Contents

2. Contents • Overview & Foundations • Product Development • Reading Passages • Instructional Model • Assessment/Prescription • Lesson Plans & Teacher Support • Summary

3. Reading: Why Research? • 8-10 million children in the United States have trouble reading. • Students who lack good reading skills in Grade 1 have approximately a 90% chance of remaining poor readers (Juel). • 50% of reading difficulties, on average, are preventable—if children receive effective, scientifically-based instruction in literacy skills • >75% of the 1.4 million high school drop outs experienced difficulties in reading. • 1/3 of eight graders read proficiently (NAEP, 2005)

4. A Solid Foundation • Research Based • Report of the National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000a) • Report of the National Reading Panel: Reports of the Subgroups (NICHD, 2000b) • Alliance for Excellent Education Reading Next • IRA International Reading Association • A Research Agenda for Improving Reading Comprehension, RAND Reading Study Group • NCTE National Council of Teachers of English • National Institute of Child and Human Development • Designed by Reading Experts • Lead Advisor: Dr. Victoria Purcell-Gates • Reading Hall of Fame Inductee May 2005 • President of the National Reading Conference • Winner of the Oscar S Causey Award • Reading Advisory Panels and Subject Matter Experts • Including Leading District Reading Educators

5. Research & Development • Luminaries: • Dr. Purcell-Gates • WestEd • WonderGroup Product Updates Idea Generation: Gathering customer requirements • Quantitative survey of 430 educators • Qualitative survey of 12 district reading experts; 30 students. • Field Advisory Committee User Groups: Collaborate on best practices • Quantitative survey of 260 teachers and 3000 students. • Qualitative online focus group with 20 educators • Field Advisory Committee Customer Survey: Feedback on results and suggestions for improvement Market Validation: Customer feedback on product features • Qualitative online focus group with 30 educators; 30 students. • Interviews with 12 district reading experts • Field Advisory Committee Proof of Concept: Customer feedback on prototype Product Launch and Professional Development

6. Empowers Teachers, Engages Students • Engaging • The most engaging content for today’s digital natives. • A balance of exploration activities and traditional question/answer exercises • Includes a multi-genre approach that exposes children to a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts. • Flexible • Anytime, anywhere access • Content deliverable in whole class, small groups, or individually • Customers are using Destination Reading for intervention, on-level, special needs, and ESL students. • Individualized • Modular content can easily be assigned by state standard or learning objective • Over 6,000 formative assessment questions to identify skill gaps and areas for improvement.

7. Product Development

8. Motivation Comprehension Vocabulary Fluency Phonics Phonemic Awareness Emergent Literacy

9. Systematic instruction Explicit instruction in skills and strategies Motivating activities Rich variety of genres Audio support for reading passages Learning skills in the context of authentic reading and writing activities Professional development to address a range of implementations Whole class Small group Individual Leveraging the foundation ofDestination Reading I & II Grades PreK-3…

10. Thanks for Your Help!! DR I & II POSITIVES • Cross-curricular connections: e.g. some teachers can even use the program during their science period • Diversity of genres • Consistency of skills across the program • Explicit instruction (big) • Flexibility: resource teachers can use and assign the program • Logical sequence of activities ISSUES • Wish they could print stories with one click • Need better tracking of progress, not just time on task. Need % correct, % getting answer right the first time, etc. BRAINSTORM IDEAS • In upper grades, need more focus on real-life graphics (realism) vs. too much animation/cartoon. Need a balance. For example video segments.. • Real life applications, problem-solving. Put kids in situations where they use the skills they are gaining to solve, make decisions, etc. • Need to make sure writing is incorporated. Language Arts is more appealing than just reading, when talking about middle school

11. While Meeting the Unique Needs of Students in Grades 4-8 • Strong focus on comprehension and vocabulary (with some decoding support) • Strategic reading section that extends the scaffolding and modeling for reading passages • Activate prior knowledge and build background knowledge activities • More writing opportunities to help connect the software to popular, award-winning literature in the classroom

12. Learning Sequence The steps of explicit instruction typically include direct explanation, teacher modeling ("thinking aloud"), guided practice, and application. • Direct explanation. The teacher explains to students why the strategy helps comprehension and when to apply the strategy. • Modeling. The teacher models, or demonstrates, how to apply the strategy, usually by "thinking aloud" while reading the text that the students are using. • Guided practice. The teacher guides and assists students as they learn how and when to apply the strategy. • Application. The teacher helps students practice the strategy until they can apply it independently.

13. Learning Sequence INSTRUCT Direct instruction explains and models the skill PRACTICE Guided practice while the student learns how and when to apply the skill APPLY Students apply the skill independently in a new context INDIVIDUALIZE Pre- and post-tests are given to individualize the content for each student

14. Reading Process PREPARE & STRATEGIZE READ SYNTHESIZE & APPLY • Activate prior knowledge, build background • Identify purpose of text • Set a purpose for reading • Choose strategies • Introduce Vocabulary • Make predictions • Apply comprehension strategies • Structural analysis • Use context clues • Literal comprehension • Author’s purpose • Inferences and conclusions • Organize and integrate new information • Self-monitor comprehension • Synthesize information • Summarize & reflect • Write (to show comprehension) • Apply learning and present information, verify predictions

15. Unit Structure (I)NSTRUCT:  Direct instruction explains concepts & models the concepts (P)RACTICE:  Guided practice as the student learns how and when to apply strategies (A)PPLY:  Students apply the strategy independently in a new context

17. Reading PassagesThe heart of any reading program! Product Demo

18. Reading Levels Boredom ON LEVEL Frustration Factors to evaluating in selecting the right text: • Lexile Level • Lexile Level II or III for grades 4-6 or 6-8 • Levels range from 550-1165 • Length (Endurance) • 400-1200 words • Each unit includes short (100-150) word texts to warm up vocabulary

19. Lexile Scale 2000L 1400L College and grad school 1100L Typical adult text range Course 3: 570-970 L Course 4: 900-1110 L 200L Basal Readers BR

20. Measuring Text: Sentence complexity and length Word familiarity How do they do it?? How a Book is Lexiled

21. Less Challenging 100% 90% 80% 75 Reader Ability - Text Readability Forecasted Comprehension 60% 50% Forecasted Comprehension Rate 40% 20% More Challenging 0% -1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750 Reader - Text (in Lexiles) Predicting Comprehension Level

22. The typical range of Lexile levels in a single classroom is 800-900L. LOW Range = 757L HIGH Diverse Readers—One Classroom

23. Correlating topics in all genre to the academic subject scope & sequence High-interest issues, events, and people Build background videos to introduce the topic (scaffolding) Direct correlations between background knowledge & achievement1 Direct and indirect exposure can bridge gaps2 Topic – Aligned to Curriculum “Connecting cognitive strategies to students’ growing knowledge of a content area enables students to both increase their awareness of and deliberately use the strategies as means for learning” RAND Report

24. What the students said: All students were interested in non-fiction topics – specifically in science Older students were interested in more abstract topics Younger students liked topics such as animals, rocks, and volcanoes. All students were interested in crime scene investigation Topics appealed equally to boys and girls Popular genres Websites Blogs Mysteries What the teachers said: Liked the mix of non-fiction and fiction Related that they sometimes underestimated their students with respect to topics of interest. Were surprised because the topics appealed to both boys and girls. “The topics all seem to be student-centered.” Relevant and Inspiring Topics

25. Textbooks Trade books Assessment Additional technology resources Compatible “An experimental study determined that when curriculum is well-articulated and aligned to assessments, the measurable impact is considerable.” - Marzano

26. Strategies Addressed at Different Lexile Levels Monitoring Comprehension • Spiral strategies • Differentiating instruction • Building knowledge • Lexile 1030 • Lexile 1020 • Lexile 920 • Lexile 910 • Lexile 840 • Lexile 770

27. LMS • Riverdeep Scope & Sequence • State Standards • Skills & Strategies