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Preface

New to This Edition

■ To enhance affordability and portability the third edition is available as a Pearson eText.
In our work with teachers, the following concern was repeatedly raised: “Everyone
talks and writes about how I should teach reading, but it would be such a help to actu-
ally see these skills being taught to children.” The organization of this new electronic
version is more cohesive because links to videos and applied activities are integrated
throughout the text rather than ending each chapter. Both videos and pop-up informa-
tion reflect the latest evidence-based practices related to explicit, systematic reading
instruction. The video footage shows a teacher using the reading formats from the text
to teach critical reading skills to students in a small-group classroom situation. Viewers
can refer to the text as they watch phonemic awareness, letter–sound correspondence,
word reading, vocabulary, and passage reading with comprehension being taught.
■ Differentiating reading instruction for students who are at risk given the increased text
complexity required by the Common Core Standards will be challenging for educators.
This third edition includes issues and suggestions that will help teachers learn to juggle
the demands of research-based reading and spelling instruction necessary to increase
the rate of progress for children at risk within a multi-tier or RTI framework. Ideas on
how to prepare students for more complex text while still providing the instruction they
need in acquiring lower-level foundational skills are discussed throughout the chapters.
■ The assessment section of each chapter has been updated to include information about
the new DIBELS Next assessments and norms including a new First Sound Fluency
measure for beginning phonemic awareness, the move to scoring whole word reading
on the Nonsense Word Fluency Assessment, and a new measure to screen and monitor
progress in reading comprehension. Descriptions of these new assessments and tips for
analyzing student results reflect these latest changes.
■ Students who are at risk for reading problems often struggle to develop the reading flu-
ency necessary for comprehending text. An expanded chapter on teaching fluency
skills to students provides teachers with new strategies and activities to develop stu-
dents’ fluency. The section on strategies to assess and teach prosody in order to develop
students’ expressive reading skills has been greatly expanded. The fluency chapter now
also includes new interventions for building students’ reading rate using repeated and
wide reading.
■ This latest edition offers increased coverage of strategies to teach reading compre-
hension, providing more in-depth information on specific factors of more complex
text that are often problematic for students who are at risk and require intervention.
Accommodations for students in Tier 3 who are unable to read grade-level text are
expanded and reflect the latest technology developed since the last edition. While the
second edition provided much information about how to systematically and explicitly
teach comprehension, we wanted this third edition to reflect new research-based

vii
viii Preface

developments in this area and provide more support for teaching specific skills.
Teachers learn to conduct “Close Reading” of text, design four types of inferential
questions for both expository and narrative text, and use a grid to plan for their
teaching of comprehension.
■ The addition of chapter summaries provides additional organizational supports for
readers of the third edition.
Between 2000 and 2004 we implemented Project PRIDE, a four-year federal model demon-
stration project that employed evidence-based practices to prevent reading problems in
children who were at risk in three diverse, high-poverty urban schools. The principals of
these schools opted to reverse their course from a more naturalistic reading program and
make the commitment to retraining their staff because of a history of chronic reading prob-
lems and a teaching environment permeated by failure. Failure rates on the Illinois State
Achievement Test (ISAT) for PRIDE schools had ranged from 50% to 78%. Over the course
of the project, through ongoing progress monitoring of student achievement and a close
working relationship with the teachers, we had the opportunity to fine-tune instructional
strategies to a degree that would not have been possible without that collaboration.
During the 4 years of Project PRIDE, we gained an even greater appreciation for Louisa
Moats’s expression, “Teaching reading is rocket science.” On a daily basis we observed that
as the human mind acquires the intellectual muscle to learn to read, the teacher must not
only know how to carefully teach the sequence of small steps needed for reading at grade
level but also to recognize the missteps that can thwart those efforts. Whether students
came to school from high-poverty backgrounds, with no parental support, with learning dis-
abilities or behavior disorders, with medical conditions, from backgrounds of abuse, or with-
out English-speaking skills, most of them were able to learn to read. The research in reading,
summarized by the report of the National Reading Panel (2000), the invaluable research in
reading and multi-tier and response to intervention (RTI) approaches that have occurred
since, and our own extensive work in public schools after Project PRIDE provide a clear
guide for the use of systematic and explicit instruction to teach the largest number of stu-
dents to read. In this book we have translated that guide into a detailed blueprint based on:
(1) explicit, systematic instruction, (2) a multi-tier or RTI model, (3) data-based decision
making, and (4) professional development.
Professional development and coaching for PRIDE teachers and staff who carried out
instruction in Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 was provided by the authors of this text. All teach-
ers attended after-school workshops and a series of summer institutes and received on-
site coaching. The after-school workshops and summer institutes were used to introduce
various teaching and assessment strategies, allow teachers to observe taped or live models
of the strategies, and provide practice for the teachers in small groups using simulated
experiences. During on-site coaching visits, data on tier implementation were gathered
directly in the classroom; teachers were given feedback on their instruction until they
demonstrated competence.
The impetus for writing and now revising this text came from the results attained dur-
ing our 4 years of PRIDE implementation as well as work with other urban school districts
that has followed. Our results have shown that all children can make progress toward learn-
ing to read when a system of assessments guides staff to identify children who are not
responding to instruction, allowing them to meet their individual needs using evidence-
based instructional options of varying intensities. The assessment and teaching strategies
that have been successful are those that occupy the pages of this text.
The data shown in Table 1 from one project school and a control school reflect the
percentage of children meeting or exceeding standards on the Illinois Standard Achieve-
ment Test (ISAT). Note the significant increases from 1999–2000 to 2003–2004, the latter
being scores for our first PRIDE cohort. It is interesting that the ISAT scores for our PRIDE
school began improving for the 2002–2003 school year, despite the fact that these were
 Preface ix

TABLE 1 Percentage of Children Meeting or Exceeding Standard on the Illinois State Achievement Test

Third-Grade Reading 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001–2002 2002–2003 2003–2004

School 1 31 22 15.2 55.2 68.2

Control 39 40 36.4 28.6 39

students who were not officially part of the project. We believe that at least part of that
increase resulted because the school, seeing that PRIDE was working so well in the early
grades, began to implement some of the same practices in the later grades that were not
part of the PRIDE project.
It is clear from these results that more children met state standards in reading as a
result of Project PRIDE. It is also true that about 30% of the students did not meet state
standards. These were largely students who were receiving support in either Tier 2 or
Tier 3. Nonetheless, our results showed that, even though many Tier 2 and Tier 3 stu-
dents did not meet standards, they did make significant gains on all of the DIBELS meas-
ures. Nonetheless, challenges remain. Key among them is finding ways to implement
multi-tier or RTI models more successfully with those students who continue to struggle.
We know that more instructional time is needed, and that scientifically based reading
practices need to be implemented with greater fidelity. The improved delivery of multi-
tiered instruction will take enlightened and courageous leadership on the part of princi-
pals, more effective professional development for teachers, and a can-do attitude in the
face of chronic shortages of resources.
A common drawback of having different instructional options for children is that racial
minorities tend to be overrepresented in the groups of children who are not responding to
instruction. In PRIDE, children were assessed five to six times per year using highly effi-
cient assessments directly tied to curricular goals and objectives. These assessments
allowed us to make decisions in the best interest of individual children without being influ-
enced by potentially biasing factors such as race. Our results showed that the proportion of
African American children served in Tier 2 and Tier 3 was no greater than could be expected
given their proportion in our school population at large.
Whatever disagreements exist in the field about how to teach reading, few would argue
with the overarching goal of a nation of lifelong learners who enjoy reading for information
as well as for pleasure. We are troubled when educational strategies such as skill-based
grouping, pull-out, and drill-practice-and-review are viewed as antithetical to the enjoy-
ment of reading. Our results showed that child success is what truly matters when it comes
to students’ attitudes toward reading. Clearly, drill is one ingredient of an effective reading
program for students who are at risk and, if done effectively, can thrill—not kill.
We know that however positive the results, it is often teacher acceptance of an instruc-
tional approach that determines the likelihood that it will continue to be used over time. At
the end of each year of the project, we surveyed our teachers to find out their feedback on
all aspects of the PRIDE model. Satisfaction was of particular interest to us because of our
emphasis on teacher accountability for the reading achievement of each and every student.
Our teacher satisfaction results, shown in Figure 1, were very encouraging, with acceptance
ratings after the first year for all parts of the model being consistently rated over 3 on a
4-point scale, with 4 representing the highest satisfaction. In the words of one of our prin-
cipals, “It is interesting to watch the teachers’ perceptions of Project PRIDE transition from
fear and distrust to such high levels of satisfaction now that they are held directly account-
able for student growth. I’ve watched them quickly develop their capacities to serve all of
the learning needs within their classrooms after systematic professional development.”
At the conclusion of the project, we asked teachers whether they thought their school
should continue to implement Project PRIDE the following year. Twenty-nine, or 85%, of
x Preface

FIGURE 1 Teacher Satisfaction

2001 Teachers 2002 Teachers 2003 Teachers

4.0
Mean Satisfaction Score

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
Project Tier 1 Tier 2 Language Tier 3
Assessments Enhancements Boosters for Learning “Reading Mastery”

our project teachers responded to the question. Of the 29 teachers who responded, 28
(97%) wanted the project to continue.
Project PRIDE, with its emphasis on regular progress monitoring of all students and the
provision of a range of instructional supports based on need, is consistent with recent
trends in teacher accountability and implementation of RTI models as a way of identifying
students with learning disabilities. The results for children in all three of our tiers showed
that 95% of the children made reading progress, and that their attitudes toward reading
were positive. Our Tier I, general education, and special education teachers found the
model acceptable. Several years ago, one of our schools invited us to come back to do what
they referred to as a “refresher” session. Teachers were concerned about the quality of
model implementation when they saw their test scores in reading begin to decrease and
they wanted us to “put them back on the right track.” All of these results have encouraged
us to revise this text in hopes that it will empower even more teachers to teach children to
read who have been chronically unsuccessful. Since the conclusion of Project PRIDE, other
school districts around the country have developed and implemented a multi-tier RTI
framework to guide reading instruction. Information and stories from these districts can be
found at the RTI Action Network at www.rtinetwork.org/voices-from-the-field/blog.

Instructor Supplements
Available with the Third Edition is an Instructor’s Resource Manual with Test Questions and
a set of PowerPoint Slides. Both of these supplements are available online at the Pearson
Instructor Resource Center. www.pearsonhighered.com/educators

Acknowledgments
Over the years we have had the good fortune of working with and learning from a talented
group of educators firmly committed to the proposition that every child can learn to read.
Without the contributions of these dedicated professionals, writing Teaching Reading to
Students Who Are At Risk or Have Disabilities: A Multi-Tier, RTI Approach would have
 Preface xi

been impossible. First, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to all of the people who have pro-
vided us as well as our field with a blueprint for success that will continue to have a positive
impact on children for many generations to come. Particular thanks are offered here to
Doug Carnine and Jerry Silbert for writing our “bible,” and to Diane Kinder for inspiring us
to prepare teachers with integrity and passion. We would also like to thank Louisa Moats for
impressing on us the importance of foundational information in language and spelling to any
teacher-change effort in reading. Her generosity in serving as a sounding board as we clari-
fied distinctions between different phonics-based reading approaches enhanced the quality
of our text. Our thanks also to Roland Good for developing a sound, practical set of mea-
sures and who, in an act of educational philanthropy of historic proportions, made them
available free on the Internet so that the data-based decision making so essential to a multi-
tier model could be accomplished. Many thanks to Sonia Martin for her invaluable assis-
tance with the preparation of the manuscript.
Portraying the teaching formats discussed throughout the text would not have been
possible without the skill of our master teacher Kelly Bolas, former students of Bluford
Communications Magnet School in Greensboro, North Carolina (Brianna Lorrick, Christina
Brown, Kamari Purvis, Jaquin Miller, and Paul Gaurdin), and their former principal, LaToy
Kennedy. Tom Lipscomb and Associates grasped the goals of the video immediately and
captured on video everything we wanted and more.
We also wish to thank the many colleagues who were instrumental in helping with the
development and refinement of the many aspects of the multi-tier model, but especially
Shirley Dickson, from whom we have learned so much. Thanks also to Val Bresnahan, Con-
nie Steigerwald, Connie Clark Williams, and Sue Grisco for their help with the Tier 3 tables
and to Simone Kern whose experience teaching comprehension to middle school students
led to further development of that section in this edition.
We are indebted to the federal government for funding Project PRIDE through a Model-
Demonstration grant (CFDA 84.324.T; H324T990024). We also owe a great debt of grati-
tude to Kishwaukee School, whose conscientious effort to implement multi-tier instruction
long past the funding period showed that we could have a positive impact on children who
had previously fallen through the cracks. A particular note of thanks goes to Paula Larson
and Nancy Dornbush, whose belief in the model and commitment to children sustained us.
Special thanks go to the reviewers of the book whose careful, constructive attention to
the manuscript gave us the confidence to proceed while at the same time improving the
final product: Emily Binks-Cantrell, Texas A&M University; Allison Kretlow, James Madison
University; and Mei Shen, Michigan State University.
A final thanks to teachers everywhere who are willing to do whatever it takes to deliver
effective, evidence-based reading instruction to their students. Your efforts will always
teach and inspire us as we continue to pursue the vision of helping every child learn to read.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

List of Teaching Formats xxi

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Systematic,

Explicit Reading Instruction 1

Learning Objectives 1
Who Are the Students at Risk for Reading Problems? 5
How Does Response to Intervention (RTI) Guide
Reading Instruction? 7
What Essential Skills Do Students Need to Become
Mature Readers? 9
Phonemic Awareness 10
Phonics 10
Reading Fluency 12
Vocabulary 12
Reading Comprehension 13
How Is Systematic and Explicit Instruction Used to Teach
Essential Reading Skills to Children Who Are at Risk
Using a Multi-Tier, RTI Model? 14
Tier 1 Instruction 16
Tier 2 Instruction 17
Tier 3 Instruction 18
How Do I Identify Struggling Readers, Monitor Student
Progress, and Diagnose Instructional Needs in a
Multi-Tier or RTI Model? 19
What Are the Instructional Enhancements for Students
Who Are at Risk? 22
Advance Organizers 22
Unison Responding 23
Effective Signals 23
Efficient Use of Teacher Talk 25
Perky Pace 26
My Turn–Together–Your Turn Format 26
Cumulative Review 26
Systematic Error Correction 27
Teaching to Success 27
Student Motivational System 28
Summary 33

xiii
xiv Contents

Chapter 2 Phonemic Awareness 35

Learning Objectives 35
What Letter Sounds Do Teachers Need to Know for
Teaching Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Skills
to Students Who Are at Risk? 36
Using the Chart of Letter Sounds 36
What Phonemic Awareness Skills Do I Need to Teach? 41
Essential Segmenting and Blending Skills 42
How Do I Assess Phonemic Awareness Skills in a Multi-Tier
or RTI Model? 44
Screening Assessments for Phonemic Awareness 44
Progress-Monitoring Assessments for Phonemic Awareness 48
Diagnostic Assessments for Phonemic Awareness 50
How Do I Teach Students to Segment and Blend? 52
Enhancements to Large-Group Tier 1 Instruction 52
Applying the Enhancements to a Commercial Reading Program 61
What Can I Do for Students Who Are Not Learning to Segment
and Blend Even with Enhancements? 63
Tier 2 Intervention Groups 63
What Can I Do for Students Who Are Not Learning to Segment
and Blend Even with Tier 2 Support? 65
Tier 3 Placement Rules in a Multi-Tiered RTI Model 66
Intensive, Alternative Reading Programs for Tier 3 66
How Can I Teach Phonemic Awareness to English Learners? 70
How Important Is Phonemic Awareness Instruction
for Older Learners? 72
What Games and Activities Will Reinforce Students’
Phonemic Awareness Skills? 72
What Activities Help Students Apply Their New Phonemic
Awareness Skills to Reading Words? 74
Summary 77

Chapter 3 Beginning Reading/Early Decoding 79

Learning Objectives 79
What Beginning Reading Skills Do I Need to Teach? 80
Sequence for Teaching Beginning Reading 83
How Do I Assess Beginning Reading Skills in an RTI
or Other Multi-Tier Model? 88
Screening Assessments 88
Progress Monitoring for Beginning Word-Reading Skills 93
Diagnostic Assessments for Beginning Word-Reading Skills 95
Spelling Assessment 97
How Do I Teach Beginning Reading Skills to My Students? 98
Identifying Letter–Sound Correspondences 98
Writing Letter–Sound Correspondences 101
Applying the Enhancements to a Commercial Reading Program 102
Reading Regular Words: A Three-Part Process 103
 Contents xv

Applying the Enhancements to a Commercial Reading Program 108

Spelling and Writing Regular Words 116
Reading Exception Words 117
Reading Decodable Sentences 120
Reading Decodable Passages in Beginning Reading 122
Selecting Decodable Books 127
What Can I Do for Students Who Are Not Learning Beginning
Reading Skills Even with Enhancements? 131
What Can I Do for Students Who Are Not Learning Beginning
Reading Skills Even with Tier 2 Support? 132
How Can I Teach Beginning Reading Skills
to English Learners? 135
How Important Are Beginning Reading Skills
for Older Learners? 136
What Games and Activities Reinforce Students’ Beginning
Reading Skills? 138
The Word Box Game 140
Summary 143

Chapter 4 Advanced Word Reading 144

Learning Objectives 144

Why Teach Advanced Word-Reading Skills? 145
What Advanced Word-Reading Skills Do I Need to Teach? 146
Letter Combinations and Affixes 148
One-Syllable Words Containing a Letter Combination 148
Two-Syllable Words Containing Closed Syllables 148
Words with Rule-Based Sounds 148
Applying Structural Analysis to Reading Regular Words 153
Words with Two or More Syllables and One or More
Irregular Parts 156
One- and Two-Syllable Exception Words 156
Spelling Exception Words: Rule- and Pattern-Based Spelling
and Morphographic Spelling 156
How Do I Assess Advanced Word-Reading Skills in an RTI
or Other Multi-Tier Model? 157
How Can I Assess Students’ Advanced Spelling Skills? 159
How Can I Teach Students to Decode Advanced Words
and Words with Multiple Syllables? 159
Identifying Letter Combinations and Affixes Introduced
in the Curriculum 159
The Suffix -ed 161
Reading One-Syllable Words with Letter Combinations 162
Reading One-Syllable Words Ending in VCe 164
Reading Regular Words with Two or More Syllables 164
How Do I Teach Students to Apply Structural Analysis Skills
to Reading Regular Words? 169
Teaching Contractions 169
Teaching Affixes 170
Dividing Words into Syllables 171
xvi Contents

How Can I Teach Rule- and Pattern-Based Spelling and

Morphographic Spelling? 172
Teaching the Changing y to i Rule for Plurals 175
Applying the Teaching Enhancements to a Commercial
Reading Program 176
What Can I Do for Students Who Are Not Developing
Advanced Word-Reading Skills Even with Tier 2 Support? 178
How Can I Teach Advanced Word-Reading Skills
to English Learners? 179
How Important Are Advanced Word-Reading Skills
for Older Learners? 180
What Games and Activities Will Reinforce Students’
Advanced Word-Reading Skills? 182
Word Race 182
Short or Long Sort 183
Summary 185

Chapter 5 Reading Fluency 186

Learning Objectives 186

What Is Reading Fluency, and Why Do I Need to Teach It? 187
How Do I Assess Students’ Reading Fluency in a Multi-Tier
or RTI Model? 188
Administering and Scoring Oral Reading Fluency Measures 189
Using Oral Reading Fluency Assessment to Screen Students 192
Using Oral Reading Fluency Measures to Monitor
Students’ Progress 195
Setting Goals and Monitoring the Progress of Students
Who Are Significantly Below Grade Level 196
How Can I Use Oral Reading Fluency to Diagnose
Student Reading Needs? 198
Reading with Expression 198
Diagnosing Student Error Patterns 199
Matching Students to the Right Books 203
How Do I Teach My Students to Read Passages Accurately
and Fluently? 205
SAFER Passage Reading 205
How Do I Teach Oral Reading Fluency and Expressive Reading? 212
Repeated Readings 212
Expressive Reading 215
Multi-Dimensional Fluency Building 218
Wide Reading 219
How Important Is Fluency for Older Learners? 222
Putting the Pieces Together: What Does a Tier 1 Classroom
Look Like? 224
First and Second Grade 225
Beyond Second Grade 226
What Can I Do in Tier 2 for Students Who Still Aren’t
Learning to Read Fluently in Tier 1 Even
with Enhancements? 228
 Contents xvii

What Can I Do for Students Who Still Aren’t Learning

to Read Fluently Even with Tier 2 Support? 228
How Can I Help Develop the Expressive Reading Skills
of My English Learners? 232
Up and Down the Scale 233
Turn Up the Volume 233
Variety Is the Spice of Life 233
What Games and Activities Will Reinforce Students’
Fluency Skills? 234
Summary 237

Chapter 6 Vocabulary Instruction 238

Learning Objectives 238
What Is Vocabulary Instruction and Why Do I Need
to Teach It? 240
What Vocabulary Words Do I Choose for Instruction? 241
How Do I Assess My Students’ Vocabulary Knowledge? 243
What Methods Do I Use to Teach Key Vocabulary Words? 246
Selecting Examples for Direct Instruction of Vocabulary 246
Teaching Vocabulary by Modeling 247
Guidelines for Developing Vocabulary Questions 248
Using Synonyms to Teach New Vocabulary Directly 250
Using Definitions to Teach New Vocabulary Directly 251
Using Text Talk to Teach New Vocabulary Directly 252
Using Semantic Maps to Teach New Vocabulary Directly 254
Using Keywords to Teach New Vocabulary Directly 256
What Methods Do I Use to Teach Students to Learn
New Vocabulary Independently? 257
Using Context to Teach Independent Word-Learning Strategies 257
Using Morphemic Analysis to Teach Independent
Word-Learning Strategies 259
Using the Dictionary to Teach Independent
Word-Learning Strategies 260
How Can I Teach My Students to Answer Vocabulary
Questions on High-Stakes Tests? 262
How Can I Provide Extra Vocabulary Practice for My Students? 263
Practice Activities for New Words 264
Practice Activities for Review Words: Coordinating
Vocabulary with Writing Activities 268
How Important Is Vocabulary for Older Learners? 270
Design of Vocabulary Instruction 270
How Can I Teach Vocabulary to English Learners? 272
How Can Teachers Reinforce Students’ New Vocabulary
and Language Skills Throughout the School Day? 275
Absurdity Is Fun 276
Thumbs-Up–Thumbs-Down 276
Plurals, Plurals, and More 276
Doing a “Word Morph” Through Twitter 277
Summary 278
xviii Contents

Chapter 7 Comprehension 279

Learning Objectives 279

What Is Reading Comprehension, and Why Teach It? 280
Text 280
Reader 283
Activity 284
Context 284
What Underlying Skills Do Students Need to Comprehend Text? 285
Oral Reading Fluency 285
Oral Language 285
Background Knowledge 287
How Do I Teach Students to Comprehend Text? 289
Use Explicit Instruction 289
Ask Questions 289
Calibrate Wait-Time Before Asking Questions 293
Scaffold Incorrect Answers and “No Responses” 293
Model Comprehension Skills Through Think-Alouds 294
Use Graphic Organizers with New Text 295
Teach Comprehension Before, During, and After
Reading the Text 298
How Do I Teach Comprehension at the Sentence Level? 300
What Comprehension Strategies Do I Need to Teach? 302
Summarizing 303
Main Ideas and Details 304
Comprehension Monitoring 305
Self-Questioning 307
Making Inferences 307
How Can I Use Multiple Strategies to Maximize Student
Gains in Reading Comprehension? 308
How Can I Assess and Monitor My Students’
Progress in Reading Comprehension in a Multi-Tier
or RTI Model? 311
Screening and Progress Monitoring 311
Diagnostic Assessment 313
How Can I Give Struggling Readers in Tier 3 a More
Systematic, Explicit Approach to Learning
Comprehension Skills? 319
Accommodations for Students in Tier 3 320
How Do I Prepare My Students to Pass High-Stakes
Tests in Reading? 321
Analyze Your State Test 321
How Do I Teach Comprehension to Older Learners? 325
How Can I Teach Reading Comprehension to English
Learners? 328
What Games and Activities Reinforce Reading
Comprehension Skills? 331
Find the Hot Spots 331
Provide Evidence 331
 Contents xix

What Would Your Character Do? 331

Try Out Your Test-Making Skills 331
How Well Do I Understand? 332
The Text Detective 332
Summary 334

Appendix A Early Reading Assessment Batteries Used

in Multi-tier and RTI Programs 335
Appendix B DIBELS Next Benchmarks 338
Appendix C Consonant Blends, Consonant Digraphs,
and Diphthongs 341
Appendix D Beginning Phonics Diagnostic Assessment 343
Appendix E Lesson Plan for Beginning Reader 345
Appendix F Advanced Word-Reading Diagnostic
Assessment 348
Appendix G Diagnostic Spelling Assessment for
Advanced Readers 354
Appendix H Lesson Plan for an Advanced Word Reader 357
Appendix I Tests of Vocabulary 361

Glossary 363
References 370
Name Index 385
Subject Index 391
This page intentionally left blank
List of Teaching Formats

Chapter 2 35

Segmenting 1: Format for Segmenting First Sound 53

Blending: Format for Blending Individual Phonemes 54
Segmenting 2: Format for Segmenting Individual Phonemes 55
Segmenting 3: Format for Phoneme Deletion and Substitution 56

Chapter 3 79

Format for Teaching New Letter Sounds in the General Curriculum 99

Sound Writing Format 102
Format for Reading Regular Words—Part 1: Oral Sounding Out 105
Format for Reading Regular Words—Part 2: Subvocal
Sounding Out 111
Format for Reading Regular Words—Part 3: By Sight 113
Regular Word Spelling Format 116
Format for Reading Exception Words 119
Format for Reading Stories in the Curriculum and Decodable
Books: Beginning Readers 124

Chapter 4 144

Format for New Letter Combinations and Affixes Introduced

in the Curriculum 160
Format for Reading One-Syllable Regular Words with
Letter Combinations 163
Format for Reading One-Syllable Words That End with VCe 165
Format for Reading Regular Words with Two or More Syllables 167
Teaching Contractions 169
Teaching Affixes 170
Spelling Exception Words 174
Teaching the Changing y to i Rule for Plurals 175

Chapter 5 186

Format for SAFER (Successful, Anxiety-Free, Engaged Reading) 207

xxi
xxii List of Teaching Formats

Chapter 6 238

Teaching Vocabulary Through Modeling 249

Direct Teaching: Synonyms 251
Direct Teaching: Definitions 253
Indirect Teaching: Context Clues 258
Teaching Multiple Meanings Using the Dictionary 261
C H A P T E R

1
An Introduction to
Systematic, Explicit
Reading Instruction
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
1. State the prevalence and characteristics of students who struggle while learning to
read.
2. Identify ways that Response to Intervention (RTI) guides reading instruction.
3. Identify and describe five key skill areas that should comprise a reading curriculum for
students who are at risk.
4. Describe the key features of a prevention-based multi-tier or RTI model of reading.
5. Describe the role of assessments in a multi-tier or RTI model of reading.
6. Identify and describe ways to enhance reading instruction for students who are at risk
by making it more explicit and systematic.

Before a research-based multi-tier reading program started at Southwest, the discouraged,

pessimistic staff working in this high-poverty school tagged by the state as “failing,” com-
plained in the lunch room about the new kindergartener, Bryan: “Why didn’t they just start
him out in the special education program.” “I can’t imagine Bryan ever reading.” Over the
years, the teachers had implemented the latest fads in reading with no results and believed
that many of the students in their school were incapable of working at grade level. The
teachers already weren’t meeting the reading needs of 50% of their students, so they won-
dered aloud how they could work with a student who took medication for Attention Deficit
Disorder resulting from Tourette Syndrome—a boy whose lead levels were extremely high
when his parents adopted him as a baby and whose drug-addicted mother was so negligent
that she lost custody.
In August, when Bryan’s kindergarten teacher gave him the benchmark screening tests
in reading, he was unable to say the sounds of any letters, blend spoken sounds into words,
or name letters. These tests indicated that Bryan needed intensive support to read at grade
level. By midyear kindergarten, he was already working with a small group of students in a
Tier 3 alternative, research-based reading curriculum, taught by a Title 1 teacher. Out of all
the kindergarten Tier 3 groups, Bryan’s was the slowest paced. The weekly testing that his
teacher did to monitor his progress showed only small gains. In response to this lack of prog-
ress, the staff decided to provide more support and increase the amount of time he received
for reading instruction.

1
2 Chapter 1

With this additional help, Bryan’s end-of-the-year kindergarten benchmark testing

showed that he had learned the sounds of eight letters and could now blend sounds into
easy words. In contrast, most of the kindergartners knew all their letter sounds and could
read words that contained them. The staff was concerned that Bryan had only minimally
responded to the research-based reading curriculum.
At the start of his first-grade year, teachers still expressed skepticism that Bryan would
ever read. During his first-grade year, a skilled paraprofessional supervised by the special
education teacher taught the scripted Tier 3 curriculum used in Bryan’s reading group. This
paraprofessional was extremely motivating with her perky instruction providing extensive
practice on any new skill learned in class. By midyear first grade, weekly progress monitoring
showed that he was making more progress than the other students in his group, and so he
was moved to a faster-paced Tier 3 group. By the end of first grade, Bryan’s testing indi-
cated that he still required Tier 3 instruction, but he now knew more sounds and could read
short decodable stories.
During second grade, Bryan continued to respond well to instruction. To the staff’s sur-
prise, he tested near grade level by the middle of the year. The slower pace and extra prac-
tice in the intensive curriculum had finally made a significant difference. Following the
multi-tier model guidelines, the staff moved Bryan up to Tier 2. Now the general education
reading curriculum was no longer at a frustration level for Bryan. The teacher supported
Bryan’s learning by providing additional tutoring to him in a small group of three students
every day, reviewing what he had learned in the larger second grade reading class.
At the end of second grade, when all of the students had been tested in reading,
Bryan’s end-of-the-year benchmark testing indicated that he had scored higher than any
other second grader and no longer needed Tier 2 tutoring. Bryan would start third grade
in Tier 1 with no extra support in reading. That day in the teachers’ lounge, one of the
staff said, “You know, I’ve learned that if Bryan could reach grade level, any student
entering this school can.” Another teacher said, “We have to stop making these assump-
tions about students and make sure that we teach reading to all of them as if they can
come as far as Bryan.” Teachers were empowered with the tools and structure needed to
increase reading achievement. The staff now believed that Bryan’s response to instruction
was an example of why the number of students identified with learning disabilities was
decreasing in their school.
Why do you think many of the teachers initially thought Bryan should be in special educa-
tion? What factors do you think were responsible for his progress?

“Some people there are who, being grown, forget the horrible task of learning
to read. It is perhaps the greatest single effort that the human undertakes, and
he must do it as a child.”
John Steinbeck (1962)

No other skill learned by children is more important than reading, described as the gate-
way to all other achievement by the American Federation of Teachers (2007). Yet, despite
its critical importance for success in our society, millions of children in the United States
are failing to learn to read; in fact, many of them attend schools like the one in the chapter-
opening vignette. According to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP), 33% of fourth graders and 24% of eighth graders could not read at the Basic
level, and thus are unable to demonstrate even partial mastery of fundamental knowledge
and skills. On the 2009 NAEP, 26% of twelfth graders could not read at the Basic level
(NCES, 2012; http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard). Students reading below a Basic
level cannot extract the general meaning or make obvious connections between the text
and their own experiences or make simple inferences from the text. In other words, they
cannot understand what they have read. Rates of failure in urban areas and among Black
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Parents and
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Title: Parents and children

Author: Charlotte M. Mason

Release date: December 17, 2023 [eBook #72445]

Language: English

Original publication: London: Kegan Paul, 1897

Credits: Carol Brown, Tim Lindell, Turgut Dincer and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARENTS

AND CHILDREN ***
PARENTS AND CHILDREN
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR
HOME EDUCATION: A Course of Lectures to
Ladies. By Charlotte M. Mason. Second
Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Demy 8vo, 6s.
STUDIES IN ENGLISH FOR THE USE OF
MODERN SCHOOLS. By H. C. Bowen. Eleventh
Thousand. Small crown 8vo, 1s. 6d.
SIMPLE ENGLISH POEMS. English Literature for
Junior Classes. By H. C. Bowen. 3s. Parts I., II.,
and III. 6d. each. Part IV. . 1s.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR BEGINNERS. By H. C.
Bowen. Fcap. 8vo, 1s.
ON THE STUDY OF WORDS. By the late
Archbishop Trench. Revised by A. L. Mayhew.
Twenty-fifth Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 5s.
ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT. By the late
Archbishop Trench. Revised by A. L. Mayhew.
Fifteenth Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 5s.
THE MODERN FRENCH READER. Edited by C.
Cassal, LL.D., and Theodore Karcher, LL.B.
Junior Course. Nineteenth Edition. Crown 8vo, 2s.
6d. Senior Course. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo,
4s. Senior Course and Glossary, in One Vol.
Crown 8vo, 6s.
PRACTICAL FRENCH GRAMMAR. By Mortimer
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and Literature at the Crystal Palace School.
Crown 8vo. New Edition, in One Vol., 3s. 6d. Two
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London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Lᵀᴰ
P a r e n t s and C h i l d r e n

A SEQUEL TO

“ H O M E E D U C AT I O N ”

BY
 CHARLOTTE M. MASON

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO. Lᵀᴰ

PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD

1897
The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.

At the Ballantyne Press
 TO THE MEMBERS OF

THE PARENTS’ NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL UNION

THIS VOLUME

is inscribed by the author

as an expression of the affection and
reverence with which their
efforts inspire her

Ambleside,
November 1896.
 PREFACE
The following essays have appeared in the Parents’ Review, and
were addressed, from time to time, to a body of parents who are
making a practical study of the principles of education—the “Parents’
National Educational Union.” The present volume is a sequel to
Home Education (Kegan Paul & Co.), a work which was the means
of originating this Union of Parents. It is not too much to say that the
Parents’ Union exists to advance, with more or less method and with
more or less steadfastness, a definite school of educational thought
of which the two main principles are—the recognition of the physical
basis of habit, i.e. of the material side of education; and of the
inspiring and formative power of the Idea, i.e. of the immaterial, or
spiritual, side of education. These two guiding principles, covering as
they do the whole field of human nature, should enable us to deal
rationally with all the complex problems of education; and the object
of the following essays is, not to give an exhaustive application of
these principles—the British Museum itself would hardly contain all
the volumes needful for such an undertaking—but to give an
example or a suggestion, here and there, as to how such and such
an habit may be formed, such and such a formative idea be
implanted and fostered. The intention of the volume will account to
the reader for what may seem a want of connected and exhaustive
treatment of the subject, and for the iteration of the same principles
in various connections. The author ventures to hope that the
following hints and suggestions will not prove the less practically
useful to busy parents, because they rest on profound educational
principles.
 CONTENTS

BOOK I

THEORY

CHAPTER I
page
the family 3

CHAPTER II
parents as rulers 12

CHAPTER III
parents as inspirers (part i) 20

CHAPTER IV
parents as inspirers (part ii ) 29

CHAPTER V
parents as inspirers (part iii) 39

CHAPTER VI
parents as inspirers (part iv ) 48
 CHAPTER VII
the parent as schoolmaster 58

CHAPTER VIII
the culture of character (part i) 66

CHAPTER IX
the culture of character (part ii ) 79

CHAPTER X
bible lessons 88

CHAPTER XI
faith and duty (part i) 96

CHAPTER XII
faith and duty (part ii ) 111

CHAPTER XIII
faith and duty (part iii) 122

CHAPTER XIV
the heroic impulse 134

CHAPTER XV
is it possible? 143

CHAPTER XVI
discipline 160
 CHAPTER XVII
sensations and feelings (part i) 169

CHAPTER XVIII
sensations and feelings (part ii ) 181

CHAPTER XIX
“what is truth?” 192

CHAPTER XX
show cause why 201

CHAPTER XXI
herbartian pedagogics 211

CHAPTER XXII
the teaching of the “parents’ national
educational union” (part i) 220

CHAPTER XXIII
the teaching of the “parents’ national
educational union” (part ii ) 228

CHAPTER XXIV
whence and whither (part i) 242

CHAPTER XXV
whence and whither (part ii ) 250
 CHAPTER XXVI
the great recognition 260

CHAPTER XXVII
the eternal child 271

BOOK II

ESSAYS IN PRACTICAL EDUCATION

CHAPTER I
the philosopher at home 283

CHAPTER II
“attention” 303

CHAPTER III
an educational experiment 312

CHAPTER IV
dorothy elmore’s achievement: a forecast 320

CHAPTER V
consequences 346

CHAPTER VI
mrs. sedley’s tale 355
 CHAPTER VII
ability 367

CHAPTER VIII
poor mrs. jumeau! 376

CHAPTER IX
“a happy christmas to you!” 386

CHAPTER X
parents in council (part i) 395

CHAPTER XI
parents in council (part ii ) 405

CHAPTER XII
a hundred years after 413

note 429
BOOK I
THEORY
 PARENTS AND CHILDREN

CHAPTER I

THE FAMILY
“The family is the unit of the nation.”—F. D. Maurice.

It is probable that no other educational thinker has succeeded in

affecting parents so profoundly as did Rousseau. Emile is little read
now, but how many current theories of the regimen proper for
children have there their unsuspected source? Everybody knows—
and his contemporaries knew it better than we—that Jean Jacques
Rousseau had not enough sterling character to warrant him to pose
as an authority on any subject, least of all on that of education. He
sets himself down a poor thing, and we see no cause to reject the
evidence of his Confessions. We are not carried away by the charm
of his style; his “forcible feebleness” does not dazzle us. No man can
say beyond that which he is, and there is a want of grit in his
philosophic theories that removes most of them from the category of
available thought.
But Rousseau had the insight to perceive one of those patent
truths which, somehow, it takes a genius to discover; and, because
truth is indeed prized above rubies, the perception of that truth gave
him rank as a great teacher. “Is Jean Jacques also among the
prophets?” people asked, and ask still; and that he had thousands of
fervent disciples amongst the educated parents of Europe, together
with the fact that his teaching has filtered into many a secluded
home of our own day, is answer enough. Indeed, no other
educationalist has had a tithe of the influence exercised by
Rousseau. Under the spell of his teaching, people in the fashionable
world, like that Russian Princess Galitzin, forsook society, and went
off with their children to some quiet corner where they could devote
every hour of the day, and every power they had, to the fulfilment of
the duties which devolve upon parents. Courtly mothers retired from
the world, sometimes even left their husbands, to work hard at the
classics, mathematics, sciences, that they might with their own lips
instruct their children. “What else am I for?” they asked; and the
feeling spread that the bringing up of the children was the one work
of primary importance for men and women.
Whatever extravagance he had seen fit to advance, Rousseau
would still have found a following, because he had chanced to touch
a spring that opened many hearts. He was one of the few
educationalists who made his appeal to the parental instincts. He did
not say, “We have no hope of the parents, let us work for the
children!” Such are the faint-hearted and pessimistic things we say
to-day. What he said was, in effect, “Fathers and mothers, this is
your work, and you only can do it. It rests with you, parents of young
children, to be the saviours of society unto a thousand generations.
Nothing else matters. The avocations about which people weary
themselves are as foolish child’s play compared with this one serious
business of bringing up our children in advance of ourselves.”
People listened, as we have seen; the response to his teaching
was such a letting out of the waters of parental enthusiasm as has
never been known before nor since. And Rousseau, weak and little
worthy, was a preacher of righteousness in this, that he turned the
hearts of the fathers to the children, and so far made ready a people
prepared for the Lord. But alas! having secured the foundation, he
had little better than wood, hay, and stubble to offer to the builders.
Rousseau succeeded, as he deserved to succeed, in awaking
many parents to the binding character, the vast range, the profound
seriousness of parental obligations. He failed, and deserved to fail,
as he offered his own crude conceits by way of an educational code.