Emma Keleghan

EDUC 6400: Materials Analysis 2

Use these prompts to analyze the STARI instructional materials, Lessons 2, 3, 11, 13, 14,
and 15. Be sure to cite specific examples from the materials and course readings to
support your points.

Respond to each question below.

A. Vocabulary Instruction
1. Briefly describe the approach to teaching vocabulary used in these materials.
- Primarily seen in lessons 13, 14, and 15 of the STARI Curriculum, there are a lot
of “interactive vocabulary previews.” Overall, the vocabulary instruction in these
materials primarily focuses on “clarifying” when you do not know a word within a
passage. These plans teach clarifying as first looking for a base word that the
student knows within the unfamiliar word, if there is no base word, students are
then tasked with using context clues within the sentence to help figure out what
the word means.

a). What types of teaching/learning activities are suggested in the teacher’s lesson plans
or student materials?
- In lesson 13 the teacher first writes the words and phrases on the board and says
them aloud. The students then repeat them. The teacher lesson plan states,
“quickly define the words to prepare students to read and comprehend.” I was
very surprised that the teacher’s plan said the word “quickly” when defining the
words. It seems like the goal in this section was to comprehend the text and it is
easier to comprehend when you know the meaning of the words. However, I was
surprised that it said quickly as this does not allow students to work on defining
the words and they will likely forget the meaning in the long run when the
definition is “quickly” told to them.
- There are several other “interactive vocabulary previews” throughout lesson 13.
This time students are the ones working to define unfamiliar words. They are
tasked with thinking of an example for the words on the worksheet. For this
section, the teacher can decide if they want their students to stop and jot down
ideas or if they want them to write complete sentences. This lesson plan mentions
that it is important to stay consistent when you decide. During this same lesson,
students fill out worksheet 55 where they have to write down what they think the
vocabulary words mean on the page. This worksheet ties in with a lesson about
clarifying. The teacher plans introduce students to the idea of ‘clarifying’ when
you do not know a word. The first step in this is to look for a familiar base word
within the unfamiliar compound word. If there is a familiar base word, that
should give students a clue of the word’s meaning. If students don’t see a base
word they know, they are told to use context clues within the sentence or passage
to help them with the meaning of the unfamiliar word. In the lesson 15 teacher
plans, teachers are supposed to ‘draw attention to the sentence structures that
sometimes help us clarify.’ These sentence structures include a phrase after a
challenging word, often enclosed in a pair of commas or a word after the
 challenging word, linked to it with the words ‘and’ or ‘or.’ The following example
is provided, “when the popular kids stopped sitting with Shawna, she was seen as
an outcast or loser.” If students do not know what the word outcast means, they
can use the word loser within the same sentence to help them understand that
outcast means loser. Worksheet 59 from lesson 14 gives students practice with
this. The words are all in a sentence and the student has to decide if the sentence
helps tell them the definition of the word or if it does not help. If the context clues
in the sentence tell the student what the word means then they write the meaning
down on the line next to the sentence.
- Most of the vocabulary instruction within these lessons is in the context of
passages so students have practice with figuring out what unfamiliar words mean
while reading. For example, the objective of lesson 14 is, “clarifying the meaning
of unknown words by using context clues.” In addition, lesson 15 has a worksheet
which includes a passage from Middle School Confidential with context clues as
to what the words mean. This helps to situate the vocabulary instruction within
the context of a passage or reading.

b). What kinds of words have been selected for explicit vocabulary instruction?
- The following words were selected for explicit vocabulary instruction, respect,
outcast, loner, un-insultable, coerced, self assertion, odious, confidantes, agonize,
staunch, ample, emaciated, fret, blotches, disheartened, backstabber, impulse
control, weighing consequences, hijack. These words all come from Middle
School Confidential.

c). Why do you think the authors of these materials may have chosen these kinds of
words?
- I believe the authors of these materials chose these words so the vocabulary
instruction would take place within the context of the text the students were
reading. This makes the vocabulary instruction more applicable for students. If
they know the vocabulary within the text they are better able to understand or
comprehend it. In addition, these specific words have to do with the meaning of
the story. There are many parts about bullying and all of these words tie into that
category.

2. Research-based practices?
How does this instruction match or diverge from ideas about vocabulary instruction
provided in Class 12 readings. Be sure to cite class readings to back up your points.
- Graves talks about the importance and challenges of selecting vocabulary to teach
to students in his article, Words, Words Everywhere, but Which Ones Do We
Teach? He mentions the following three approaches to selecting vocabulary to
teach, word list approach, genre approach, and tier approach. Under the tier
approach, Graves explains, “there are three tiers of words and most attention
should be focused on the middle tier, tier two” (Graves 335). Tier two words are
found across a variety of domains. Overall, the STARI curriculum does follow this
approach as many of the vocabulary words they selected for students to learn
appear in multiple domains. The words respect, agonize, fret, disheartened,
impulse control, and weighing consequences appear in different domains. Some
 of the vocabulary they selected is domain specific such as loner, coerced,
condiantes, emaciated, and backstabber. These words are seen when we talk
about bullying but are not necessarily used in everyday life.
- Graves goes on to talk about selecting and teaching words from texts students are
reading specifically. He describes four types of words, essential words, valuable
words, accessible words, and imported words. The majority of the vocabulary
words selected in these STARI lessons are essential words or accessible words.
Essential words are described as “crucial for comprehending the text students are
reading” and accessible words are described as, “more common words that are
not likely to be understood by students who have limited vocabulary knowledge”
(Graves 336). Respect, agonize, fret, disheartened are more common words that
would not be understood by those who have limited vocab knowledge. In
addition, it is essential to understand the meaning of emaciated, coerced, and
backstabber in order to understand or comprehend Middle School Confidential.
Overall, the vocabulary selected to teach in the STARI curriculum aligns with
Graves’ beliefs on how to select vocabulary to teach students.

B. Fluency Instruction
1. Briefly describe the approach to teaching fluency used in these materials.
- The fluency instruction within the STARI curriculum starts with learning what
fluent reading is. Students learn that fluent reading includes reading aloud with
“good speed, word accuracy, phrasing that shows meaning, and impression and
emphasis” (Lesson Plans p.12). Students get a lot of practice listening to examples
of fluent reading and practicing to read fluently within this curriculum.

What types of teaching/learning activities are suggested in the teacher’s lesson plans or
student materials?
- Students get a lot of time to listen to examples of fluent reading. Not only are they
learning what fluent reading is, they have the opportunity to listen to what it
sounds like as well. They listen to 3 different readers read the same passage and
they have to determine which reader made the passage the easiest to understand.
This connects reading fluency with comprehension as fluent readers are better
able to comprehend what they read. During lesson 3, students have the
opportunity to do a timed partner read to determine their WPM. As seen on page
12 in the student workbook, partners time each other for one minute and help
each other figure out their words per minute (WPM). Students listen to their
classmates read and help to determine how fluently they read based partially on
their WPM.
- There are many fluency passages included throughout this curriculum as well. It
appears as if the teacher or another classmate marks up the passage for fluency as
the student reads it and then the student answers a couple of comprehension
questions afterward. In addition, there is a focus after the fluency passages such
as ‘tricky phrases and words’ (Fluency Passages A p. 8) and ‘phrase-cued reading’
(Fluency Passages A p. 12). These tasks all help to support and scaffold learning
to read fluently.

What kinds of texts are being used for fluency instruction?

 - The Fluency Passages Level A and Level D are being used for fluency instruction.
Students partner up with a classmate and read each passage twice, recording
WPM each time.

2. Research-based practices?
Analyze the ways this instruction matches or diverges from Class 10 readings on reading
fluency instruction. Be sure to cite class readings to back up your points
- Samuels describes fluency as, “the ability to decode and comprehend at the same
time” (Samuels 3). The STARI curriculum starts by teaching students what it
means to read fluently. Samuels would approve of this starting point for fluency
instruction. Samuels also says, “one of the major factors influencing fluency is the
readability level of the text. Another factor is the text topic. If the reader is
familiar with the topic, he or she understands the concepts and is probably
familiar with the vocabulary as well” (Samuels 5). It is important that the texts
students read for fluency practice are at an appropriate level of readability so they
can improve on their fluency skills. In addition, it is beneficial for students to
have an interest in the texts they are reading. If they are interested in the topic,
they are more likely to know some of the content specific vocabulary which will
make it easier for them to read it fluently. When students have an interest in the
topic they are reading about they are more likely to read it with enthusiasm thus
contributing to reading fluency.
- Samuels also believes in repeated reading to support fluency instruction. He says,
“give students multiple opportunities to read and reread texts to help with their
reading fluency” (Samuels 4). Students have the opportunity to listen to several
readings of the same text when learning to hear what fluent reading sounds like.
The fluency passages have a chart with ‘1st read WPM’ and ‘last read WPM.’ This
chart is for students to fill in after listening to their partner read and record their
WPM. Students read these fluency passages twice each so they are getting the
opportunity to reread the same text in order to improve their fluency. The goal is
for students to see that they are making fewer errors the second time they read a
passage. Their reading rate will most likely be faster the second time around too.
Not only does a students’ reading fluency improve with the repeated readings but
they build confidence in noticing that they made less errors the second or third
time reading it.
- Samuels also believes that the tricky or unknown words and their meaning
should be introduced before reading. The STARI curriculum does place the
vocabulary preview before the reading. The teacher says the words and the
students repeat them. Students have the opportunity to record what they think
the words mean and then they review them before the students read the text.
(Teacher plans p. 101).
- Samuels also suggests students read in pairs, taking turns to read a passage
aloud, to improve fluency skills. (Samuels 6). There is a lot of partner reading
throughout this STARI curriculum.
- *Samuels believes that teachers should model fluent reading for students so they
can hear what it sounds like. As seen in the teacher lesson plans, in lesson 3 the
teacher models the fluency routine. As seen on page 19 in the teacher lesson
 plans, teachers demonstrate how to do the first timed reading with the passage to
determine WPM.

Samuels (using PDF page numbers as the article isn’t showing page numbers)

C. Comprehension Environment & Instruction

Analyze how the approach to teaching comprehension used in the STARI materials
matches or diverges from research-based recommendations for practice. To do this,
please address the following specific questions adapted from Figure 10.6 from the Duke
& Pearson (2002) article (appended at the end of this document)

Overall Reading Program

1. How much time do students spend actually reading?
- Students definitely do not spend enough time reading within these
lessons. There is no reading in lesson 2. Students listen to recordings of
others reading to determine what it means to read fluently but they are not
reading themselves in this lesson. Lesson 3 includes taking turns reading
and timing your partner to help them determine WPM. Each student reads
for 1 minute while the other partner times them. There is a lot of
explanation of how to do this which is important but students need more
time doing it. After determining their WPM they should have more time to
read to practice fluency. In lesson 11 the teacher lesson plans state
“Summarizing with Blackmail (15-20mins)” (Teacher lesson plans p. 83).
The plans instruct the teacher to read a couple of the pages aloud with a
focus on summarizing. Students then finish reading the story silently or
with a partner. It is great that students get the time to finish this passage
with one another and it is beneficial that it mentions “silently or with a
partner” so students get some sort of choice here. There is 15-20 minutes
of partner reading of Middle School Confidential chapter 2 in lesson 13. I
was very happy to see all of this time dedicated to reading from the text.
Students look at the text when doing “quotes and quiz” in lesson 14 but
they do not actually have the opportunity to read. There is no student
reading time within lesson 15. After looking through some of the other
lessons within this curriculum, there is definitely more reading time in
other lessons but it was definitely problematic to see that some of these
lessons had little to no reading in them.

2. Do students have clear and compelling purposes in mind when reading?

- When students do have the opportunity to read in this curriculum there is
often a specific focus for that reading. For example, in lesson 3, the
purpose for reading is to determine the students’ WPM. In lesson 11,
students read Blackmail in conjunction with a lesson on summarizing.
Students go into this reading with the lens to look for the 5 Ws. As seen in
the teacher lesson plans, the teacher models the process of summarizing as
you read a text. The teacher talks through this process by recording the
‘who,’ ‘did what,’ and ‘why.’ Students then finish the story and fill out
workbook page 48. Students are told and know that they are reading this
 passage to then summarize it. Lesson 13 lays out the partner reading
components in the teacher lesson plans. One of these components is “set
purpose for reading'' which goes on to say, setting a purpose for reading
helps students focus on main ideas” (Teacher lesson plans p. 101).
However, there is no specific focus listed within this lesson, it just
mentions the importance of setting the importance.

3. Are students given instruction in decoding?

- The only real emphasis on decoding instruction within these six lessons is
the focus on base words helping to decode. There is more instruction in
decoding throughout some of the other lessons that we did not focus on for
this assignment. As seen in lesson 7, there is a mini lesson on base words
which takes up 10 to 15 minutes. This mini lesson is seen on page 57 in the
teacher lesson plans. In this mini lesson, “students will learn to identify
base words and use base words to decode” (teacher lesson plans p 57).
Base words are described as “core units of meaning and can stand on their
own, without prefixes and suffixes” (57). In the overview of the teacher
lesson plans, it states, “decoding is identifying base words and chunking
compound words and pronouncing consonant blends.”
- There is a little bit of decoding practice at the bottom of student workbook
page 22. The instructions state that, “each word below has a base word. A
base word is a word part that shows the core meaning. Circle the base
word. The first one is done for you” (Student Workbook p. 22). The
following words are included, “overly, personality, oldest, harder.”
Decoding is also seen in lesson 5 in the context of students reading more
fluently during their “last reading” of the fluency passages. The idea here is
that if students are able to decode words by looking for base words, then
their fluency will improve.
- Lastly, on page 55 in the teacher lesson plans there is a “decoding strand.”
This strand lays out what students will learn about decoding in that
particular unit. The decoding strand includes the following,
- “Longer words are made up of bases plus prefixes and suffixes.”
- “Bases carry the core meaning of the word.”
- “We can figure out some of the meaning of a new word by looking
for a familiar base.”
- Two base words can be combined into a compound word like
payback or undercut where both base words contribute to the
word’s meaning.”
- Adjectives are often formed by adding endings such as -y, -ish, -ic,
-ous, and others to bases as in rubbery, selfish, heroic, porous.”
- In consonant combos like st, sp, cl, dr, gr, tw, str we hear each
consonant sound.:
- “We call these consonant combos ‘blends.’”
- I think it's interesting that this curriculum fully relies on base words to
help with decoding.
4. How much time do students spend writing texts for others to comprehend or with
the reading /writing connection emphasized?
- *Looked through all of the lessons within unit 1.1 for the comprehension
section!*
- Students do a decent amount of work which emphasizes the
reading/writing connection however, they do not do as much for others to
comprehend.
- The reading/writing connection is mentioned in the context of the author
and illustrator of a text. Workbook page 53 tells students, “when we read
nonfiction, we want to know more about who wrote the book, the author.”
Students then complete a checklist to determine the author’s credibility.
The checklist includes, “have they studied or worked on the topic? Have
they done other writing about the topic? Have they written for teens
before?” Students record information about the author and illustrator and
determine if they are credible sources.
- Throughout these lessons, students are presented with words that they
may not know the meaning of and they write down what they think they
mean. Students connect these unfamiliar words with written definitions of
what they believe to be their meaning.
- In these lessons students do a good amount of writing about the texts
included in the curriculum. In lesson 11, students work on writing a
summary about Blackmail. The worksheet for this summary is on page 48
in the student workbook. Students also do some socioemotional related
writing in conjunction with the book Middle School Confidential.
Workbook page 68 has students look at ideas of how to cool down in a
stressful situation. Students are instructed to write two sentences about
how they would deal with stress or anger. Students also do some writing in
response to the character’s actions in Middle School Confidential. In
lesson 17, students write down what they would say to Mateo about what
happened in this part of the story. The majority of the writing involved in
this curriculum is centered around the texts students’ are reading. This
really helps students see the strong connection between reading and
writing.
- Students also respond directly to the events occurring in Middle School
Confidential in lesson 22. Students decide whether it is a good or bad idea
for Maleeka to continue to do Char’s homework? These prompts make
students think about the actions occurring in the text and how they think
the characters should respond. The events that occur in Middle School
Confidential are realistic events to what occurs in an actual middle school
and what these students may be experiencing.
- In lesson 24, students write a diary entry from Miss Saunders’ point of
view. This writing helps students to explain and understand how an author
develops a character’s point of view. (page 189 of the student workbook)
- Lesson 30 involves students looking for quotes within the text to support
their writing.
- Lesson 33 includes a homework assignment which requires students to
write for 15minutes about how Maleeka feels after being attacked. This
 writing encourages students to think about emotions and to decide how
they think Maleeka feels after being attacked. Students write from their
perspective as if they were Maleeka. This allows students to really put
themselves in Maleeka’s shoes and feel what she is feeling. This homework
sheet is on page 11 in the student workbook.
- Lastly, in lesson 36 students write a poem similar to the one Maleeka’s dad
wrote. The workbook page gives explicit instructions on the format
students should follow. It is beneficial that students have a model here
with a template of sorts to make this poem writing a little bit easier for
students. (Lesson 36 - page 119)

5. Are students afforded an environment rich in high quality talk about text?
- There should be more high quality talk about text included in this
curriculum. The majority of the talk about text is through writing. It would
be beneficial if there was more verbal talk about texts. I wish there were
some form of socratic seminars included in this curriculum or classwide
discussions about the texts.

Comprehension Strategy Instruction

6. WHAT are students taught about comprehension strategies? Are
students taught any of the comprehension strategies listed in Figure 10.6
(Duke and Pearson, 2002) ( e.g., identify purpose for reading, preview the text
before reading, etc.)? Please describe those that are taught and make connections
to course readings where possible
Are students taught to…
- Identify their purpose for reading?
- There are different purposes set throughout the lessons in this curriculum.
In lesson 3, students read to discover their WPM and in lesson 11 students
read Blackmail with the purpose of summarizing it.

- Preview texts before reading?

- Duke believes that it is important for good readers to, “look over the text
before they read, noting such things as structure of the text” (Duke 1).
These lessons have students look over or preview the texts before they read
them.
- Page 1 in the teacher lesson plans states that students will preview
nonfiction texts using the table of contents, index, and illustrations. These
are important text features that are helpful for students to know so it is
great that they are included in this curriculum and that they are used to
help students preview the texts they will read. In addition, many of these
lessons review challenging vocabulary before beginning to read. This is
beneficial as we read about for class and allows students to have a basic
understanding of the content that will be included in the texts they will
read.
- Lesson 1 includes a book preview. This book preview challenges students
to think about what we can learn about a book just by looking at it.
Students are asked, “by looking at a book can you tell what it is about and
 what may be interesting about it? Lesson 7 also includes a preview of the
Blackmail story.
- I LOVED how students preview through pictures in the Middle School
Confidential book. Lesson 11, workbook page 52 has students look at the
pictures, write down the page numbers, and record what they see
happening in the pictures. Students then write what the image shows
about life in middle school.
- Lesson 12 introduces students to “previewing as a tool for understanding
what we read” (Teacher plans p. 93). We don’t always read a nonfiction
book from beginning to end therefore previewing is beneficial in picking
out the most important and interesting information. Students use the
following features to preview these nonfiction texts, table of contents,
pictures, the author bio, and the index.

- Make predictions before and during reading?

- Duke believes that good readers frequently make predictions about what is
to come. (Duke 1). Students make predictions about the texts they read
before and during reading in this curriculum.
- As seen on workbook page 71, students are to make predictions of what
they think the character Maleeka is like based on the three traits used to
describe her in The Skin I’m In. Students predict what they think Maleeka
is like as well as what they think will happen in the story based on this
description.
- Lesson 19 has a fishbowl style guided reading. During this fishbowl
students are supposed to make predictions about the section of the text
that they are about to read. The directions for this fishbowl are on page 57
- The purpose of summing up what one has already read is helpful in
anticipating and predicting what might happen next.
- This curriculum includes lots of predictions for the Middle School
Confidential readings.

- Summarize what they read?

- Students summarize a lot of what they read in the Middle School
Confidential text throughout these lessons. The main focus for
summarizing is the 5Ws. Students are asked to answer the 5Ws about a
section of the text. This includes, who, did, what, when, where, why.
- The teacher models the summarizing process with Blackmail and then
students continue to summarize the rest of it.

- Handle unfamiliar words during reading?

- Duke says, “good readers try to determine the meaning of unfamiliar
words and concepts in the text, and they deal with inconsistencies or gaps
as needed” (Duke 2). This curriculum has a strong emphasis on defining
unknown words before beginning to read.
- This curriculum places a strong emphasis on the use of base words when
decoding or handling unfamiliar words while reading. The following
statement is an objective for the majority of the lessons in this curriculum.
 “Clarify the meaning of unknown words by identifying familiar base
words.”
7. HOW are students taught comprehension strategies? Evaluate STARI
comprehension strategy instruction. Give examples and briefly explain your
answer.

Which of the instructional strategies listed below are used in the STARI lessons?
- Explicit description of the strategy and when it should be used,
- Throughout the lessons, the teacher describes the strategies being
used to students. The majority of this is through modeling.

- Modeling of the strategy in action

- The STARI curriculum includes a LOT of modeling from the
teacher. Almost every strategy that students have to use while
reading or writing is modeled first. Page 7 in the teacher lesson
plans, includes modeling how to taste or preview a book by looking
at the front and back covers and the pictures. In addition, in lesson
4 the teacher models reading fluency by first modeling reading
word by word and then modeling reading in phrases as though
you’re speaking. The teacher then models reading a whole
paragraph. This progression is seen on page 31 in the teacher plans.
This step by step modeling helps students understand the process
of becoming a more fluent reader.
- In addition, the teacher is responsible for modeling, reading tricky
phrases, clarifying, identifying base words within compound words,
summarizing, and the types of interactions a reader can have with a
text. When it comes to decoding in this curriculum, the main focus
is clarifying through the use of base words. The teacher models this
process over and over again throughout these lessons as the
students are expected to do it often.
- The reading guide states, “in teacher-led discussions, model the
types of interactions with text that stronger readers carry out
independently” (Teacher lesson plans p. 135). The teacher shows
students how they can interact with the texts so when they read
them they know what they can do.

- Collaborative use of the strategy in action

- Students work with a partner throughout this curriculum and so
they often work through these strategies collaboratively. Many of
the strategies are first taught and modeled and then students have
the ability to use them either on their own or with a partner.

- Guided practice using the strategy, with gradual release of responsibility

- The strategies are first taught and modeled by the teacher and then
once the teacher feels the students understand it they have them try
it on their own or with a partner. A lot of the workbook pages in this
 curriculum start as a whole group and then are finished up
individually or with a partner.

- Independent practice using the strategy

- After the teacher models the strategies students then have the
opportunity to practice using that strategy independently. Students
work on some of the worksheets and on the homework
independently so this is primarily when they are using these
strategies independently.

Other Teaching Considerations

Are texts carefully chosen to match the instruction and students? Give examples and
explain your answer.
- I think the texts were chosen carefully to match the instruction and students. This
curriculum is for middle school students and the one text was all about what it is
like to be in middle school and deal with bullying. I found this to be a great topic
to address for this age group. I also loved how there were socioemotional
worksheets to go along with this reading. Right away in lesson 2, students hear
examples of fluent reading and they then go on to read and measure their fluency.
There is a lot of application within this curriculum. As soon as students learn
something, they are immediately applying it through reading or the worksheets.
The texts and workbook pages go along well with the teacher lesson plans.

Is there concern for student motivation to engage in literacy activities and apply
strategies learned? Give examples and explain your answer.
- Regardless of the curriculum, I think there can always be a concern for student
motivation when it comes to school or engaging in literacy activities. I could see
struggling readers becoming disengaged if they feel they cannot decode a
challenging word or if they feel they cannot read fluently. I could also see
students becoming disengaged if they personally cannot connect to the readings
or feel the socioemotional aspect of some of the worksheets do not apply to them.

Overall Evaluation of the STARI curriculum

Conclude with a brief overall evaluation of the STARI curriculum.
- Overall, I really liked the STARI curriculum. As far as curriculums go, I found it
to be very straightforward, well laid out and organized. A lot of important aspects
of reading and writing are included in it. Of course, no single curriculum is 100%
perfect. There are definitely parts of it that I would change or things I would add
but overall I do think it covers a lot and would be beneficial in helping struggling
readers especially.

What are its most important strengths?

- I found several strengths within this curriculum. The first being, the topics of the
texts. The main text used in this curriculum is titled, Middle School Confidential
which covers a lot of different aspects seen in real middle schools. This is
beneficial for middle schoolers to read to know that the things they are
experiencing are typical of being this age. A main focus is bullying and with this
 topic comes a lot of socioemotional learning and discussions. This is so important
and isn’t seen often in schools so I was glad to see that this curriculum dives into
these types of conversations. The text Middle School Confidential involves
bullying in middle schools. Lesson 15 has a worksheet which requires the
students to identify who the bullies were, what they did and students had to
answer, “do you agree with the decision they made? Would you do the same thing
in that situation?” There is another worksheet in this curriculum that has
students list the things they respect and admire about themselves. Again, this is a
great activity for students to do as it requires them to think of their positive traits.
- There is also a lot of partner work within this curriculum. From the partner
readings to determine WPM and the worksheets to be done as partners, students
have lots of opportunities to work with one another.
- Another strength of this curriculum is that the homework supports the class work
and the homework leads directly into the classwork the following day.
- Lastly, I love the mix of read alouds, partner reads, and independent reading
within this curriculum. This allows students to participate in all different types of
reading.

What would you change or what kinds of additions/extensions do you think are needed?
- One of the main changes I would make to this curriculum is the amount of time
students have to read. I think that the best way for students to become more
fluent readers is to practice, practice, practice. The more they read, the better
they are at decoding challenging words, reading fluently, and comprehending
what they read. I found that there wasn’t enough time devoted to students
reading in this curriculum.
- In addition, there should be more high quality talk about the texts included in
this curriculum. The majority of talk is through writing but I wish there were
more verbal conversations about the texts within this curriculum. I would love to
see socratic seminars or more fishbowl conversations taking place. These
conversations would only reinforce students’ understanding. Students would also
be able to learn from their classmates if these discussions were to take place.
 References

Duke, N. K., & Pearson, P. D. (2002). Effective practices for developing reading
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