Improving Literacy in the Primary School


Book Description

One of the most important challenges teachers face is making sure children can read. It is an absolutely crucial skill, and current educational policy is giving it a very high priority. Based on one of the largest studies ever undertaken of what primary schools do to improve literacy, this book reports what Professor Ted Wragg and his research team found. The importance placed on literacy has never been greater. When children learn to read, they are laying the foundations for their entire educational future. Effective teachers can make a huge difference, as a poor start can hinder children throughout their schooling and beyond. By looking at what actually goes on in classrooms, this volume provides an invaluable insight into what happens to children and how their reading progresses. It shows how particular teachers manage the improvement of their pupils' reading levels, and also follows individual pupils through a school year. This is a very readbale account of a fascinating and crucial area of research that is highly topical. Every class teacher should read it.




Improving Primary Literacy


Book Description

Parents can play an immensely important role in supporting their children's literacy learning at home, but how can primary teachers enlist the support of parents in helping children learn literacy? With a focus on improving children's literacy skills, this book provides practical answers to key questions that are directly relevant to all primary teachers and to many parents. It presents new ways of linking learning in home and school through a range of activities that can be used to share knowledge between children, parents and teachers. Activities include: teachers and children making videos to show parents how children learn literacy in school parents and children taking photos of the 'everyday' literacy they use outside school parents and teachers exchanging information through Home-School folders and diaries. Particular attention is given to ways of working with parents from a diverse range of family backgrounds reflecting the multi-ethnic nature of many schools today. The practical activities can easily be fitted into the day-to-day activities of busy classrooms and can provide crucial new ways of improving children's learning of literacy skills.




The Trials of Evidence-based Education


Book Description

The Trials of Evidence-based Education explores the promise, limitations and achievements of evidence-based policy and practice, as the attention of funders moves from a sole focus on attainment outcomes to political concern about character-building and wider educational impacts. Providing a detailed look at the pros, cons and areas for improvement in evidence-based policy and practice, this book includes consideration of the following: What is involved in a robust evaluation for education. The issues in conducting trials and how to assess the trustworthiness of research findings. New methods for the design, conduct, analysis and use of evidence from trials and examining their implications. What policy-makers, head teachers and practitioners can learn from the evidence to inform practice. In this well-structured and thoughtful text, the results and implications of over 20 studies conducted by the authors are combined with a much larger number of studies from their systematic reviews, and the implications are spelled out for the research community, policy-makers, schools wanting to run their own evaluations, and for practitioners using evidence.







The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading


Book Description

The essential guide to the science behind reading and its practical implications for classroom teaching in primary schools. Teaching children to read is one of the most important tasks in primary education and classroom practice needs to be underpinned by a secure foundation of knowledge. Teachers need to know what reading entails, how children learn to read and how it can be taught effectively. This book is an essential guide for primary teachers that explores the key technical and practical aspects of how children read with strong links to theory and how to translate this into the classroom. Bite-size chapters offer accessible research-informed ideas across all major key topics including phonics, comprehension, teaching children with reading difficulties and strategies for the classroom. Key features include: · Discussions of implications for the classroom · Questions for further professional discussions · Retrieval quizzes · Further reading suggestions · Glossary of key terms Christopher Such is a primary school teacher and the author of the education blog Primary Colour. He can be found on Twitter via @Suchmo83.




The Administration and Supervision of Literacy Programs


Book Description

This popular book addresses literacy leaders' eternal quest to prepare all students for the demands of the 21st century. This updated Sixth Edition will help prospective and current literacy professionals understand how to organize and supervise literacy programs within the context of current state and federal mandates. With a focus on providing instruction at all grade levels and for different types of learners, the book explores specific program elements related to materials selection, teacher evaluation, professional development, student assessment, writing, technology, school- and districtwide evaluation, and parent and community outreach. Expert authors provide new insights about what administrators and teachers should know, and be able to do, given the expanded definition of literacy, a renewed interest in the science of reading, and a deep concern for closing the achievement gap that has become more prevalent across the nation. This user-friendly text includes examples, observations, research, and specific guidelines for improving programs in relation to current requirements and future expectations. Book Features: The most comprehensive resource on the oversight of PreK-12 literacy programs. Guidance to help specialized literacy professionals meet today's mandates for teachers and students. Chapters written by experts with years of experience working with their topic in schools. Real-life examples and vignettes demonstrate how theories can be applied to practice. Reflective questions and project assignments help make ideas relevant to a reader's unique situation. Connections across chapters and directions for future considerations help summarize and synthesize the information across the entire book.




The Fluent Reader


Book Description

Introduces oral reading teaching methods for developing word recognition and comprehension in students.




Improving Literacy Skills for Children with Special Educational Needs


Book Description

This practical book, written by experienced practitioners, will help teachers of pupils with Special Educational Needs assess, record and improve the literacy skills of their pupils. The creation of the National Literacy Strategy and the Literacy Hour has put additional demands upon teachers, particularly those concerned with Special Needs. The book covers all aspects of literacy development through the Early and Primary Years including early skills, reading, phonological skills, writing, spelling and handwriting. This resource pack includes advice and ideas on record keeping with Individual Education Plans, assessing pupils' skills and strategies for future learning. It contains photocopiable checklists and assessment sheets for both teacher and pupil to complete and has clear child-friendly illustrated worksheets throughout. An indispensable resource for all classrooms.




Reading Success in the Primary Years


Book Description

This open access book describes the Reading Success project, in which a 5-step, assessment-to- intervention process, based on the Simple View of Reading, was used within a primary school setting in Australia to better support those students who struggle with reading. It provides an easily accessible overview of each step of the process involved in implementing this approach and highlights the crucial importance of collaboration between professionals involved in the teaching of reading within a school setting. It focuses on the decision-making processes used, such as rich dialogue with the leadership team and teachers, and shares participants’ perspectives gathered throughout the project. Using case studies, the book describes how the 5-step approach assists in creating detailed profiles of students’ strengths and weaknesses in spoken and written language skills that can be used to guide targeted intervention This book offers valuable insights for educators, speech pathologists, researchers, and pre-service teacher education students interested in the teaching of reading




Reading Fluency


Book Description

Reading fluency has been identified as a key component of proficient reading. Research has consistently demonstrated significant and substantial correlations between reading fluency and overall reading achievement. Despite the great potential for fluency to have a significant outcome on students’ reading achievement, it continues to be not well understood by teachers, school administrators and policy makers. The chapters in this volume examine reading fluency from a variety of perspectives. The initial chapter sketches the history of fluency as a literacy instruction component. Following chapters examine recent studies and approaches to reading fluency, followed by chapters that explore actual fluency instruction models and the impact of fluency instruction. Assessment of reading fluency is critical for monitoring progress and identifying students in need of intervention. Two articles on assessment, one focused on word recognition and the other on prosody, expand our understanding of fluency measurement. Finally, a study from Turkey explores the relationship of various reading competencies, including fluency, in an integrated model of reading. Our hope for this volume is that it may spark a renewed interest in research into reading fluency and fluency instruction and move toward making fluency instruction an even more integral part of all literacy instruction.