Jim Wright: Interventions for Reading and Writing in Grades 3-12: The Full Toolkit

***Click here to go to the 23 May 2018 NYC BOE training: The Teacher as Literacy First Responder: Grades 6-12***

On W 1 Nov 2017, Jim Wright presented the workshop The Teacher as Literacy First Responder: Practical Differentiation & Intervention Tools for the K-5 Classroom. Sponsored by the  ew York City Department of Education/Division of Teaching and Learning, the training was attended by teachers, administrators, and support staff.

 

Here are resources shared at the training:

 

Instruction and the at-risk learner: What works? What are the elements of ‘strong, direct instruction’ that most benefit struggling students?

How to individualize instruction. What are ideas to differentiate/scaffold instruction for academic success?

 

Here are tools for determining/adjusting level of text difficulty:

 

How to document Tier 1/classroom interventions. When should a teacher choose to write down intervention plans—and what should be recorded?

Reviewing interventions. What are examples of classroom literacy interventions?

Check out these websites with classroom instruction & intervention resources:

  • Evidence-Based Intervention Network. Sponsored by the School Psychology program at the University of Missouri, this site has academic and behavior intervention ideas.
  • Florida Center for Reading Research. This website, sponsored by the University of South Florida, contains free printable lesson plans that teachers can use for students in the primary and intermediate grades.
  • Intervention Central. Jim Wright's website has free, research-based ideas for academic and behavioral interventions, as well as progress-monitoring tools.
  • What Works Clearinghouse. This federally sponsored website contains a series of 'practice guides': teacher-friendly publications that summarize current best practices in classroom instruction in reading, mathematics, and other areas.
ACADEMIC INTERVENTION IDEAS
General Academic Skills
Acquisition of Academic Item-Set
Reading: Phonics/Alphabetics
Reading: Sight-Word Vocabulary

Sight-Word Vocabulary. The student has rapid recognition of sight-words. 
Reading Fluency

 Fluency. The student reads with adequate fluency to comprehend the text.

  • Assisted Cloze. The tutor reads aloud while the student follows along silently in the practice passage. Then the student reads aloud.
  • Choral Reading. The tutor (lead reader) reads aloud while the reading group or class all read aloud as well.
  • Duet Reading. The tutor and student alternate in reading aloud, with the tutor deciding how much text the student reads during their turn.
  • Echo Reading. Student and tutor alternate in reading short sections of the practice passage.
  • Listening Passage Preview. The student listens to the passage read aloud, then reads the passage aloud with tutor feedback.
  • Paired Reading. The tutor and student read aloud together from a passage, until the student isgnals that they would like to read alone.
  • Repeated Reading. The student reads a passage several times in succession with tutor feedback about accuracy and fluency.
  • Repeated Reading: Group. This version of repeated reading is delivered to a group of 3 students.
  • HELPS Program. This free program provides 15-minute 1:1 tutoring sessions to work on reading fluency. NOTE: Teachers create a free account on the HELPS site and then can access the free materials.
Reading Comprehension

Self-Monitoring:The student monitors understanding of the text while reading.

  • Click or Clunk. The student uses self-signals to monitor understanding at the sentence, paragraph, and page level--and applies 'fix-up' skills.
  • Reading Reflection Pauses. The student monitors understanding periodically and applies fix-up skills.

 Main Idea:The student locates the main idea of a paragraph or passage in informational text.

  • Main Idea Maps. The student uses a graphic organizer to record main idea and supporting details of a passage.
  • Question Generation. The student locates or creates main-idea sentences for all paragraphis in a passage and uses them to create study cards.
  • Read-Ask-Paraphrase. The student locates main idea and supporting details for each paragraph and summarizes them on a graphic organizer. RAP Interactive Form
  • Partner Retell. The student reads a passage, then pairs with another student to engage in a tutoring exchange to identify main idea.
  • Repeated Reading With Oral/Written Retell. The student reads a passage several times and is asked to write or recite the key information from the passage.

Linking Ideas:The student makes connections between ideas in the text.
 Spelling
Spelling Acquisition. The student is able to spell a grade-appropriate range of words correctly.
  • Cover-Copy-Compare.  The student studies spelling-word (or sight-word) models, covers them, copies them from memory, and compares copied words to the originals. CCC Interactive Form
  • Self-Correction with Verbal Cues. The student takes a brief spelling pre-test, follows a self-guided process to check and correct spelling errors using verbal cues, and then takes a spelling post-test
 Writing

 Sentence Complexity. The student writes sentences of appropriate variety and complexity for the subject and/or grade level.

 

 

Ideas for monitoring progress on interventions. What are ways for teachers to collect data on classroom literacy interventions?

 

 

Handout: How to Track Classroom Reading Interventions

 

Acquisition: Measure Mastery

Fluency: Measuring proficiency

Comprehension: Measuring retention of assigned readings

Generalization: Measuring applied use of literacy skills