Understanding text structure is key to reading comprehension and also helps strengthen writing skills. In this section you’ll learn about the 5 most common text structures and how to help students learn to identify and use text structures in their reading and writing.
Writing is a complex operation requiring knowledge of text structure, syntax, vocabulary, and topic, and sensitivity to audience needs; so it is not surprising that many teens find writing challenging. This article identifies the qualities of strong writing instruction, and offers advice to teachers for incorporating writing instruction into their practice, using tools like notebooks and journals, and sharing strategies that reinforce the importance of pre-writing and revision.
Using Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) or practices to encourage engagement, educators can advance the breadth and depth of students’ reading by explicitly and systematically nourishing students’ motivations as readers.
As students progress through schooling, they are often faced with the challenges of comprehending informational and content area text. Informational texts are known for their use of text features. This guide takes you on a teacher’s journey to understanding the importance of teaching text features and shows you how to apply some of these activities in the classroom and with your students.
TextProject formalizes the ongoing work by its founder Elfrieda H. (Freddy) Hiebert, to bring beginning and struggling readers to high levels of literacy through a variety of strategies and tools, particularly the texts used for reading instruction. TextProject’s three priorities in support of its mission are: creating products and prototypes for student reading programs, primarily based on the TExT model of text complexity; providing teacher support resources and classroom reading activities; and supporting and disseminating related research.
Author-illustrator and public-school art teacher Jonathan Roth (who created the space-themed graphic novel series Rover and Speck and Beep and Bob) shares some special memories and ideas for helping readers find beauty in bugs and connect with nature through art.
A teacher shares his success in using podcasts to improve literacy skills in the classroom, in this blog post from Common Sense Education. Learn more about how reading along with a podcast builds confidence and literacy and keeps students engaged.
Sharing lots of different kinds, or genres, of books with your child exposes him to different words, different kinds of images, and whole new worlds. This tip sheet suggests some genres to try with your young reader that complement ‘traditional’ fiction. Some are suggestions for read alouds, while others may be ones your child can read on his own.
Day trips, vacations and special outings create special memories and great learning opportunities for families. Here are a few “stops” to make before your visit to help your child get the most out of a family or school educational experience.
Here are some ideas to keep children engaged and learning throughout the summer, whether they’re interested in reading, science, art, nature, history, current events, or almost anything else.
Science learning involves lots of new vocabulary words. Focusing on root words, prefixes and suffixes can help your child learn new science words more quickly and become a word detective!
Explore wondrous new woods; seek out new nonfiction and tales of trees; boldly read and roam where no one has gone before with our newest reading and learning adventure —Tree Trekkers.
Book talks are a great way to get students excited about books and reading — including nonfiction! Here are some tips on bringing nonfiction book talks into your classroom.
