Month: June 2025

Reading intervention is intensive, targeted instruction designed to accelerate the reading skills of students who are below grade level. It is delivered through a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework.

Explicit instruction provides clear, direct guidance for students, providing step-by-step demonstrations, explanations and modeling of skills. It also gives students plenty of opportunities for practice and reinforcement.

Phonics

Learning to decode words is the first step to reading success. Decoding involves breaking down words into their smallest components, or “chunks”, to make them easier to understand and read. This is called phonics.

Phonics instruction has been shown to improve children’s ability to identify letters and their sounds, blend sounds together to pronounce words, and read them in meaningful sentences and stories. Children who can use phonics to decode words are able to access unfamiliar text, which opens up a world of possibilities for them.

This study used a research validated phonics program that is implemented by teachers in a small-group format (two to four students). Teachers were provided with training on the program and two days of in-service. They also received ongoing support from the researchers. Students in the treatment group made significantly more progress on word and nonword reading measured by a researcher-designed test than did those in the control group. An almost significant difference with a medium effect size was also found on the standardized test of word and nonword reading and spelling for students in the treatment group.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is a key component of reading comprehension, especially for ELLs. Students with poor vocabulary are less able to read at grade level than their English-only (EO) peers (August et al, 2005). Vocabulary instruction should focus on developing “word consciousness,” a curiosity and interest in novel words students encounter. This includes teaching strategies for decoding unknown words and recognizing the morphological features of words (i.e., roots, prefixes, suffixes and tenses) that can impact meaning.

Direct vocabulary instruction should be integrated into a wide range of reading tasks, such as responding to texts and writing. Teachers should be mindful of the need for multiple exposures to new words in order to place them firmly in long-term memory. This is particularly true for academic language, the “bricks” of text, that are typically found in textbooks and on tests. Teachers may wish to consider a variety of evidence-based instructional approaches, such as word games and activities, interactive and responsive engagement, student-generated definitions and creating semantic maps.

Comprehension

Comprehension is a multifaceted skill that requires the reader to assemble, integrate, and relate new information to their prior knowledge. It also involves understanding the grammatical and structural basis of the written language.

Students can develop comprehension skills through instruction that focuses on strategies and practice. These strategies include using graphic organizers; predicting and questioning; and discussing text. These activities are often taught through small group and whole-class reading and discussion.

When teaching these strategies, it is important that the teacher uses texts that are at students’ independent reading levels. This helps avoid shifting the students’ attention from the new comprehension strategy to decoding unfamiliar words. Additionally, teachers should model and then practice the strategies with the students, keeping the text (not the strategy) at the center of the lesson. This approach allows students to unpack the meaning of the text and provides an opportunity to practice applying the strategies to their assigned reading.

Fluency

Reading fluency is a necessary skill for students to understand and enjoy stories and information. Children who struggle with fluency may read slowly, pause excessively, ignore punctuation, and often do not have adequate vocabulary to make sense of what they have read. Providing explicit instruction targeting decoding, high-frequency words, and vocabulary can help students improve fluency.

Research analyzing the effectiveness of interventions for improving reading fluency in students with LD found that providing a model of fluent reading, using easier-level passages, setting performance criterions, and practicing RR with peers led to positive results. Other practices, including incorporating vocabulary instruction, teaching phonological awareness, and building morphological awareness through activities like readers’ theater, are also effective for promoting fluency.

Paired Repeated Reading: Student dyads took turns reading to a fluency criterion (118 words per minute, 10 errors or less) for 10 min with an adult providing error correction; students were given a reward after reaching the criterion.

Children education is an essential part of their development. It can help them grow into well-rounded individuals, and it can also provide them with a solid foundation for their future.

Children in early childhood education are often exposed to people from different cultures, and this can help them learn to accept others even if they differ from them in terms of race, religion, and culture.

Social and Emotional Development

Often overlooked, social-emotional development is critical to children’s learning and wellbeing. It starts at birth with the relationships and experiences that infants have, laying the foundation for lifelong mental health.

As they get older, children build on their social and emotional skills through caring interactions with adults. This includes the ability to communicate, express emotions, and form meaningful relationships with peers and family members. They also learn how to self-sooth and manage their emotions and understand the emotions of others.

Teachers can foster healthy social and emotional development by creating a safe, respectful classroom environment. They can use books, songs and games to teach empathy and communication skills. They can encourage families to provide consistent, loving relationships at home. They can also support the emotional and social-emotional growth of children through dedicated SEL programs.

Cognitive Development

Throughout childhood, children develop cognitive skills through various learning activities. These include understanding and predicting patterns, solving problems, following instructions, and logical reasoning. High-quality learning environments provide a range of ongoing experiences to strengthen these connections in the brain and help prepare children for future academic success.

The research literature on cognitive development has many perspectives, but a consensus is emerging that we must move beyond the opposing poles of structuralism and functionalism. In particular, we must focus on the importance of the developmental sequence and of a collaboration approach to child-environment interaction.

Physical Development

Infants and toddlers learn about their bodies and the world as they move their limbs and develop their senses of sight, touch, smell, sound, and taste. They also develop incipient theories about people, other living things, objects, and numbers.

These implicit understandings are foundational for more sophisticated learning skills and are a precursor to learning in all subject areas, including language and literacy and mathematics. They are also important for children’s ability to control their emotions and attention and participate in classroom activities in a productive manner (discussed in the previous section).

Physical development includes the advancement and refinement of movement. Infants and toddlers begin with reflexive movements and then develop the coordination of large muscle movements enabling them to walk, run, climb, and navigate varied environments.

Language Development

Children use language to communicate with others and learn about the world around them. They use speech to communicate with people and written language to understand information they read in books and from other sources. Children have to develop both their speech and their language skills in order to be able to interact with people and learn from their environment and formal classroom instruction. Speech development involves fluency, which includes stuttering, and articulation, which is how sounds are put together into words. Language development involves phonology, semantics and grammar.

You can help your children develop their language skills by speaking clearly and responding to their vocalizations. Reading with them often is highly effective as it exposes them to new words and sentences. Encouraging them to talk about the stories they have read helps build their vocabulary and grammatical skills.

Teamwork

Teamwork can help students develop a range of skills, including critical thinking and communication. It can also foster a sense of social responsibility and encourage bonding between students.

Teams can also benefit from clear communication between teachers and students. This helps avoid misunderstandings, frustration and conflict. Clearly defined roles can also help teams work more efficiently. This can be particularly beneficial when conducting group projects, where each student takes on a specific role and contributes to the project as a whole.

Children who regularly participate in team activities, such as group projects and debates, can become more articulate and confident communicators. This can have a positive impact on their overall personality development and lead to better interactions as they enter adulthood. It can also help them become more tolerant of differences.