Reading

=**Reading Comprehension: Section 2**=

Editor: Ellie


**1) (No author mentioned). Achieve 3000 differentiated instruction. achieve3000.com. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from __[|www.achieve3000.com]__ **  Achieve 3000 is a web-based literacy program that provides differentiated instruction to enhance students’ reading comprehension. Students take an initial assessment that determines their current reading level and then read nonfiction Associated Press articles that are written at that level. Each article is followed by a series of comprehension questions and activities that deepen their understanding of the text. Achieve 3000 automatically determines whether the students’ reading level is increasing based on their answers to the questions. Periodically it gives formative assessments to determine the students’ new reading levels, then provides students with articles written at those new levels.  I used Achieve 3000 at my old school when I taught 6th grade 12:1:1. My students really enjoyed the program, particularly the fact that it was tailored to their current reading levels and included engaging activities. It also encouraged students to be independent readers, not only in the sense that they worked on the program on their own, but also in the way the program encourages students to become active interpreters of text features and context clues. In addition, it provides ELL students with audio and visual supports to aid their comprehension. (Author--Ellie, Partner--Rachel)

 This is an amazing book written by a teacher who suggests that reading comprehension is only possible if and when you enter the “Zone.” She offers many ways to help create an atmosphere within the classroom where reading is valued and sacred. She offers ideas on how to create a physically comfortable environment for students when reading as well as how to ensure that your library is an inviting place for all types of readers. She then goes on to discuss important structures and routines that help create agency and autonomy for the student in their reading. She provides advice such as having regular book talks, letters to and from teachers that relate to the books students are reading and book bins with rotating titles called, “books we love.” She also suggests that although many reading specialists suggest the seven major comprehension strategies are ways to provide students with the skills to understand reading better, she feels that “Comprehension is direct and unmediated. It is the recognition of meaning,” Atwell (pg 60) The author feels that interrupting a reader as they are lost in a book, making their own meaning to apply a strategy is an interruption that detract from students comprehension. (Author--Rachel, Partner--Ellie)
 * 2) Atwell, N. (2007). The Reading Zone. Scholastic. **

**3) Barth, Nancy. (2011, October 15). Reading comprehension apps for special needs children. Technology in (spl) education. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from http://techinspecialed.com/2011/10/15/reading-comprehension/ **  Nancy Barth's website features free and inexpensive Smartphone apps that are specifically geared towards developing middle school students with IEPs’ reading comprehension. The selected apps range from “Spinout Stories,” which includes high-interest texts for struggling adolescent readers, to “My Word Reader,” which develops students’ foundational reading skills. In addition, the description of each app includes the IEP goals and skills that it covers, from making predictions to drawing conclusions about a text.  This resource seems like an excellent tool for students with disabilities who have Smartphones and can download the apps to their phones. While I might not be able to use the apps in the classroom given restrictions on cell phones in school, I could assign students to use it for homework to work on their reading comprehension IEP goals. I could also recommend it to parents so their children can use it at home. (Author--Ellie, Partner--Rachel)


 * 4) Boles, M. (2006). The Effects of Multicultural Literature in the Classroom. Senior Honors Theses. (Paper 62). **

 Multicultural literature is an efficient resource that can be used to challenge assumptions/ stereotypes and promote the understanding of diversity in the classroom. In addition, it can be used to examine racism and raise awareness of the reality and power of “privilege.” This resource provides valuable insight into the many benefits of utilizing multicultural literature in the classroom. Specifically, expansion of vocabulary, stimulating imagination, facilitating empathy and fostering positive self image. Finally it thoroughly explains that the six main goals of teaching children multicultural literature are to increase self-worth, achieve educational equity, increase cultural pluralism, create a sense of empowerment in students, promote cohesive group work and to teach from a multicultural perspective. (Author--Christina, Partner--Nate)
 * __[]__ **

**5) (No author mentioned). “Reading skills.” Brainpop.com. Retrieved April 27, 2012 from **  This is a Brain Pop video for 6th grade students titled, “Reading Skills,” This is a video where a cartoon figure is talking to the student directly. It begins with a cartoon character reading and stating that they must take a break because they aren’t understanding what they are reading. Then, he asks the reader if they have ever read the same sentence multiple times and realized that they didn’t understand what they were reading? He then proceeds with a series of skills students can use to deepen their understanding. As each new skill is introduced, the word flashes across the screen and then he models how he would use the skill and models his thinking that relates to the skill. Skills taught are Previewing, Skim, Section Headings, Words in bold, Taking notes, Taking your time, Re-read, stop and check for understanding, jot ideas in your own words to make sure you understand, Visualizing, when you are finished reading, talking about what you read. (Author--Rachel, Partner--Ellie)
 * [|__http://www.brainpop.com/english/studyandreadingskills/readingskills/__] **

**6) Brasselton, S., & Decker, B. (1994).** **Using graphic organizers to improve the reading of** **mathematics. The Reading Teacher, 48(3), 276-281.** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> In “Using graphic organizers to improve the reading of mathematics” (Brasselton & Decker, 1994), Brasselton and Decker note that “mathematics is the most difficult content area material to read because there are more concepts per word, per sentence, and per paragraph than in any other subject” and go on to provide useful strategies to improve reading comprehension in mathematics through the use of graphic organizers. The graphic organizers they implement in their research promote deeper comprehension and higher level thinking for students who struggle with comprehension in mathematics.  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The authors outline strategies for implementing the use of graphic organizers through modeling, guided practice and independent practice. Their implementation of graphic organizers is supported by empirical research which suggests that the use of graphic organizers they present can help “students with more impulsive learning styles...[achieve] improved performance and ability to successfully solve problems” through “visual organization of the problem-solving process” and can help students improve their written expression through writing (Brasselton & Decker, 1994, p. 281). (Author--Nate, Partner--Christina) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**7) (No author mentioned). “Comprehension strategies.”** **Busyteacherscafe.com.** **Retrieved May 1, 2012 from** **http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html#connections** This website is incredibly resourceful. It lists the 6 main comprehension strategies; <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When you click on each one, you are able to look at a variety of lesson plans and worksheets that are designed to help teach the skill to your students. The lessons are workshop model based and very hands on. There are a variety of worksheets of varying strategies and on several reading levels.
 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Making Connections__]
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Questioning__]
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Visualizing__]
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Inferring__]
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Determining Importance__]
 * 6) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Synthesizing__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**8) (No aut****hor mentioned). (2012). Free online cool math games. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__**http://www.coolmath.com/**__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> “Bored with math? Confused by math? Hate math?” Coolmath asks. “Well, CoolMath can fix that.” These questions seem especially appropriate for students with reading comprehension issues. These are the same responses manifested in the English Language Arts class by students who struggle with reading comprehension, and in the math classroom where reading comprehension is involved, the response is no different. CoolMath offers free online math games that can help students at a range of different levels with a range of different difficulties. The site even offers games based on a word problem structure, providing students with fun, interactive ways to work through difficult word problems in imaginative as well as real world contexts. This website would be especially useful with students who already enjoy video games. Some of the word problem games offer students a “role playing game” experience that many students would no doubt immerse themselves in, enjoy, and get real help with their mathematical reading comprehension. (Author--Nate, Partner--Christina)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Students come with many layers that educators must successfully peel back to create impact. This is an informative resource that provides a psychological perspective as to why it is important for educators to use multicultural resources to eliminate language and communication barriers. Understanding and embracing culture helps teachers to see how students interpret their environment and helps avoid stereotypes and biases that can undermine their efforts in class. It also promotes a focus on the positive characteristics of a particular group, and conveys an appreciation for cultural differences. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Author--Christina, Partner--Nate)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9) (No author mentioned). (2012). Cultural competency and diversity. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__[]__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Author--Christina, Partner--Nate)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10) Donn, M. Propaganda Techniques. ****<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://propaganda.mrdonn.org/techniques.html__] **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This website is a gateway into a multicultural view of “Propaganda”. For decades politicians and other influential people have been placing messages into commercials, newspapers, magazines and other things we read and see daily. These messages have been carefully implemented to influence our opinions, emotions, attitudes and behavior and have had a huge impact on history. This lesson breaks down the purposes and effects of persuasion using multicultural, historical and political references. **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">11) Freitag, M. (1997). Reading and writing in the mathematics classroom. The Mathematics Educator, 8(1), 16-21. ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">URL: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://math.coe.uga.edu/TME/issues/v08n1/3freitag.pdf__] ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> “Reading and writing in the mathematics classroom” (Freitag, 1997) is a helpful article that discusses the main issues facing teachers and students regarding reading and writing in the mathematics classroom. Many students struggle with literacy issues in mathematics and Freitag discusses the reasons for these difficulties as well as proposing helpful solutions. As Freitag points out, “in order to comprehend the texts of certain disciplines, readers must often develop reading skills particular to those disciplines” (1997, p. 17) and math is no different. Freitag outlines ways that helping students differentiate between the different contexts and purposes for mathematical texts and methods can help them comprehend as well as strategies specific to reading mathematical texts like scanning and rereading (1997, p. 38). Finally, Freitag discusses the different--sometimes overlooked--ways teachers might incorporate writing into their mathematical curriculum. These methods may be formal or informal, but they are aimed at helping both students and teachers understand how students are comprehending math texts and concepts. (Author--Nate, Partner--Christina)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This activity can be used to introduce a discussion on gender issues. It specifically enables students to take part in a self-reflective process to write and share short pieces about how their gender identities were affected and influenced by childhood messages. I found this very interesting because you can also adapt it to target race, sexual orientation, socioe conomic class, religion, and other identifiers that are often difficult to explore. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Author--Christina, Partner--Nate)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">12) Gorski, C. (1995) Learning Gender Roles: Boy/Girl Gender Socialization. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__[]__ **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">13) Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">media type="youtube" key="xGmef7lFc5w?version=3" height="360" width="640"   <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Khan Academy is an extremely helpful resource that provides students with video explanations of how to solve problems in a myriad of mathematical topics. The website is organized by topic and includes video instruction and practice exercises for each topic. Lessons and are presented visually using software that allows the instructor to speak over a drawn visual. After students watch instructional videos, they can complete related tiered practice exercises and even track their progress using an account on the site. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This website is especially helpful to students who struggle with reading comprehension and benefit from the visual presentation of information and extra practice. It allows them to experience mathematical processes and concepts presented visually and auditorily with the added benefit of being able to rewind, repeat, and review whenever they like. Students can improve mathematical comprehension by consuming content at their own rate and level. This resource can be used at home as well as in the classroom to re-teach or pre-teach in accordance with student needs. (Author--Nate, Partner--Christina)

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">14) Orehovec, B., Alley, M. (2003). Revisiting The Reading Workshop. Scholastic. ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This book unlike, //The Reading Zone//, has a very prescribed way of teaching reading comprehension. This book emphasizes the importance of written and spoken word to develop literacy skills and sticks to a clear workshop structure. All lessons are meant to have a specific mini-lesson that focuses on one skill which most often includes a read Aloud, then students are taken through guided instruction, then independent instruction, response and reflection. It then breaks the comprehension strategies into strategies that pursue meaning making and others that explore the text elements and structures. I use this book very often in my classroom as I find it an excellent resource to help create lessons and scaffold skills in a developmentally appropriate way. I find that especially for my lower level readers, providing them with a clear skill that they can apply to their own independent reading book promotes a recognition of what students already know and forces students to explore their metacognition. I have seen this have a positive impact on students who have felt bad about their reading life and have had trouble knowing how to speak or write about the stories they read. I think that teaching reading involves elements from this book aswell as elements from //The Reading Zone//. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Author--Rachel, Partner--Ellie)

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">15) (No author mentioned). (2012). Translating word problems. The Purplemath Forums. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.purplemath.com/modules/translat.htm__] ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This resource offers another interesting approach to helping students with word problems. For many students, the hardest part of solving word problems is “taking the English words and translating into mathematics,” the site reads. Once students have the math equation in front of them, doing the math is fairly easy and often simple. The approach of this site is to help students “translate” the English words into mathematical symbols. The site provides a helpful glossary that translates the key words found in math problems and illustrates that some mathematical operations have multiple translations (which can make this work even more difficult for students who struggle with reading comprehension), as well as breaking down operations that are presented as inversions. This website provides helpful examples and would be a helpful resource to any student struggling with mathematical vocabulary and reading comprehension. (Author--Nate, Partner--Christina)

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">16) (No author mentioned). Teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle. Reading comprehension & language arts teaching strategies for kids. Retrieve May 8, 2012, from http://www.readingrockets.org/ ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Reading Rockets is a clearinghouse for teachers, parents, and administrators that offers a diverse array of resources related to developing students’ reading comprehension. Among the resources it offers for educators are lists of books for young people organized by reading levels; videos and podcasts featuring notable authors and literacy experts; a comprehensive glossary of literacy-related terms; a research section including reports and articles on reading comprehension and intervention; and links to organizations and state agencies that focus on literacy. Reading Rockets also features resources that are relevant to special education, including a database of articles, links, and programs to assess and support struggling readers. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> I was impressed by the diversity of resources that Reading Rockets provides. I especially liked its emphasis on supporting students who struggle with reading with instructional aids and suggestions for high-interest trade books. It also has good information for parents of struggling readers so they can advocate for their children, whether by using reading comprehension strategies at home or requesting an evaluation. This is a website I could see myself spending hours on over the summer, just browsing and getting ideas for curriculum and lesson-planning next year. (Author--Ellie, Partner--Rachel)

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #282323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">17) (No author mentioned). The reading teacher’s sourcebook. Vaugh Gross Center Materials. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from http://www.meadowscenter.org/vgc/downloads/middle_school_instruction/_RTS_Complete.pdf ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Published by the University of Texas, this sourcebook provides middle and high school teachers with instructional and assessment aids to support struggling readers. It is geared towards developing a school-wide reading intervention program at the secondary level, and includes a range of sample lessons aligned to reading comprehension strategies and skills, as well as a virtual clearinghouse of graphic organizers and notecatchers that can be duplicated for the classroom. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is an incredible resource for teaching reading strategically, not only in terms of whole-class and small-group instruction but also in terms of thinking about how reading comprehension is taught throughout a school. I would use it for ideas of how to structure reading lessons, and would also refer to it when collaborating with colleagues in creating grade-wide and middle school-wide reading curriculum. (Author--Ellie, Partner--Rachel)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Warning! This reading will revolutionize the way you select and interpret literature in the future! In effort to combat the flawed representations that are often depicted in books and the media, the author draws on her identity as a woman from “Nambe Pueblo” and created guidelines to help teachers select children’s books that have both realistic and authentic presentations of Native people, as well as factually, historically, and culturally accurate. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Author--Christina, Partner--Nate)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">18) Reese, D. (2007) Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__[|http://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/305_PDF/305_FinalProj/305FP_Race/NativeAmFolktales_Caution_Jan07_LA.pdf]__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This website provides over 16,500 pages of tests, 8300 illustrations, 60 maps and is organized around thirteen defining migrations that have both formed and transformed African America and the nation. It is particularly useful because there is a “search” option accessible from any of the pages that allows users to search through text, illustrations, maps and lesson plans. Lastly, all text and images can be printed! <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Author--Christina, Partner--Nate) **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">20) Spinelli, Jerry. (2010). “Advice for young writers.” Pbs.org. Retrieved April 28, 2012, from ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a brief video of Jerry Spenelli, called Advice for Young Writers. He is the author of many of my 6th grade students favorite books, Maniac Magee, Loser, Crash, to name a few. In this video Spenelli answers the question, “ What is the golden rule of writing?” He says that the golden rule is forget about the do’s and don'ts just write what you care about. His advice is that when you are writing from your heart than you are more likely to engage people in reading what you are writing. This relates to reading comprehension for many reasons. First, because the students are already interested in this author, students may be more interested in reading, which has a direct effect on comprehension. Secondly, if students are able to apply this strategy to choosing books then they will also be more likely to care about the characters in the book, therefore understanding it deeper. (Author--Rachel, Partner--Ellie) === <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">21) (No author mentioned). 2010, December 27). Tips for helping children visualize math word problems. Children-1st. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__[]__ === <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This blog provides a myriad of helpful resources for helping math students with a variety of different needs in the classroom. These ready-to-use suggestions include visuals, examples, and sample lesson topics. The specific section of the blog included here is one on helping students visualize math word problems. It provides multiple strategies for helping students break down word problems into their component parts--with examples for each standard expression (e.g. “how many more,” “less than,” and “times.” The activities provided for each expression are interactive, fun, and engaging. They offer students who might otherwise struggle with reading comprehension multimodal approaches to reading math. (Author--Nate, Partner--Christina)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">19) Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__[]__ **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/content/d2f71702-a668-4df9-9f9b-afae6834d871/ **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">22) (No author mentioned). (2012). “Grade 4-6 teaching center.” weeklyreader.com Retrieved May 5, 2012 from http://www.weeklyreader.com/archive/37 ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This website features lesson plans and printable activities for student of all ages. There is an online magazine and blog where both students and teachers can read about current events that relate to reading. There are reading lessons that relate to current events of the month where you can use a topic that is relevant to promote a particular type of reading such as Non-Fiction, Pros and Poetry. There is a section on the website called the, “skills” sections where you can choose a particular skill and use the printable worksheets offered to have students practice the skill, or better yet, how I have used it, which is to use the worksheet as inspiration to create my own. There is also a vocabulary section. (Author--Rachel, Partner--Ellie)

**READING COMPREHENSION**
Author: Britnie, Jaqueline, Kendi Jacqui is the Editor.

Hi This is Dr. L: A couple of things: 1. you need to explain in the resource is one that requires a payment or school subscription. 2. there should be 2 names at the end of each annotation. The author and her partner who reviewed and revised the source.


 * __Classroom Resources__**



Reading skills. (2012, April 26). Retrieved from: __brainpop.com.__

Brainpop is a website in which the characters Tim and Moby answer student questions on a variety of topics, covering every subject. There is a helpful video that students can watch in the English section found on the home page. The video is called “Reading Skills”. It discusses how students can activate prior knowledge, use context clues and vocabulary to figure out how to understand a passage. There is also an associated quiz with each video, either graded or a review quiz. It often is beneficial to print the quiz out and administer it to students after viewing the video. Brain pop has these features for every video on the site. This site is good for younger students but can be used up through ninth grade. Sign –up is required, but email me and I can give you a free password for educators. (Author: Britnie)

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dell, D. (2012). gamequarium. Retrieved from []

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The //Gamequarium// website: [] offers a variety of additional resources and activities designed forspecifically strengthening the gateway skills of emerging readers. The sub-site readquarium offers a subject directory for literacy games, worksheets and techniques that allows for teachers to access content specific tools in the following areas: <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Language Arts] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Mathematics] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Social Studies] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Science] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, Spanish and music, in addition to <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Brainteasers] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Keyboarding] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Holiday Fun] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, and safety. Online Reading Activities provide practice modules related to <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|phonics & phonemes] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, site words, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. This site also offers direct access to e-books and book talks. This site can be used without registering for a subscription and it is free to access. (Author: Kendi & Jaqueline)



Hock,T.Critical Reading Comprehension Worksheets. (2012, April 26) Retrieved from:[|http://www.englishforeveryone.org]

English for everyone.org has hundreds of free printable worksheets to help students who struggle with reading comprehension. There is free access to worksheets covering topics such as spelling, forming questions, parts of speech, phonics and reading comprehension. The comprehension worksheets are organized by grade level. Each worksheet contains a leveled reading passage followed by questions that test reading comprehension. This is perfect for a guided practice or independent practice activity. Many of these resources are also found on the sister site Readtheory.org where students can do the same activities online. This site has activities for students reading levels pre-12th grade as well as ESL students.

(Author: Britnie)





//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">esl/tefl/tesol/esl/efl/esol links //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. (2005). __Retrieved from []__

//<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">iteslj.org //<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> is a vital web resource that serves as a one stop shop that offers dozens of links to reading comprehension websites as well as a collection of literacy materials that can be used in the classroom to boost student reading levels. With modified works from Abbot, Alcott, Alger, Aristotle, Austen, Browning, and many other authors, grade level literary works can be downloaded directly from this site to assist native English readers as well as ESL learners and students with disabilities. Readings include <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">[|an online collection of Aesop's Fables,][|A Midsummer's Night's Dream - simplified for EFL students] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, a c <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">ollection of short fiction stories, Chinese stories & songs in English, and ESL Reading Exercises. Additional resources include [|quizzes] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">[|podcasts] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">[|crossword puzzles] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">[|dictionaries and reference materials] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, articles, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">[|vocabulary lists] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, student projects, etc. This is a no fee site.

(Author: Kendi - Partners: Britnie & Jaqueline)

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Fortune, R. (2006). //Education.com//. __Retrieved from []__

//<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Education.com //<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> is an all-in-one comprehensive site where you can find an assortment of free <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|reading comprehension materials, including worksheets, videos and printables] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">. No registration is necessary to access the website. This site offers a directory that organizes worksheets according to student grade level (preschool through College Prep), subject and sub-topics which include vocabulary, literary analysis, word families, sight words, etc. Education.com also offers ready made activities and <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">easy to read articles in dozens of areas: <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Arts & Crafts] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Games & Puzzles] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Science Experiments] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Phonics & Reading] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Numbers & Math] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Letters & Writing] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> and more. Additionally, visitors can access <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|qualitative and quantitative information] <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> on <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">area schools, and higher learning institutions. There is no subscription or fee needed to use this site. (Author: Kendi & Jaqueline)



IRA/NCTE. (2012). //Readwritethink//. Retrieved from []

This is a website created by the International Reading Association (IRA), the mission of which is to promote reading by continuously advancing the quality of literacy instruction and research worldwide. The “Student Interactives” engage students in grades 4 to 12 in online literacy learning with interactive tools that help them accomplish a variety of goals. For example, the “character trading cards” allow students to use popular culture texts to understand characterization and “Doodle Splash” combines the process of drawing with analytical thinking by pairing online drawing with writing prompts that encourage students to make connections between their visual designs and the text. (**Author: Jacqui)**

Mllop,M. My own Resources: Reading Comprehension Texts. (2000, Dec 8). Retrieved from: []

This website is a collection of reading passages and short stories that students can read, followed by questions that test their comprehension. The stories are written on a middle school level, they are fictional and can be read in one sitting. The questions that follow consist of multiple choice comprehension questions, vocabulary questions and even have a writing portion that allows students to activate prior knowledge and use critical thinking skills and give their opinions. This would be a great resource to use as independent or guided practice activities.

(Author: Britnie)

Nussbaun,G.Age of Exploration, Reading Comprehension.(2012,April 26).Retrieved from: []

This website contains a variety of reading passages written at a third to fifth grade reading level. Each passage is written about a U.S. or Global History event, therefore students not only get practice and instruction on reading comprehension, they are also getting content information, written at an accessible level. Each passage also contains comprehension questions found at the end.

(Author: Britnie)



// Scholastic inc //. (n.d.). Retrieved from []

This scholastic site provides an overview of all Scholastic Classroom magazines, with different titles covering all grade levels. While its objective is product advertising, Scholastic also provides “sample issues” for each of the magazines that change every few months, as well as archives, which teachers can print and distribute to students. The magazine includes high-interest articles and original fiction, with engaging visuals. Articles range from half a page to four pages, and are easy to read with text features such as subheading, ppictures and tables and graphs. With each reading, there are grammar and vocabulary activities, standardized test preparation, and writing prompts. Recommended Magazines: Scope, an ELA magazine for middle school, and Choices, a “life skills” magazine for high school. (**Author: Jacqui)**



//Teachable moment: free lesson plans and activities for k-12// (2012, April 26). Retrieved from []

A project of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, Teachable Moment is a website that provides educators with timely teaching ideas to encourage critical thinking on issues of the day. Student’s readings, discussion questions, and activities are available for elementary, middle school and high school levels. This is an excellent resource for building reading comprehension through the exploration of current events; while many newspaper articles focus too specifically on a single aspect of an issue, or require intensive background knowledge, these readings provide succinct summaries and comprehensive overviews of important issues, such as Occupy Wall Street and poverty in the U.S. and the Trayvon Martin case and gun laws. Student readings are formatted so that they can be easily copied into word documents and further modified to fit your students’ needs. (**Author: Jacqui)**

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//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Teacherfrankprograms //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">. (2009). Retrieved from __[]__

//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Learn-to-speak-english-esl.com //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> is a website that offers a plethora of reading comprehension materials specifically designed to help ESL students grasp the English language. The creator, Teacher Frank holds a <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Masters Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and has over 25 years of experience instructing ESL students. Based on his experiences, Frank has composed <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">33 modules and graphic video lessons that cover a wide range of topics across content areas that focus on <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">everything from context clues to learning the rules for informal, polite, educated conversation. This is a fee to use website, however there is a free Demo which offers access to over 130 video lessons free of charge. The demos can be used repeatedly without registration and there is no limit time limit or log in limit with regard to access. Lessons covered include: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vocabulary And Phrases, Phrase Connectors, Symbolism, High Frequency Phrases, Informal Exclamations, Literal and Figurative, etc. Each video includes bright colors and bold print, in addition to printable worksheets that can accommodate ESL students and/or students with disabilities. (Author: Kendi & Jaqueline)

// Time for kids //. (2012). Retrieved from []

Time for kids offers short low-level high interest articles on politics, science, entertainment etc, with vocabulary words bolded or hyperlinked to a definition page, so that students can learn new words while reading. Articles would serve as ideal homework assignments for students to continue reading at home. **(Author: Jacqui)**

= __ Professional Resources __ =



Bobbitt, P. Scaffolding: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension Skills.(2012). Retrieved from: []

The article “Scaffolding: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension Skills” found on the Pearson/Prentice Hall website, outlines strategies that can be used to write lesson plans when teaching emerging readers. The reading comprehension strategies outlined in this article include graphic organizers, the proper way to use questioning and outlines less well known strategies such matrix diagrams and hierarchy diagrams.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Author: Britnie)



// Classroom strategies //. (2012). Retrieved from []

AdLit.org is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. The “Classroom Strategy” page of the website provides teachers with an extensive library of reading comprehension strategies to use with students in middle school and high school. The strategies are divided into three categories to indicate whether they should be used “before” “during” or “after” reading and are coded for a focus on “vocabulary,” “comprehension” or “writing.” Both word documents and pdf files are offered for those strategies that utilize graphic organizers. A reference page for each strategy includes background information on the strategy, benefits of the strategy, and steps for using the strategy with your students. (**Author: Jacqui)**

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Helem, K. (2009). //Reading comprehension movie//. Retrieved from __[]__

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">This is a short video (8:30 min) that reviews a number of researched-based reading comprehension strategies that can be used before during and after reading to improve reading comprehension. Pre-reading strategies include picture walks to guide readers and help them make predictions before reading a book or story. During reading strategies like the check strategy to help assess and monitor for understanding throughout reading and fun after reading strategies that can be used to have students demonstrate understanding and review stories. All strategies are modeled during the video to show instructors how each strategy can be implemented in the classroom setting. Strategies shown in this video can be used for one-on-one direct instruction or with the whole class.

(Author: Kendi & Jaqueline)



<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">//Mosaic//. (ND). Retrieved from <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">[]

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This website unlocks the door to hundreds of tools and resources to help teach, assess, and reach students as they continue to develop as readers. Resources include lesson write ups/book suggestions, assessments, reporting forms, conference forms, worksheets, reading rubrics, <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">[|PowerPoint Presentations, etc.] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> I like this website because it helps guide new instructors who may or may not be familiar with all of the resources available in the area of reading comprehension that can help students <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">connect to the text. Strategies and charts that can be quickly reproduced in any class include: <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tricky Word Strategy: "Get Your Lips Ready"; Tricky Word Strategy: "Skip-It and Read to the End and Go Back and Reread"; Tricky Word Strategy: "Ask For Help"; Tricky Word Strategy: "Try It Again"; Tricky Word Strategy: "Chunk the Word". Overall, <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">this website is a must see for instructors who are serious about building a repertoire of materials to help emergent readers. (Author: Kendi & Jaqueline)


 * [[image:http://www.reading.org/Images/ira-radio-strickland.png link="http://www.jackstreet.com/jackStreet/WIRA.Strickland.cfm"]] ||

Johnston, P. (2009). //Rethinking teaching, learning and assessment in the digital age//. Retrieved from []

The International Reading Association and BAM Radio Network have partnered to create a radio program, “Literacy 2.0.” Each month the program explores insights from the new frontier of literacy in the Digital Age. Episodes include new practices in reading and writing instruction, wisdom from leaders and experts in the field, and strategies for teaching in the digital age of literacy. You can subscribe to the podcast on ITunes for free. The episodes range from roughly 8 minutes to 12 minutes long- download them to your Ipod and listen on your way to school! (**Author: Jacqui)**



Texas Education Agency. Strategies that Promote Comprehension. (2012). Retrieved from: [] ReadingRockets.org has many different articles on the site that provide teachers with information and strategies on hundreds of topics in education. This particular link is an article titled “Strategies that Promote Comprehension”. The article guides teachers through all steps of the reading process including pre- during and post reading strategies. It also provides strategies to help students develop meaning from different types of texts such as narrative and expository. For both of these genres of writing, the article mentions various strategies useful when lesson planning. Many other articles found on this site will be helpful with teaching reading comprehension strategies. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Author: Britnie)

=__Teaching Shakespeare__=

We all know that Shakespeare’s works are an integral aspect of language arts and literature instruction. However, there seems to be an even larger disconnect between the current generations of students than other previous generations. The language Shakespeare uses is a severe roadblock for many students. With the // No Fear Shakespeare // line of plays, students are able to access Shakespeare’s classics in a meaningful way. These editions contain the original work alongside a modern translation. These works are a must have for middle and high school English teachers. ( Kenny Santos )

Crowther, John, (Ed.). (2005). No Fear Macbeth. New York, NY: Spark Publishing. Crowther, John, (Ed.). (2005). No Fear Romeo and Juliet. New York, NY: Spark Publishing. Crowther, John, (Ed.). (2005). No Fear Julius Caesar. New York, NY: Spark Publishing.

= __Must Have Teaching Tool...__ =



// I Read It, But I Don’t Get It // is a must read and have for teachers. Cris Tovani provides a blue print to help teachers repair reading and reading comprehension issues. If used in tandem with Stephen B. Kucer’s //Dimensions of Literacy,// teachers will have a practical approach to help diagnose and treat student issues with literacy. Like //Dimensions of Literacy, I Read It, But I Don’t Get It// shows teachers how to identify student behaviors that indicate there are reading comprehension issues. Tovani then provides teachers with strategies that should be taught to students in an effort for students to increase metacognition and self-monitoring. ( Kenny Santos)

Tovani, C. (2000). //I Read It, But I Don’t Get It: Comprehension strategies for adolescent// // readers //. USA: Stenhouse Publishers.