Early Literacy part of the Education Reform Network

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• A Rhyme a Week: Nursery Rhymes for Early Literacy
  If "an apple a day will keep the doctor away", then perhaps a-rhyme-a-week will keep school failure at bay. WIL's A-Rhyme-a-Week phonological awareness program features 28 different nursery rhymes.
• Approaches to Professional Development
  Typical inservice models of professional staff development are the training model and the reflective practice model. Outcomes for both models are suggested.
• Areas of Study with Writing Project
  For this final class project, a student in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a lesson plan to assist students in writing a �well-developed, short essay on a content area.� The teacher has included a series of photographs including reading materials and motivators, vocabulary chart, fact chart, and a final draft.
• Best Practices Programs
  Various approaches to the teaching of reading, all considered best practice in literacy teaching and learning, include Project READ, The Kamehameha Early Education Program, Follow Through, Reading Recovery, and SRA/Open Court Reading. This piece is part of a larger NCREL publication entitled Professional Development for Teachers of Reading (2001) by Peggy A.
• CELA
  (from their website) CELA conducts "research dedicated to gaining knowledge to improve students' English and literacy achievement in schools across America. CELA is affiliated with the Albany Institute for Research in Education (AIRE) in the School of Education at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY) and works in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.".
• Character Draws
  For this final class project, students in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a lesson plan to assist students in writing about character traits. The lesson plan includes step-by-step instructions and samples of student writing based on this activity.
• Coaching and Mentoring
  Three programs of coaching and mentoring are currently found in school settings. These include peer coaching, building resource teachers, and the Success For All program.
• Colorín Colorado
  The phrase "Colorín Colorado" appears at the end of virtually all children’s stories and fairy tales in Spanish-speaking countries - it translates roughly to "and they lived happily ever after." The website includes information, activities, and advice for parents and educators of Spanish-Speaking students.
• CREDE: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence
  This CREDE website includes articles from a national research and development center. Included are research principles, publications, and five standards for educational pedagogy.
• Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative
  This collaborative includes the Information Technology Group (ECAP/ITG) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Website includes a link to the former ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC/EECE) .
• Effective Comprehension Instruction
  A powerpoint presentation for Nevada Reading First, January, 2004, by Nell Duke , Michigan State University.
• Elements of Effective SDAIE Instruction
  This matrix from a university course presents various scaffolds (modeling, bridging, contextualization, schema building, and metacognitive development) for use with English language learners in the classroom. Also included in this SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English) model is a description of how each scaffold supports building of student understanding and examples of appropriate tasks for each scaffold.
• Family and Intergenerational Literacy in Multilingual Communities
  This article presents research that has informed family and intergenerational literacy work, policy initiatives that affect family literacy work, goals of family and intergenerational literacy programs, program design, and curricula for family literacy programs. The article concludes with promising directions for the future.
• Family Literacy: An Annotated Bibliography: August 2000
  For those who seek to broaden their understanding of family literacy, this on-line annotated bibliography features sections on conceptual issues, program studies, practices, program descriptions, and curriculum and instruction. Sections on research, assessment, and program evaluation are also included.
• First Grade Literacy Centers
  For this final class project, a student in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a series of class literacy centers. Centers include computers, reading the room, pick a poem, pool reading, math stories, rhyme match, and an ABC game.
• Flower Power-Question and Answer Relationships
  For this final class project, as student in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort created a user friendly QAR (Question-Answer Relationships) format to teach students how to answer different types of questions and at the same time build their comprehension.
• Fluency: A Review of Developmental and Remedial Practices
  This online review includes the stages of reading development, contributions of automaticity and prosody to fluent reading, and a research review. Two appendixes include summaries of repeated reading studies and assisted reading studies.
• FOCUS on Struggling Readers and Writers
  This International Reading Association site provides links to resources, publications, books and sample chapters, journal and newspaper articles, and position statements relating to various aspects of literacy teaching and learning.
• Focusing on Reading First Core Programs
  This article describes how schools in Nevada choose their core reading programs under Reading First.
• Fun & Games for English Practice
  The Place for English Language Learners includes activities,teachers resources, etc. Resources include materials in the following languages: Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.
• History of Professional Development in Reading Instruction
  Focus is given to the role of the teacher, the nature of literacy instruction, and the nature of professional development from 1800 through the beginning of the 21st century. Links to reports and articles on expertise in teaching reading are included.
• Homophone Chutes and Ladders
  For this final class project, a student in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort adapted a popular game for classroom use. Included in this link are directions for playing, a high resolution image of the game board, and an answer key.
• Interactive Writing
  For this final class project, a student in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a PowerPoint presentation on using interactive writing in the fourth grade. In using this process, the teacher has noted improvement of writing skills for the students in her classroom.
• Internet Resources to Assist Teachers with Struggling Readers
  This website provides an overview of web-based resources for teachers of struggling readers.
• IRA FOCUS on Reading Comprehension
  Sponsored by the International Reading Association, this website focuses on reading comprehension, including position statements, lesson plans, recommended readings, and other resources.
• Linda�s Links to Literature
  This website has 15,500+ links to activities and lesson plans for children's and young adult literature. Links are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
• Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners: A Position Paper
  In addition to this on-line position paper, links at the bottom of the document connect to definitions of literacy, L2 teaching methods, and a literacy framework. This website is useful for both classroom and university instructors.
• Literacy Training for Teachers Shows Positive Impact on Head Start Students
  This EDC study found that training Head Start teachers to enhance literacy activities in their classrooms translates into measurable vocabulary gains for their students.
• Literature Learning Ladders
  This website is great.It has collabrative and interactive projects and literature-based webquest grade by grade.
• National Center for Family Literacy
  Links in this website provide information about the literacy challenge in America, how family literacy programs work, and how parents can help their children learn. A link to a map of the United States provides descriptions of and location information for family literacy programs in various states.
• National Reading Panel
  This Web site is updated regularly with information about National Reading Panel publications and materials, as well as upcoming speaking engagements by Panel members. This site is also an archive, featuring the congressional charge to the NRP, biographies of NRP members, meeting minutes, and other historical information.
• NCLE Fact Sheet:Family Literacy and Adult English Language Learners
  This on-line fact sheet presents trends and issues in family literacy along with ideas for best practice. References listed are both on-line and in text format.
• Octopus Arms
  For this final class project, a student in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed an activity for classroom use. �This activity was developed to help review and reinforce short vowels and word families.� In addition to step-by-step procedures and variations, this link includes downloadable images for the activity.
• Oral Communication
  For this final class project, students in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a brochure to assist parents in understanding the importance of oral communication with their children. According to research, storytelling ability in kindergarten children predicts comprehension and vocabulary success in fourth graders.
• Oral Reading Fluency/Accuracy - Relevant Quotations
  Quotes from experts and research related to Oral Reading Fluency/Accuracy (ORF/A) as a General Outcome Measure for reading proficiancy.
• Parent Pamphlets for Emergent, Beginning, Transitional and Intermediate Readers
  For this final class project, three students in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a series of pamphlets describing readers at four levels. �The purpose of the pamphlets is to allow classroom teachers to use them as tools for parent-teacher conferences.
• Personal Game Boards
  Cohort developed adaptations of board games from Words Their Way to use with preschool children, ages two through five. �The children and I made our own adaptations to allow this game to be used in a variety of letter, sound, and concept of word activities in our class.�.
• Personal Readers for Transitional and Intermediate Students
  For this final class project, three students in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a description of use of personal readers with group content dictations, poems, and informational text. A personal reader list and discussion log template is included, along with student samples.
• Phonemic Awareness: An Important Early Step in Learning to Read
  Sections of this on-line article include: What is Phonological/Phonemic Awareness?, Why Is It So Important? , Relation to the "Great Reading Wars," Teaching Methods, and References.
• Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening: Instructional Resources: Activities
  This site includes teacher resources such as activities, helpful web links, and a parent corner. Phonological Awareness activities are provided for beginning sounds, blending, rhyming, and sound-to-letter segmentation for Pre-K through Grade 3.
• Poems and Songs That Teach
  This link contains the following themed poetic ideas to support phonological awareness: holidays and seasons, alphabet and phonics features, and animals. Ready-to-use readers theater scripts are included.
• Power for Kids: For Parents and Teachers
  This is an engaging website.It has literacy ideas and programs such as short story and letter activities.Parents can use this activities for their children at home easily.
• Professional Development Policies
  This article highlights goals, characteristics, gaps, future directions, and federal leadership related to professional development. An appendix to this piece includes guidelines from the U.S.
• Reader's Theatre Scripts and Plays
  This site contains 54 scripts, a Readers Theatre teacher's guide, and a Readers Theatre evaluation guide. Also provided are tips on reading, scripting, and voice inflection.
• Reading is Fundamental
  This website provides ideas for parents to encourage reading at home. Topics include motivating kids to read, choosing good books, reading aloud, literacy-rich homes, and school connections.
• Role of the NREA Literacy Specialist
  For this final class project, two students in the Nevada Reading Excellence Act Master�s Cohort developed a PowerPoint presentation on their roles as Nevada Reading Excellence Act Literacy Specialists. �Upon completion of this project we feel prepared the next time we are asked to give a presentation.
• Strategies for Increasing Student Engagement
  This article summarizes research on instructional design and classroom management.
• Text Comprehension Instruction
  This online article contains sections about scientifically-based research, metacognition, examples of question-answer relationships (text explicit, text implicit, and scriptal), and teaching students to use comprehension strategies.
• The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
  This website contains information on applying for family literacy grants from this foundation. Also included are Lessons Learned from grant recipients which may assist design and implementation of other grants.
• The Even Start Family Literacy Programs Statute, as of December 31, 2000
  Sections of the on-line statute include a statement of purpose, authorized programs, state programs, use of funds, program elements, and eligible participants. Subgrant, evaluation, and research issues are also addressed.
• The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency for Efficient Reading Comprehension
  This online article is reprinted with permission from the International Dyslexia Association quarterly newsletter, Perspectives. Its sections include definitions of key terms, ideas about relationships among fluency and other key elements of reading, and several figures.
• The Reading Process
  This Clark County (NV) School District site provides information on guided reading, modeled reading, shared reading, independent reading, and vocabulary. Video clips of lessons are included for spelling/word study, phonics, and the alphabetic principle.
• The Writing Process
  This Clark County (NV) School District site provides information on writing traits, modeled writing, shared writing, and guided writing. In addition, it features a video clip of an interactive writing lesson.
• Thematic Hawaiian Islands
  This website contains an overview and descriptions of five lesson plans used in second grade: (1) The Hawaiian Islands; (2) Map Skills; (3) Learning about fish that live in the ocean off Hawaii; (4) Rewrite a Hawaiian folk tale; and (5) Compare homes in Olivehurst to Punia�s home in Hawaii. A performance based unit assessment is included.
• University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts
  The UTCRLA provides books and booklets for downloading as well as information on professional development for primary, secondary, and k-12 special education teachers. Downloadable resources with step-by-step teacher lesson plans include Reading Strategies and Activities Resource Book: For Students at Risk of Reading Difficulties Including Dyslexia (410 pages) and Word Study for Students with learning Disabilities Including English Language Learners (50 pages).
• Vocabulary
  This site contains interactive grade level puzzles and word activities to support vocabulary development. Material starts at junior high/middle school level, but would be valuable for teachers to use to enhance their own vocabulary knowledge.
• Vocabulary instruction
  This document contains definitions, how children learn vocabulary directly and indirectly, and types of vocabulary. A section on what does scientifically-based research tells us about vocabulary instruction is included.
• Vocabulary University
  This site contains many word building activities including Fill-in-the-Blanks, Definition Match, Synonym & Antonym Encounters, Crosswords, Word Finds, True/False and Word Stories.
• What does it mean to be a struggling reader?
  The Wisconsin Literacy Education and Reading Network Source channel on struggling readers includes information on factors that may hinder reading acquisition and general suggestions for struggling readers. Strategies for helping struggling readers include summarizing; using story grammar, imagery, questions, and think alouds; and activating prior knowledge.
• Where Children Love to Learn and Learn to Grow
  This site is created for helping teachers and parents. There are lessons plans and units, presented by grade level.