Kira Kalepp                        Week 5                   ENGED 463

Fluency

• Is the ability to read most words in context quickly and accurately and with appropriate expression
• Fluency is fast, expressive reading
• Fluent reading is not saying one word at a time, it puts words together in phrases and has the expression you would use if you were speaking the words
• Fluency is critical to reading comprehension because of the attention factor.  Our brains can attend to a limited number of things at a time.  If most of our attentions is focused on decoding the words there is little attention left for the comprehension part of reading, putting the words together and thinking about what they mean

Struggling Readers

• For struggling readers, you need to think about increasing the amount of easy reading they do beyond the independent reading time. 
• Consider letting your student choose books they want to take home to read to a younger brother, sister, tec.   Make sure they have practiced the book they are taking home and that they can read the book fluently
• If you have a lot of struggling readers, consider forming a reading club in your classroom.  Each day invite 5-6 children to read with you some fun books. 
• Choose and read the books chorally with students and remember that all good readers spend significant amount reading easy material

Model Fluent, Expressive Reading

• Make sure everyone in your classroom has some easy reading in their reading diets, promote fluency by modeling fluent reading.  Read as expressively as possible whenever you read aloud to students.  Give them opportunities to practice expressive reading
• Echo Reading- a rereading strategy designed to help students develop expressive, fluent reading as well as used for print knowledge. In echo reading, the teacher reads a short segment of text, sometimes a sentence or short paragraph, and the student echo it back.  Echo reading is the perfect venue for modeling expressive oral reading.  Usually done one sentence a ta time and is fun to do when the text has different voices
• Choral Reading- a literacy technique that helps students build their fluency, self-confidence, and motivation in reading. During choral reading a student, or a group of students reads a passage together, with or without a teacher.  Can do it during plays, readers’ theaters, etc.  Sometimes, fluency is talked about as if it is only rate of reading but reading with expression (prosody) is a critical part of fluency.  When you regularly engage students in echo and choral reading, you are modeling for them and giving them opportunities to practice fluent, expressive reading

Provide Engaging Re-Reading Opportunities

• One of the major ways that we become fluent readers is to read something over several time.  The first time, a lot of our attention is on identifying the words.  The second time, we are able to read in phrases as our brains puts the phrases together into meaningful units.  The third time, we read more rapidly, with good expression and in a seemingly effortless way
• Recorded Reading-children enjoy listening to books.  Many of these books are recorded by authors or professional readers and they are great models of fluent and expressive reading.  Have students select a boo on their reading level and let them listen to that book as many times as they need until they can read it fluently.  Record some of the books you have read to students
• Fluency Development Lesson-Tim Rasinski and Nancy Padak published a study that drew everyone’s’ attention on how widespread fluency problems are for readers.  They created the FDL, which a teacher chooses a short passages, they model fluent reading, or children are paired and take turns reading the passage, then children choose one or two words from each passage to add to their personal word banks.  The lessons are easy to follow, children are more engaged which gives them more gains in reading

Word Wall for High-Frequency Words

• Young children use these words in their speech, but they are not aware of them as separate entities.  To make learning to read and write more difficult, many of these high-frequency words are not spelled in regular or predictable ways. 
• Doing a word wall-is not the same this is having a word wall. To do a word wall you have to
  • Be selective about which words to include, limiting the words to the most common words
  • Add words gradually-no more than 5-6 a week
  • Make the words very accessible by putting them where everyone can see them
  • Practice the words by chanting and writing them
  • Do a variety of review activities to provide enough practice so children can read and spell the words instantly and automatically
• Selecting words for the wall-include words your students need often in their reading and writing and that are often confused with other words.  Select the most common words taught in your reading program
• Displaying the words-write or type the words in think black letters, place the words on the wall above or below the letter they begin with
• Chanting and Writing the Words-lead your students each day in a quick activity to practice the words on the wall by having them chant and write the words
• Reading, Writing and Word Walls-they provide children with an immediately accessible dictionary for the most troublesome words. 

Classroom Application:  After reading this chapter, I learned the that fluency includes three components: accuracy, speed and prosody (expression).  Developing fluency needs to be one of the major goals of all reading instruction.  When children starting to read, their reading is not apt to be fluent.  As their word-identification skills develop and their reading vocabularies increase, their reading becomes more fluent.  There are three reasons some students struggle to become fluent readers.  1-they are given books that is too difficult, 2-they read much less and 3-teachers often ask them to read aloud and interrupt their reading to correct them.  Fluency develops when children do a lot of reading and writing, so making sure all students are reading some text that is easy for them to read and teachers can model fluent, expressive reading using echo and choral reading.  Lastly, providing a word wall for students will help them to read and write high-frequency words with automaticity and accurately. 

Video & Reading Notes

Reading Rockets

• Fluency– is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression.
• What the problem looks like
  • A kid’s perspective: Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like “I hate reading!” or “This is stupid!”. But if they could, this is how kids might describe how fluency difficulties in particular affect their reading: I just seem to get stuck when I try to read a lot of the words in this chapter. It takes me so long to read something. Reading through this book takes so much of my energy, I can’t even think about what it means.
  • A teacher’s perspective: Her results on words-correct-per-minute assessments are below grade level or targeted benchmark. She has difficulty and grows frustrated when reading aloud, either because of speed or accuracy. He does not read aloud with expression; that is, he does not change his tone where appropriate. She does not “chunk” words into meaningful units. When reading, he doesn’t pause at meaningful breaks within sentences or paragraphs.
• How to help
  • What kids can do to help themselves- Track the words with your finger as a parent or teacher reads a passage aloud. Then you read it. Have a parent or teacher read aloud to you. Then, match your voice to theirs. Read your favorite books and poems over and over again. Practice getting smoother and reading with expression.
  • What teachers can do to help at school- Assess the student to make sure that word decoding or word recognition is not the source of the difficulty (if decoding is the source of the problem, decoding will need to be addressed in addition to reading speed and phrasing). Give the student independent level texts that he or she can practice again and again. Time the student and calculate words-correct-per-minute regularly. The student can chart his or her own improvement. Ask the student to match his or her voice to yours when reading aloud or to a tape recorded reading. Read a short passage and then have the student immediately read it back to you. Have the student practice reading a passage with a certain emotion, such as sadness or excitement, to emphasize expression and intonation. Incorporate timed repeated readings into your instructional repertoire. Plan lessons that explicitly teach students how to pay attention to clues in the text (for example, punctuation marks) that provide information about how that text should be read.

Sweeping Round Robin out of your Classroom

The method of repeated readings

• Was based on research that suggests that fluent readers are those who decode text automatically, leaving attention free for comprehension
• This method considers of rereading a short, meaningful passage several times until a satisfactory level of fluency is reached
• Repeated readings can be done with or without audio support
• Repeated reading is a meaningful task in that the students are reading interesting material I context.  Comprehension may be poor with the first reading of the text, but with each additional rereading, the students is better able to comprehend
• A high degree of accuracy and speed develops=fluency
• Repeated reading is the most universally used remedial reading technique to help poor readers achieve reading skill
• It is now widely used to teach reading in foreign languages

Kira Kalepp Week 4 ENGED 463

Concepts that Form the Foundation for Literacy

• Why We Read and Write
  • Reading and writing are things all the bigger people they know do and they intend to do them too
  • Use real world experience need to have many real-world experiences with reading and writing
• Background Knowledge and Vocabulary
  • A lot of what we know about the world, we have learned from reading
  • When parents or other people read to young children, they don’t just read; they also talk with the children about what they are reading
  • Comprehension is highly correlated with prior knowledge and vocabulary
  • The more you know about any topic, the greater your understanding will be
• Print Concepts
  • Print is what you read and write
  • Print includes all the funny little marks-letters, punctuations, spaces between words and paragraphs
  • We read across the page in left-to-right fashion
  • These rules about how we proceed through print are called convections
  • Knowing these print concepts is an essential part of the foundation for becoming literate
• Phonemic Awareness
  • The ability to recognize that words are made up of a discrete set of sounds and to manipulate those sounds is called phonemic awareness, and children’s level of phonemic awareness is very highly correlated with their success in beginning readers
  • It develops through a series of stages and an oral ability
• Concrete Words
  • Children who have been exposed to lots of reading and writing activities know some words
  • Many young children do know some words, and knowing these few words is important because in learning these first words, you have accomplished a critical task
  • You have learned how to learn words, and the few words you can read give you confidence that you can learn lots of words
• Letter Names and Sounds
  • Many children know some letter names and sounds when they come to school, they can’t always recognize all 26 upper and lower case letters
  • Usually letter names and sounds children know have come from those concrete words they can read and write, or through repeated readings of alphabet books or making words with magnetic letters
  • Children have learned some letter names and sounds as adults have spelled out words they were trying to write
• Desire to Read and Write
  • Children who have had lots of early literacy encounters can’t wait to learn to read
  • This attitude motivates and sustains them through the work and effort required to learn to read

Activities for Building the Foundation

• Reading to children and independent reading time
• Supporting and encouraging writing
  • Model writing for the children
  • Provide a variety of things to write with and on
  • Help children find writing purpose through center activities
  • Provide a print-rich classroom
  • Accept the writing they do
• Teach concrete words
• Develop phonemic awareness
  • Use name to build phonemic awareness
  • Encourage phonics spelling
  • Count words
  • Clap syllables
  • Play blending and segmenting games
  • Read rhyming books and chant rhymes
  • Read and invent tongue twisters
• Teach letter names and sounds
  • Use children’s names to teach letter names and sounds
  • Use favorite words with pure initial sounds as key words
  • The alphabet song and alphabet books
  • Letter actions

Classroom Application:  After reading this chapter, I learned the crucial understandings essential to building the foundation for success when it comes to building students’ literacy foundation.  Children should be provided with early reading and writing experiences both at home and at school.  That way children why we read and write.  They also develop background knowledge and vocabulary, print concepts and phonemic awareness.  Also, they learn some concrete words and letter names and sounds.  Most important, students develop the desire to learn to read and gain self-confidence in their own ability to become literate.  Providing a classroom environment for all students to develop a foundation of emergent literacy starts with providing a variety of reading, writing and word activities that are hands-on and engaging.

Video & Reading Notes

Becoming Aware of Print

• When it is time to become a readers, students need to know the concepts of print
• Find opportunities to point out print and how it is used (m for melons, c for cucumbers)
• All types of writing is made up of words which is made up of letters
• Provide kids with a rich exposure to books and print because then kids are more willing and excited to read on her own
• Kids will start to pretend to read to themselves first, which is showing they understand how a book works because they have been exposed to it at home or at school
• From the moving finger when reading, they understand how books works
• When parents show their kids a love of reading, the kids will also love reading and want to read
• Books matter!!!

Toddling Toward Reading

• Kids build a foundation in the first years of their life
• Children’s education starts on day one, long before they start school
• It is important to start giving skills to kids before they start reading
• Laying the foundation starts with mom and dad (reading books, talking with them, etc.)
• Only 60% say the read to their kids everyday
• Children who aren’t read to daily before school are at a disadvantage
• Reading and talking to kids, they are learning language and vocabulary
• Talk more!!!
• Children have a hard time catching up if they are behind in kindergarten reading
• Pediatricians can help educate parents on reading importance
• Milestones of reading
  • 6 months old-reaching for the book and wanting to turn pages
  • 2 years old-pointing and identifying pictures, say at least 50 words and talk in 2-3 sentences
• Reading is about your health and children’s well being

The Alphabetic Principle

• When kids know what items start with a specific letter
• Work on letter name and letter sounds
• Will use phonemic awareness by manipulating sounds in words by changing letters in old words to make new words
• Do it in hands-on ways
• Kids will be given more one-on-one instruction if they are struggling with phonemic awareness

Fun with Phonemes

• Play word games
• Can build phonemic awareness-the insight that words are made up of individual sounds of phonemes
• Rhyming words
• Words that are sing-song

A Child Becomes a Reader Birth through Preschool

• The building blocks of reading and writing-talking and listening, print and books, sounds in spoken language, the ABCs and reading aloud
• What to do with kids ages birth-2 at home-talk and sing to your child, play simple touching and talking games together, point to familiar objects and name them, encourage your child to talk with you, answer your child’s questions and read to your child

Put Reading First

• In today’s schools, too many children struggle with learning to read. As many teachers and parents will attest, reading failure has exacted a tremendous long-term consequence for children’s developing self-confidence and motivation to learn, as well as for their later school performance.
• While there are no easy answers or quick solutions for optimizing reading achievement, an extensive knowledge base now exists to show us the skills children must learn in order to read well. These skills provide the basis for sound curriculum decisions and instructional approaches that can help prevent the predictable consequences of early reading failure.
• The National Reading Panel (NRP) issued a report in 2000 that responded to a Congressional mandate to help parents, teachers, and policymakers identify key skills and methods central to reading achievement. The Panel was charged with reviewing research in reading instruction (focusing on the critical years of kindergarten through third grade) and identifying methods that consistently relate to reading success.
• These criteria offer administrators, teachers, and parents a standard for evaluating critical decisions about how children will be taught to read. In addition to identifying effective practices, the work of the National Reading Panel challenges educators to consider the evidence of effectiveness whenever they make decisions about the content and structure of reading instruction programs.
• This guide, designed by teachers for teachers, summarizes what researchers have discovered about how to successfully teach children to read. It describes the findings of the National Reading Panel Report and provides analysis and discussion in five areas of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Each section defines the skill, reviews the evidence from research, suggests implications for classroom instruction, describes proven strategies for teaching reading skills, and addresses frequently raised questions.
• Phonemic Awareness-Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become aware of how the sounds in words work. They must understand that words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes.
• Phonemes are the smallest parts of sound in a spoken word that make a difference in the word’s meaning. For example, changing the first phoneme in the word hat from /h/ to /p/ changes the word from hat to pat, and so changes the meaning. (A letter between slash marks shows the phoneme, or sound, that the letter represents, and not the name of the letter. For example, the letter h represents the sound /h/.)
• Building Phonemic Awareness With Phoneme Isolation
• Generating Rhymes: Developing Phonemic Awareness

Kira Kalepp                       Week 3                   ENGED 463

Assessment of Reading

• One characteristic of the most effective teachers is that they regularly assess how children are progressing toward meeting important goals and then adjust their instruction based on these assessments
• Many teachers do a status assessment to determine how the children feel about themselves as readers, then they do it half way through the year and at the end of the year
• As students complete the final report, the teacher gives them the first and second reports and students then summarize their change and growth (See Reading and Me)

Read-Aloud

• Teacher read-alouds have been shown to be one of the major motivators for children’s desire to read
• Reading aloud to children is a simple and research-proven way to motivate children of all ages to become readers
• When it comes struggling readers, you need to consider what you are reading aloud
• Include both Fact and Fiction
• By reading different types of books, it demonstrates that all kinds of books are cherished and acceptable in the classroom
• Most children develop the reading habit between ages of 8-11, so reading aloud to older kids is important too
• Read some books in a series and by authors who have written many other books
• Make a list of different genres, title and authors that you have read aloud (See teacher record sheet)

English Language Learners

• 25% of children speak a language other than English as their home language
• Use the teacher read-aloud time as one vehicle for developing English
• Be sensitive to vocabulary that might not be understood
• Include books with lots of pictures and books that reflect the culture of your ELL
• For independent reading, allow them to choose books in their native language
• Sharing books in small groups motivates all students to read but especially important for students who are learning Egnlish

Schedule Time Every Day for Independent Reading

• Goal should be that students get 20 minutes a day to read a book of their choosing
• Explain to students to become good readers they need 3 things; 1-instruction, 2-pratice the skill, 3-pratice the whole thing
• Start with shorter periods of time and build up to the 20 minutes, so children establish the reading habits
• When the time for independent reading has begun, do not allow your students to move around the room or look for books
• Establish and reinforce the ‘no wandering’ rule
• Have a large variety of materials for students to choose from

Reading Materials

• To have successful independent reading, it is crucial that students choose their own reading materials and have plenty of materials to choose from
• Collecting a lot of books requires determination, cleverness and an eye for bargains
• Get free books from book clubs, ask parents to donate, go to yard sales, thrift shops, libraries sell/donate books or magazines, or bookstores will collect used books for you
• Can subscribe to children’s magazines, or news magazines

Schedule Conferences

• Once self-selected reading time has been well established, set up a schedule so that you can conference with 1/5 of your students each day
• Use this time to monitor their reading, encourage them in individual reading interests and help them with book selection if they need help
• Here are some conference starts to set a positive and encouraging tone…
  • “Lets see, what have you got for me today?”
  • “Oh good, another book about ocean animals.  I had no idea there were so many books about ocean animals?”
  • “I see you have bookmarked two pages to share with me.  Read these pages to me and tell me why you choose them”
  • “I never knew there was so much to learn about animals in the ocean.  I am so glad you bring such interesting books to share with me each week.  You are turning me into an ocean animal expert”
  • “I can’t wait to see what you bring to share with me next week”
• Put the job of preparing for the conference on your students
• Children choose the book they want to share and bookmark the part they want to discuss with you
• Students must know they have to prepare and be ready for the conference

Make time for Sharing and Responding

• Children who rad also enjoy talking to their classmates about what they have been reading
• Providing time for children to interact with one another about reading material enhanced the effects of sustained silent reading on achievement and attitudes
•  Create a classroom book-board
• Have a reader’s chair, in which one or two children do a book talk each day
• Reading parties, where a students name is pulled from the jar and they form groups where everyone gets to share their book
• Use the last 15 minutes of the day for students to share books they are reading with each other

Classroom Application:  After reading this chapter, I learned that good readers often read 10 times as many words as poor readers during the school day.  Reading achievement depends a lot on interesting books and choice of books.  Allowing students to choose books they read independently is important. Reading is highly correlated with meaning vocabulary, which in turn is highly correlated with reading comprehension.  Students who read more encounter the same words more frequently and repeated exposure to the same words has been shown to lead to improvements in fluency.  Struggling readers with limited reading and comprehension skills increased vocabulary and comprehension skills when time spend reading was increased.  Reading is also associated with the development of automatic word recognition where children are decoding words during independent reading.  Overall, this chapter described ways I can create my classroom to have my students read enthusiastically and independently.  Reading aloud to my students from different types of books is the best tool for motivating independent reading.  It demonstrates to them the importance of reading and ensure that they spend some time developing the reading habit.  Having a wide variety of books available is critical to the success of independent reading, especially with struggling readers.  Lastly, having students share what they are reading motivates them to read.

Kira Kalepp                       Week 2                   ENGED 463

Reading First

• Specified how the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) was to be implemented. 
• It required starts to assess student progress in reading and schools were penalized if they failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
• Specified that by 2014, all children were expected to read on grade-level, unfortunately, it was not achieved
• Required that curricula had to be based on scientific research
• All schools received federal funds adopted one of the commercial reading programs which focused exclusively on phonics instruction and what students read consisted of ‘highly decodable’ texts
• The programs were scripted, specifying exactly what the teacher should say and who much time should be spend on each part of the lesson
• Reading First wan not effective in raising reading achievement scores

Classrooms that had the highest achievement gains teachers did what?

• Emphasized higher-order meaning construction more than lower-order skills
• Maximized opportunities to read
• Integrated reading and writing with other subject areas
• Provided opportunities to discuss what was read
• Provided both skills instruction and reading and writing, but the teachers integrated skills teaching with reading and writing
• Time is used well, and teachers turned even mundane routines into instructional events
• Use lots of scaffolding and coaching-to get the most out of every child
• Constantly emphasized self-regulation and self-monitoring
• Reading and writing instruction was often integrating with content areas and cross-curricular connections
• Teachers had high expectations for their children-for their learning to read and write and for their behavior.  Students knew what was expected and how to act and behave
• Teachers knew how to be excellent classroom managers

Basic Principles of Effective Instruction

• Skills were explicitly taught and related to reading and writing
• Books were everywhere and used in a variety of ways-read aloud by the teacher and read and listened to on tape by the children
• Children did a lot of reading and writing throughout the day and for homework
• Teachers had high but realistic expectations of children and monitored progress regularly
• Self-regulation was modeled and expected, children were taught how to check and reflect on their work and to make wise choices
• Cross-curricular connections were made as children read and wrote while studying science and social studies themes
• Classrooms were caring, positive, cooperative environments in which discipline issues were handled quickly and quietly
• Classroom management was excellent and teaches used a variety of grouping structures, including whole class, one-to-one teaching and a variety of small groups
• Classrooms showed high student engagement

Characteristics of the Most Effective Classrooms

• All kinds of real conversations took place regularly
• Through their conversations and in their instruction, teachers constantly modeled thinking strategies
• All kinds of materials were used for reading and writing
• Word study focused on building interest in words and on looking for patterns in words
• Learner interest and engagement were important variables in the teachers’ planning
• Managed choice was a common feature in these classrooms
• Instruction took place in a variety of formats
• Students were expected to work collaboratively and take responsibility for their learning
• Reading and writing were integrated with science and social studies
• Teachers evaluated student work with considerations for improvement

Effective Teacher Qualities

• Had higher pupil engagement
• Provided more small-group instruction
• Provided more coaching to help children improve in word recognition
• Asked more higher-level comprehension questions
• Communicated more with parents
• Had children engage in more independent reading

What do we know about effective classrooms?

• Provide huge amounts of balanced, comprehensive instruction
• Children do a lot of reading and writing
• Science and social studies are taught and integrated with reading and writing
• Meaning is central and teachers emphasize higher-level thinking strategies
• Skills and strategies are explicitly taught, and children are coached to use them while reading and writing
• Teachers use a variety of formats to provide instruction
• A wide variety of materials are used
• Classrooms are well managed and have high levels of engagement

Common Core (raises the bar)

• Replaced Reading First
• CCSS-ELA specified what K-12 students should be able to do at each grade level in the areas of reading, writing, language, speaking and listening
• The standards are rigorous and require elementary students to engage in higher-level thinking, synthesis, and analysis as they read or listen, to write well-formulated, mechanically correct opinions, informational and narrative piece and to conduct and summarize research
• The majority of states have adopted the CCSS-ELA standards and teachers are working to provide instruction that will help students meet the very high standards and pass the tests that will evaluate how well the students are doing in the quest to be college and career ready

Classroom Application:  After reading this chapter, I learned how important it is to create a classroom that works when it comes to having successful readers and writers.  The critical role of the teachers determines reading achievement in their students and what the teacher does, has effects that were more powerful than any other variable.  Even though teachers have to follow certain curriculums, they are still given a great deal of freedom in deciding exactly how their classroom will be run, how and what the various materials will be used, what the daily schedule will be, what kinds of instructional formats they will use, how they will monitor and assess progress of their students and how they will create a well-mange and engaging classroom environment. Learning from the best teachers is a great place to start, by observing how they create a classroom that works better in all areas of learning.  Teaching all students to read and write at the highest levels are necessary so they are more successful in their future endeavors.

Video Responses

Building Blocks of Reading

• Has to be a strategic plan for students to succeed in reading
• Starts with a great foundation for literacy (Children Literacy Initiative)
• You start off with simple basic skills to then build into harder concepts
• School matters!
• They go house to house to check in with parents
• You can tell which students are read to or read every night compared to students that don’t

6 Reading Strategies

1. Prediction
2. Connection
3. Ask questions
4. Self-Monitor
5. Visualize
6. Summarize

• Successful readers ask questions or re-read
• When students use these 6 strategies, they will understand more of the story they are reading
• When you don’t know a word, break it down into manageable chunks
• Fiction books-use Who, What, When, Where and Why
• Non-Fiction books-use ‘I have learned’ or ‘this is about’

This is the start of my blog for ENGED 463 Developing Literacy Pre K-3 for Amy Zinmer!

Hope you enjoy!

Content Area Textbooks

• Considerate Text-a textbook distinguished by its user friendliness, particularly in regard to organizational features and presentation of materials
• Readability-the relative accessibility or difficulty of a text.  Sentence length and word difficulty are among the elements used in formulas that assign grade-level readability scores of text materials.  Readability formulas help estimate textbook difficulty, but they are not intended to be precise indicators

Organizing Textbook Reading

• Textmaster Roles-roles similar to those used in literature circles, but are used here for reading textbook materials

• Idea Sketches-Graphic organizers that students complete in small groups as they read textbook materials.  Ideas sketches work like…
  • Introduce the overall topic under study and activate the student’s background knowledge through discussion
  • Chunk the text by dividing it into manageable sections
  • Divide the class into small groups or pairs and assign the chunk they will read
  • Instruct the groups to place the topic of inquiry in the center of large poster board
  • Each group reads their chunk of text either orally or silently as they design a graphic organizer
  • Display the poster boards in order for other groups to read and share.  This is when students clarifying information as needed

Using Literature and Nonfiction Trade Books Across the Curriculum

• Trade Books-literature and informational books widely available in bookstores; used by teacher to supplement or replace sole dependence on textbooks in reading or content area instruction
• Literature Across the Curriculum-weaving an array of literature into meaningful and relevant instructional activities within the context of content area study
• Schema-a representation of a plan or theory in the form of an outline or model or generates background knowledge and experiences that make textbook concepts easier to grasp
• Literature Web-any graphic device that illustrates the relationships among the major components in a unit of study

• Informational Text Types
  • Narrative Informational Texts-books in which the author typically tells a story that conveys factual information
  • Expository Informational Books-books that contain information that typically follows specific text structures such as description, sequence, cause and effect, comparison and contrast and problem solving
  • Mixed-Text informational Books-sometimes referred to as combined-text trade books’ stories are narrated and factual information surrounds the story

Strategies Before Reading

• Previewing-establishing purposes and priorities before reading to help students become aware of the goals of a reading assignment
• Skimming-involves intensive previewing of the reading assignment to see what it will be about.  Have students read the first sentence of every paragraph (often an important idea)
• Organizer-a frame of reference established to prepare children conceptually for ideas to be encountered in reading
• Graphic Organizers-any diagram of key concepts or main ideas that shows their relationships to each other
• Anticipation Guide-a series of written or oral statements for individual students to respond to before reading text assignments

Extending Content Learning Through Reading and Writing

• Point-of-View Guides-an instructional activity supporting comprehension in which readers approach a text selection from various perspectives or points of views
• Idea Circles-a literature circle in which readers engage in discussions of concepts they have been exploring in trade books and other types of texts
• Curriculum-Based Reader’s Theater-a strategy in which students work in small groups to create sections of content text in the form of an entertaining play
• I-Charts-a chart that helps students research, organize and integrate information from multiple text sources
• Internet Inquiry-an instructional strategy designed to help students engage in research on the Internet, based on the question they raise or their interests in various topics of study
• Web Quest-an electronic model in which Internet inquiry is organized to support student learning

Classroom Application: This chapter gave me the information I need when it comes to content area texts in my future classroom.  I have learned why content area textbooks are difficult for students, factors that help determine textbook difficulty, how using literature and nonfiction trade books benefits teaching and learning, how to integrate textbooks, trade books, and electronic texts into units of study and project and learned a variety of learning strategies for students to use before and during reading and writing.  The transition to content area reading should be smooth and I will be there to guide how to use literature in a natural and comfortable way.  There are many benefits of using literature, nonfiction trade books and electronic texts across the entire curriculum.  Using different genres of books is a schema builder and can accommodate different reading abilities and interest in my future classroom.  I have learned that using units of study provide teachers with the structure needed to work with literature and context of meaningful activities.  Lastly, I learned how important to use prereading activities in my future classroom.  that includes previewing, organizers, anticipation guides and brainstorming.  This is a great way to active students’ background knowledge and use that information when they start reading the book/story. 

Source: Vacca, J. L., Vacca, R.T., & Gove, M K. (2012). Reading and Learning to Read (8th ed.). New York: Longman.

Basal Programs Today

• Goals emphasize the connectedness of the language arts, the importance of meaning-making, the immersion of children in literature and the 5 essential components of reading thinking
• Comprehension and study skills are featured and often integrated with other subjects as well
• Progress monitoring, differentiated instruction and suggestions for working with ELLS are also included
• There are certain concepts and terms to basal reading instruction; some would say it’s like a language of its own (see figure 13.4)

Components of Most Basal Series

• Emergent Literacy-big books or big storybooks are used to introduce children to shared reading and how reading works.  They are used to develop basic concepts in language, letter-sound relationships, sense of context, following directions and listening comprehension
• Beginning Reading-new basic sight words are introduced; high frequency sight words accumulate.  Children proceed through multiple levels by the end of 1^st-grade.  Vocabulary and repetition are no longer as controlled as previously; experience charts are used to help word recognition
• Strategy Lessons-many options for strategies are suggested for individual and group lessons and activities to teach sight vocabulary, phonics, structural analysis and use of context and the newest basals have strategies not only in the teacher’s edition but students editions as well.  Teaching vocabulary is usually directly related to the story being read, and teachers are given many alternative choices for activities before and after each story
• Comprehension Strand-comprehension is stressed strongly, with prereading, during-reading and post reading strategies and lessons.  This makes sense since comprehension is the goal of reading instruction.  Quality literature, with considerable attention to multiculturalism, appears in largely unabridged formats.  Ethically and racially diverse pictures and stories are found in a truly comprehensive variety of literary genres, ranging form animal fantasy, science fiction, autobiography, poetry, folktale, fables, and diaries.  Nonfiction is also prevalent, with a focus on comprehending informational text structure
• Language Arts-creating a literary environment by integrating reading, writing, listening and speaking at each grade level is promoted; some programs outline, in lesson format, strategies to merge the language arts.  Learning centers, workshops, group discussions, cooperative learning projects, library corners, technology and art and music centers may be set up.  Journal entries, posters, charts, letters, etc. reinforce the focus on the connection between reading and writing
• Management-systematic instruction of reading or language arts programs provides teachers with goals and objectives along with teaching plans and assessment tools, all toward the outcome of documenting individual student and class progress. 
• Assessment-teaches are given numerous types of formal and informal assessment options.  The newer, broader approach of progress monitoring of student performance and attitudes toward the language arts is geared to inform teachers’ instructional decision making and students’ understanding of their progress toward their own goals
• Differentiation-differentiating instruction in the classroom and then intervening for students who need further support are the newest common features of core reading programs.  In order to differentiation, resources from small group instruction to workstations and technology are provides.  Many are offered in tiers in response to RTI

Characteristics of Basal Readers

• Appearance-student books, anthologies, trade books, big books, little books, DVDs, CDs, online activities, spelling books, etc. are some physical components now available.  Appearance is surely a contributing variable when teachers consider the relative merits of a new reading series
• Illustrations-reveal an important growth in the quality of reading material.  Teachers remain the most important element in terms of critically evaluation and deciding what is appropriate and valuable for their classes to read.  Culturally relevant teaching celebrates and builds on the cultural background of students
• Stereotyping-educators should continue to be sensitive to these issues as they evaluate and use reading materials.  Stereotyping is an oversimplified generalization about a particular group, race or sex.  Tokenism is a minimal effort to represent minorities.  Lifestyle oversimplifications show an unfavorable contrast between minority characters and their setting with an unstated norm
• Language Style-there was a big shift from controlled vocabulary to predictable stories and authentic literature selections can be observed in most of the major reading programs
• Workbooks-offer a wide range of practice books.  They are now more aligned than ever before relating to the textbook selections
• Lesson Framework-newest programs incorporate lessons and activities designed to promote strategic reading and to teach strategies for making informed decisions (see figure 13.5)
  • Motivation and Background Building-involves getting read to read.  Sometimes referred to as the prereading phase of instruction.  The teacher attempts to build interest in reading, set purposes, and introduce new concepts and vocabulary
    • 1-predicting, based on the title, pictures and background knowledge-what the story might be about
    • 2-teacher think-alouds to model prediction, set purposes and share prior knowledge
    • 3-discussion of the pronunciation and meaning of new words; review of words previously taught
    • 4-location of geographic setting, if important
    • 5-development of time concepts
    • 6-reviwe of important reading skills needed for doing the lesson
  • Guided Reading (Silent and Oral)-depending on the grade level, a story may be read on a section-by-section basis.  Following silent reading, children may be asked to read the story aloud or orally read specific parts to answer questions.  The guided reading phase of the lesson focuses on comprehension development though questioning.  Strategic reading, including explicit comprehension and vocabulary skill instruction is explained in the teacher’s guide and prompts for ‘teachable moments”
  • Skill Development and Practice-these activities center on direct instruction of reading skills arranged according the scope and sequence and taught systematically.  Activities and exercises are intended to reinforce skills in the broad areas of word analysis and recognition, vocabulary and study skills
  • Follow-Up and Enrichment-there are more possibilities for enrichment and follow-up activities after the actual reading phase of a lesson than teacher will ever be able to incorporate into the curriculum.  Most favored is to connect the language arts with other subject areas, skill development and practice activities (ex.  writing activities, readers theater, hands-on projects, minilessons, etc.)

Modifying Basal Lessons

• When teachers become more familiar with instructional strategies, many will use alternative strategies in conjunction with their basal lessons
• Modifying lessons personalized reading instruction for teachers and students
• One important reason to adapt lessons is to meet the special needs of students
• Sometimes lessons may simply be rearranged
• Can incorporate some content area prereading strategies
• Use directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA) with suspenseful stories, which facilitates prediction making and provides an alternative lesson structure

Instructional Materials

• There are 3 broad categories of reading materials; core, supplemental and intervention (see table 13.1)

Evaluating Reading Materials

• Questions to consider before getting new programs…
  • What is the overall philosophy of the program? How is reading discussed in the teacher’s guide?
  • What kind of learning environment does the program recommend? Is it child-centered? Techer-centered? Literature-centered? Skills-based? Scientific?
  • Describe the emergent literacy program in detail.  How does it provide for communication between school and home?
  • Describe the instructional program in detail.  How are lessons structured to teach phonemic awareness, word identification, vocabulary, reading fluency, comprehension, writing?
  • Describe the literature of the program. Are the selections in whole form? Are different genres included? Is there a strong presence of nonfiction text? How culturally diverse is the literature?
  • How well does the program integrate across the curriculum? In what ways is assessment connected to daily instruction? What opportunities are there for connections between the various language arts?
  • (see figure 13.8)

• Guidelines/procedure for selecting a core reading program
  • Create a textbook adoption committee
  • Set goals
  • Learn about effective reading instruction
  • Select or create a textbook evaluation tool
  • Think through the process
  • Order core reading programs to review
  • Read and evaluate the core reading programs
  • Pilot the program
  • Make final recommendations to the board of education

Classroom Application: This chapter gave me the information I need in my future instruction and the terminology, components and characteristics of basal reading programs.  It also taught me how types of instructional decisions and reading materials relate to beliefs systems and how districts select and implement reading materials.  When it comes to teaching basal reading programs, it is important that I fully understand and use materials that are provided wisely.  Basal reading programs are organized, illustrated well, and successful in authentic literature while reducing stereotypes.  Once I become comfortable in teaching basal reading programs, I will be able to make better decisions daily about instruction that is best suited to students in my classroom.  It is crucial that I balance the needs of my students with the various materials available and use my knowledge, experience and beliefs about reading and learning to read.  Overall, through my experience and years of teaching I will be better able to modify and adapt lessons to meet the needs of my students when it comes to basal reading programs.

Source: Vacca, J. L., Vacca, R.T., & Gove, M K. (2012). Reading and Learning to Read (8th ed.). New York: Longman.

How to Organize Your Classroom

• Use tables and not desks because kids have to be collaborative in the classroom, they have to be team members and effective communicators to work in the space together
• In the center of each table, they have tissues, hand-sanitizer, pencils, erasers, math manipulatives, on the side there is a basket of crayons, glue sticks, markers and then a set of drawers which houses more individual items
• The meeting area=is the home base.  First thing in the morning the kids come in and gather for calendar, what they are going to do for the day, job chart, and other items
• The classroom library-includes books featured by students in the classroom, all different themed books, author studies (books by the same authors in separate baskets), leveled books which can go into their individual book boxes along with guided reading books for the teacher
• Word wall-in ABC order and when they go through the new words, they get put up on the wall (big words and font), also includes social studies and math vocabulary from the unit

Selecting Just Right Books

• You should look inside the book to see if the book is ‘just right’ for you by…
  • Read a bit of it to yourself to make sure you can read the words on the page
  • Listen to yourself read, and see if you can read fluently (does it sound smooth)
  • Read with expression, use facial expressions and intonation to read where your voice should change to show you are understanding what you are reading
  • Most important!!! Make sure you understand what you are reading (comprehension)
  • Do your own thinking when you read
  • Still choose a book that you are interested in

How to Pick a Just Right Book

• Too hard=more than 5 tricky words
• Too easy=can read the book fast and fun, but not much learning happening
• Just Right=there a couple of words that are tricky and the reading is bumpy, but not a lot of the time

Reading Workshop Overview

• Reading workshop is reading in its natural form
• You have the opportunity to teach every student every day and work with them on what they need
• Starts with a mini lesson which helps children focus on a certain aspect of reading (thinking of theories that the story might have)
• Along the way, there are discussions during reading and conversations, questions and partner dialogs
• After mini lesson, check in with the student to make sure thy know what they are going to do as a reader
• Then students go back to their desks, and have silent reading time, they are reading to themselves, while the teacher goes around the room and does the teaching/conferring with the kids, students get comprehension/skill work individually.  They are practicing something they need to help them become a better reader

Reading Workshop: Mini Lesson

• Mini lessons help students focus on certain aspect of reading (ex. character traits)
• Always model to the students what you want them to do later
• Ask questions
• Have discussions with the kids
• Have students talk with a partner to share their ideas
• When students are talking and sharing they are using their background knowledge
• Teachers need to get out of their chair and listen to their conversations
• Use metacognitive strategies where you as the teacher talk about what you are thinking
• Get kids excited to read and the rest will fall into place!!

Supporting a Community of Readers

• Literature-Based Reading Program-may be viewed in the context of instructional practices and student activities such as independent reading, sustained reading and writing, social interactions and read-alouds using literature, books, novels short stories, magazines, plays, poems and electronic books that have not been rewritten for instructional purposes
• Community of Readers-to characterize how students, in alliance with their friends and teacher, work together in classrooms in which school reading becomes like adult reading, where adults are motivated to read.  Students informally and spontaneously talk over their experiences with books and recommend books to each other
• Hooking Students on Books (Figure 12.1)

Surrounding Children with Literature

• Selecting a Classroom Collection of Books-books should come from different sources-the teacher’s personal collection, the school library, the public library, and paperback book clubs. Include a selection of e-books, CD-ROMS stories and interactive books.  Books should be carefully chosen for a variety of reasons
• Choosing Classroom Literature
  • Read and enjoy Children’s books yourself
  • Read children’s books with a sense of involvement
  • Reading books for a wide variety of ability levels
  • Share how your students respond to particular books with other teachers or other students
  • Start by reading several books of good quality
• Determining Good Literature
  • 1-The collection needs to contain modern, realistic literature as well as more traditional literature
  • 2-The collection needs to contain books that realistically present different ethic and minority groups and nontraditional families as well as mainstream Americans
  • 3-The collection needs to contain books with different types of themes and books of varying difficulty
  • 4-The collection needs to include nonfiction
• Literature with Multicultural Perspectives-multicultural literature should be woven into the fabrics of children’s’ home and school experiences
  • 1-all children need to experience multicultural books.  Students receive an affirmation of themselves and their cultures when their life experiences are mirrored in books.  The infusion of this type of literature affirms and empowers children and their cultures
  • 2-children perceive that members of their cultural group make contributions to the world
  • 3-chidlren derive pleasure and pride from hearing and reading stories about children like themselves and seeing illustrations of characters how look as if they stepped out of their homes or communities
  • 4-multicultural literature offers hope and encouragement to children who face the types of dilemmas and experiences depicted in some of the books they read
  • 5-children who read culturally diverse books encounter authors who use language in inventive and memorable ways, who create multidimensional characters and who engender aesthetic and literary experiences that can touch the heard, mind and soul
• Selecting Multicultural Literature
  • Make sure they are culturally accurate
  • They have a richness of cultural details
  • Have authentic dialogue and relationships
  • Have in-depth treatment of cultural issues
  • An inclusion of members of a minority group for a purpose
• Designing the Classroom Library
  • Access to books in classroom libraries affects students’ reading.  Students will read 50% more books.  Having a wide range of books on various reading levels is essential.  Pay attention to the area of the classroom that houses the library, physical features can increase children’s use of the books.  It should be highly visible with clear boundaries and have comfortable seating.
• Listening to Literature
  • Through hearing stories and poems, students develop a positive disposition toward books.  Cumulative experiences with hearing stories and poems are likely to improve reading comprehension and vocabulary development
  • Read-Aloud practice shows that teachers tend to read to children 10-20 minutes a day.  They need to be incorporated into all aspects of the curriculum
  • Storytelling is the act of telling a story orally without the use of a text. 
• Helping Children Select Books
  • One trait of independent readers is the ability to select books they can enjoy and from which they can get personally important information. 
  • Teachers can tell exciting anecdotes about authors, provide previews of interesting stories, show videos about stories, suggest title of stories that match students’ interests, encourage author search on in the Internet or share leveled book listings
  • Teach students-to read books of 3 different levels
    • 1-easy books to encourage fluent reading
    • 2-book they are working on where they can make daily accomplishments by working on the hard spots
    • 3-challenge book which they can go back to repeatedly over a period of time

Organizing for Literature-Based Instruction

• Core Books-collection of books that forms the nucleus of a school reading program at each grade level; usually selected by a curriculum committee
• Literature Units-a lesson organized around book collections featuring unifying elements such as genre, author or conceptual theme or known as Thematic or Integrated Instruction
• Reading Workshops-method, introduced by Nancie Atwell, for integrating the language arts around literature through an organizational framework that allows readers to demonstrate reading strategies by responding to books and sharing meaning with their peers
• Literature Circles-discussion or study group based on a collaborative strategy involving self-selection of books for reading’ each group consists of students who independently selected the same book
  • Teacher-organized literature circles, introduces to the class potentially worthwhile books for discussion, builds reading parts of the story aloud, builds anticipation by overviewing the content
  • Students-select the book they want to read, teams are formed by choice of reading material, they record their responses in writing or journals, fill out their reading log

Encouraging Responses to Literature

• Reader-Response Theory-the belief that responsibility for constructing textual meaning resides primarily with the reader and depends to a great extent on the reader’s prior knowledge and experience
  • Efferent Stance-attention is focused on accumulating information from the text
  • Aesthetic Stance-attention is focused on personal response to what is read
• Spark Discussion with Book-Talks
• Engage in Free Response
• Exploring Response Options in Literature Journals

Classroom Application: This chapter gave me the information I need in my future classroom in the area of how to bring children and literature together.  I learned that literacy is personal, and that students/readers benefit form a supportive environment, what it means to bring children and books together in a literature-based program, how to choose literature and involve children through activities, ways to organize classes around books and literature circles and strategies for encouraging readers to respond to literature.  As an educator, it is my job to capture students’ interest and bring them together in a literate community where they can be immersed in books.  I will facilitate an environment that is supportive of literature by how I carefully structuring the classroom, select books and creating settings and predictable routines.  There are many strategies for responding to literature that I will use in my future classroom, from book-talks to response journals, all while encouraging children to extent their individual thoughts and feelings about books they read through a variety of response options. 

Source: Vacca, J. L., Vacca, R.T., & Gove, M K. (2012). Reading and Learning to Read (8th ed.). New York: Longman.

Relationship Between Reading and Writing

• Reading and writing processes are correlated; that is, good readers are generally good writers, and vice versa
• Students who write well tend to read more than those who are less capable writers
• Wide reading may be as effective in improving writing as actual practice in writing
• Good readers and writers are likely to engage in reading and writing independently because they have healthy concepts of themselves as readers and writers

Creating Environments for Reading and Writing

• Informal Reading Environments-increase the volume of writing and reading that elementary children do.  Children take greater control over and responsibility for their writing and reading
  • 1-use student’s experiences and encourage them to write about things that are relevant to their interests and needs.  Provide opportunities for reading literature, surfing the Internet and brainstorming ideas before writing
  • 2-develop sensitivity to good writing by reading poetry and literature to students.  Although literature is a mirror that reflects good writing to students, the writing of other students also serves as a powerful model
  • 3-invent ways to value what students have written.  Sharing writing in progress is an important way to ensure repose, or feedback and displaying and publishing writing is another
  • 4-guide the writing personally, circulate around the room to help and encourage.  Teacher-student and peer conferences help create a collaborative, noncompetitive environment in which to write and share what has been written with others
  • 5-write stories and poetry of your own and share it with your students.
  • 6-tie in writing with the entire curriculum.  Content area activities may provide the experiences and topics that can give direction and meaning to writing.  Writing to learn will help students discover and synthesize relationships among the concepts they are studying
  • 7-start a writing center in your classroom.  a writing center is a place where young writers can go to find ideas, contemplate or read other students’ writing
  • 8-create a relaxed atmosphere
• When a teacher encourages students to write, they engage in reading activities in varied and unexpected ways.  An environment that connects writing and reading provides students with numerous occasions to write and read for personal and academic reasons (See figure 11.2)

Connecting Reading and Writing

• Using Journals (and E-Mail Correspondence) for Written Conversation-used to generate ideas, that teachers must set aside time to read and respond to children’s entries on a regular basis
  • Dialogue Journals-journal written as a conversation between child and teacher that emphasizes meaning while providing natural, functional experiences in both writing and reading
  • Buddy Journals-written conversations between children in a journal format; promotes student interaction, cooperation and collaboration
  • Key Pal Correspondence-the electronic equivalent of pen pals
• Using Journals to Explore Texts-they create a nonthreatening context for children to explore their reactions and Reponses to literary and informational texts
  • Double-Entry Journals-a two- column journal format that gives students an opportunity to identify passages from texts and explore in writing why those passages are interesting or meaningful
  • Reading Journals-a journal used in conjunction with literary texts.  After a period of sustained reading, teachers use prompts to guide students’ written responses to the text
  • Response Journals-a journal entry without a teacher prompt
• Alternative Strategies that Motivate Students to Write-journal writing is a vehicle for developing writing fluency, alternative genres can provide students with motivating and creative ways to express themselves in writing
  • Writing Notebooks-places where students can gather observations, thoughts, reactions, ideas, unusual words, pictures and interesting facts for future writing
  • Multi-genre Projects-a paper that is a collection of genres that reflect multiple responses to a book, theme, or topic.  Examples of genres are postcards, letters, posters and comic strips
  • Writing Nonfiction-some children do not enjoy writing stories but are motivated to write nonfiction.  Sharing nonfiction books is a critical component to introducing children to this type of writing.  Children can write; recounts, reports, procedural text, explanatory text, persuasive text
  • Plot Scaffold-an open-ended script in which students use their imaginations to create characters, a setting, a problem and a solution

Organizing Writing Instruction

• The Writing Process-the stages of writing…
  • Brainstorm what they want to write about.  This is a time to generate ideas, stimulate thinking, make plans and create a desire to write
  • Draft their thoughts.  This is when students are reading, draft text wit a purpose and audience in mind
  • Revise their thoughts after input from the teacher or peers.  This is when students seek a repose from someone and conference with them
  • Edit their writing for errors and such.  This is when students are encouraged to be messy in their writing
  • Publish their writing.  This is when students make their paper nice and neat and share with others
• The Writing Process According to Authors
  • Discovery, finding a topic and writing preliminary ideas
  • Drafting, getting ideas down on paper
  • Revising, making it right

• The Writing Workshop-begins by providing students with the structure they need to understand, develop or use specific writing strategies or by giving them direction in planning their writing or in revising their drafts. The minilesson, is a brief, direct instructional exchange between the teacher and the writing group. A Writing Workshop Plan-1-minilesson (3-10 minutes) 2-writing process (45-120 minutes) 3-group share session (10-15 minutes).  Group Share Session- is to have writers reflect on the day’s work
• Guided Writing Instruction-is an instructional framework in which teachers scaffold students’ writing as they write.  Involves teaching skills that are needed by students based on actual observation, engaging the students in conversations as they write and using prompts to guide instruction

Reading-Writing-Technology Connections

• Electronic Texts-texts that are created and read on a computer screen
• Word Processing-using computers to create and publish texts/writing
• Desktop Publishing-using software programs that combine word processing with layout and other graphic design features that allow children and teachers to integrate print and graphics on a page
• Multimedia Authoring-using software programs tat allow students to produce text, color pictures, sound, and video in combination

Classroom Application: This chapter gave me the information I need in my future classroom in which reading, and writing are connected.  Specifically, learning to write is as natural to students as learning to read.  Reading and writing develop concurrently, rather than teaching reading and writing separately, they should be taught in tandem/together.  One important element to writing and reading connections in my future classroom is that the environment that I create for my students.  It should be a natural environment for all students are encouraged and they have the support systems to develop as writers and readers.  Students should be given ample time for writing, response to writing and ownership of their own writing.  In my future classroom, I hope to provide my students with a process-centered classroom because the students are encouraged to choose topics that matter to them and they will brainstorm for their writing through talking, reading and other prewriting strategies.  Drafting, revising and editing are always occurring in this type of classroom and throughout the stages of wring, it is important that I, the teacher, spend time with them and talk about their writing.  Lastly, I also find it vital to enhance reading and writing connections through technology because it is such big part in our lives now.

Source: Vacca, J. L., Vacca, R.T., & Gove, M K. (2012). Reading and Learning to Read (8th ed.). New York: Longman.