Tips, Insights, & Resources for Evidence-Based Instruction

Tips and resources on

Writing | Intervention | Comprehension Fluency | Coaching | English Language PERFECT

Learners | Adolescent Literacy

Gold-standard guides from Literacy All-Stars, perfect for cost-effective professional learning!

Times are uncertain and budgets are tight—but teachers still need reliable PD to help them put the science of reading into action.

Books on evidence-based instruction are an ideal option for

cost-effective in-service learning. And Brookes has just what you

need.

Adopted by school districts and universities across the country, our Science of Reading books are

• Developed by renowned, in-demand experts in the field
• An affordable way to help educators learn the fundamentals of evidence-based literacy instruction—far beyond phonics
• Packed with the clearest, most practical guidance on applying the science of reading in the classroom

On the next pages, explore our teacher professional development

books and get practical tips and strategies from our All-Stars!

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W R I T I N G

“Finally, a solid framework to explicitly guide teachers in writing, in all subjects…This book will be your new best friend.”—Donna Hejtmanek, President of the Literacy Task Force of Wisconsin

The Writing Rope

A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects By Joan Sedita, M.Ed.

Apply the science of reading to the skill of writing with this instant bestseller, aligned with IDA’s Structured Literacy approach and based on the latest research. Give teachers the comprehensive plan they need for effective, evidence-based writing instruction! SEE THE BOOK

• Master five fundamentals of a successful writing curriculum
• Help students learn to write and write to learn across content areas
• Get dozens of templates, handouts, scaffolding suggestions, and more

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Highly respected in the literacy education field for more than 40 years, Joan Sedita, M.Ed., is founder and president of Keys to Literacy, a professional learning company that delivers training to thousands of teachers across the U.S.

7 Teaching Principles for EFFECTIVE WRITING INSTRUCTION

Adapted from The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita

Gradual release of responsibility.

Sometimes referred to as an I do it, we do it, you do it model of instruction, Gradual Release of Responsibility (Pearson & Gallagher) is an effective approach for teaching writing. Guide this practice and include corrective feedback when necessary. Students reach the You do it stage when they are able to apply the skill independently.

Explicit instruction of writing strategies.

Explicit instruction involves using structured and sequenced steps to teach a specific skill. It includes explaining a skill, modeling how it is applied, and providing guided practice with feedback.

Differentiated instruction to meet individual needs.

Design instruction to suit individual student needs rather than using a standardized approach to instruction that assumes all students learn to write the same way.

Scaffolding to support learning of new skills.

A teacher or a peer can offer supports for learning a writing skill that a student is initially unable to grasp independently, and then remove the assistance once the skill is learned.

Opportunities for collaboration with peers.

Students’ writing skills improve when they have opportunities to give feedback to peers and receive it in return.

Use of mentor text as models.

Use writing models, or mentor text, to show students what strong writing looks like, so they can imitate style, language, and structure in their own writing. Mentor models also show authors’ use of techniques associated with writing craft, also called writer’s moves.

Increasing the amount students write in all subject areas.

Although some writing skills and strategies are typically taught by the English language arts teacher during time dedicated to writing instruction, students need to practice writing throughout the school day, in all subjects.

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/WRITINGROPE

Teacher Tips for

WRITING INSTRUCTION

What are some things a teacher can do to make an immediate difference in students’ writing ability? Here are a few tips from All-Star Joan Sedita!

Don’t assume students already have the skills and strategies identified in The Writing Rope.

Learning to write, like learning to read, does not come naturally the way we learn to speak. Students need explicit instruction and guided practice to learn to write.

Create a supportive environment where students feel comfortable composing.

This includes providing scaffolds such as writing templates, graphic organizers, and word lists that enable all students to share what they have to say in writing.

Teach students the stages of the writing process: think, plan, write, revise.

This includes learning that the time spent at the thinking stage (to gather information and ideas) and the planning stage (determining how to organize what you want to say) is key to writing a quality draft, as is revising a draft for content and proofreading for conventions. The stages of the writing process should be followed for any formal writing task.

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/WRITINGROPE

4 Things to Try if Students are NOT Making Progress in Reading

Adapted from Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction, Second Edition, by Susan M. Smartt & Deborah R. Glaser

Change instruction.

Ask a colleague to observe a lesson to provide feedback on how engaged the students are in the lesson. It is critical to maximize engaged academic time! If students are not hearing it, reading it, saying it aloud, and writing it, instruction may need to be altered to create greater intensity through engagement.

Change group composition.

Are there issues with discrepant performance levels within the group that do not allow students to be instructed with appropriate-level materials? Are there too many students in the group, not allowing for enough individual responses or corrective feedback from the teacher?

Change materials.

Are the materials and/or program used for instruction appropriate? Were they designed for this same or a similar population of students?

Change amount of instructional time.

Does the student need more time and practice with the material? Should the student’s time in a group be extended from 3 to 5 days a week? Should it be increased from 15 to 30 minutes of small-group instruction each day?

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/NextSteps2e

7 Tips for Improving Students’ READING FLUENCY

Adapted from Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction, Second Edition, by Susan M. Smartt & Deborah R. Glaser

Balance ease with challenge.

Use passages that are on the students’ instructional level but are a little bit challenging (i.e., can be read with approximately 90%–95% accuracy).

Plan practice sessions carefully.

Practice several times each day for only a few minutes, increasing to longer periods of time. As students get older—third grade and above—increase the length of the practice period.

Try timed readings.

If a student is just beginning to learn letter names, letter sounds, or how to decode or blend words, practice building automaticity through timed readings at these subskill levels.

Check for comprehension.

When measuring rate and accuracy of connected text, it’s important to include a measure of comprehension. This can be done with a quick request such as, “Tell me about what you just read.”

Spread out practice sessions.

Frequent, brief distributed practice spread out over a number of days is more effective than concentrated practice (i.e., a long period of time over 1 or 2 days).

Provide immediate feedback on words missed.

Good feedback includes decoding missed words and then rereading the sentences in which errors occurred.

Let students chart their own progress.

Students enjoy keeping track of their progress, watching their growth, and earning a reward for their accomplishments!

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/NextSteps2e

Building Vocabulary, Building Comprehension

6 Tools for Building Deep Understanding of Word Meaning

Suggestions from Nancy Hennessy & Julia Salamone

Word knowledge surveys:

Self-reporting measures that help activate your students’ background knowledge and provide you with insight into which terms they know well and which ones they don’t.

Word meaning maps

for developing definitional and contextual examples of various types of words, including nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Pictures and drawings

that help your students to assign meaning and deepen their understanding of words.

Vocabulary word walls

that represent taught words throughout a novel study or unit. This resource can highlight words targeted for explicit instruction as well as those taught incidentally or through independent word-learning strategies.

Prompts

that require the students to respond to questions, provide examples, and express relationships.

Sentence stem prompts

that build upon the use of questions, examples, and relationships. These prompts can focus on both speaking and writing and can be scaffolded as structured turn-and-talk activities or small group discussions.

FREE SAMPLE LESSON!

From the Reading Comprehension Blueprint Activity Book A Practice & Planning Guide for Teachers By Nancy E. Hennessy & Julia Salamone

Perfect for professional development, The Reading Comprehension Blueprint Activity Book is great for individual study, small-group discussions, or training programs/learning communities. Grounded in the science of reading, this hands-on field guide offers activities and sample lesson plans for every section of the Blueprint: vocabulary, syntax and sentence comprehension, text structures, background knowledge, and levels of understanding and inference as well as expression of understanding.

Scan the QR code or click the button to access a free sample lesson on Sentence Parsing—an effective way to help students identify and understand the function of words, phrases, and clauses by deconstructing sentences.

4 Key Goals of STUDENT-FOCUSED COACHING

Adapted from Student-Focused Coaching by Jan Hasbrouck and Daryl Michel

Goal 1: Enhance Student Learning

SFC coaches help teachers, parents, and everyone use the best strategies and support to help every student achieve their potential.

Goal 2: Maximize Teacher Knowledge and Skills

SFC provides support to teacher colleagues through three roles: Facilitator, Collaborative Problem-Solver, and Teacher/Learner.

Goal 3: Learn From Each Other

Successful SFC coaches are always open to learning from and alongside their colleagues in a collaborative partnership.

Goal 4: Prevent Future Problems

A coach can build teachers’ knowledge, skills, competence, and confidence so they’ll be prepared to handle similar concerns in the future.

Get Student-Focused Coaching for a complete introduction to the SFC Collaborative Problem-Solving Process, specifically developed to help build a collaborative professional relationship while addressing students’ needs. GET THE BOOK at bpub.fyi/SFC

4 Key Strategies for Teaching READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS to English Learners

Adapted from Literacy Foundations for English Learners, edited by Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan

Teach and model helpful routines.

Preview text with ELs prior to reading to activate their engagement and understanding. Show students how to use context clues and analyze word parts when they encounter words, phrases, and concepts that may be unclear. Help ELs formulate relevant questions and review the text to answer the questions.

Integrate metacognitive awareness strategies.

Metacognition involves awareness and control of learning and thought processes. Before reading, prompt ELs to predict what they will learn. During reading, ask questions to help students recognize when comprehension breaks down and identify knowledge they need to repair comprehension. After reading, help students create a main idea statement.

Scaffold story retells.

Oral retelling of stories is a good way to promote language learning and boost comprehension for ELs. Give students opportunities to work in small groups to identify retell components and practice retells with peers. If needed, provide scaffolds by prompting the retelling with who, what, when, where, and why questions.

Teach summarizing skills with graphic organizers.

Visual and spatial displays of information help highlight important information and are associated with improving learning and reading comprehension. With the proper instruction, graphic organizers aid in organizing information or depicting relationships and provide the ideal scaffolding for helping students summarize.

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/ECH

SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: ADOLESCENT LITERACY

The Essentials of Adolescent Literacy Integrating Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Instruction in Grades 5–12 By Joan Sedita, M.Ed.

The science of reading isn't just for younger learners—all middle and high school students, particularly those who struggle with foundational skills, benefit from literacy instruction. This groundbreaking book for Grades 5-12 is a practical guide for teaching reading and writing skills across all subject areas.

• Access six chapters of evidence-based teaching practices for vocabulary, comprehension, text structure, writing, discussion, and advanced word study
• Learn how to integrate literacy instruction into all subjects, enabling students to read, write, and discuss content confidently
• See how to support adolescents with literacy difficulties— including dyslexia and executive function deficits—in both classroom and intervention settings

10 Big Ideas for Refining Your Literacy Instruction

Adapted from Speech to Print by Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D.

Awareness of speech is the foundation for learning print. Speech sounds are obscured by coarticulation and students need explicit teaching to become aware of them. Examples for linguistic concepts must be carefully chosen. Substitute “sound walls” of consonants and vowels for “word walls.” Follow a scope and sequence or roadmap to cover all relevant content. Make sense of spellings and demystify spelling patterns. We are more likely to remember something that makes sense. Intensive instruction takes time, energy, resources, expertise, and persistence, but every student deserves a chance at literacy.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: bpub.fyi/Moats10

Take the next steps to reading success for all learners today!

Kids can’t wait—get started today to give your students the Brookes advantage! Take the next steps to create a customized professional learning package for your school. Scan the QR code to explore our top books, or click here to see our full list of literacy titles.bpub.fyi/SORpd

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