Evidence-Based Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners

In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, author Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan highlights considerations for multi-lingual learners around vocabulary instruction and provides evidence-based instructional practices to support their progress. The article explains the need for morphological instruction and support for middle school students and outlines special considerations for language development for multi-lingual learners.

The Arc of Vocabulary: Oral Language Links to Comprehension for the Classroom Teacher

In this PaTTAN Literacy Symposium learning module, Judi Dodson explains oral language’s role in reading comprehension. She examines language development and its impact on reading comprehension and provides meaningful and practical activities that can be easily implemented in the classroom. A printout of the slides is included for future reference.

Teaching Spelling: An Opportunity to Unveil the Logic of Language

Moats emphasizes the importance of spelling knowledge and language understanding in literacy development in this article. It highlights that spelling is not just about memorizing letters but involves various language aspects like pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and grammatical structure. Good spellers possess comprehensive mental images of words, while poor spellers may lack accuracy and completeness. Moats…

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…

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…