What Makes a Text Complex?
Dr Timothy Shanahan discusses the features that make a text complex, including background knowledge, organization, and text cohesion.
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Exploring Language and Meaning in Complex Texts
In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Dr. Mary Schleppegrell has described three strategies educators can use to help students explore the language of complex texts. Educators can explicitly discuss the connections between the form and meaning of texts to help students read for deeper understanding.
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The Assessment of Written Syntax
In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Dr. Melissa Lee Farrall discusses that no single assessment will describe an individual’s skill in written syntax. Farrall gives educators examples of how to assess the component skills of writing that support the development of written expression.
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The Role of Complex Sentence Knowledge in Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties
In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Dr. Cheryl Scott and Dr. Catherine Balthazar, discuss the research about sentences as a unit of oral and written language. They discuss sentence complexity, how to identify students at risk for syntactic problems, and intervention practices to support these students.
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Syntax: Somewhere Between Words And Text
Emphasis on sentence-level instruction is critical to bridge the word-to-text gap for reading and writing. The PaTTAN webinar focuses on the relationships between words, sentences, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Explicit instruction can capitalize on and foster these relationships through purposeful selection of words, texts, and instructional activities. By utilizing effective instructional practices at the sentence level,…
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Syntax: Somewhere between Words and Text
In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Nancy Chapel Eberhardt discusses instructional practices to teach grammar and syntax with a focus that will increase the reader’s understanding of complex texts. This article will give educators examples of how to use a Function-Based Instructional Approach in their classrooms, including sentence expansion, using because but so, and…
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Reading Comprehension Development and Difficulties: An Overview
In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Kate Cain explores the topic of reading comprehension and how language skills develop. The article explains how vocabulary acquisition, understanding of sentence structure and how sentences work together, the ability to infer and integrate information, and building a mental model of the text’s meaning while you are reading…
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Supporting Reading Comprehension Development
In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, authors Jane Oakhill and Kate Cain explore the factors supporting reading comprehension beyond basic decoding and suggest critical skills that should form the core of literacy instruction and interventions to support poor reading comprehension. The article outlines which skills are critical, such as teaching specific vocabulary words, how to…
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Structured Literacy in Kindergarten: 5 Key Changes That Made All My Students Readers
IDA Ontario webinar outlining 5 key changes that educators can make in their Kindergarten classroom.
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The Writing Rope: A Framework for Evidence-Based Writing Instruction
This PaTTAN webinar discuses writing instruction for grades 4 to 12.
