Do:

• Use the assessment to score students’ fluency skills (that is, their ability to read text accurately, with ease, expression, and appropriate pacing).
• Use students’ assessment results to plan for intervention groups. See the Assess tab of Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills for more information and resources.

Tips:

• Students with low accuracy will likely benefit from decoding instruction (see Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills) for more information.
• Students with moderate to high accuracy but slow rate and prosody will likely benefit from the fluency-building instructional recommendations discussed in this section.
• Students with high accuracy and rate but low prosody and comprehension will likely benefit from fluency-building instruction that focuses on prosody (see Focus on Prosody in this module).
• Students’ fluency will vary based on what kind of text is being read and how familiar the student is with the vocabulary and topic of the text. Even very skilled readers may read in a slow manner when reading texts with many unfamiliar words or topics. For guidance on instruction that builds students’ background knowledge and vocabulary, see Module 3: World and Word Knowledge.
• See the Resources tab for examples of reading fluency and prosody assessments as well as oral reading fluency norms to use with students.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• Oral reading fluency is a valid indicator of reading progress across time for English learner students.
• Reading with an accent is different from nonfluent reading. Fluency with a native language accent is possible, and variations in the pronunciation of words based on accents or dialects should not count against students.

Do:

• Use texts that are challenging but not frustrating for the student to read successfully with regular classroom instruction and support.
• Choose texts that include multisyllabic words, vowel and consonant letter combinations, or vocabulary the students have previously learned.

Tips:

• Fluency-building activities should focus on the important elements of fluent reading, including accuracy, rate, and prosody. Some examples of fluency-building activities are as follows:
• • Repeated reading while listening to self.
  • Partner reading.
  • Readers’ theater.
  • Listening to others while reading.
• Whenever possible, choose texts on topics that students are learning about in their subject-area classes to help develop students’ content knowledge.
• Selecting texts that are too advanced or contain too many unfamiliar words can hinder the effectiveness of the fluency-building instruction.
• Avoid practices such as round-robin reading or popcorn reading. These practices can stigmatize children with reading difficulties and do not benefit students with poor fluency because they have limited opportunities to engage orally in reading practice. If using reader’s theater, make sure to carefully assign reading parts based on reading skills, and give readers the opportunity to read their script to themselves first.
• Consider exploring sources such as ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: For English learner students, it is crucial to identify any unfamiliar or less common words and provide explicit instruction on them before engaging in fluency-building activities. Introduce the words and then instruct students to use the multisyllabic decoding routine to read them.

Do:

• Have students reread the same passage three to four times, each time with a different specified purpose, such as reading at an appropriate pace and with expression, answering questions, identifying unknown words, or reflecting on what they learned.
• After each reading, provide feedback to the student.
• Briefly discuss the text and pose questions about the text for students to answer. Then briefly discuss student responses to the questions.
• See Example 2.2: Repeated Reading Routine 1 (186 KB) and Example 2.3: Repeated Reading Routine 2 (184 KB) for example instructional routines.
• Watch the video, Set a Purpose, for an example of a teacher engaging in fluency-building instruction with her students.
• Use the Instructional Slide Deck 2: Set a Purpose (1 MB) to teach students a repeated reading routine that builds fluency.

Tips:

• Keep comprehension in mind while teaching. Although the goal is to build fluency, rereading a piece of text with a purpose will lead to increased understanding.
• Before students read a passage, ask them to scan the text to find words that are difficult to read or understand. Guide students as they attempt to read the unknown words in isolation and provide brief meanings of words they do not understand before they read the passage.
• When posing questions, start with questions for which the answers are evident. As students demonstrate confidence, consider asking more difficult questions that require students to make connections with information in the text.
• Students with reading difficulties also may benefit from hearing how the passage sounds when it is read fluently. The teacher can read the passage aloud or share an audio recording of the passage to demonstrate to students how it should be read.
• Provide feedback that affirms what they did right and clarifies any misconceptions students shared or anything they need to correct.
• Regardless of the purpose, be sure to communicate each time that the goal is to develop stamina, sound natural as if speaking, and comprehend what is being read.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• Fluency instruction can have a significant positive impact on English learner students because the instructional activities intended to improve fluent reading also can enhance their oral language skills in English and comprehension of what they are reading.
• For English learner students who are learning the sound and cadence of an additional language, highlight and praise phrasing and intonation to reinforce language learning alongside reading fluency development.
• General American English (GAE) is the language variety (dialect) in which most materials written in English are printed. Many children are multidialectal and speak a variety of English other than GAE. When these students read aloud, they may be able to produce the GAE pronunciation of a word but at a slower pace, which can make them appear less fluent.

Do:

• Watch the video, Focus on Prosody, for an example of how the teacher explicitly teaches students to pause at commas, stop at periods, raise or lower their voice when encountering a question mark, and show emotion when encountering an exclamation point.
• Select a variety of texts to include stories as well as poetry, monologues, dialogues, speeches, and other performance texts.

Tips:

• Prepare for the lesson by reading aloud the text you plan to use for instruction ahead of time. Plan for your instruction and modeling by considering the prosodic choices you make while reading, including attention to phrasing, intonation, inflection, pitch, and tempo.
• Consider exploring sources such as ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• Consider sharing an audio recording of a TV announcer reading fluently and with prosody with your students.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Increase access to meaning and fluency for English learner students by leveraging students’ previous experiences with texts of similar types.

Do:

• Model reading a text aloud, emphasizing the impact of different written cues on your prosodic choices.
• Read a short paragraph aloud twice. First, read it quickly without expression or stopping at punctuation marks. Then read it again at a conversational pace and with prosody. Discuss which version was easier to understand.
• Explicitly teach students to pause at commas, stop at periods, raise or lower their voice when encountering a question mark, and show emotion when encountering an exclamation point.
• Include activities that offer students opportunities to practice reading with prosody.
• Present a passage on the board and mark where the sentences and phrases end with slashes. One slash equals a short pause between phrases. Two slashes equal a longer pause between sentences. (A colorfully dressed dancer / in South Korea / reflects certain customs / that are important to her.//). Allow them to practice in pairs, and provide feedback. After practicing with the slashed copy, give students an unmarked version to read.

Tips:

• Guide students in identifying the connections between your prosodic choices, including the use of intonation, pausing, tone, and stress, and comprehension of the story. For instance, ask questions such as, "What does my tone convey about the character’s emotions? How can I use my voice to better express the meaning of the text?”
• Show students how altering the prosodic elements used on different words and phrases can change the tone of a sentence (for example, “SHE is guilty.” “She is GUILTY!” “She is guilty?”).
• Allow students to practice in pairs or individually by audio-recording their reading to listen to later. If students are audio-recording themselves reading, they can compare recent to previous recordings to hear their progress.
• For extra support, read a sentence or two with prosody and then ask students to read the same sentences with the same prosody. As students’ prosody improves, gradually reduce this practice.
• When students are practicing reading with prosody, remember to provide feedback on what students have done well and how they could improve.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• Prosodic features can vary, especially among language varieties (also known as dialects).
• English learner students have had fewer language experiences in English than they have in their home language. They may be well versed and fluent in the prosody of their home language, but they require additional explicit instruction to master the prosody of English while speaking and reading. These students may need 10–30 more opportunities to practice mastering the content.

Do: Deliberately plan how you will introduce each text succinctly, including one or two sentences to introduce the content and one or two sentences to stimulate conversation among students.

Tips:

• Choose texts that are challenging but not frustrating for the student to read successfully with regular classroom instruction and support. Consider exploring sources such as ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• When coordinated with a variety of multisyllabic word-reading practice activities (See Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills), students will have the plentiful practice opportunities necessary to master skills and develop fluency, making progress more quickly.
• Choose texts that align to grade-level content, high-interest topics, or students’ lived experiences.
• Divide long passages into smaller sections and label them. This step will help students locate specific information more quickly and independently.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Thoughtful text selection can support students who are learning English by providing multiple experiences with similar texts that support vocabulary and comprehension learning. Consider sequencing texts to make it easy for students to independently connect texts and activate background knowledge. Consistently asking students, “What else have you read that might connect to this? In what way?” can turn making connections into a habit.

Do:

• Pair students and identify which student is the first reader and which is the second reader.
• The first reader reads Section A aloud while the second reader follows along and marks errors. When the first reader is finished, the second reader provides feedback on any errors the first reader made.
• • If students are having difficulty decoding words quickly and accurately as they read, see Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills for guidance on incorporating decoding instruction into their intervention.
• The partners then switch roles for Section B and continue switching roles each time for the remainder of the text.
• Have the partners check for understanding by summarizing a portion of the text they read or answering comprehension questions based on the reading.
• Watch the video, Read a Wide Range of Texts, for an example of students engaged in partner reading as they read a wide range of texts.

Tips:

• Purposefully partner students for paired reading activities by creating a list of students in the class, ranking them from highest reading fluency ability to lowest reading fluency ability. Split the list in half to form two lists, one containing students of higher reading ability and the other containing students of lower ability. Pair the top students on each list, then the second student on each list, then the third, and so on. Adjust partnerships based on your knowledge of the students, including their engagement styles and personalities.
• See Example 2.4: Partner Reading Routine (182 KB) for procedures for reading a wide range of texts with a partner.
• See the Resources tab for additional support implementing a partner reading procedure that can be used with middle school students.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: When using paired reading for the first time, explicitly teach and model expectations for pairs to use when providing feedback. To promote independence, consider using sentence starters and making a reference that students can look to, such as a poster.

• Potential solution: Students like to be told why they are doing something. Remind students that they now will only read with a purpose and that rereading the passage is not meant to make them faster readers. The goal is to help them read with ease and gain confidence in their reading and understanding of the text. Tell them to read just like they talk – not too quickly and not too slowly – rather than saying, “Read as fast as you can.” Explain that when they read too fast, they will have trouble understanding what they are reading. Remind students that they are now reading with a purpose.
• Potential solution: Use timed readings sparingly as an instructional activity. When used sparingly and mixed with other fluency activities that require students to reread for a different purpose, students may enjoy seeing the progress they make in understanding the text and in their rate and accuracy.

• Potential solution: During fluency-building activities, the students should not spend a lot of time digging into the passage to determine the answer to a complex question. The goal is for students to read the passage multiple times, with a clear purpose for each rereading. Start with questions that can be answered with information evident in the text. As students demonstrate confidence with those questions, consider asking more difficult questions that require students to draw conclusions.

• Potential solution: Teachers can address these concerns through remarks such as the following: “There are at least two words that I think are very difficult. Do you have the same two words as me?”
• Potential solution: Motivate students by having them work in pairs to choose difficult words. This may make them feel more comfortable and ease their concerns about appearing less able to respond to the task. Offer opportunities afterward to discuss how the partner work helped and what they will do independently without partners.

• Potential solution: Often published programs contain word lists and passages for fluency instruction. If a published program is not available, choose words and passages from a variety of sources, including subject-area textbooks, novels, newspapers, or electronic resources, that emphasize the sound patterns, words, or content of the lesson. Consider exploring sources such as ReadWorks or Newsela which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• Potential solution: Schedule time during grade-level or department meetings to collect and develop materials to address the skills you are teaching. Over time, you will have materials that span a wide range of topics and vary in difficulty.

With colleagues, make a plan to assess and use data to identify students’ word-reading skills. See Module 1 Assess for guidance.

Purposes for rereading can focus students’ attention on reading at an appropriate pace and with expression, answering questions, identifying words that they do not know, or reflecting on what students learned from the text or why they think the group is reading the passage. See Set a Purpose for guidance.

Teach prosody explicitly; then reinforce when students use its features (expression, pitch, and tempo). See Focus on Prosody for guidance.

Choose texts at the higher, harder end of students’ instructional reading level. See Read a Wide Range of Texts for guidance.

Texts on important topics in academic subject areas (such as social studies and science) that provide access to key concepts and information and build knowledge in those areas.

Reading with feeling that matches what the text means. To match the proper expression to each word or phrase, the reader must understand the meaning of the words and the grammar of each sentence.

The ability to read text accurately with ease, expression, and appropriate pacing.

The reading level of material that is challenging but not frustrating for the student to read successfully with regular classroom instruction and support.

A measure of the ability to accurately read connected text in a specific amount of time, usually one minute.

The highness or lowness of a sound.

The timing, phrasing, emphasis, and intonation that readers use to help convey meaning and make their oral reading lively, including reading with expression, appropriate pitch, and tempo and using pauses at the right places.

The way in which sentences are organized to convey a desired effect. There are four sentence structures: simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences.

The order of words or phrases used to create well-formed sentences in a language or language variety.

Tempo is the pace at which someone reads orally.

These resources support teachers in implementing fluency routines to align their practice to the recommendation.

• Example 2.2: Repeated Reading Routine 1 (186 KB): This example shows an interventionist asking a small group of students to read a paragraph.
• Example 2.3: Repeated Reading Routine 2 (184 KB): This example shows an interventionist asking a small group of students to read a passage.
• Example 2.4: Partner Reading Routine (182 KB): This example shows procedures for reading a wide range of texts with a partner.

• Assessing Reading Fluency: This guide published by the Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific is intended to assist practitioners in monitoring students’ fluency development. Assessments are discussed in terms of three components of fluency:
• • Accuracy, or accurate decoding of words in the text.
  • Automaticity, or decoding words with minimal use of attentional resources, evidenced by responding within two seconds.
  • Prosody, or the appropriate use of phrasing and expression to convey meaning.
• Oral Reading Fluency Norms: This table from the National Center on Intensive Intervention can help teachers assess the oral reading fluency of students relative to their peers. Students scoring 10 or more words below the 50th percentile using the average score of two unpracticed readings from grade-level materials need a fluency-building program. Teachers also can use the table to set long-term fluency goals for students. This resource presents norms for grades 1–6. The grade 6 norms are applicable for later grades.
• Instructional Slide Deck 2: Set a Purpose (1 MB): Supplements   Example 2.3: Repeated Reading Routine 2 (184 KB) from the practice guide resources. This slide deck can serve as a quick resource that teachers can use as they explicitly teach students a repeated reading routine to build fluency.
• Improving Literacy Brief: Fluency with Text: This National Center on Improving Literacy page highlights resources that show fluency is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories accurately, with enough speed and expression. It is important to remember that fluency is not an end in itself but a critical gateway to comprehension.
• How to Build Fluency with Text in Your Classroom: This Educator’s Toolbox, developed by the National Center on Improving Literacy in partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate fluency instruction within your classroom.

• Tools for Assessing Prosody: The most practical way to assess prosody is for the teacher to listen to a student read orally. Use this prosody rubric from the Colorado Department of Education to assess categories such as levels of expression, phrasing, and pacing.
• Reader’s Theater: Giving Students a Reason to Read Aloud: This Reading Rockets article gives additional guidance to teachers in selecting texts that provide a purpose for reading and opportunities to practice prosody.

• Partner Reading: An Evidence-Based Practice, Teachers’ Guide: The purpose of this guide from The Meadows Center is to provide teachers a feasible partner reading procedure that can be used in middle school classrooms.
• How Do I Engage in Partner Reading With My Child? Middle school students are expected to read and comprehend upper-level text. This resource from The Meadows Center can be shared with caregivers to demonstrate how partner reading is an easy way to support middle school children’s reading practice.

Do:

• Provide a brief 3–5-minute introduction on the topic.
• Ask students to read an easier, briefer passage before reading a higher-level text on the same topic. Consider exploring sources like ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• Present a short 2- to 4-minute video clip, podcast, or brief informational lecture with illustrations.
• Ask students questions about the topic to stimulate their thinking about what they have read or learned to pique their interest.
• Watch the video, World Knowledge, for an example of an educator using a routine to briefly introduce the topic before reading to develop knowledge that might help students understand what they are reading.

Tips:

• Understanding students’ knowledge on a specific topic can help establish a connection and assist in deciding what information to introduce more strategically.
• Videos or illustrations should be used to activate students’ prior knowledge, while staying relevant to the topic of the text.
• Ask students to identify two things that they learned about the topic from the video or podcast, which they will share with the group or a partner when the video or podcast ends.
• Asking questions that activate students’ prior knowledge and are relevant to the topic of the text can be more effective than asking questions that do not relate to the topic and may distract them. For example, asking “How do ocean animals, such as dolphins, protect themselves in their habitat?” can be more helpful than asking “What is your favorite ocean animal?”
• To ensure that students remain on topic, ask them whether their answers help them understand the topic better.
• Tell students when they have correctly evaluated the usefulness of the information they shared and provide suggestions when they misunderstand the information they shared or the topic.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• English learner students may encounter concepts or situations in the text that are unfamiliar to their personal experiences. However, such students can still understand many of these concepts by finding similar examples in their own life experiences.

Do:

• Identify words that are critical and conceptually central for understanding the text but are likely to be difficult for students.
• Write the essential words somewhere for all students to see (such as a whiteboard).

Tip: Essential words appear early or frequently in the text and might include boldface words.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Keep in mind sounds not featured in students’ home language or language variety. Take care to support both articulation/pronunciation and spelling of these sounds.

Do:

• Before Reading: Select one or two of the essential words to explicitly teach.
• During Reading:
• • Stop intermittently to briefly provide the meaning of additional essential words that are critical for understanding the passage.
  • If students are reading independently, ask them to stop when they get to the sentence with the essential word you would like to discuss. See Module 5: Monitoring Comprehension and Making Sense of Stretch Text for more on teaching students to monitor their understanding as they read.
• See   Example 3A.1: Providing Word Meanings (225 KB) for an instructional example.
• Watch the video, Essential Words, for an example of an educator using a routine to briefly introduce new words and their meanings to help students learn new concepts and ways of thinking to help them make sense of sophisticated content.

Tips:

• Provide a brief, simple definition that relates to the content of the passage before reading.
• Provide an example, a nonexample and/or a visual representation, such as a word map, of the word to help students understand the meaning.
• Provide a simple definition of the word or rephrase the sentence with a known synonym for the word.
• Ask students if they know the meaning of the word. If they do not, provide a quick definition in the context of the sentence or rephrase the sentence with words they know.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Learning about cognates, or words that are similar in spelling and meaning across languages (such as bank-banco, accident-accidente, and necessary-necesario in Spanish; athlete-atleta, curious-curiosa, and modern-moderno in Portuguese; coffee-kaffee, garden-garten, and vacuum-vakuum in German) can help build a strong foundation for transferring vocabulary concepts and understanding between languages that share similar words, thus improving overall comprehension.

Do:

• Once or twice per week:
• • Ask students to provide examples of the words.
  • Discuss nonexamples of the words.
  • Use the words to answer questions about the text or topic either orally or in writing.
  • Have students write the words and definitions in a log to keep track of their learning and review words they previously learned.
• See   Example 3A.2: Solidifying Word Meanings (181 KB) for an instructional example.

Tip: Include previously taught words to reinforce their meanings.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: All students, especially English learner students, benefit from hearing vocabulary words used intentionally and repeatedly. Be intentional in providing students with opportunities to hear you and their peers use the essential words multiple times. Model and reinforce when students use the words themselves in group conversation, in paired conversation, and in writing.

Do:

• Show students how to find clues in the surrounding sentences to determine meanings of words they do not understand.
• Demonstrate three steps for determining the meaning of unknown words using surrounding sentences:
• • Mark/highlight the words that you do not understand.
  • Reread the sentence with the unknown word and look for clues in that sentence to figure out the word’s meaning.
  • If the sentence with the unknown word does not provide enough information, reread the sentences before or after and look for clues to figure out the word’s meaning.
• See   Example 3A.3: Modeling Using Context (207 KB) for an instructional example.
• Watch the video, Use Context, for an example of an educator showing students how to use the sentences surrounding an unknown word to determine the word’s meaning.

Tips:

• Tell students that sometimes they will read the sentence or the sentences around the word and still have difficulty figuring out the meaning of an unknown word. See Module 5: Monitoring Comprehension and Making Sense of Stretch Text for more on teaching students to monitor their understanding as they read.
• If students have tried to use context and tried to look at word parts within the word and are still having difficulty, tell them that they can ask for help or look up the word.
• Have students explain the reason for their responses. Tell them when they have answered and reasoned correctly.
• When the answer is incorrect, provide support through prompts and clues to get them closer to the correct meaning. See   Example 3A.4: Guiding Using Context (251 KB) for an instructional example.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Ensure that you pair these steps with explicit instruction and deliberate practice with Essential Words. Although context can be a useful strategy, students navigating multiple languages or language systems may have different knowledge and experiences that are not necessarily reflected in the texts they are reading.

Cognates are words that are similar in spelling and meaning across different languages. Guiding English learner students to notice cognates can help them transfer their vocabulary knowledge from one language to another, improving overall comprehension.

Do:

• Explicitly teach the meanings of prefixes and suffixes, especially those that students will encounter in the text.
• Teach students to isolate the base word, prefix, and/or suffix and determine the meaning of each separately.
• Show students how putting the meanings of each part together can help them determine the meaning of a word.
• Include practice in determining the meaning of words with a base word and a prefix or a suffix.
• See   Example 3A.5: Dividing Word Parts (198 KB) for an instructional example.

Tips:

• If the intervention curriculum does not have a sequence for teaching prefixes and suffixes, start by teaching commonly used prefixes (un-, re-, dis-) and suffixes (-s, -es, -ed). See   Resource 3A.1: List of Prefixes (189 KB) and   Resource 3A.2: List of Suffixes (190 KB) for lists of the meanings of frequently occurring prefixes and suffixes.
• If students know the common prefixes and suffixes, move on to less frequently used prefixes (trans-, under-, anti-) and suffixes (-ial, -eous, -ence) or to ones that are more difficult. See   Resource 3A.3: Common Prefixes and Suffixes (177 KB) for a list of other prefixes and suffixes that are frequently used in academic words.
• Teach students to use morphology in conjunction with Use Context to help students determine the meaning of unknown words.
• In addition to helping students understand the meaning of words, knowledge of prefixes and suffixes can aid students in decoding challenging, multisyllabic words (see Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills).

Consider Linguistic Diversity: To help English learner students better understand the meanings of new words, it is crucial to prioritize explicit vocabulary instruction that focuses on common prefixes and suffixes. Then students will have a helpful tool to access the meanings of unfamiliar words.

Do:

• Show students a group of words that share a base word and have different combinations of prefixes and/or suffixes.
• • Explain that these words are related in meaning. The different prefixes or suffixes change the word’s meaning and part of speech.
  • Read each word aloud with the group or ask students to take turns reading the list with a partner. Use a multisyllabic decoding routine (see Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills) to help students read longer, more challenging words.
  • Discuss the meaning of each word.
  • Ask students to pick one of the related words and think of how the word can be used in a sentence. Have students tell a partner their sentence.
• Watch the video, Teach Morphology, for an example of an educator using a routine to teach the meaning of prefixes, suffixes, and Latin and Greek roots to help students understand the meaning of complex, multisyllabic words.
• Use the Instructional Slide Deck 3: Teach Morphology (1 MB) as a quick resource teachers can use as they explicitly teach students to use a word map to support their understanding of morphology.

Tips:

• Word maps can be used to provide a graphic display of a group of words that are related in meaning. See   Example 3A.6: Using a Word Map (227 KB) for an instructional example.
• Integrate these words into other activities, such as writing and spelling, to provide continued exposure to the words.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Teaching specific word-learning strategies can increase the ability of English learner students to think about and consciously regulate how they learn new vocabulary concepts.

Do:

• Show students how Latin and Greek roots appear frequently in words in math, science, and social studies textbooks.
• Start by providing a definition of a specific root. For example, “micro-” means extremely small. And micro- is in the words microbiology, microscope, and microbe.
• Show students how the root contributes to the meaning of words, and how words with the same root are related.
• Share one or two more examples of words that have the same root and explain how the meaning of the root is part of the meaning of the entire word. For example, “ambi-” is part of the words “ambidextrous,” “ambiguous,” and “ambivalent.” The meaning of all three words includes both sides of something.
• Work with students to develop a word map for each root. Word maps provide a graphic display of a group of words that are meaningfully related. See   Example 3A.6: Using a Word Map (227 KB) for an instructional example.

Tips:

• Lists of Latin and Greek words can be found on the following websites: yourdictionary.com and wikipedia.org.
• Teach students to use morphology in conjunction with Use Context to help students determine the meaning of unknown words.
• Have students add words to their word map, as they come across them during their lessons. Integrate these words into other activities, such as writing and spelling, to provide continued exposure to the words.
• In addition to helping students understand the meaning of words, knowledge of prefixes and suffixes can aid students in decoding challenging, multisyllabic words (see Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills).

Consider Linguistic Diversity: English learner students and other multilingual learners may speak languages that are derived similarly (Romance/neo-Latin languages). These languages may feature words that have English cognates.

Help students use the word in their home language to identify roots that translate into English and support their learning of English words. In this way, students can leverage their existing linguistic knowledge to develop new knowledge.

Potential solution: Poll students briefly to see what they know about a topic before teaching world knowledge related to the passage. If students know little about the topic, use a brief video clip or podcast closely related to the specific objective of the lesson to build world knowledge and pique students’ interest.

• Potential solution: Remember, students will also be learning words and their meanings in their subject-area classes. You can focus on words that are essential to understanding the passage and those that students will encounter frequently in their readings. If not knowing the meaning of a particular word becomes a barrier to understanding the meaning of the text for some students, quickly provide the meaning of the word and continue reading. For example, “Here in this sentence, ‘massive’ means very large and heavy. Jose was having a hard time carrying his massive backpack.”
• Potential solution: It can be helpful to show students how to use dictionaries and thesauruses, including web-based ones, and functions within Word and in common internet browsers. These tools allow students to quickly locate the meanings and/or synonyms of other unknown words they may encounter while reading. However, the definitions that appear can be difficult for students to understand. Students may need help figuring out how the definition applies to the text. Thesauruses may help students understand the meanings of words by providing words that make more sense to them.
• Potential solution: Teach prefixes, suffixes, and roots that appear most frequently in English and have the greatest utility for language arts and content-area materials. For example, the 20 most common prefixes make up 97 percent of all prefixed words. Latin and Greek roots also appear frequently in words in math, science, and social studies textbooks.
• • If the intervention curriculum does not have a sequence for teaching prefixes and suffixes, start by teaching commonly used prefixes (un-, re-, dis-) and suffixes (-s, -es, -ed). See  [material10560] and  [material10561] for lists of the meanings of frequently occurring prefixes and suffixes.
  • See the Resources tab for lists of common Latin roots, Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes to reference when planning instruction.

• Potential solution: Students may not be able to use the surrounding sentences to determine the meaning of words when the reading level of the text is too high. Choose texts for which students will know more words when asking them to practice using surrounding sentences to determine the meaning of words.

Prior to introducing a higher-level text, activate and build students’ knowledge about the topic. See the World Knowledge tab for guidance.

Select essential words to define prior to and during reading. See the Essential Words tab for guidance.

Show students how to derive the meaning of an unknown word from context and teach them what to do if they still have difficulty. See the Use Context tab for guidance.

Show students how word parts (prefixes, suffixes, and Latin and Greek roots) can help them determine the meaning of an unknown word. See the Teach Morphology tab for guidance.

A word that can appear on its own in the English language (for example, “honor” is the base word for “honorable” and “dishonor”).

Words that are essential for comprehending the key concepts in a selection.

Words that are conceptually central for understanding the topic of the text.

Teaching with clear objectives, tasks broken into manageable chunks for learning, modeling with clear explanations to verbalize thinking processes, opportunities to practice with decreased levels of support, and useful affirmative and corrective feedback.

• Teacher modeling: an instructional technique in which teachers talk through the thinking process they use to demonstrate a skill or strategy.
• Guided practice: practice that involves the teacher working through tasks with students at the same time, step-by-step, while checking that they execute each step correctly and providing feedback.
• Independent practice: practice that involves students working with little to no assistance.

Components of a word that typically do not stand alone, originating from the Latin or Greek language.

The study of meaningful units of language (prefixes, suffixes, and Latin and Greek roots) and how they are combined to form words.

Refers to something that is not an example of the word and is used to further clarify a word’s meaning. For instance, a nonexample of a bird would be a bee or a grasshopper.

Letters added before a base word that change the meaning or form of the word—for example, “pre-,” “re-,” “un-,” and “mis-.”

A word in which all the letters represent their most common sounds. Regular words can be decoded using sound-symbol correspondences. Examples are “cat,” “bug,” “cowboy,” “baseball,” and “remember.”

Letters added at the end of a word to form a new word or change the word form—for example, “-tion,” “-ness,” “-ment,” “-ism,” and “-ty.”

Refers to a figure, such as a word map, a concept map, or a graphic organizer, that illustrates a concept, text structure, or a word’s meaning. This also includes, for example, illustrations, gestures, charts, and graphs.

Refers to knowledge of the meaning of words.

An illustration that depicts the relationship among ideas, words, or topics.

Refers to the understanding of concepts and information about phenomena and events in the world, such as historical events, political debates, and scientific systems.

The examples that follow provide high-quality snippets of instruction from the practice guide. These snippets can serve as a reference to support materials selection and preparation of planning effective teacher talk that anticipates interactions with students.

Note: The practice guide includes an additional example (3E.1) that summarizes all comprehension-building practices from Recommendation 3 (Parts A-D).

• Example 3A.1: Providing Word Meanings (225 KB): This example shows a teacher briefly providing the meaning of a few words that will help a group of students understand the meaning of the passage.
• Example 3A.2: Solidifying Word Meanings (181 KB): This example shows a teacher engaging students in activities to solidify the meaning of the word that appeared in the passage they just read.
• Example 3A.3: Modeling Using Context (207 KB): This example shows a teacher modeling how to use the surrounding sentences to figure out the meaning of the word “obstacles.”
• Example 3A.4: Guiding Using Context (251 KB): This example shows a teacher guiding students in using context to figure out the meaning of the word “remote.”
• Example 3A.5: Dividing Word Parts (198 KB): This example shows a teacher guiding students in dividing a word into parts to determine its meaning.
• Example 3A.6: Using a Word Map (227 KB): This example shows a teacher helping students understand the meaning of the words with the root “bio-“ using a word map.

These resources can help support teachers if the intervention curriculum does not have a sequence for teaching morphology, or the meaning of word parts.

• Resource 3A.1: List of Prefixes (189 KB): This resource provides a list of frequently occurring prefixes and their meanings.
• Resource 3A.2: List of Suffixes (190 KB): This resource provides a list of frequently occurring suffixes and their meanings.
• Resource 3A.3: Common Prefixes and Suffixes (177 KB): This resource provides a list of other common prefixes and suffixes that are frequently used in academic words.

• Activating Prior Knowledge: This resource focuses on how teachers can activate students’ prior knowledge to help them better understand what they read. The page also includes exemplar videos that model the practice.
• Background Knowledge and ELLs: What Teachers Need to Know: This resource supports educators as they learn about the importance of background knowledge for English learner students, as well as strategies for accessing and building students’ background knowledge as part of lessons.

• How to Teach Essential Words in English Language Arts: A Guide for Middle School Teachers: This guide provides educators with an overview and a step-by-step process for teaching an essential word routine in middle school.
• Generating Examples and Nonexamples of Words: This resource provides educators with an example lesson plan using graphic organizers to help students learn the meanings of unfamiliar words.

• Word Learning: Context Clues: This resource provides an example of explicit instruction for teaching students to find and use context clues. Context clues give students an idea, or a hint, of what an unfamiliar word might mean. Such clues are found in both the text and/or illustrations surrounding the unknown word.

• Instructional Slide Deck 3: Teach Morphology (1 MB): This resource follows  [material10559] from the practice guide resources. This slide deck can serve as a quick resource teachers can use as they explicitly teach students to use a word map to support their understanding of morphology.
• Root Words, Suffixes, and Prefixes: This resource provides lists of common Latin roots, Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes for educators to reference when planning instruction.
• Word Morphology: This resource provides educators with background information about the key aspects of morphology, including why it is important to teach, types of morphemes, and example activities.

Do:

• Teach students common types of questions that they may be asked in instruction and that they may ask themselves while they are reading. Teach the question types one at a time. Reference   Resource 3B.1: Types of Questions (182 KB).
• • Right There question.
  • Think and Search question.
  • Author and Me question.
• Model how to answer each question several times.
• • See   Example 3B.1: Right There Questions (189 KB) for a demonstration of how a teacher models answering this type of question. The words from the question are often found in the same sentence as the answer.
  • See   Example 3B.2: Think and Search Questions (188 KB) for how a teacher models answering this type of question. The answers to these questions are often separated by other information that is not related to the question.
  • See   Example 3B.3: Author and Me Questions (202 KB) for how a teacher models answering this type of question. Students will need to integrate information from the text with their own knowledge.
• Show students how to justify their answer by reading the sentence from the text that provides proof of the response.
• Watch the video, Ask and Answer Questions, for an example of an educator modeling how to locate parts of the text that answer each type of question.

Tips:

• Begin with the Right There questions.
• Move to the Think and Search questions after students have shown success in answering Right There questions.
• Finally, move to the Author and Me questions after providing ample practice opportunities with the Right There and Think and Search questions.
• Make sure to include previously learned question types as each new type is added.
• Prompt students with guiding questions to help them locate information and put different pieces of information together to answer the question.
• If needed, direct students to the part of the text where the answer can be found.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• How questions are asked and the expected responses can vary among languages and language varieties. For English learner students and students whose language variety differs from General American or Academic English, provide opportunities to build familiarity with question types by giving extra opportunities to categorize questions.
• Encourage students to leverage their language knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the question by paraphrasing the question or repeating it in a different way. Provide affirmative and corrective feedback, as necessary.

Do:

• Guide students through the process of answering each question type by reminding them to consider what each type of question requires.
• • Text-dependent questions such as Right There questions and Think and Search questions do not require integrating prior knowledge.
  • Author and Me questions require students to integrate prior knowledge. See   Example 3B.4: Answering Author and Me Questions (208 KB) for an instructional example.
• As necessary, direct students to the part of the text where the answer might be located, without pinpointing the exact sentence or sentences that will help them arrive at the answer.
• Make sure to include previously learned question types as each new type is added.

Tips:

• For a Right There question, teach students to search in the text for words that appear in the question.
• For a Think and Search question, point out the paragraph where the first piece of information can be found. Ask students to find the information they will need to answer the question. Write the information on a whiteboard or chart paper for the group to see. Continue this process until all the information students need to answer the question is identified and documented.
• Explicitly model and routinely remind students that not all information in the paragraphs will be useful in answering the question.
• For Author and Me questions, ask students to explain their connections within and between texts and how what they have read or learned before helped them answer the question. See   Resource 3B.2: Author and Me Prompt Card (221 KB) for support.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• Ensure that all students actively engage in all practice opportunities. Provide students with sentence starters to scaffold their responses and support their justifications using text evidence. Remove sentence starter scaffolds as students show proficiency in starting their answers independently and accurately based on the question type.
• Be aware of the scaffolds you provide to students, which include teacher prompting. Ensure that you observe students for evidence of independence and monitor yourself to avoid over prompting or providing too much guidance.

Do:

• Help students gain a deeper understanding of the text’s meaning by teaching them how to develop questions about the content of the text.
• Ask students to develop their own Right There questions before moving on to Think and Search questions and Author and Me questions.
• Ask students to find answers to the questions they develop or have them work with a partner.
• Increase opportunities for each student to respond by allowing students to practice producing and answering questions in small groups. This activity can also help students engage in meaningful discussions with their peers.

Tips:

• As students become more comfortable figuring out how to ask and answer questions, provide opportunities for them to discuss questions with their peers with little or no assistance from the teacher.
• To facilitate independence, provide students with prompt cards that include question stems to help students develop various question types. See   Resource 3B.3: Question Stems (218 KB) for an example.
• Monitor groups to make sure all students are participating. Intervene, if needed, to keep the discussion moving and focused on the relevant topic.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Students learning and navigating multiple language systems may struggle with generating questions as they read. It can be helpful to read the passage aloud and ask students to generate questions orally before asking them to do it in writing or on their own.

• Do: Teach a routine with several easy steps that students can use to identify important information with texts of different structures. (See   Resource 3C.1: Gist Statement Routine (179 KB) for an example routine.) Gist routines generally include the following:
• • Determining the person, place, or thing that the passage is about.
  • Identifying the most important information in the passage about that person, place, or thing.
  • Synthesizing the important information in a gist statement, using your own words.
  • Checking to make sure the statement makes sense and includes important information.
• Model how to generate the gist statement using the routine for several different types of text. Explain the reasons why information in the text is identified as important for generating the gist. See   Example 3C.1: Gist Statement Model (258 KB) for an instructional example.

Tips:

• Routinely remind students that gist statements help them understand what they read and then remember the most important information.
• To determine which information is most important, suggest that students look for words that appear frequently in the text or appear in the title, headings, and charts or diagrams.
• • Students should also mark important information in the text so that it is easy to find and refer back to. See   Resource 3C.2: Marking the Text (179 KB) for more information.
• Tell students to look for information related to who or what the passage is about.
• • Briefly teach the meaning of a few words that are critical and conceptually central for understanding the text but are likely to be difficult for students. See the Essential Words tab of Module 3 for more information.
• Record important information on a whiteboard or a piece of chart paper as you think aloud to model generating the gist. Use similar recording techniques, including graphic organizers, for students to reference as they separate important information from irrelevant information.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: English learner students and other students may need additional support to generate gist statements in their own words, instead of copying words from the text. Have students practice putting the ideas into their own words orally.

Do:

• Teach students the three common text structures (cause and effect, problem and solution, and compare and contrast).
• Teach students how to recognize these text structures before generating gist statements:
• • Introduce each text structure one at a time. With each new text structure, show how it is organized differently from those previously introduced.
  • Model how to identify and discriminate among text structures, providing a rationale for each structure identified.
  • Have students read a short passage and ask them to identify the text structure.
• Use consistent questions to support gist statement creation based on text structure. See   Resource 3C.3: Text Structure Types (179 KB) for the types of text structures and the related questions that help identify the gist.
• See   Example 3C.2: Using Text Structure for Gist Statements (215 KB) for an example instructional routine that uses text structure to generate a gist statement.
• Use the   Instructional Slide Deck: Using Text Structure for Gist Statements (1 MB) for support teaching students to use text structures to generate a gist statement.

Tips:

• Proactively help students understand that cause and effect and problem and solution text structures can be tricky to distinguish. A good way to determine the difference is to ask, “Was the problem solved?” If the problem was not solved, it is a cause-and-effect text structure.
• Some texts include multiple types of text structures. One section of the text may be cause and effect whereas another section of the text may be problem and solution.
• Some texts do not have a clear structure. Teach students to use a general routine such as   Resource 3C.1: Gist Statement Routine (179 KB) for these kinds of texts.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: As needed, provide additional practice in identifying and discriminating among text structures.

Do:

• Model generating a gist statement using a routine or particular text structure one or two times. Then prompt students through the routine’s steps to include them in generating gist statements.
• Work with students to collaboratively generate a gist statement by prompting them through the steps of the routine.
• Have students provide rationales for their gist statements and point to specific text evidence as support. Ask students to identify irrelevant information, along with their reasoning.
• Post the gist statement you developed together so students can refer back to it.
• In each lesson, repeat the process of discussing the important information and generating a gist statement for each section for three or four sections of the text.
• See   Example 3C.3: Collaborative Gist Statement (223 KB) for an example of a teacher and students collaboratively generating a gist statement.
• Watch the video, Gist Routine, for an example of an educator using a gist routine with students to state the main idea from a section of text.

Tips:

• Use a gradual release toward independence as you transition from modeling to prompting students. Guide students by asking leading questions as the group works together to synthesize the most important information into a gist statement.
• Provide affirmative and corrective feedback on their use of the routine and their identifying of relevant versus irrelevant information.
• When working with multiple paragraphs that build on each other (three to four sections of text), have students write or log the gist statements and refer to them for previous sections to determine if the gist they just wrote makes sense. Explicitly teach students to check whether it makes sense by completing this statement: “This makes sense because in the last paragraph, I learned that ____________.”
• Explain that there can be more than one correct gist for a passage. There are often many ways to state the same information correctly.
• If students are having difficulty generating a gist statement, consider elaborating on what students say to help them clarify what they believe the author is trying to tell them.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Actively support English learner students’ language development by listening to what they say as they generate gist statements, repeating or rephrasing them as necessary, and prompting students to repeat your language.

• Potential solution: In some cases, the question has different wording than the precise wording in the text. Students may need help understanding the meanings of the words. Integrate a brief explanation of how the words mean the same thing even though they are not the same. For example, if the text explains how someone was appalled at the scene and the question asks why someone was disgusted by the scene, briefly explain that when someone is appalled, they are disgusted or horrified by what is happening.
• Potential solution: Students may also experience difficulty following as pronouns appear in the text. It may be useful to help students identify, for example, who “he” or what “it” is referring to in the text and how it relates to the proper nouns used in the question. Clearly understanding the pronouns used in the text can clarify many ideas that were confusing earlier. For example, it is unclear who “he” is in the sentence: “Hector told Malke that the teacher thought he had cheated on the history exam.” Similarly, “it” is unclear in the sentences: “Sasha wrapped up her burrito and a bug appeared on the counter. She smashed it with her hand before she ate.”

• Potential solution: It is common for students to share experiences that, at least at the outset, are not well related to the topic. Ask students to consider whether what they learned or read previously is relevant to the topic before sharing and, if so, how. The discussion needs to address why a particular experience is relevant. Ask leading questions to help students evaluate the relevance of the information to the topic of the text.

• Potential solution: Vary the topics and genres of texts that students are reading for gist statements. Generating gist statements for informational text related to science and history can be balanced with generating gist statements for texts on other topics that relate to interests that students express, as well as fiction and nonfiction passages or short stories, including material that relates to their lives. Students also can bring their core subjects textbooks, and the group can work on gist statements with a current passage. This could be helpful in preparing students for the next day’s lesson, which could help them feel more motivated to learn with their peers.
• Consider exploring sources such as ReadWorks or Newsela , which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.

• Potential solution: As texts become more difficult or students encounter unfamiliar topics, generating gist statements becomes more challenging, and students will need more support and discussion. Also, students may have trouble with a harder text when they do not have enough world or word knowledge. Continue to ask students to generate gist statements so that they can continue to work on the skill with harder and harder text.

• Potential solution: Teachers can model the process for generating a gist statement at the outset. However, soon after the model, students can play an increasingly larger role in the process. For example, after providing a model of how to use the routine for generating a gist statement for an initial section of text, read another section of the text and work collaboratively with students through the process of generating a gist statement. Guide the discussion to identify who or what the section is about and to synthesize the important information into a gist statement. Throughout this process, remember to ask students to justify their responses. If students’ responses are not on target at first, ask follow-up questions. Ask students to reread the text and continue the discussion. Acknowledge that generating a gist is not easy, but it will help them when they read on their own.

Before teaching how to answer inferential questions, I teach students how to answer Right There questions, followed by Think and Search questions. See the Ask and Answer Questions tab for guidance.

After students have gained proficiency in independently answering text-dependent questions, teach students to answer Author and Me questions. See the Ask and Answer Questions tab for guidance.

After students can accurately answer text-dependent and inferential questions, support students in generating their own questions. See the Ask and Answer Questions tab for guidance.

Teach students to generate gist statements for one or two paragraphs of text at a time by using a three-step process. See the Gist Routine tab for guidance.

Teach students the cause and effect, problem and solution, and compare and contrast text structures by using a four-step process. See the Gist Routine tab for guidance.

Give feedback to students as they practice the gist statement routine in a variety of ways. See the Gist Routine tab for guidance.

Identify a partner in your school context to support your implementation of the recommendation. Together, develop a plan for peer observation and feedback.

Questions for which answering requires connecting information in text to information from prior experience or prior learning.

Concise sentences that convey the most important information in a passage.

Questions for which the answers are specifically stated in one sentence in the text.

The pattern of ideas that are in the organization of text. Common text structures are cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, and description.

Questions for which the answers appear in more than one sentence in the text.

The following examples provide high-quality snippets of instruction from the practice guide. These snippets can serve as a reference to support materials selection and preparation of planning effective teacher talk that anticipates interactions with students.

• Example 3B.1: Right There Questions (189 KB): This example shows a teacher modeling how to answer a Right There question.
• Example 3B.2: Think and Search Questions (188 KB): This example shows a teacher modeling how to answer a Think and Search question.
• Example 3B.3: Author and Me Questions (202 KB): This example shows a teacher modeling how to answer an Author and Me question.
• Example 3B.4: Answering Author and Me Questions (208 KB): This example shows a teacher guiding students in answering Author and Me questions.

The following resources support students’ use of the content in Module 4 related to questioning.

• Resource 3B.1: Types of Questions (182 KB): Types of questions.
• Resource 3B.2: Author and Me Prompt Card (221 KB): Prompt card for answering Author and Me questions that teachers pose.
• Resource 3B.3: Question Stems (218 KB): Question stems for students to use when asking questions about the text.

The following examples provide high-quality snippets of instruction from the practice guide. These snippets can serve as a reference to support materials selection and preparation of planning effective teacher talk that anticipates interactions with students.

Note: The practice guide includes an additional example (3E.1) that summarizes all comprehension-building practices from Recommendation 3 (Parts A-D).

• Example 3C.1: Gist Statement Model (258 KB): This example shows a teacher modeling how to generate a gist statement for a group of students.
• Example 3C.2: Using Text Structure for Gist Statements (215 KB): This example shows a teacher modeling how to use a text’s structure to generate a gist statement for a group of students.
• Example 3C.3: Collaborative Gist Statement (223 KB): This example shows a teacher and students collaboratively generating a gist statement.

The following routines support students’ use of the content in Module 4 related to using a gist routine.

• Resource 3C.1: Gist Statement Routine (179 KB): Routine for generating a gist statement.
• Resource 3C.2: Marking the Text (179 KB): Marking the text.
• Resource 3C.3: Text Structure Types (179 KB): Types of text structures and the related questions that help identify the gist.

• TALA Videos: Generating Questions (Comprehension): These videos from The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk demonstrate how to generate questions to improve students’ understanding of text. They were developed by the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas at Austin.
• Question-Answer Relationship: This Reading Rockets resource includes videos of teachers working with students as they both generate and answer questions.

• Use the   Instructional Slide Deck: Using Text Structure for Gist Statements (1 MB) for support teaching students to use text structures to generate a gist statement.
• Helping Your Kid With... Identifying the Main Idea: This set of resources developed by The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk includes a video for families and caregivers and printable free resources, including a graphic organizer and prompt cards to support developing gist statements.
• “What’s the Main Idea?”: Using Text Structure to Build Comprehension: This open-access article includes several helpful tables, including a main idea and summary quick guide and examples of high-quality teacher-student interactions.

Do:

• Ask students to read a sentence and determine whether it makes sense.
• If the sentence does not make sense, tell students to mark (with an underline or highlighting) the word(s) they cannot read or do not understand or the portions of the sentence that do not make sense.
• Discuss which statements students were unable to understand and which parts caused the problem.
• Help students think through what they can do when they do not understand a word or phrase. See Module 1: Multisyllabic Word Reading Skills for more information on teaching decoding skills. See Module 3: World and Word Knowledge for more information on building students’ vocabulary.
• See   Example 3D.1: Does it Make Sense? (228 KB) for an instructional example.

Tips:

• In the beginning, have students practice with isolated sentences.
• Include some nonsensical sentences to help students get in the habit of asking themselves, “Does this make sense to me?”
• After students have practiced identifying whether what they read makes sense at the sentence level, move on to longer pieces of text with multiple sentences.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: It may be helpful to partner English learner students with more dominant English speakers and ask each student to take a turn reading and thinking aloud with short passages.

Do:

• Model how you would read a passage and periodically stop to ask yourself questions aloud as you read.
• As a group, read the text and stop periodically to ask the group to consider whether they understand the text and what they can do to address their misunderstandings.
• Have students work in pairs or small groups to read the next paragraph and share how they asked themselves questions during the reading.
• Have students talk about the questions they asked and whether those questions prompted them to do something to address their understanding.
• Teach students to also ask themselves what the gist statement is for a section of text.
• Think aloud to identify what to do when the text does not make sense. See   Example 3D.2: Monitor Comprehension (185 KB) for an instructional example.
• Watch the video, Monitoring Comprehension, for an example of an educator teaching students to stop periodically as they are reading to check their understanding.
• Use the Instructional Slide Deck 5: Monitoring Comprehension (2 MB) to support teaching students to monitor their understanding as they read.

Tips:

• Resource 3D.1: Question Stems (181 KB) lists questions that students can use to see what they know and do not know, so they can think about what they should do to better understand the text.
• This type of questioning differs from students asking questions about the text to gain a deeper understanding of the text content (see Module 4, Ask and Answer Questions).
• If students do not understand text they are reading, tell them to do the following:
• • Reread the section slowly and carefully, if necessary.
  • Identify which words are stumping them. Apply a decoding routine (see Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills) or a vocabulary strategy (See Module 3: World and Word Knowledge).
  • Try to think about what they already know about the topic.
• Use prompts and questions to help students move toward independence in asking themselves questions.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: English learner students may encounter concepts in text that are unfamiliar. Students can gain an understanding of these concepts by asking questions and making connections with their own life experiences.

Do:

• Ask students to write three things after reading:
• • What they learned in the day’s lesson.
  • What they are still confused about.
  • What they might have done to help themselves understand better.
• Ask students to answer some comprehension questions and mark any answers about which they are not confident. See Module 4: Asking and Answering Questions and Determining the Gist for more support on asking questions to support students’ understanding of the text.

Tips:

• Sentence starters can help students reflect and write about what they learned.
• • Resource 3D.2: Sentence Starters (212 KB) lists possible sentence starters.
  • Example 3D.3: Reflection Questions (219 KB) depicts a sample list of comprehension questions that a teacher can ask students to answer as a way of reflecting on what they have read and identify anything they did not understand.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: When English learner students are asked to describe how they make sense of what they read and the methods they use to overcome obstacles, it not only helps them comprehend better but also offers them more chances to practice their spoken language skills.

Do:

• Carefully select appropriate stretch texts. Consider texts that are at or above the upper range of students’ independent reading levels.
• Consider exploring sources like ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• Choose texts related to topics that students are studying in their subject-area classes rather than isolated passages.
• Include texts that will pique students’ interest and keep them engaged and motivated, such as those related to their personal experiences.

Tips:

• A student’s “independent reading level” refers to the level of materials that are easy for a student to read, with few word identification problems and high comprehension.
• Stretch text refers to reading selections that are challenging for students to read on their own. These texts are typically above a student’s independent reading level. They are often at or just below students’ grade level. Plan to sequence the stretch text passages so that the difficulty and passage length gradually increase.
• Start with one- or two-paragraph stretch text selections and gradually increase the difficulty and length of the texts.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• When working with English learner students, it is crucial to choose interesting texts and activities that connect to their prior knowledge and help them develop their problem-solving and language analysis abilities. This approach also can enhance their overall learning experience.
• Stretch texts offer English learner students clues as to what academic language sounds like and how it works.

Do:

• Consider selecting stop points when the text may be difficult to comprehend, when the author has finished making a comparison, or when the author seems to be making a tentative conclusion.
• Jot down a question that could be used as a discussion starter and a couple of follow-up questions when appropriate. See Module 4: Asking and Answering Questions and Determining the Gist for more on asking questions to support students’ understanding.
• Create a list of difficult multisyllabic words, proper nouns, and essential words to discuss before and during reading. See Module 3: World and Word Knowledge for guidance on teaching essential words.
• See   Example 4.1: Preparing to Read Stretch Text (197 KB) for an instructional example.

Tips:

• Some curricular materials may already provide designated stop points, along with questions to ask students.
• During the early phases of stretch text instruction, stop points should be frequent.
• Use a sticky note or other marker to note where to stop.
• Spending some time on how to read difficult multisyllabic words will help the group read the passage more smoothly. See Module 1: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Skills for more on teaching students to decode multisyllabic words.
• Students can get lost if they do not know basic information about the people and places mentioned in text. Understanding what these proper nouns mean can greatly enhance students’ understanding of the text as they are reading.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Providing redundant cues for essential information is a helpful strategy for assisting English learner students. Examples of cues include visual aids such as pictures, graphs, and graphic organizers.

Do:

• Explain that all readers will read material that includes words that are difficult to read or understand or contain topics for which they will lack relevant world knowledge.
• Tell students that they need to challenge themselves to build their skills, just as an athlete learns to play a sport or a person learns to play a musical instrument.
• Emphasize that the goal is to keep trying to make sense of challenging texts together so that students develop a habit of sticking with difficult passages.
• Write the challenging words selected before reading on the board and provide a brief explanation of the proper nouns and/or the meaning of two or three essential words, as well as how to decode the difficult multisyllabic words. See Module 3: World and Word Knowledge for guidance on teaching essential words.

Tip: Work through stretch texts as a group with teacher support rather than assigning them to students to work on independently or with a partner.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Teachers should pay special attention to providing instructional support for English learner students to enable them to comprehend the ideas, concepts, and information presented in stretch texts.

Do:

• Use an array of approaches for reading the passage aloud as a group, such as:
• • Read aloud and ask students to read along quietly.
  • Read a couple of sentences and then have a student read the next couple of sentences.
• Pause at the stop points you prepared before reading to discuss the section of text or the essential words that appeared in the previous paragraph(s).
• • Discuss any words or phrases that students did not understand or know how to read.
• See   Example 4.2: Working Through Stretch Text (205 KB) and   Example 4.3: Making Sense of Stretch Text (190 KB) for an instructional example.
• Watch the video, Stretch Text, for an example of an educator providing students with an opportunity to practice making sense of stretch text that will expose them to complex ideas and information.

Tips:

• Vary the degree of guidance provided depending on students’ reading level, the complexity of the text, and their interest in it.
• Provide hints and support for students, but do not provide the answer to the question(s). Students must learn to use the text to find the answer, knowing that you will provide support.
• Gradually reduce the guiding questions as students get comfortable with the task.
• Some lessons can focus on determining what a passage is about, whereas others focus on asking and answering questions or monitoring for understanding.
• Work on stretch text 2–3 times a week for periods of 6–10 weeks. Then take a break and have students read material at their instructional levels for a couple of weeks to give them a break from this demanding work.

Consider Linguistic Diversity: Facilitate an environment in which students can effectively communicate and collaborate with each other using both spoken and written language. Such an environment can be achieved by providing opportunities for paired learning and cooperative group work.

Do:

• When they are ready, allow students to work with stretch texts during independent reading, using electronic supports available on tablets, laptops, and other devices.
• Include comprehension work in stretch lessons. Some programs provide comprehension questions that are integrated into software.
• Discuss the comprehension work that students have completed.

Tips:

• Most devices include electronic dictionaries that can help students understand difficult words.
• Some devices may contain software that reminds students about their knowledge of word parts to help discern a word’s meaning.
• Some intervention materials include an audio feature that allows students to hear the text read aloud as they follow along silently with a hard copy of the book or while reading an e-book.
• Some programs provide an option for students to have the computer read a word aloud that they cannot read on their own.

Consider Linguistic Diversity:

• The Google Dictionary Chrome extension can provide the definition of any word and speak a word aloud to help with pronunciation.
• Read&Write for Chrome is an extension that helps boost reading confidence for English learner students by making text more accessible through features such as text and picture dictionaries to see the meaning of certain vocabulary terms.

Potential solution: Helping students feel comfortable sharing when they are not understanding what they are reading may take time. Some students may not feel comfortable at first. They may want to hide their confusion or may not be accustomed to identifying when they are stuck. Repeatedly and gently encourage students to share when they need help and remind them that you are there to help.

Potential solution: It can be hard to follow along with the text if you stop too often. If this technique is not working well, interrupt their reading after longer sections of text. Ask students to continue to mark (with an underline or highlighting) any problem areas in the text as they read and share what they marked at stop points further along in the text.

Potential solution: Previewing text can prepare students for reading and can help them monitor their understanding. Students can check the title, subheadings, and figures to get a sense of what they will be reading and to quickly check in with themselves to see if the passage’s topic is something they know about or if the topic is unfamiliar to them. Teach students to think about whether the text will be difficult for them and how much they will read before checking their understanding.

• Potential solution: If students underline profusely, check the difficulty level of the text. It could be that the text the students are reading is not at an appropriate level. If the text is at the students’ instructional level, ask students to pick a few words or phrases that made it hard for them to understand the passage and focus on those. Consider exploring sources like ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• Potential solution: Consider modeling for students how you get stuck and choose a few words or phrases to mark for further exploration or discussion. If this remains a chronic problem, reconsider the reading material being used. It may be too difficult.

• Potential solution: Remind students that this challenging task is just one part of their lesson, and they will be guided and fully supported throughout the lesson. Begin with very brief one- or two-sentence stretch texts and then build up to longer selections.
• Potential solution: Consider engaging students prior to reading by reminding them that the text is very difficult, so they likely will not be able to read it with ease. Yet, they will see improvement with practice.

• Potential solution: In general, avoid material from textbooks. Students are often not as motivated or interested in textbooks as they are in other sources of information. Use trade books, articles, short magazine pieces, and other selections that cover grade-level content but are only somewhat above students’ reading ability. Consider exploring sources like ReadWorks or Newsela, which provide free access to a variety of high-quality texts on diverse subjects.
• Potential solution: It is helpful to start with slightly challenging text and then move to more advanced text as students become familiar with the process of grappling with stretch text. However, be aware that grade-level texts sometimes include very informative, student-friendly graphics and charts that can be very useful in learning the material. Therefore, it may be appropriate to use those selections for stretch text lessons.

Potential solution: Conflicting terminology appears in different reading materials used by different authors, and there are no clear distinctions between what is challenging text and what is stretch text. Some refer to stretch text as one or two years above a student’s current independent reading level. Others refer to stretch texts as at or near a student’s highest Lexile range. Regardless of the specific definition used, the goal for this recommendation is increasing students’ persistence in making sense of the text and building their world and word knowledge. Remember that stretch texts allow for the discussion of sophisticated ideas and perspectives that contribute to students’ knowledge base for later reading and content classes.

Potential solution: Reading fiction is valuable, but reading only novels and short stories is not sufficient to adequately build the academic and content vocabulary and world knowledge that students need. One option is to use hybrid texts, texts that provide students with a good deal of information about history, science, or economics but are couched in the form of a narrative. Short biographical sketches, such as those on Newsela, can be useful. However, occasional use of short stories and novels would be appropriate, especially if they have interesting themes or raise interesting issues.

Gradually release the use of comprehension self-monitoring by giving students opportunities to practice reading texts in small- and large-group settings. See the Monitor Comprehension tab for guidance.

Give students the opportunity to interact with engaging stretch text materials and support their reading of stretch texts. For guidance, see the Stretch Text tab.

After students are comfortable reading stretch texts as a group, provide students with electronic supports to help them read stretch texts independently. See the Stretch Text tab for guidance.

An electronic, digital form of a book that includes text and sometimes images.

Words that are conceptually central for understanding the topic of the text.

Teaching with clear objectives, tasks broken into manageable chunks for learning, modeling with clear explanations to verbalize thinking processes, opportunities to practice with decreased levels of support, and useful affirmative and corrective feedback.

• Teacher modeling: an instructional technique in which teachers talk through the thinking process they use to demonstrate a skill or strategy.
• Guided practice: practice that involves the teacher working through tasks with students at the same time, step-by-step, while checking that they execute each step correctly and providing feedback.
• Independent practice: practice that involves students working with little to no assistance.

Text that weaves together fiction and nonfiction text.

The reading level of material that is easy for a student to read with few word identification problems and high comprehension.

The reading level of material that is challenging but not frustrating for a student to read successfully with regular classroom instruction and support.

Text that is a spoken or written account of a connected series of events; it includes both fiction (such as novels or short stories) and nonfiction (such as memoirs, biographies, and news stories).

Text that is above a student’s instructional level.

The domains of knowledge, including disciplines such as English language arts, math, science, and social studies.

The following examples provide high-quality snippets of instruction from the practice guide. These snippets can serve as a reference to support materials selection and preparation of planning effective teacher talk that anticipates interactions with students.

Note: The practice guide includes an additional example (3E.1) that summarizes all comprehension-building practices from Recommendation 3 (Parts A-D).

• Example 3D.1: Does it Make Sense? (228 KB): This example shows a sample sheet that students can use to monitor their comprehension at the sentence level.
• Example 3D.2: Monitor Comprehension (185 KB): This example shows a teacher demonstrating how to ask questions to monitor comprehension.
• Example 3D.3: Reflection Questions (219 KB): This example provides a list of sample questions that students can use after reading to reflect on what they read.

The following are high-quality resources for educators to use during instruction.

• Resource 3D.1: Question Stems (181 KB): This resource provides a list of possible questions students can ask themselves as they read.
• Resource 3D.2: Sentence Starters (212 KB): This resource provides possible sentence starters to students can use after reading to reflect on what they read.

The following examples provide high-quality snippets of instruction from the practice guide. These snippets can serve as a reference to support materials selection and preparation of planning effective teacher talk that anticipates interactions with students.

• Example 4.1: Preparing to Read Stretch Text (197 KB): This example shows a teacher preparing to read a short section from a grade-level text about noted novelist Lousie Erdrich.
• Example 4.2: Working Through Stretch Text (205 KB): This example shows a teacher assisting students in working through text.
• Example 4.3: Making Sense of Stretch Text (190 KB): This example shows a teacher leading students through using essential words to determine what the text is about and respond to comprehension questions.

• Use the Instructional Slide Deck 5: Monitoring Comprehension (2 MB) to support teaching students to monitor their understanding as they read.
• Monitoring Comprehension: This resource focuses on how teachers can teach students to monitor comprehension as they read.
• Helping Your Students Become Self-Regulated Readers: This guide helps teachers assist students in becoming self-regulated readers through awareness and regulation of their thoughts, knowledge, and actions to read and understand complex texts.

• ReadWorks: provides educators with a library of curated nonfiction and fiction passages. The library offers more than 5,500 high-quality texts on a diverse range of subjects to complement every curriculum.
• Newsela: Newsela offers educators access to an online library of curated real-world texts sourced from news providers, including the Associated Press, PBS News Hour, the Washington Post, The New York Times, Scientific American, and others. Texts are available in English and Spanish options as needed. Each Newsela text is spread across Lexile levels that range from grade 3 to grade 12.