Personalized learning for struggling readers can be timesaving and easy to execute. Finding patterns and honing in on students’ reading skill deficits will quickly point educators to the appropriate intervention. In “Timesaving Strategies for Selecting Interventions for Struggling Readers,” Cindy Kanuch, Reading Specialist at Calhan Elementary School, presented tips on working to address skill deficits in the most efficient and effective manner, which in some situations can help students improve in as soon as one to two weeks.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 80% of students with learning disabilities have dyslexia. In order to create a learning environment that feels safe, comfortable and empowering for students, schools need to adhere to basic guiding principles. In “Creating a Dyslexia-Friendly School,” Terrie Noland, National Director, Educator Engagement for Learning Ally, presented on early intervention for dyslexic students, using the right AT (assistive technology) tools and accommodations for each learner, and creating environments in which students can thrive.
edWeb.net and myON today announced a combined effort to provide educators with robust professional learning opportunities to transform literacy for all pre-K–12 students. myON will sponsor the professional learning community “Building a Community of Readers” on edWeb.net as a forum for professional learning and collaboration focused on all aspects of literacy. Educators will be able to collaborate online across the country and around the world to leverage information and learn best practices from their peers to build innovative approaches to literacy for the classroom.
More than 10 million American students struggle to read, but only 2.3 million are identified and even fewer receive special help; schools must provide support for struggling students by creating a culture of reading. In “45 Ways to Support Struggling Readers: A School-Wide Approach,” hosted by edWeb.net and sponsored by Learning Ally, Terrie Noland, Learning Ally National Director, Educator Engagement; and Kristy Mathieu, Kiker Elementary, Austin, TX, presented tips for how schools can support struggling readers.
It is important to define and address literacy problems to ensure that struggling students learn and improve. In “Teaching Students with Literacy Problems—Including Dyslexia,” hosted by edWeb.net and sponsored by Brookes Publishing, Nickola Wolf Nelson, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Western Michigan University, reviewed techniques educators can use to teach their students with literacy problems.
Dr. Douglas Fisher, Professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, presented in the webinar, “Rigorous Reading: Building Strength and Stamina,” sponsored by Achieve3000. The webinar explored building strength and stamina in students to improve reading at increased difficulty and complexity. Dr. Fisher began by defining the difference between difficulty and complexity, explaining that difficulty is the amount of effort a student must put into a given task, whereas complexity is the kind of thinking students must do for that task. It is fundamental that teachers maintain the balance between difficulty and complexity to foster an effective literacy program. They can do this by assigning their students many tasks that provide varied levels of each.
The application of reading, writing and original thinking is research, and the research simulation is at the heart of the Common Core Performance Task and accountable Problem Based / Inquiry Based Learning.
According to iNACOL, personalized learning is tailoring learning for each student’s strengths, needs, and interests to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible. Here’s your opportunity to think outside the box by emphasizing the need for learners to be involved in designing their own learning process.
With the release of the “Common Core” standards, the phrase “Close Reading” became a buzz overnight. In many classrooms, the idea of “Close Reading” resulted in kids failing at tortuous lesson, and teachers drowning in pre-planning with very little student results. In this session, presenter Kevin Baird discussed highest impact strategies for implementing College & Career Ready standards by looking again at the concept of Precision and Precision Reading.
The Common Core State Standards place a special emphasis on reading informational text. Teachers often say how excited students are to learn about the world around them. Whether it’s the latest news from Mars or information about a typhoon that struck last week, kids want to know all about it. How can we harness that enthusiasm for nonfiction to help students become great readers?