Compendium of Instructional Strategies and Assessments
Area of Focus Definition
The awareness that spoken
Phonemic Awareness language consists of phonemes
or sounds
Correlating the sounds with
Phonics
letters or groups of letters
Understanding the knowledge
Vocabulary
of words
The ability to read smoothly,
Fluency
quickly, and with expression
Comprehension The process of constructing
meaning using the text and
background knowledge
Instructional Strategies Differentiation for ELL Students
Sing Songs
Environmental Print
Syllables - Follow the beat
Visuals, Color Coding, Choral Reading
Play "I spy" with sounds
Break apart words
Read Books with Rhyming Words
Word Sorts
Choral Reading
Picture Boxes
Word Ladders Use Pictures, Focus on Teaching Vowel
Sounds, Connect Word Study and
Word Walls Guided Reading, Use of Word Wall
Word Families
Onset and Rhyme
Language Experience Approach
Word Sorts
Vocabulary Posters
Word Maps Pre-Teach Vocabulary, Use hand
Word Chains motions, model use in sentences act
out words if possible
Independent Reading
Dictionary Usage
Mini Lessons
Repeated Readings
Phrase Builders
Listening Center
Use Audio Books, Model Fluent Reading,
Partner Reading
Choral Reading
Choral Readings
Scooping Sentences
Readers Theatre
KWL Charts
Interactive Read Alouds
Grand Conversations
Retelling
Writing Poems
Visual Cues, Check for Understanding
Often, Use Turn and Talk, Sentence
Frames, Chunk Text
 meaning using the text and
background knowledge
Assessments
Use before, during, or after
Type of Assessment
reading
Dibels Before reading
Running Record During and after reading
Spelling Inventory Before reading
Comprehension Interview Before and After
Questioning before, during and
after reading.
Semantic Feature Analysis
Story Boards
Drawing and Diagrams
Open-Mind Portraits
Hot Seat
When and why would you use
this?
Three times a year.
Weekly- to track students reading
behaviors and fluency
Beginning of year- to assess
students spelling
I would use this in the beginning of
Quarter 1, and the periodically
throughout the year to see how a
student is progressing.
Visual Cues, Check for Understanding
Often, Use Turn and Talk, Sentence
Frames, Chunk Text
What would you hope to learn? Links
This assessment will allow me to see if
students have automaticity in letters and
sounds and also with sight words. It will
Dibels
allow me to group students based on need
to work with them on skills they need to
develop inorder to become strong readers.
More information about the students
Fountas and Pinnell Running
reading behaviors and strategies they are
Records
using
To determine the students spelling stage in
order to teach them the spelling strategies Words Their Way Spelling
that they are developmentally ready to Inventory
learn.
Students' comprehension progression
Interview Questions
through first grade standards.