Elementary Reading

1. Elementary Reading

2. History of Teaching Reading I In colonial times, reading instruction was “simple and straightforward.”Reading Material was not written at a child’s level (Bible and patriotic essays.)There was little consideration for how best to teach children to read or how to assess reading comprehension. N In the mid 1800s Horace Mann, began to promote aggressively for changes in reading instructional methods. He observed that children were bored and "death-like" at school, and that instruction needed to engage children's interest in the reading material by teaching them to read whole words. B Beginning in the 1930s and 1940s, reading programs started focusing on comprehension and taught children to read whole words by sight. Phonics was used as a last resort and taught very sparingly. In the 1950s Rudolf Flesch wrote a book called Why Johnny Can't Read, a passionate argument in favor of teaching children to read using phonics. The book was on the bestseller list for 30 weeks. It polarized the reading debate among educators, researchers, and parents

3. History Cont’d

4. National Standards In 1997, Congress asked the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to convene a national panel to assess the status of research based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to children to read. In its systematic review of the experimental research on certain areas of reading instruction, the National Reading Panel (NRP) reported on five key areas. These are known as the 5 Pillars of Reading Instruction: Phonological awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension

5. National Programs Breakthrough to Literacy: Addresses not only the science of reading but also the science of language, the science of implementation and school change, and the science of professional development for teachers. It remains the position of the founders - and of McGraw-Hill - that, to be effective, any serious scientific initiative must address all four of these disciplines. (1980-1990) Guided Reading: According to Fountas and Pinnell, guided reading is an instructional setting that enables you (the teacher) to work with a small group of students to help them learn effective strategies for processing text with understanding. The purpose of guided reading is to meet the varying instructional needs of all the students in your class, enabling them to greatly expand their reading powers . (1996) DRA: Developmental Reading Assessment (Pearson Learning Group) Reading First: This program focuses on putting proven methods of early reading instruction in classrooms. Through Reading First, states and districts receive support to apply scientifically based reading research—and the proven instructional and assessment tools consistent with this research—to ensure that all children learn to read well by the end of third grade. NCLB (2002) specifically supports this program. Observation Survey/Reading Recovery: Provides a systematic way of capturing early reading and writing behaviors and is the primary assessment tool used in Reading Recovery. The goal of Reading Recovery is to dramatically reduce the number of first-grade students who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write and to reduce the cost of these learners to educational systems. 

6. State Standards SOLS (K-5) (In June 1995, the Virginia Board of Education approved Standards of Learning in four core content areas mathematics, science, English, and history and the social sciences. ) Curriculum Framework (On February 26, 2003 the State Board of Education approved the revised English Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework)

7. State Programs PALS: Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative (EIRI) was established by the 1997 Virginia Acts of Assembly to help participating school districts identify kindergarten and first grade children in need of additional instruction and provide early intervention services to those students with diagnosed needs in reading. The Governor and General Assembly provided funding to expand the Initiative in March 2000 to include students in kindergarten through grade three.

8. Local Standards Curriculum Guides which follow the SOLS Pacing Guides

9. Local Porgrams The Scott Foresman Reading series is used in the elementary grades. It is a literature-based language arts program designed to foster and to enhance literacy skills. Accelerated Reader: This program is designed as an incentive to read more and increase reading comprehension. Reading Recovery in grade 1 and Soar To Success in grades 3-5. Observation Survey DRA PALS Guided Reading/Literacy Stations

10. Professional Organizations IRA 1. Foundational Knowledge 2. Instructional Strategies and Curriculum Materials 3. Assessment, Diagnosis, and Evaluation 4. Creating a Literate Environment, and 5. Professional Development VSRA 1. Promote quality literacy instruction 2. Support and disseminate literacy research 3. Foster interaction on literacy issues through collaboration, networking and partnerships 4. Encourage legislation that advances literacy 5. Provide quality professional development opportunities in the area of literacy education 6. Promote lifelong reading CRC

11. Links http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Reading/reading.html http://www.vsra.org/ http://www.reading.org/ http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/English/englishCF.html http://www.chesapeakereads.org http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/ http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/English/englishCF.html