"In this book, structured literacy is conceptualized as an umbrella term encompassing a variety of intervention methods, instructional approaches, and commercial programs. In addition to focusing on SL approaches to intervention, this book is organized around common poor reader profiles that have been identified in research. The chapters in this volume are written by experts who are well known as researchers but who are also highly skilled at writing for practitioners. Chapters were written with a strong foundation of research that is summarized, but with a concentration on translating research into practice, including case studies, sample intervention activities, and lesson plans. Each chapter includes application activities at the end to check for and extend readers' understanding"--

Structured Literacy (SL) approaches are increasingly recognized as the gold standard for teaching struggling readers. This highly practical book walks educators through designing SL interventions for students with common types of reading difficulties--word reading, comprehension, or a combination of both. Louise Spear-Swerling offers tools for assessing students' reading profiles and tailoring SL to their needs. In a convenient large-size format, the volume is packed with case studies, sample lesson plans addressing both early and advanced stages of reading, instructional activities, and application exercises for teachers. A chapter on English language structure presents essential foundations for implementing SL effectively. The companion website features a knowledge survey about language structure (with answer key), as well as downloadable copies of the book's 14 reproducible forms. See also Louise Spear-Swerling's edited volume, Structured Literacy Interventions: Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties, Grades K–6, which surveys SL interventions across all components of literacy.

"This book describes a set of explicit approaches to teaching reading that have become known as Structured Literacy and that are especially effective for struggling readers. Chapter 1 explains in detail the two main themes, involving Structured Literacy and poor reader profiles, and why they are important to successful teaching of poor readers. Chapter 2 describes the structure of English at multiple levels - words, sentences, and longer discourse - a grasp of which is essential for SL teaching of both word reading and comprehension. Chapter 3 focuses on assessment of poor readers - specifically, how to determine poor reader profiles and target interventions properly for individual students, as well as how to use diagnostic assessments to further identify specific skills to address in intervention. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on students with a profile of Specific Word Recognition Difficulties, that is, difficulties specific to word reading. Chapters 6 and 7 address students with a profile of Specific Reading Comprehension Difficulties, which involves students who have poor reading comprehension despite good word reading. The topic of Chapters 8 and 9 involves students with a profile of Mixed Reading Difficulties, who have difficulties both in word reading and language comprehension"--

Comprehensive and evidence-based, Structured Literacy (SL) approaches place a high value on explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction. This book brings together leading experts to present a wealth of SL interventions for different components of literacy. Chapters describe instructional strategies for supporting phonological awareness, basic and multisyllabic word decoding, spelling, reading fluency, vocabulary, oral and reading comprehension, and written expression, especially for at-risk readers and those with disabilities. Including case studies, sample intervention activities, lesson plans, and end-of-chapter application activities, the book contains reproducible tools that can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8½“ x 11” size. An NCTQ Exemplary Text for Reading Instruction See also Louise Spear-Swerling's authored volume, The Structured Literacy Planner: Designing Interventions for Common Reading Difficulties, Grades 1–9, which provides blueprints for tailoring interventions based on a learner's reading profile.

Practical, effective, evidence-based reading interventions that change students' lives Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties is a practical, accessible, in-depth guide to reading assessment and intervention. It provides a detailed discussion of the nature and causes of reading difficulties, which will help develop the knowledge and confidence needed to accurately assess why a student is struggling. Readers will learn a framework for organizing testing results from current assessment batteries such as the WJ-IV, KTEA-3, and CTOPP-2. Case studies illustrate each of the concepts covered. A thorough discussion is provided on the assessment of phonics skills, phonological awareness, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Formatted for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes bullet points, icons, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information. Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings. Bridge the gap between research and practice Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.

Author Debbie Diller turns her attention to small reading groups and the teacher's role in small-group instruction. Making the Most of Small Groups: Differentiation for All grapples with difficult questions regarding small-group instruction in elementary classrooms such as: How do I find the time? How can I be more organized? How do I form groups? How can I differentiate to meet the needs of all of my students? Structured around the five essential reading elements - comprehension, fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary - the book provides practical tips, sample lessons, lesson plans and templates, suggestions for related literacy work stations, and connections to whole-group instruction. In addition to ideas to use immediately in the classroom, Diller provides an overview of relevant research and reflection questions for professional conversations.

"This core text introduces pre-service teachers to the essential components of literacy and describes how to effectively deliver explicit, evidence-based instruction on each component"--