Instructional Classroom
Routines for Beginning
Readers
Regie Routman asks the following questions:
**What do I want them to know and understand (expectations,
content curriculum, big ideas, skills, strategies, standards)
**How can I help them to know and understand it? Provide
background knowledge, demonstrations, guided prctice, appropriate
resources, differentiated instruction, supportive language,
reteaching)
**How will I know when they know and understand it? How will
students know that they understand and let me know that they do?
(observations, conversations, conferences, performance
assessments, tests, evaluations, reflections)
**What are my new expectations for students? Goals (theirs, mine,
action plans, lessons, demonstrations, resources)
Rereading: one of the most
effective strategies for struggling
readers
Comprehension increases with rereading.
Encourage students to reread!
Classroom Routine
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Demonstration
Shared demonstration
Gradual handover of responsibility
Guided practice
Independent Practice
Sharing Alternative Programs
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Reading 180
Horizons
Soar to Success
Corrective Reading
Edmark
Other?
Vocabulary
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Students learn 95% of their vocabulary indirectly
through listening to adults speak and read out
loud. (Beck, McKeown)
Some vocabulary requires direct instruction with
guided practice.
To build academic vocabulary, Marzano suggests
a structure for sustained silent reading (We will
learn about R5 next week!) as well as teaching
academic vocabulary using six steps
Marzano & Beck on Vocabulary
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Marzano feels it is critical to “enhance
students academic background knowledge
which should be “at the top of any list of
interventions intended to enhance student
achievement”.
Beck says the goal of vocabulary
instruction should be: comprehension of
text, language comprehension
development & teaching students how to
learn words.
When to Introduce Words
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Before Reading (for comprehension)—do
just briefly
On the spot (just when needed---do
briefly)
After reading (words for keeps, more
extensive interactions)
What Words Should You Teach?
Beck and Marzano differ greatly!
 Beck has categorized words into three tiers
**Tier 1 are basic words: clock, baby, happy,
chocolate
**Tier 2 are high frequency words for mature
language learners: degnified, absurd, astonish
(characteristic of mature language learners—
found in written work)
**Tier 3 are words whose frequency of use is
quite low, often limited to specific domains like
isotope, peninsula, lathe
Marzano says to teach academic vocabulary & get
results!
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McKeown on How to Teach!
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Add playfulness to your language—tone up your
own language/ “clear your desks”—What do I
mean by clear desk? What does a clear desk
look like? What about a clear sky? What does
that look like? Am I making myself clear? Wait
a minute! Is that like a clear desk?
For K/1—bring in vocabulary—absurd for silly,
etc.
Comparison of vocabulary choices
from Officer Buckle & Gloria
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Program Vocabulary from basal:
**department, obeys, commands,
audience, expression, accident
Rich Vocabulary you may find:
Expression, mockery, monotonous,
perturbed, humiliated, companions
How Do We Introduce Words?
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Dictionary definitions: 63% of sentences from
dictionary definitions are judged odd
60% of responses were unacceptable: “The
colonists were exotic in America.”
“He was devious on his bike.”
Student friendly definitions: describe meaning
in everyday connected language
They characterize a word’s typical use
Often they include words such as “you”,
“something” and “someone”
Effective Instruction
(from Beck, McKeown)
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Offer frequent encounters
Offer explanations/examples/student actively
responding/relationship among words/extension
beyond the classroom like a “word wizard” chart
Format: Contextualize its role in the story
Furious: In the story, the teacher was furious
when Wendall & Flooyd missed their math test.
That means she was very angry that they
missed their test.
How to teach vocabulary, con’t
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Provide a friendly explanation of the word’s
meaning:
When someone is furious, they are so mad they
can hardly speak.
Provide an example beyond the story context:
You might feel furious if your friend invited
everyone in the class but you to a party.
Marzano’s Six Steps for Teaching
Vocabulary
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Marzano says that teaching academic vocabulary
will propel students the furthest with
achievement
Use oral description, explanation or example
(examples/non examples are helpful)
Students restate the new term in their own
words (use of academic notebook for vocabulary
for all academic areas) Students add
description/representation with new insight
Marzano’s six steps, con’t
Students create nonlinguistic representation of the term
(do a drawing, or graphic organizer or pictograph, etc.
immediately)
Students do activities which help them add to their
knowledge (they compare, classify, revise initial
descriptions, need multiple exposures and practice)
Ask students periodically to discuss the terms with one
another (student interaction is critical for vocabulary!)
Do regular subject matter sessions and students should
have time for these discussions of vocabulary
Periodically have games to allow students to play with the
terms
**Note Text Talk in the back of Bringing Words to Life--lists books for vocabulary instruction, K-2.