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!

• 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.

The little brown dog shivered Because the sentence is a basic building block for all and shook his wet fur when writing, provide explicit instruction for how to construct he came in from the rain. a complete sentence and how to expand and elaborate a basic sentence.

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

SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: INTERVENTION

“Very well-grounded in scientific evidence...loaded with practical detail about how to use assessment to plan instruction.”—Louise Spear- Swerling, Professor Emerita, Southern Connecticut State University

Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction

Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions, Second Edition By Susan M. Smartt, Ph.D. & Deborah R. Glaser, Ed.D.

After administering one of today’s popular reading assessments, don’t get stuck in the “what now?” stage. Use this planning guide to transform your assessment results into individualized, evidence-based instruction and intervention that improve reading outcomes..

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Susan M. Smartt, Ph.D., an influential advocate of scientifically based literacy programs, has had a long and distinguished career as a researcher, a classroom teacher and reading coach, and a prominent national literacy consultant.

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Deborah R. Glaser, Ed.D., is a national consultant, author, and teacher educator renowned for her proven instructional methods. She was an original national LETRS trainer, is a NCTQ policy advisor, and contributes to evaluation of teacher prep programs.

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

SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: COMPREHENSION

"Nobody does research to practice better than Nancy Hennessy.” —Amy Elleman, Middle Tennessee State University

The Reading Comprehension Blueprint

Book by Nancy Lewis Hennessy, M.Ed. Activity book by Nancy Lewis Hennessy & Julia Salamone, M.Ed.

Reading comprehension skills are vital to school success—but most educators aren’t taught how to deliver structured comprehension instruction that really works. Teachers of Grades K–8 will find the background knowledge and practical guidance they need in this bestselling book and activity book.

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Nancy Lewis Hennessy, M.Ed., the premier expert on reading comprehension, is a bestselling author, experienced K–12 teacher and administrator, and in-demand literacy consultant. She was the 2011 recipient of IDA’s Margaret Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award.

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Julia Salamone, M.Ed., Instructional Specialist at the Haverford School for Boys, has over twenty years of experience as an educator in independent and public schools. She is the creator of acclaimed teacher training courses on dyslexia and the science of reading.

A few essentials for preparing effective comprehension instruction...

Adapted from The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Hennessy

Think about what you want students to deeply understand.

• Review your current curriculum, instructional resources, and critical understandings that could be or are being taught across disciplines. Consider guiding questions like:
  • What is the essential knowledge base that we want students to develop within and across grades and disciplines?
  • Are there critical topics and enduring understandings that we want all students to have?
  • What essential questions might we consider discussing with students? (“What does it mean to grow up?” “What effect does culture have on growing up?”)

Choose purposeful texts for lessons.

• Do these readings represent different genres and disciplines and an integrated approach to learning? Have we considered access for struggling readers? Will these readings develop the identified enduring understandings? Will these readings provide opportunities to develop academic language? Do these readings represent different genres and whether the curriculum designates readings or teachers have voice in their selection, decisions regarding choice of readings are challenging. Here are some questions that could help you find the right texts:
  • Have we considered access for struggling readers?

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/ReadCompBlueprint

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.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE for visual examples and guidance from Nancy Hennessy & Julia Salamone!

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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.

GET SAMPLE

EXPLORE THE BOOK: bpub.fyi/HennessyWkbk

SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: COACHING

“Practical, reflective, and with razor-sharp focus on student outcomes…just the right amount of research and theory.”—Carol Tolman, coauthor of LETRS, Third Edition

Student-Focused Coaching

The Instructional Coach’s Guide to Supporting Student Success through Teacher Collaboration By Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., & Daryl Michel, Ph.D.

Improve student outcomes by bringing the widely used Student-Focused Coaching (SFC) approach to your school! This one-stop, step-by-step guide helps instructional coaches and teachers work collaboratively to implement evidence-based practices that help K-12 students succeed.

Turn the page for a NEW book on leadership in coaching!

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., lead developer of the Student-Focused Coaching Model, is a renowned researcher, widely published author, and in-demand educational consultant.

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

Daryl Michel, Ph.D., lifelong educator and founder of Be A Change, LLC, is an internationally known consultant on instructional coaching, teacher education, curriculum design, and more.

SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: COACHING

N E W B O O K N O W A V A I L A B L E!

Instructional Leadership in Student-Focused Coaching

Creating Effective Systems to Cultivate Student Success By Daryl Michel & Dawn Brookhart

Building on Hasbrouck & Michel’s Student-Focused Coaching, this book shows a wide variety of educational leaders how to develop and lead a sustainable coaching model. Aligned with Implementation Science, this is the ORDER NOW practical guide educational leaders need to:

• Create the conditions to implement and sustain a coaching model
• Establish clear communication about roles and responsibilities
• De-implement ineffective practices before introducing new initiatives
• Ensure transfer of research-based skills to the classroom

ALL-STAR COAUTHOR

Dawn Brookhart, M.Ed., M.A.T., Co-Founder of Ed Cap Consulting, LLC, is an educational leader, consultant, coach, and national speaker with nearly 30 years of experience driving positive change in education.

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

E L L s

“Chock full of ideas for adapting and differentiating literacy instruction... an invaluable resource.”—Nancy Hennessy, M.Ed., Educational Consultant, author of The Reading Comprehension Blueprint

Literacy Foundations for English Learners

A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction Edited by Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, CDT, CALT, QI

Are you ready to help English learners develop the literacy skills they need to succeed? Strengthen your knowledge base with this comprehensive guide to delivering evidence-based, systematic literacy instruction for English learners in Pre-K–Grade 6.

• Teach English learners the key components of language and literacy
• Enhance your teaching with ready-to-use principles and strategies for instruction
• Leverage technology to adapt and enhance instruction for English learners

ALL-STAR EDITOR

Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, a bilingual SLP, teacher, and dyslexia therapist, has spent decades working with national research teams to improve literacy instruction for diverse populations. She was the 2019 recipient of IDA’s Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award.

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.

SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: ADOLESCENT LITERACY

NOW AVAILABLE: New book from Joan Sedita!

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 ORDER NOW 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

ALL-STAR AUTHOR

6 Questions for Integrating Literacy Instruction in All Subjects

(A preview from The Essentials of Adolescent Literacy by Joan Sedita)

Students in middle and high school are expected to acquire, process, and retain content knowledge through reading, writing, and participating in discussions. Content-area teachers play an important role in teaching students how to apply both general content literacy skills and disciplinary-specific literacy strategies. Effective Tier 1 content literacy instruction should incorporate vocabulary development, comprehension strategies, writing tasks, and structured discussion activities across all subjects.

The following questions can guide the integration of literacy activities into unit plans and daily lessons in any subject:

• What is the topic for the unit of study?
• What texts and other sources will be used to support learning of this content?
• What literacy skills, knowledge, and abilities are unique to this discipline and should be emphasized with students?
• Are there any unique and particularly challenging aspects of the vocabulary, language, or structure of the text?
• Which instructional strategies can be integrated into the unit plan for vocabulary, comprehension, text structure, and discussion?
• What scaffolds can help students read and understand the text, complete writing tasks, or participate in discussions?

GET THE BOOK for more explicit guidance and content literacy activities:

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SCIENCE OF READING SOLUTIONS: ADOLESCENT LITERACY

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Get the strong foundation of knowledge you need to become an SOR Superstar!

Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction & Assessment | PreK-6 and 6-12

ALL-STAR AUTHORS: Martha C. Hougen, Ph. D., Susan M. Smartt, Ph.D.

These comprehensive guides help teachers understand the science of reading and implement evidence-based instruction on all the essential components of literacy.

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Speech to Print Book & Workbook
ALL-STAR AUTHOR: ALL-STAR AUTHOR: Louisa Moats, Ed.D.

These two cornerstone resources give every K–12 educator the in-depth knowledge of language essentials they need to deliver successful structured literacy instruction.

Teaching Reading Sourcebook ALL-STAR AUTHORS: ALL-STAR AUTHORS: Bill Honig, Linda Diamond, & Linda Gutlohn

Combining the best features of an academic text

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. Minimize rote instruction of sight words. Learning them is important, but only a few are so irregular that they must be taught by rote memorization. Minimize rule memorization; emphasize pattern recognition and insight into language structure. Attend to the meanings of words and sentences during phonics and spelling instruction and in decodable texts. Consolidate learning with practice, application, and review. Intensive instruction takes time, energy, resources, expertise, and persistence, but every student deserves a chance at literacy.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: bpub.fyi/Moats10

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