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Literacy Instruction (literacy + instruction)
Selected AbstractsEvidence-Based Strategies for Reading Instruction of Older Students with Learning DisabilitiesLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2008Greg Roberts Over a quarter of 8th-grade students and more than one-third of 4th graders do not read well enough to understand important concepts and acquire new knowledge from grade-level text. For students with learning disabilities, the numbers are more troubling. This article describes features of evidence-based instruction for students who continue to struggle with reading in late elementary, middle, and high school. Recommendations are organized into 5 areas that are critical to the reading improvement of older struggling readers: (1) word study, (2) fluency, (3) vocabulary, (4) comprehension, and (5) motivation. Much of the content in this article reflects our efforts with the Special Education and Reading Strands at the National Center on Instruction, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Two reports, both available at http://www.centeroninstruction.org/, have particular relevance,Interventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers: A Meta-Analysis with Implications for Practice and Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: A Guidance Document from the Center on Instruction. [source] Findings from the International Adult Literacy Survey on the incidence and correlates of learning disabilities in New Zealand: Is something rotten in the state of New Zealand?,DYSLEXIA, Issue 2 2003James W. Chapman Abstract New Zealand data from the International Adult Literacy Survey were analysed to examine the incidence and correlates of self-reported specific reading learning disability (SRLD). The results showed that 7.7% of New Zealand adults reported having had a learning disability. The ratio of males to females with SRLD was 3:2. Between 40% and 50% of New Zealand adults performed below the minimum level of proficiency required for meeting the complex demands of everyday life in knowledge-based societies. For adults with SRLD, around 80% performed below the minimum level, and the literacy proficiency of adults with SRLD in younger age bands appears to have declined since the early 1960s. Almost 100% of adults with SRLD in the 16,20 years age range performed below the minimum level for document and quantitative literacy and 92% for prose literacy. Compared to non-SRLD adults, those with SRLD were found to leave school earlier, engage more often in manual occupations, are more frequently unemployed, and rely on more state assistance to bring their income levels closer to the levels enjoyed by non-SRLD adults. The results are discussed in terms of SRLD not being officially recognised or provided for in New Zealand, the lack of appropriate remedial provisions for children who experience difficulties with reading, and the effects of a strong whole language orientated approach to literacy instruction in schools that has been in place since 1963. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The relationship between phonological awareness and word reading accuracy in Oriya and English: A study of Oriya-speaking fifth-gradersJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 1 2007Ranjita Mishra This study investigated the relationships between phonological awareness and reading in Oriya and English. Oriya is the official language of Orissa, an eastern state of India. The writing system is an alphasyllabary. Ninety-nine fifth grade children (mean age 9 years 7 months) were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, word reading and pseudo-word reading in both languages. Forty-eight of the children attended Oriya-medium schools where they received literacy instruction in Oriya from grade 1 and learned English from grade 2. Fifty-one children attended English-medium schools where they received literacy instruction in English from grade 1 and in Oriya from grade 2. The results showed that phonological awareness in Oriya contributed significantly to reading Oriya and English words and pseudo-words for the children in the Oriya-medium schools. However, it only contributed to Oriya pseudo-word reading and English word reading for children in the English-medium schools. Phonological awareness in English contributed to English word and pseudo-word reading for both groups. Further analyses investigated the contribution of awareness of large phonological units (syllable, onsets and rimes) and small phonological units (phonemes) to reading in each language. The data suggest that cross-language transfer and facilitation of phonological awareness to word reading is not symmetrical across languages and may depend both on the characteristics of the different orthographies of the languages being learned and whether the first literacy language is also the first spoken language. [source] From assimilation to accommodation: a developmental framework for integrating digital technologies into literacy research and instructionJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 2 2000David Reinking This article presents a developmental framework for interpreting and understanding how new digital technologies have been integrated into literacy instruction and research, and how they might be integrated in the future. The framework borrows the concepts of assimilation and accommodation from Piaget's classical developmental theory of learning, applying them to how individuals and groups involved in literacy instruction and research conceptualize and implement new digital technologies in their work. It is argued that assimilation and accommodation define a developmental reality that helps explain a variety of issues pertaining to new technologies in relation to literacy research and practice, such as how new technologies come to be used or not used in literacy instruction, and what research questions are asked or not asked by literacy researchers exploring the implications of new technologies for instruction. The influence of this framework on the authors' own work and on the work of others is illustrated. [source] Motivation for learning science in kindergarten: Is there a gender gap and does integrated inquiry and literacy instruction make a differenceJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 2 2009Helen Patrick Abstract We investigated whether kindergarten girls' and boys' (N,=,162) motivation for science (perceived competence and liking) differed. Children were ethnically and linguistically diverse, primarily from low-income families, and attended one of three schools. One school offered a typical kindergarten science experience. Kindergarteners in the other two schools participated in the Scientific Literacy Project (SLP),a program based on a conceptually coherent sequence of integrated science inquiry and literacy activities. SLP lasted either 5 or 10 weeks. Regardless of sex, both groups of SLP children had greater motivation for science than children who had only the regular science experience. Moreover, children receiving 10 weeks of SLP reported greater science competence than those who received 5 weeks. Boys in regular classrooms reported liking science more than did girls, however there was no sex difference for SLP children. These results are supported by interview data accessing children's ideas about science. The findings suggest that early meaningful participation in science is likely to promote girls' and boys' motivation for science. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 166,191, 2009 [source] Accommodating differences: variations in differentiated literacy instruction in Grade 2/3 classroomsLITERACY, Issue 1 2008Ruthanne Tobin Abstract Although teachers are acutely aware of variance in students' literacy needs, many are unsure exactly how to support these needs in the dynamic classroom. This study reports on compelling evidence from Grade 2/3 classrooms in which teachers differentiated instruction in a variety of ways to benefit all students. In particular, teachers provided additional scaffolding for struggling literacy learners by offering a menu of tiered work products, expert tutoring and additional supports. At the base of instruction were common essential understandings grounded in best literacy practices: shared reading and writing, guided reading, excellent texts and literacy centres. The article emphasises the critical importance of responding to the needs of diverse and at-risk learners in the regular classroom. Differentiated instruction is suggested as a powerful organising framework in the language arts classroom. [source] Barriers to participation in kindergarten literacy instruction for a student with augmentative and alternative communication needsPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 7 2008Lisa A. Pufpaff Preliminary findings and implications from this study were presented at the 45th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 30, 2000. The author would like to express sincere gratitude to the kindergarten teacher who cooperated with this study and willingly allowed the researcher unlimited access to her classroom. The author also thanks all the school personnel and students who made this study possible as well as the Purdue University AAC Group for their feedback during the course of this project. The author especially thanks Erna Alant, University of Pretoria, South Africa for her guidance in the organization of key sections of this manuscript. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||