This article is part 1 of 2, in the next article explore the advantages and disadvantages through the lens of students and teachers. All education stakeholders want a return on investment, but the methods used to measure successful learning vary widely. Student assessments are not always streamlined across schools…
The first few years of a child’s life are critical; a child’s brain grows to 90% of its adult size by age five, and from 3 to 4 years of age, children show rapid growth in literacy. Preschool has been shown to give children a head start in their development; children in preschool have vocabulary scores that are 31% higher than children who do not attend.
Gone are the days of having students locate and copy the dictionary definitions from long lists of assigned vocabulary words. To foster a love for learning and acquiring new words, instruction must be authentic, engaging, and relevant to students’ lives (Beck & McKeown, 2013).
“Data driven instruction…” is something we have been hearing for a long time. But what does that really mean in the everyday life of a teacher and his/her classroom? In this age of testing, it is often difficult to keep the notion of using data to make decisions about what is being taught.
Tired of the same old routines for small group guided reading instruction? Look no further! Let’s explore a hands-on activity to motivate and engage your young readers. We all recognize that guided reading provides teachers with an opportunity for showing children how to read and for supporting them while they are reading (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996).
As educators, we all know that one of the most important ways that we can help children achieve academic and social success is to form strong and collaborative partnerships with their families. Taking the teacher/parent relationship beyond back to school nights and report card conferences can help build strong home-school connections for kids. Having a strong home-school connection leads children to see learning in a more positive light, which prompts them to work harder and actually enjoy school more.
Phonological awareness is a broad umbrella term for many oral language skills, all of which are essential to the growth of young children’s reading skills. In fact, at least 80 percent of all struggling readers are estimated to demonstrate a weakness in phonological awareness.
Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) professional developers are highly trained on the most effective literacy instruction practices, but they also constantly innovate ways to meet the needs of and build rapport with the teachers they coach.
Do you have a child who struggles to find the motivation to write, or do you have a child who relishes writing, who composes stories, and scribbles away in a journal? Understanding how your child learns about and masters the aspects of writing can help you assist them in building their writing skills.
Reading with individual students can seem like a luxury with all the demands placed upon your time so how can you ensure that your one-on-one time is used effectively? Here’s some useful tips for making sure that the reading conversations you have with your students – especially your struggling readers – are powerful ones.