7

  • Reading Road Trip: All Things Fluency with Dr. Jan Hasbrouck

    In this IDA Ontario podcast featuring Kate Winn and Dr. Jan Hasbrouck, the focus is on the significance of reading fluency and its impact on students’ literacy development. Reading fluency, characterized by accuracy, rate, and prosody, plays a vital role in overall reading proficiency and comprehension. The podcast highlights the importance of assessing reading fluency effectively, and using research-backed approaches to supporting fluency development.

  • Data-Based Decision Making in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support: Principles, Practices, Tips, and Tools

    In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Sarah V. Arden and Jill M. Pentimonti emphasize the vital role of data-based decision-making in Multitiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to improve reading outcomes for students, especially those with disabilities. MTSS offers a framework with three tiers of instruction involving progress monitoring to determine suitable support levels. The authors stress the need for a climate of data fluency among educators, promoting collaboration to analyze data and identify students needing additional support. Diagnostic assessments are essential in Tier 3 to guide individualized interventions, with regular progress monitoring to make timely adjustments. The article aims to aid educators in effectively utilizing data to enhance student achievement within the MTSS framework.

  • Student-Focused Coaching: The Instructional Coach’s Guide to Supporting Student Success Through Teacher Collaboration

    Research shows that professional learning combined with extended peer coaching is an extremely effective method of ensuring new practices are applied in classrooms. This book presents the Student-Focused Coaching model, supporting teacher collaboration with the goal of increasing student success. Unlike many common coaching models (which may feel more evaluative and have formal observation and feedback components) SFC allows a classroom teacher to identify their goals, which they work towards with the support of their coach, also aligning well with the outcomes-driven MTSS model. An excellent resource for those working as instructional coaches, the book is also helpful for those in less formal coaching/support roles, administrators, and those working at the board level making decisions about professional development and coaching models. While SFC can be used within a wide range of curricular areas in all grades, it is perfectly suited to support teacher implementation of the new Language curriculum. 

  • Why Explicit Instruction?

    Explicit Instruction expert, Dr. Anita Archer, provides the rationale and overview of explicit instruction and its benefit for students. Archer provides a quick 5 minute overview of what Explicit Instruction is and isn’t, with concise and kind language.  This resource can be used to for professional development and to begin discussion between educators on Explicit Instruction. 

  • Partner Reading: A Class-Wide Reading Intervention That Works

    This PaTTAN Webinar focuses on partner reading, a classwide intervention to improve students’ fluency. This is an intervention that can be used best in grades 2-8, but also possible in mid-year of grade 1. Lindsay Kemeny implemented this class-wide intervention in her grade 2 classroom and in just two weeks saw growth in her students’ ORF scores. In this webinar, Lindsay shows educators how to implement partner reading in the classroom and provide printable resources. 

  • Focused Oral Reading Practice: A New Approach

    This webinar will support educators in determining oral reading fluency goals, specifically for accuracy and rate, and how to provide instruction for these goals in a small group setting.  Michael Hunter provides examples of assessment with a focus on accuracy, error tracking using decodable texts, and how to provide small group instruction to first improve accuracy followed by rate. This webinar will support educators of all grade levels working with students to improve oral reading fluency with connected text. 

  • Lessons Learned Through a Statewide Implementation of a Multi-Tiered System of Support

    In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Steve Goodman discusses the successful implementation of a Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) in schools through an Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative. The article presents five key lessons from scaling up MTSS, including defining MTSS clearly, using data and focusing on outcomes, strategic scaling, investing in local implementation capacity, and aligning MTSS with other key initiatives. Goodman emphasizes the ongoing nature of the implementation process and the significance of supporting educators for effective MTSS implementation and improved student success. The article offers valuable insights for education policymakers and practitioners.

  • Effective Universal Instruction: An Action-Oriented Approach to Improving Tier 1

    Within a multi-tiered system of supports, instruction begins at the Tier 1 whole group level, and this book is a guide to making that Tier as effective as possible. MTSS can be applied to social-emotional and academic areas, including literacy, making this title an excellent support to the new Language curriculum. The book guides educators and leaders through a team-based and cyclical action plan based on questions around determining the effectiveness of current universal instruction with various assessments, what needs must be addressed, how they will be addressed, identifying barriers to effective Tier 1 implementation, how effectiveness of improvements to instruction can be monitored/measured, and whether improvements have ultimately been effective. Many reproducibles are included, such as meeting agendas and problem-solving checklists. Administrators will find great value in this book to aid their role as instructional leaders, as will consultants and coaches who support schools.

  • Teaching Spelling to Intermediate Poor Spellers: Never Too Late

    This PaTTAN webinar, « Teaching Spelling to Intermediate Poor Spellers: It’s Never Too Late, » with Dr. Louisa Moats, discusses explicit, structured language teaching for grades 3-5 students who struggle with spelling. Dr. Moats emphasizes understanding English orthography through five lenses: the language of origin, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, arbitrary letter order and sequence patterns, and morphology. She presents a case study of a dyslexic sixth-grade student and identifies phonological challenges and the need for instruction in advanced orthographic patterns and morphological structures. Poor phonology can hinder spelling, making the orthographic mapping process problematic. Dr. Moats suggests weaving phonological, orthographic, morphological, and syntactic layers together in instruction and providing practice for generalization. The webinar offers examples of lessons and activities to support struggling spellers, aiming to develop their spelling skills effectively.

  • Morphological Awareness and Second Language Learners

    In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Gloria Ramírez discusses the significance of morphological awareness in second language learners’ vocabulary learning and reading comprehension, providing valuable insights for educators. The article emphasizes that explicit and systematic instruction on morphological awareness can greatly benefit language learners, especially those facing reading difficulties. Educators can use the principles presented in the article to effectively teach students to identify smaller meaning units in complex words, enhancing their word reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Additionally, the article highlights the transferability of morphological awareness skills from the learners’ first to their second language, enabling educators to capitalize on their existing language skills to improve their vocabulary and reading comprehension in the target language. Educators can better support second language learners developing strong language and literacy skills by incorporating these principles into their instruction.