Much vocabulary is learned without formal teaching. We gain words from conversation, observation, television/media, and reading. However, research shows that explicitly teaching vocabulary can measurably improve reading comprehension — if we teach the right words well enough. Here are five key principles to effective vocabulary instruction.
In this webcast, Robin Scarcella provides an overview of academic language instruction for English language learners, as well as teaching strategies, activity ideas, and recommended resources.
Learn how schools use screening and progress monitoring tools to identify dyslexia characteristics, and then implement reading interventions for students who need dyslexia-specific instruction. You’ll also find out about classroom accommodations and modifications that can help your child learn, as well as information about referrals for special education.
What do parents need to know about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? How will they affect teaching and assessing mathematics and English language arts? What are the benefits and what can parents do to prepare for the CCSS?
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.
Interviews with 12 adults on the autism spectrum provide insight into their own development of literacy skills, their present habits and challenges, and suggestions for teachers of students with ASD.
Apps are fun and motivating for kids! Let Reading Rockets help you find the very best educational apps that provide practice with essential skills in alphabet knowledge, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. We’ve also included apps to support children with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism.
Oral language encompasses both speaking and listening. Oral language skills include learning how spoken words sound, what words and sentences mean, and how to communicate ideas. Nurturing oral language skills provides a strong foundation for learning to read.
Comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not understand or connect to what they are reading, they are not really reading. Good readers are both purposeful and active, and have the skills to absorb what they read, analyze it, make sense of it, and make it their own.
Discover more than a dozen ideas for encouraging your child to write, including creative and simple ways to get the whole family involved. You’ll also find out how WOW stories can help unlock story structure for young writers.
Parents can do much to nurture early oral language development in their children through creative and focused quality time spent with them. Try the simple activities described in this article.
Teaching kids to identify text structure is a really good idea. However, focusing those efforts on how the content is structured will usually be more beneficial than on the common rhetorical structures.
Like all children, your child will learn and develop, yet she will likely develop more slowly than other children her age. Reading aloud and talking about the story and the pictures will help your child improve her vocabulary and help teach grammar. Here are some other tips to help your child enjoy books and reading.
This article presents a developmental framework of informational writing developed from a study of children’s writing in K-5 classrooms. See examples of children’s compositions at each developmental level, and learn how to use this continuum to support increasingly more mature forms of informational text.
Learning a second language is hard, but it can be made easier when the teacher knows a bit about the similarities between the first and second languages, and can successfully motivate students.
