E. Tunmer in 1986. In the simple and “has.” Brain imaging studies find that when programs focusing on phonemic awareness, the view, reading comprehension is the product of readers see word pairs that are inconsistent, they ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the small- decoding ability and language comprehension. show greater activity in the areas of the brain as- est units of speech sounds, that lasted less than 20 If a student can’t decode, it doesn’t matter how sociated with processing both visual spelling and hours total had the greatest effect on reading skills. much background knowledge and vocabulary spoken words. This shows that young readers use Across the studies that the researchers looked at, he understands—he won’t be able to understand systems of understanding of both printed shapes individual sessions lasted 25 minutes on average. what’s on the page. But the opposite is also true: 5 Recharging Reading Success

If a student can decode but doesn’t have a Published on February 28, 2020, in Education Week’s What about independent choice deep enough understanding of oral language, Teaching Now Blog reading? he won’t be able to understand the words he can say out loud. Since Gough and Tunmer In a choice reading period—also known as first proposed this framework, many stud- sustained silent reading or Drop Everything These Schools ies have confirmed its basic structure—that and Read—students get to pick a book to read comprehension and decoding are separate independently in class for a set amount of Filled Vending processes. One meta-analysis of reading in- time. The premise behind this activity is that tervention studies finds that phonics-focused children need time to practice reading skills on Machines With interventions were most effective through their own to improve. grade 1; in older grades—when most students There is a lot of correlational research that Books. Will will have mastered phonics—interventions shows that children who read more are bet- that targeted comprehension or a mix of read- ter readers. But many of these studies don’t It Motivate ing skills showed bigger effects on students’ quantify how much reading students are ac- reading skills. tually doing. While they may specify a time Reading? For young students, early oral-language frame—15 minutes of sustained silent reading, interventions can help set them up for success for example—the studies don’t report whether By Sarah Schwartz even before they start formal school. kids spend this time reading. That makes it The National Early Literacy Panel found difficult to know how effective choice reading n most schools, if you’re looking for a that both reading books to young children actually is. book to read, you go to the library. Now, and engaging in activities aimed at improving More importantly, these studies don’t students in search of new titles may also their language development improved their provide experimental evidence—it’s not clear be headed to a vending machine. oral language skills. whether reading more is what makes students Some schools have brought in these better readers, or if better readers are likely to Ivending machines, which let students select a book read more. The National Reading Panel found of their choice with a token. Generally, teachers If children don’t learn to read that there wasn’t evidence that choice reading hand out these tokens as a reward for positive be- naturally from being exposed improved students’ fluency. havior, or for taking on academic or personal chal- to reading, why are parents and lenges. Kids can then take the books home to keep. teachers encouraged to read to The goal, educators say, is twofold: to give stu- infants and preschoolers? Does it make a difference dents an incentive to make good choices and to whether children learn to read The amount of time adults read with pre- foster a love of reading. using printed books or digital schoolers and young children does predict Deborah Weatherford, the principal at J.B. ones? their reading skills in elementary school. One Watkins Elementary School in Midlothian, Va., of the most important predictors of how well In the last decade or so, access to Inter- made the vending machine part of her school’s a child will learn to read is the size and quality net-based text has continued to expand, and system of positive behavioral interventions and of his spoken language and vocabulary, and schools have increasingly used digitally based supports, or PBIS. children are more likely to be exposed to new books, particularly to support students who do “It’s built a lot of classroom camaraderie,” said words and their meanings or pick up grammar not have easy access to paper books at home. Rebecca Ozbalik, a special education teacher at rules from reading aloud with adults. Yet some emerging evidence suggests children J.B. Watkins. Students get excited for their class- In a series of studies in the late 1990s of learn to read differently in print versus digitally, mates when one of them earns a token, she said. 5-year-olds who had not yet learned to read, in ways that could hinder their later compre- The school also has a library that all students Victoria Purcell-Gates found that after con- hension. have access to. But having the vending machine trolling for the income and education level of Researchers that study eye movements makes getting a new book feel like “a special the children’s parents, children who had been find that those reading digital text are more treat,” Weatherford said. Kids have told her that read to regularly in the last two years used more likely to skim or read nonlinearly, looking for they’ve spent time reading at home with their “literary” language, longer phrases, and more key words to give the gist, jump to the end to prizes—a big win, Weatherford thinks, when sophisticated sentence structures. Moreover, find conclusions or takeaways, and only some- there are so many other types of entertainment an adult reading with a child is more likely to times go back to find context in the rest of the vying for students’ attention these days. explain or expand on the meanings of words text. In a separate series of studies since 2015, There’s research that shows having to work for and concepts that the child does not already researchers led by Anne Mangen found that something can increase its perceived value, said know, adding to their background knowledge. students who read short stories and especially Stephanie Wormington, a researcher at the Cen- Reading with trusted adults also helps longer texts in a print format were better able ter for Creative Leadership who studies develop- children develop a love of reading. “The asso- to remember the plot and sequence of events mental and educational psychology. ciation between hearing written language and than those who read the same text on a screen. “If I have to earn this token to be able to get a feeling loved provides the best foundation for It’s not yet clear how universal these chang- book, then that indicates to me that this is some- this long process [of emergent literacy], and no es are, but teachers may want to keep watch on thing that I should want and that I should be go- cognitive scientist or educational researcher how well their students reading electronically ing after,” she said. could have designed a better one,” notes cog- are developing deeper reading and comprehen- Still, putting books behind glass and restrict- nitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf. sion skills. ing student access could have other conse- 6 Recharging Reading Success

quences, too. Schools should be conscious of how they’re framing any reward system with books at the center, so that they don’t inadvertently discourage students who are already reluctant readers, Wormington said. One way that teachers could talk about the purpose of the vending machines, she said, goes like this: Teachers are excited about these books and they care about read- ing—they want students to be able to read these books. They’re going to help students do what they need to do to become better readers and get these books in their hands. Another way: If you want to read these books, you have to earn it—reading them is a privilege, and not a right. “Those are two very different messages that you could send to students,” Worming- ton said.

Ensuring Access? At Cox Intermediate School in Spring, Texas, administrators were giving out free books to students before they put in a vend- ing machine this year, said Principal Debo- rah Spoon. Students could earn one by giv- ing a “book talk,” about another story they had read, in front of the school. But the vending machine offers teach- ers the opportunity to shine a spotlight on a broader range of achievements, Spoon said. Students can earn a token for the machine for making honor roll or hitting academic goals, but also for showing kindness, char- acter, or good citizenship. Cox Intermediate is planning to give out 50-75 books a week, stocking the machine through donations and hunting for deals in school book catalogs. Schools have long given out rewards to students to incentivize good behavior, or in attempts to motivate attendance or higher performance. Research on these incentives is mixed, but in general, rewards are more At J.B. Watkins, teachers are looking to make And at J.B. Watkins, educators have used the ma- likely to work when they’re tied to things distribution more equitable. The goal is for ev- chine to get kids hooked on collections. They’ll that students feel like they can control. ery child to earn at least one book this semester, put one book out of a series in the machine, and And there’s a better chance that this Weatherford said. let students know that the rest are in the library. system would foster a love of reading if stu- For these vending machines to foster a love of “A lot of the books in the vending machine are dents feel the tokens are within their reach, reading, schools need to first examine their cul- new titles,” said Ozbalik, the special education Wormington said. ture more broadly, Wormington said. Students teacher. “The kids who see their peers get books, “Are there some messages that are be- need to trust that their teachers want them to ac- they get interested in the titles they’re seeing.” ing sent, potentially, about who are the cess knowledge, and that teachers aren’t going to Sparking kids’ interest in a series is a smart students that are being able to get access to withhold books as a punishment, she said. strategy to build engagement, said Wormington. these books? Is it because adults like them Of course, vending machines aren’t the only Schools could also try tucking in recommenda- more?” Wormington asked. Schools need to places in these schools where students can access tions from staff members into the backs of the be aware of creating a “in-group, out-group” books. So how do libraries fit into this equation? vending machine books, she said—a way to “har- situation, where some students never get to At Cox Intermediate, the librarian has helped ness the relationships that students have with pick out a book from the machine, she said. pick out the book selection for the new device. their teachers.” 7 Recharging Reading Success

Published on December 3, 2019, in Education Week’s Special Report: Getting Reading Right A Look Inside One Classroom’s Reading Overhaul Wary teachers say they’re now seeing gains with structured programs

By Catherine Gewertz

Da y t o n , O h i o

im Kohlrus’ 2nd grade class- room is alive with wiggling, The difference between chanting children. They’re on now and five years ago, I their feet, swaying and twist- ing as their teacher leads them wouldn’t have believed it. Kin a call-and-response of letter combinations. [Students’] fluency is much “I-n-k, pink, ink,” they chime in a bouncy rhythm, “o-n-g, song, ong.” It’s a phonics warmup, better, and they’re attacking to help them remember vowel-consonant group- ings. Then they dive into a lesson on multisyllabic words in systematic ways. words, tackling the new challenge in various ways. They’re not getting stuck on Kohlrus writes words like “kindness” and “fan- tastic” on the board, and the children tell her where words.” to draw curved lines underneath to divide them, us- CORY MILLER ing the rules they’ve learned about open and closed PRINCIPAL, VIRGINIA STEVENSON syllables. In their notebooks, they make sentences ELEMENTARY with those words and draw more curved lines to divide the sentences into phrases. For “trick words” that are hard to sound out, like “often,” the children —Graeme Sloan/Education Week trace the letters on their classmates’ backs while saying the letters and words out loud. “[Students’] fluency is much better, and foundational skills created by Student Achieve- These scenes play out in a typical American they’re attacking words in systematic ways,” he ment Partners, a nonprofit created by the com- classroom, trimmed in cheerful shades of green said. “They’re not getting stuck on words.” mon core’s main writers, and later taught a ver- and purple. But what’s happening here at Beverly Teachers and administrators in this Ohio sion of it to all their K-2 teachers. It was becoming Gardens Elementary reflects something less than district, which serves a working-class population apparent to the coaches that the district needed typical: Kohlrus’ district, the Mad River Local near Wright-Patterson Air Force base, long knew a coordinated approach to reading, and teachers Schools, has purposefully reshaped its early lit- something was missing from their literacy in- were increasingly asking for one, Holbrook said. eracy instruction to reflect the science of reading. struction. Most years, barely half of its 3rd graders They found two curricula that covered the With a clear research base to back them up, scored proficient on state reading tests. foundational skills that research calls for, and tried Mad River’s leaders have paired carefully struc- There was no districtwide curriculum; each them out. In 2016-17 they used Wit & Wisdom, de- tured phonics lessons in K-2 with related practic- teacher in its four elementary schools “did their signed by Great Minds to build content knowledge, es that are known to support good reading skills: own thing,” drawing on old Scott-Foresman text- comprehension, and vocabulary, schoolwide in helping students build content knowledge and books or cobbling together their own materials, one elementary building, and in scattered grades strong vocabularies. said Amy Holbrook, one of Mad River’s instruc- and classrooms in other buildings. The following As the project enters its fourth year, Mad Riv- tional coaches. year, the district expanded Wit & Wisdom to all er’s leaders are hopeful. State test scores in Eng- Ohio’s adoption of the Common Core State K-8 classrooms and added Fundations, a program lish/language arts have risen sharply in the build- Standards in 2010 made it painfully clear: Mad Riv- that includes phonics by Wilson Language Train- ings where children have had the most exposure er’s teachers did not have the materials they needed ing, in all K-2 classrooms. (Fundations met most, to the new approach, and principals notice that to meet these new standards. They tried different but not all, of the requirements for a good-quality more students—even the struggling ones—are things without much satisfaction, Holbrook said. phonics program in a recent review by the curricu- better at tackling tough reading passages. lum reviewer EdReports.) “The difference between now and five years A couple of fall mornings in Kohlrus’ class- A Coordinated Approach ago, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Cory Miller, room offered a glimpse of what the combination the principal of Virginia Stevenson Elementary, During those years, though, the instructional looks like. After reading aloud to her 17 students which dove into phonics in 2013-14, four years coaches kept poking around. They saw the pileup from a picture book, she gave them free-read- before Mad River adopted its new phonics cur- of studies on the importance of systematic pho- ing time, letting them choose books from the riculum, Fundations. nics instruction. They took an online course in themed baskets in her classroom library (“fam- 8 Recharging Reading Success

ily,” “biographies,” “animal babies”). While the children read, Kohlrus worked on reading fluency with three boys at a small table. They read aloud from a Wit & Wisdom handout in the curriculum’s current module, which is or- ganized around the theme of change. “In the fall, many things are changing,” Channing Wray read aloud. As he read, Kohlrus helped him sound out tricky words. As a whole group, the class then focused again on phonics. At their desks, the children divided words into syllables, or sentences into phrases, and said them aloud together. They stood up to chant letter sounds or move around the room in an exercise about prefixes and suffixes. Each child had a word written on a strip of paper (“connect”) and had to find a companion whose paper showed a prefix or suffix that changes its meaning (“dis-”). Moving into the comprehension piece of the lesson, Kohlrus used themed sets of books to ex- plore ideas and language. In a book about why fall

leaves change color, the children learned about —Graeme Sloan/Education Week chlorophyll and pigments, and they discussed vocabulary words, using their bodies to act out “I have finally bought into it,” she said. “I can good enough,” she said. “But now there’s evidence words like “curl” and “uncurl.” They explored the see the skills the children are bringing into 2nd in front of me. The kids showed me they could do it. text structure, too, identifying topic sentences, grade. It’s making a difference. Now these kids “Teaching is very personal and emotional. This bits of evidence, and conclusions. have solid phonics skills. They can go past sound- [change] pushes you to reflect on yourself. It was Kohlrus is a convert to the new literacy ap- ing out letters to sounding out multisyllabic scary, and it brought me to my knees. But I learned proach, but she hated it at first. She was teaching words like nobody’s business.” to focus on the students, and not on myself.” kindergarten then, and thought the new curricula Kohlrus doesn’t spend much time lamenting expected too much too soon from 5-year-olds. the way she taught reading in the past, but some- Struggling to Maintain Focus She also didn’t like the carefully scripted nature times it bothers her. “I used what I had,” she said. of Fundations. “I like to add my own flair, and it “And that was all I had.” A big challenge in moving to a comprehen- felt limiting to me,” she said. sive literacy approach, Holbrook says, has been Like many teachers, Kohlrus didn’t hear watching the district’s attention to it ebb and flow. Changing a System much about phonics in her teacher-prep program Dubbed a “focus district” by the state, Mad nearly 20 years ago, or in her master’s program Many teachers resist abandoning what they River redeployed its instructional coaches from in literacy. Those courses were infused with the learned about teaching reading, since they trust- the literacy project to broader duties; only one ideas that shaped the “whole language” approach ed their preparation programs to provide the best now is devoted to that project, instead of three. to literacy that’s now out of favor but many critics advice, Mad River’s coaches said. Ann Pearce, The district has ongoing struggles with absen- say persists in U.S. classrooms under the guise of who travels nationwide to train teachers in Fun- teeism, had to grapple with a technology crisis, balanced literacy. dations, sees this all the time. and has had to siphon attention to training staff Kohlrus used those ideas—including the “You run into, ‘We didn’t learn this, so is this to handle trauma from opioid use in its students’ “cueing systems” that encourage children to use the right thing to do?’ They didn’t learn system- families. pictures and other clues to guess what words atic phonics, and then to be expected to teach this Krista Wagner, the assistant superintendent say—to shape her reading instruction over 17 way, it’s hard,” Pearce said. “I tell teachers, I got who oversees curriculum and instruction, as well years of teaching kindergarten and 1st grade. Here my master’s in reading, and I never learned any of as student services, said she “feels horrible” about and there, she wove in bits of phonics instruction this. But when I did learn, it was an eye-opener.” the uneven focus on the literacy initiative. she felt were appropriate for 5- and 6-year-olds. One of the toughest pieces of the transition to “We’re right there where things are starting to Being asked to embrace a structured, system- a phonics-based literacy approach is that teachers take a turn,” she said. “I know it feels as if some- atic phonics program “meant unlearning every- often wrestle with beliefs about themselves, said times more attention is on it and sometimes less thing I’d learned,” Kohlrus said. Instructional Mad River instructional coach Rebecca Parker. is on it. But we’re fully committed to it.” coaches provided training, but even still, the chal- She was teaching 3rd grade when the district There are signs that the literacy work is pay- lenges of the phonics shift, combined with learn- started its new literacy approach, and she thought ing off: Scores on state tests in English/language ing two new, demanding curricula “made us all it was too hard for her students. That resistance arts have risen districtwide since the two new want to get in the fetal position and cry,” she said. sparked a difficult internal journey. curricula arrived, particularly in two schools us- As she began teaching 2nd grade last year, “I started to ask myself, do I believe that ‘kids ing the approach the longest. In the elementary Kohlrus felt her mind shifting, she said. She be- can’? I finally realized it was about me, that what I re- school that has had both curricula the longest, gan to see the sense in the new approach. ally wondered about was if I could help them, if I was 3rd grade test scores went from the worst in the 9 Recharging Reading Success

district—44 percent proficient in 2016—to the the instructional coaches can’t tell. The dis- er’s leaders feel they’re onto something impor- best, 71 percent in 2019. Third grade reading pro- trict switched interim-assessment providers, tant. And as they move forward, they’re keenly ficiency districtwide moved from 53 percent in making it hard to track the impact of the new aware of the stakes riding on their work. 2016 to 64 percent in 2019. curricula. Fundations and Wit & Wisdom also “If kids aren’t hitting 3rd or 4th grade using But it’s hard to know what really drove those include interim tests, but teachers are still learn- all these foundational skills to access complex improvements. Was it the phonics program ing to use them in uniform ways, so consistent text, we’ll have kids guessing. We’ll have huge or the knowledge-building curriculum that data across school buildings aren’t available yet, gaps,” Holbrook said. “And we won’t be over- made the difference? Or did other dynamics Holbrook said. coming that in high school.” produce the score improvements? Wagner and Even without those data, though, Mad Riv-

Published on March 13, 2020, in Education Week ‘Decodable’ Books: Boring, Useful, or Both? By Sarah Schwartz

o really learn a new skill, you need to practice. That theory drives much of Katie Farrell’s reading instruction. In her 1st grade class at Bauer TElementary School in Hudsonville, Mich., Far- rell teaches students phonics—how letters on the page represent the spoken sounds children hear. But for some kids, the learning only really clicks once they practice these patterns in decodable books. These short texts are written with a high proportion of words that are phonetically regu- lar—meaning they follow common sound-spell- ing rules—and mostly include words with phonics patterns that children have already learned. “When you can make that match ... that’s where the power lies,” she said. Research has long shown that teaching early elementary students phonics is the most reli- able way to make sure that they learn how to read words. And much of the current debate around reading instruction has focused on phonics teaching, as many schools don’t currently follow research-based best practice in this area. But text plays a big role in the reading class- room, too. Decodable text, specifically, is a “cru- cial learning tool,” said Wiley Blevins, who has written several books on phonics and currently works as a consultant training teachers. Even so, teachers are divided when it comes to decodable books. In Education Week’s recent national survey of early reading teachers, only 23 percent said that beginning readers should be using these texts most often. The majority, 61 percent, said that students should be reading books with high-fre- quency words, predictable sentence structures, and pictures that emphasize meaning. Often called leveled books, these texts are rated on a 10 Recharging Reading Success

difficulty scale. Teachers aim to match students He pointed to a 1985 study by researchers with books at their level. Connie Juel and Diane Roper-Schneider, which There’s also a common criticism that decod- found that the texts students were exposed to able books, because of their inherent language early on could affect how they tackled words. constraints, are boring and stilted. Why subject In the study, students who read decodable students to these contrived stories, the argument text tried to sound out words more often than goes, when they could be reading something students who read text that prompted students to more engaging? use other cues. But many experts agree that kids need that When students are mainly reading leveled text This year, I’ve been trying targeted practice. “When you are teaching pho- with predictable sentence structures, “they’re un- nics, the way to get that learning to stick is to ap- dervaluing and underusing their phonics skills,” to be more specific with ply it in connected text,” said Blevins. Blevins said. “This creates a really bad habit. Ev- teaching sounds in a “It builds the right strategies,” said Farrell. ery book they pick up, their first strategy is, try “They’re not reading books that they’re not ready to look at patterns, look at pictures, memorize.” sequential order. They for, and using the pictures to guess.” Decodable books encourage the right strategy of Still, decodables aren’t the only books that sounding out the words, he said. know—and I make them young students should read. Most experts sug- say it and verbalize it—that gest a varied text diet. And, decodables are ulti- ‘Boring and Stupid’? mately a stepping stone. these are sounds they’ve Eventually, Farrell says, “I want them in that In Claudia Margaroli’s 1st grade class, decod- authentic text using the strategies that they prac- able books help remind students that they should been working on, these are ticed when they’re using the decodable books.” be focused on sounding out the words. words they can read.” “This year, I’ve been trying to be more specific with teaching sounds in a sequential order,” said CLAUDIA MARGAROLI Building Strong Habits TEACHER, CHARLOTTE EAST LANGUAGE Margaroli, who teaches at Charlotte East Lan- ACADEMY, CHARLOTTE, N.C. Researchers agree that decodable text is guage Academy in Charlotte, N.C. She teaches meant to be used during a short window, when sound-letter correspondences explicitly in her students are first learning to sound out words. phonics lessons, and then students practice in Studies have shown some benefits for early decodable books. readers. When kids read decodable books, they’re “They know—and I make them say it and more likely to try to decode—to sound out the verbalize it—that these are sounds they’ve been words. Some studies have found that they’re also working on, these are words they can read,” Mar- In response, publishers got competitive, each more likely to read words accurately. garoli said. trying to make the book that was the highest per- But other research suggests that it may not Decodable books should follow the progres- cent decodable, Blevins said. Irregular words, like matter what kind of text students read, as long as sion of a phonics program, focusing on new “the,” often disappeared, even though they’re they’re getting strong phonics instruction. In one sound-spelling patterns and “folding in review highly common in the English language. 2004 study, two groups of struggling readers in and repetition,” said Blevins. But there isn’t evidence to suggest that a 90 1st grade received one-on-one phonics tutoring. But some teachers balk at the idea of using percent decodable book is more effective than One group read books that were mostly decod- these books, even for practice of key skills, said one that’s 75 percent decodable, or 60 percent, able; the other read books that were mostly not Blevins, who does training with schools. Why? He said Timothy Shanahan, professor emeritus at decodable. remembers one group of teachers who were es- the University of Illinois Chicago. There’s no There wasn’t any significant difference in pecially blunt about decodables: “They’re boring “magic level,” he said. the word reading or comprehension of the two and stupid,” they told him. In the rush to fill texts with only decodable groups at the end of the study. Margaroli says it’s true that some decodable words, the number of unique words per hundred Still, there’s more research on decodable text books “just don’t have a storyline.” She looks for in these books also increased during this time, than on other types of early reading materials, decodables “that you can actually use for com- said Elfrieda H. Hiebert, a reading researcher and like leveled readers, said Heidi Anne E. Mesmer, prehension,” she says, “rather than a weird story the president and CEO of TextProject. So instead a professor of reading at Virginia Tech. about a cat and a mat, where at the end nothing of seeing the same word multiple times through- She suggests that decodable books be used happens except that cat is on the same mat.” out a story, students would see different words like “a set of training wheels on a bicycle.” How did we get “weird” stories about cats and that all had the same spelling patterns. “If you think about the amount of time that mats, with thin plots and stilted language? Re- To clear the high decodability bar, publishers children learning to ride a bike use training searchers trace the trend back to the late 1990s started using sentences that English speakers wheels, it’s not long,” she wrote in an email to Ed- and early 2000s, when Texas and California wouldn’t say or write under normal circumstanc- ucation Week. “Also, not all children need train- both required decodable texts in their reading es, said Blevins—like, “Let Lin dab a lip.” ing wheels.” program adoptions. The states set decodability “The problem is, these stories made no These “training wheels” help students prac- thresholds for texts: In Texas, 80 percent of the sense,” he said. “These books aren’t Shakespeare, tice their phonics skills in a controlled environ- text had to be sound letter correspondences that but they should be good stories that children en- ment. But just as importantly, they teach students students had already learned; in California, the joy reading.” to try to sound out words, Blevins said. number was 75 percent. There’s also value in repeating some of the 11 Recharging Reading Success

same words throughout the story, said Hiebert. dents, asking comprehension questions to dem- for students because it exposes them to a broader Decoding the same word several times helps onstrate that reading is about meaning. Students representation of the English language, said Sha- kids link the sound to the spelling in their minds, can also write about the books. nahan. Decodable books are usually constrained Hiebert said, and can lead to more fluent read- In Margaroli’s class, students do just that, to phonetically regular words. Letting kids read ing. “There has to be a really strong component writing responses to questions about the text. books without those constraints can give stu- of consistent data that kids are getting,” she said. Still, reading and writing about decodable text is dents some experience encountering words that only one part of Margaroli’s literacy block. don’t follow normal patterns, and help them “fig- Her students also listen to read-alouds, have ure out the statistical properties of the language,” What Makes a Good Decodable? conversations, and read books from their class he said. Hiebert looks for a few criteria when she’s library. How can teachers know when students are evaluating decodable books. There are no research-based rules on how ready to take the training wheels off, and stop She wants to know if they’re exposing stu- much time beginning readers should spend with practicing on decodables altogether? dents to “highly consistent and prolific patterns” decodable text, said Shanahan. It would be “very Farrell, the 1st grade teacher in Michigan, in the text, getting practice with letter-sound cor- reasonable,” though, to spend some portion of watches how students are segmenting and blend- respondences that they can apply to other texts. phonics instruction on practice, he said. This ing words as they read. She also wants to know if the texts make sense includes decoding individual words, spelling Once they can consistently apply the skills as stories, and are building student knowledge. words, and reading decodable books. they’ve learned in their phonics lessons, “that’s What are they teaching students about the world? Shanahan, Blevins, and Mesmer all said that my first clue that I think we’re ready to move on,” A lot of decodables still fall short in this category, decodable books aren’t the only kind of text that Farrell said. It shows her that, with her guidance, she said. students should have access to in these early ele- students could apply the same strategies when But when a decodable book has a story, it mentary years. And though Margaroli’s students they read more authentic text, she said. doesn’t have to be relegated just to sounding out practice in decodables, they have other time in By the spring of 1st grade, “almost no one in practice, disconnected from the rest of the les- the day to read books of their choice from the the class is using decodable books,” said Farrell. son, said Blevins. He suggests that teachers have class library. “I love them, and then we get to a point where we rich conversations about the stories with stu- This kind of diverse reading diet is important just don’t need them anymore.”

OPINION

Published February 25, 2020, in Education Week’s Classroom Q&A Blog Connecting Reading & Writing ‘Is a High-Leverage Move’ By Larry Ferlazzo

n what ways can reading support writ- ing instruction?

A four-step process I Sean Ruday is an associate professor of Eng- lish education at Longwood University and a former classroom teacher. He has written nine books on literacy instruction, all published by Rout- ledge Eye on Education.

When I conduct workshops for teachers on the best practices of writing instruction and teach writing-focused classes for preservice educators, I am often asked, “What is the most important thing to do when teaching writing?” While there are many aspects of effective writing instruction, writers in any genre, we teachers need to facilitate they can apply their understandings of the fea- I strongly believe that the most important idea for their reading of that genre and guide them as they tures of writing in that genre to their own works. writing teachers of all grade levels to keep in mind think carefully and reflectively about what choic- I help students think about the importance of is that the best writing instruction is inextricably es expert authors in that genre make and why writing strategies that published authors use—and linked to reading. To make our students effective they make them. Once students have done this, that the students can apply to their own works— 12 Recharging Reading Success

metacognitive awareness of writing strategies. This instructional process can help students see the connection between the works they read and the pieces they write by emphasizing the strategic nature of writing. By linking what students read and write, we can help our students think carefully and metacognitively about effective writing.

Informal writing Michael Hart, Ph.D., has more than 25 years of expe- rience as an international literacy expert, entrepre- neur, and consultant. Dr. Hart’s unique background provides him with the authority and expertise to challenge the status quo of global literacy initiatives and lead the charge in providing new solutions.

Another way to look at this issue is to ask, “In by taking what I call a toolkit approach to teaching in the first three steps of the process and apply it what ways do reading instruction and writing in- writing. In this approach, students read outstand- to their own works. Students can do this as they struction support one another?” ing works in a genre, think about the tools (or writ- create new pieces, or they can look at texts they’ve Contrary to what is far too often done in the ing strategies) the authors used to make their pieces already created and revise them by incorporating U.S., the research indicates that it is best to com- effective, and add those strategies to their own writ- the focal strategy. While students work on in- bine reading and writing instruction at the same ing toolkits. To help students use outstanding works corporating the focal strategy into their works, I time with the same instructors and topic. At the they read to understand the importance of writing recommend conferring with them individually foundational level, simultaneous instruction aids strategies, I use a four-step instructional process: to monitor their progress and provide them with the students’ ability to improve sounding out any necessary support. words. Teaching decoding and encoding simul- 1. Show students examples of writing taneously leads to a sort of “overlearning,” which strategies used in published texts they 4. Ask students to reflect on how those helps with both reading and writing (Graham, S., read. strategies enhanced their works. & Hebert, M. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence of how This first step gives students authentic examples To conclude this instructional process, I rec- writing can improve reading. Washington, D.C.: Al- of how published authors use key strategies that the ommend asking students to reflect on the impact liance for Excellent Education). But the value of students will ultimately apply to their writing. For of the focal strategy on their writing. For example, combining reading and writing instruction goes example, if you want your students to incorporate the strategy of sensory language into their writing, you would begin the process by asking students to read texts that contain sensory language and help- ing them identify examples of this concept.

2. Discuss how the authors of those works use key writing strategies as tools to enhance their writing. Once students have seen examples of a key strategy in a published text, I recommend talking with them about the importance of that concept to the effectiveness of the text. To facilitate these discussions, I ask students questions such as, “How does this strategy impact our experience with the text?” and “Why do you think the au- thor chose to use the strategy?” Questions such as these can build students’ metacognition of the impact of these writing strategies and of the kinds of choices authors make when writing. if you and your students focused on sensory lan- well beyond phonological awareness. guage throughout this process, you might ask Keep in mind that a broad range of language 3. Work with students as they use the them to respond in writing to the questions: “Why skills are important for effective reading and writ- focal strategies in their own works. is sensory language important to effective writ- ing. Vocabulary development and background This step in the instructional process give ing?” and “How would your work be different if knowledge are critical skills from reading that can students increased ownership: It asks them to ap- you did not include sensory language?” Reflecting deeply inform the quality of a student’s written ply the strategy they’ve identified and discussed on these questions can further develop students’ product. Understanding syntax, semantics, and 13 Recharging Reading Success

morphology plays an important role for both read- ing and writing. Thus it makes sense that integrating reading and writing instruction regarding the same topic or story will enhance, strengthen, and support the interconnections between the two tasks. This, of course, leads to better comprehension. Another dynamic in the U.S. is that the amount of time spent teaching children to write decreases significantly after 3rd grade. One reason is that teachers feel they do not have time to provide appro- priate feedback. One solution posited by researcher Stephen Graham would be to urge teachers to let the students write without worrying about intensive feedback. Let it be considered “informal writing,” the primary goal of which is to just engage students in the reading and writing process.

“Taking advantage of the natural what they produce (by writing, creating, and de- How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers—Not connections” signing) because all texts serve as mentor texts. the Book, we talk about the importance of pivoting Julie Wright is a teacher, instructional coach, and For example, when students use their reading into small groups. We believe that when grouping educational consultant with over 25 years of expe- lens to pay attention to how information is orga- is flexible, we can make instructional decisions rience in rural, suburban, and urban education nized and presented, they have a model for ways for curriculum-based reasons, social-emotional settings. She holds national-board certification as they can organize their writing. reasons, and individual reader/writer reasons. well as a B.S. in education, a master’s in language It’s hard for us to imagine the teaching of Small-group learning opportunities provide time arts and reading, a reading endorsement, and writing without incorporating reading. This last and space for students to be readers (i.e., making extensive school leadership postgraduate work, year, we paid close attention to the boys in Barry’s meaning, holding their thinking, sharing big ideas including a P-9 principal license from Ohio State 5th/6th grade classroom. When given the chance in the text) and for students to sit beside mentor University. She has served as an adjunct faculty to free write, the boys wrote lots of spy and adven- texts to lift their own writing (i.e., studying the member at Ashland University and the University ture stories and an equal number of sometimes moves authors make to get their ideas out in the of Wisconsin, teaching graduate courses focused on gross and silly stories about school. When we world and to connect with readers). curriculum, instruction, and assessment and in- asked the kids where their ideas for their writing The more we link reading engaging texts to the structional coaching respectively. came from, they rattled off the Spy School, Big teaching of writing, the more we demystify and Nate, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Perhaps clarify the myriad ways writers inform and excite. Barry Hoonan teaches 5th and 6th grade at Odys- the lesson here is that there is not only power in Connecting reading and writing is a high-leverage sey Multiage Program on Bainbridge Island, Wash. borrowing ideas from the stories we read, it is move that maximizes students’ literacy growth. He works with teachers both in the U.S. and inter- equally satisfying for students to share out their nationally, including appointments as a three-time influences and inspirations. This empowers writ- “Reading and writing are not Fulbright Teaching Exchange teacher in the United ers to use their reading to feed their writing. separate subjects” Kingdom, a teaching fellow at Harlem Village The importance of modeling and mentors Academy in N.Y.C., and a teacher-consultant at cannot be understated in the connecting of read- Patricia L. Scharer, Ph.D., is professor emeritus, the American School of Brasilia. Barry is a co- au- ing with the teaching of writing. While visiting Ohio State University. She is a literacy collabora- thor of Beyond Reading and Writing: Inquiry, Barry’s classroom this last fall, Julie read Whoosh!: tive trainer, a Reading Recovery trainer, and au- Curriculum, and Multiple Ways of Knowing Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, thor of many articles and books about early literacy (NCTE, 2000) and is a recipient of NCTE’s Ed- by Chris Barton. She read this delightful biogra- and children’s literature, including Responsive ward Hoey Award and of the Bonnie Campbell Hill phy with enthusiasm and curiosity. Then she co- Literacy: A Comprehensive Framework: Washington State Literacy Award. constructed her research notes with the kids, and finally, she invited students to look at biographi- One of the amazing insights from my Read- Julie and Barry collaborated to write What Are cal timelines from a wide assortment of books, ing Recovery training over 30 years ago was that You Grouping For, Grades 3-8 published by Cor- magazines, and websites. The class created an not only could young, striving readers learn to win in August of last year: anchor chart of the key features of a biographical read and write, but also that the daily reading and timeline. She ended writers’ workshop by using writing had an important, even critical reciprocal Time never seems to be on our side during the key events noted in the mentor text Whoosh! relationship. What the child noticed while reading the school day and year so making high-leverage and, with student assistance, placed key events became new learning to apply in writing. Perhaps it moves to maximize students’ literacy growth is a on a timeline. was the shape of a letter or the use of all capital let- priority. Taking advantage of the natural connec- We believe that reading voluminously cre- ters to indicate excitement or even that two words tions between reading and writing, as reciprocal ates the domino effect—the more we read, the with similar spellings sounded the same. It was my processes, is a natural fit. What students con- more we want to read, reread, talk, and write. In job as an observant teacher to support what the sume (by reading, viewing, and listening) affects our book, What Are You Grouping For?, Grades 3-8: child noticed and also provide intentional teach- 14 Recharging Reading Success

ing to help him create even more links between his are not typically found in oral language. The lan- leading sentence, how a story mountain rises up reading and writing; each supported the other. guage in books also teaches new ways to tell stories to a climax followed by a conclusion, how to use In classrooms 30 years ago, the notion that like the essential three-part fairy tale structure descriptive language to create a character, or the young children could write their own messages with characters such as three bears, pigs, or Billy specific qualities of a certain genre. was not commonly held by educators. Writing, goats. Children learn that stories are told in many To harness the power of quality children’s in many K-1 classrooms at that time, meant copy- different ways—with a narrator and several speak- books, teachers need to thoughtfully select qual- ing a message from the chalkboard. Children fo- ers or from the perspective of just one character. ity books for reading aloud, guided reading, and cused on carefully crafting the letters rather than A wise teacher revisits favorite books to help for students’ independent reading. Close analysis creating their own message. Now, from the first students notice the author’s craft and then ap- of student writing will help teachers plan effec- day of kindergarten, students are excited to write ply it to their own writing. Since the books are tive mini-lessons to ensure that students notice each day during writing workshop! Their stories familiar, the teacher need only attend to the and learn from the books they hear and read to often begin with pictures of personal narratives portion of the book central to what students are support them as writers. Reading and writing are with invented spellings but evolve into more learning as writers. If, for example, students are not separate subjects; rather, reading and writing complex texts across a range of genre. Reading learning about descriptive words, the class may are linked, as Swimmy and the little red fish, into and listening to quality literature for children go back to favorite parts of Swimmy (1963, 2013) something even greater! is a key element supporting the transition from by Leo Lionni to discuss Swimmy’s description personal narratives via drawing to complicated, as “black as a mussel shell” or the eel Swimmy Larry Ferlazzo is award-winning English and Social multipage, well-edited texts of a variety of genre. saw with a “tail that was almost too far away to Studies teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sac- So, what’s the role of children’s books? First, remember.” Favorite books become powerful il- ramento, Calif. Larry Ferlazzo is the author of Helping quality books expand children’s language beyond lustrations of the writers’ craft during daily writ- Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers what they experience as they talk with others each ing workshop mini-lessons and are internalized To Classroom Challenges, The ESL/ELL Teacher’s day. Books introduce children to literary language as students write their own texts. Through these Survival Guide, and Building Parent Engagement In such as “Once upon a time” or “The end,” which mentor texts, children learn how to craft a good Schools.

OPINION

Published on March 10, 2020, in Education Week Teacher Why I Created ‘Book Groups’ for My Students By Christina Torres

have always loved reading. As a kid, I de- scribed it as a “movie in my head” that played whenever I dove into a story. I’ll never forget the thrill of eagerly flipping the onion-skin pages of a Scholastic Icatalogue, putting messy stars next to the titles I hoped my parents would get me. When I became an English teacher, lots of kids told me they hated reading. This didn’t shock —Getty me, but I was unsure how to handle it. It’s hard to understand something you haven’t experienced. How could my students not enjoy the movie in made me love reading as a child. I realized that a I wasn’t interested in—I could manage it, and their minds? What obstacles were keeping my huge factor was choosing what I wanted to read. maybe eventually enjoy it, but it took more for me students from getting excited about books? Putting those misshapen stars next to those to get excited about it. Initially, I thought my job as an English teacher Scholastic book titles created a sense of excite- The more I reflected, read, and listened to was to expose kids to literature they may not read on ment and anticipation that stayed with me even other teachers and my own students, the more I their own. But as I tried to figure out ways to get my after the book came. When I didn’t choose the realized that my kids might value literature more kids excited about reading, I thought back to what book, reading it was like sitting through a movie if they felt they had input in what we studied. It’s 15 Recharging Reading Success

not always easy to relinquish some of the con- activities that are skills-focused, can be ap- OPINION trol I have as a teacher, but it’s one of the most plied to multiple texts, and are almost entirely important choices I can make. The more I can student-paced. Because the activities are less Published on November 19, 2019, in Education Week give students choice, the more engaged they’ll dependent on a singular text, students can be in my classroom, and the richer our rela- take ownership of connecting what we discuss tionship will be because they feel heard. in class to the books they chose. This makes How to Make Although I allow my 8th graders to choose the connection much richer, as they work to books for independent reading, student-chosen uncover meanings and ideas instead of being Reading books were never a formal unit of study in my told what a passage means. classroom. All I asked them to do with those Many students have also told me that they Instruction texts was to say what they did or didn’t like about love meeting in small groups to help each other them. That’s part of getting kids to love reading. understand their books and gain new perspec- Much, Much tives about what they’ve read. This is especially helpful for texts that are traditionally difficult Building Relationships With Books More Efficient to comprehend, like Lord of the Flies. But I also wanted to create an in-class, curric- Scaling back small-group ular space for them to engage with the books they Considering Other Viewpoints chose, with time in class not just to read but to instruction would have critically engage with, question, and study texts Students interact with a variety of people dramatic improvements they chose to help develop in-depth relationships about the book, not just their usual classmates. in literacy with the books they were reading. So this year, I This means they can enjoy the benefits of piloted a “book club” unit with my students. small, focused, and consistent groups in class In these “clubs,” my kids chose from a list of with traditional face-to-face discussions, but By Mike Schmoker five books, all of which met my curricular aims they also can discuss the book with people for analytical and narrative writing, and for whose perspectives they may not normally hird grade reading proficiency discussing race, gender, or identity. I assigned hear. While they could get help from me, I think matters—enormously. It is eerily students who chose the same book to small it is more meaningful for them when they dis- predictive of academic and ca- groups, and they worked together to create a cover it together, questioning each other and reer success; students who don’t schedule for finishing the book on time. Each realizing they can do it without my help. reach this benchmark are four week, they checked in with their group mem- The book clubs have been a success, but Ttimes less likely to graduate from high school on bers and with me to adjust the plan if neces- there are things I’d consider changing if I did it time. Unfortunately, K-3 literacy instruction, on sary. I also gave students opportunities to dis- again. Some students chose books out of con- which so much depends, is often a misguided, cuss their book online with students from my venience or let their parents choose instead of inefficient mess. While it consumes a generous other class periods who’d read the same book. really evaluating the options they had. In ret- portion of the school day, it typically neglects the By providing choice, it was possible that all rospect, I’d devote more class time to discuss- most vital elements of literacy. That’s why our students would choose the same book (which ing their choices in depth so they could make success rate, despite some progress, is still abys- didn’t happen), or that some of the books might more educated selections. mal: only about half of our 3rd graders perform at be left unchosen (sadly, this did happen). While I’d also provide more opportunities for dis- grade level on their own state assessments. It is I was tempted to push kids into one group or cussion across the five novels, so that students even lower for poor and minority students. another to even out the numbers, I didn’t, be- could build text-to-text connections that could This is both horrific and unnecessary. Accord- cause that would have contradicted the choice deepen their understanding of their own. ing to literacy researcher Richard Allington, stud- spirit of the book clubs. So I let the chips fall Recently, I listened to my students do their ies show that “virtually every student could be where they may. This felt risky—I much prefer weekly check-in about what they had read. One reading on grade level by the end of 1st grade.” In planning as many details as possible. But the group of students discussed how “messed up” my experience, most educators acknowledge the payoff has been worth it. it was that Trevor Noah’s black classmates in need for intensive, systematic phonics instruction. I can feel students’ increased excitement Born a Crime weren’t given the same oppor- They also know that students need to read and talk about their reading. Students told me that tunities in school. In another, two girls told and write far more than they currently do, across they appreciated being allowed to choose not the boys in their group that they understood the curriculum. There is wide agreement that all only which book they read but also how they Starr’s frustrations when she stands up for her- of these elements must be in place for K-3 students set their own pace, since it gave them more self in The Hate U Give. Both discussions were to acquire the fluency, knowledge, and vocabulary control of the process and let them tailor the loud, full of laughter, and a little chaotic—ev- needed to become literate and articulate. We’ve reading to their needs. I gave them a few quick erything I hoped I would see as they shared the yet to capitalize on this consensus. Or to see what guidelines to help them develop reading plans experience of reading a good book together. prevents us from acting on it: the structure and and practice creating and adjusting schedules. substance of the typical K-3 literacy block and our Those are skills they can apply to other classes Christina Torres is an 8th grade English teacher overhyped commercial literacy programs. Their and to their lives in the future. at Punahou School in Honolulu. Previously, she failure can often be traced to the pervasiveness of Since each group is on its own schedule, has worked with Teach For America, Hope Street small-group, ability-based instruction. this pushed me to get creative as a teacher with Group, the Center for Teaching Quality, and Teach- The most successful K-3 teachers I’ve ob- how and what I taught. I created a number of ing Tolerance. served use small groups sparingly. That’s because 16 Recharging Reading Success

their whole-class instruction consistently incor- and 3rd grade reading literature, history, and at least double the amount that students receive porates the most proven (but rarely implement- science texts to build their knowledge base and in these critical areas. The benefits, for K-3 and ed) elements of successful teaching. They master vocabulary, which are critical to effective com- beyond, would be immense. simple methods for ensuring that all students are prehension. Of course, many will argue that students attentive, and they conduct frequent, ongoing don’t need more time with their teacher; they assessments of the class’s progress throughout • Vocabulary instruction. Most of a rich vo- can learn to read and write on their own, at our the lesson—and then re-teach accordingly. An cabulary is acquired through abundant read- now-ubiquitous independent learning “centers,” Education Week article last year adds credence ing. But research also shows that we can reli- which are set up with materials for students to to this approach, reporting that whole-group in- ably supplement this with targeted, embedded work independently while the teacher works with struction is “almost always” more effective than vocabulary instruction. small groups. But are they learning? “According to the small-group, ability-based model. the studies,” writes literacy expert Timothy Sha- These facts point to an opportunity for dra- • Discussion. To become confident, articulate nahan, “No.” Time spent away from the teacher, matic improvements in 3rd grade literacy. Do the speakers, students must engage in frequent, he writes, should not be considered a “productive math: In a two-hour reading block, five groups of purposeful discussions about what they read. part of the school day.” I consistently observe stu- students will receive about 20 minutes of reading We could multiply the length and frequency of dents languishing at these unsupervised centers, instruction per day. In a classroom that uses small such discussions, which animate an apprecia- ambling slowly from station to station, aimlessly groups more sparingly, students will receive about tion of reading and are excellent preparation turning pages or talking quietly with a partner in- 80 minutes—three to four times as much. for writing. stead of reading. And that explains, as Michael P. Three to four times as much. This would allow Ford and Michael F. Opitz found nearly two de- for huge infusions of instructional time into the • Writing and writing instruction. Writing cades ago, why only about a third of the overall essential components of literacy. Teachers could has an unsurpassed capacity to help us think literacy period has any academic value. use this additional time to incorporate more: logically, express ourselves clearly, and under- What should we do? Take Shanahan’s ad- stand, analyze, and retain content. It often pro- vice: “Brush up your skills in working with larger • Intensive, sustained, systematic pho- motes dramatic, measurable improvements groups,” and use the windfall of precious time to nics. We could substantially accelerate stu- across the curriculum and is crucial to success multiply the amount of instruction we provide in dents’ mastery of the phonetic code in K-1— in innumerable careers. the most indispensable elements of K-3 literacy. and still have time for kids to read and listen to Then as night follows day, 3rd grade literacy rates far more fiction and nonfiction texts. Let’s be candid here: These core elements of will rise. literacy seldom get the time they deserve in most • Reading/general knowledge. If most stu- K-3 classrooms—or our inordinately praised Mike Schmoker is an author, speaker, and consultant. dents have mastered decoding in the 1st grade, commercial programs. A shift to larger amounts He is the author of FOCUS, 2nd edition (ASCD, 2018) they could spend record amounts of time in 2nd of well-executed, whole-class instruction would and Leading with FOCUS (ASCD, 2016).

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