K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Facilitator’s Guide
Boston Public Schools
Using the EVT-2 to Differentiate Read Alouds
Location:
Date:
Time:
Overview
Explicitly teaching vocabulary can be challenging. There is not enough time to teach all unfamiliar
words, and it may not be clear which words are the most useful for students to learn. This team
meeting asks teachers to look closely at a book they will read out loud to students and think about the
vocabulary they are teaching with the story. Analyzing the EVT-2 forms of students with below-average
English vocabularies will help teachers identify the types of words that students may not understand.
Objective
Teachers will analyze EVT-2 forms in order to adapt a read aloud book to accommodate the needs of
students with smaller English vocabularies
Preparation
 Pick a focus book for this session that will be used for read aloud very soon after the team
meeting, ideally the next day
 Invite teachers and ask them to bring the book, their teacher’s manual, and the EVT-2 forms of one
or two of their students whose English vocabularies are in the below-average range
 Agenda written / typed
 Copy materials:
 Adapting Vocabulary Instruction to English Language Learners
Background
This team meeting builds on one of the “big ideas” of literacy instruction identified by the National
Reading Panel: students need direct and explicit instruction in vocabulary. Because it is not possible to
teach all unfamiliar words, Beck, McKeown, and Kucan developed a framework to help educators
identify which words were important and useful enough for direct instruction. The framework includes
three tiers of words :
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K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Facilitator’s Guide
Boston Public Schools

Tier One: Basic, common words that rarely require instruction in school

Tier Two: Words that are common in printed text but rare in spoken language

Tier Three: Rare and specialized words that are specific to a particular genre or field
The recommendation is for teachers to focus direct instruction on tier two words. You can learn more
about the tiers of vocabulary instruction in the book Bringing Words to Life. A framework for adapting
the three tiers of vocabulary instruction for English language learners is available at Colorin Colorado, a
website focused on the reading achievement of Ell’s, sponsored by the National Institute for Literacy.
Important Note: By the definition of Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three words given by Beck, McKeown,
and Kucan, nearly all words an elementary student would produce while participating in the EVT-2 are
Tier One words. The EVT-2 has created their own three-tiered model to categorize the words used in
the assessment, including a worksheet that assigns words into Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three
categories. Their system, explained on page 35 of the EVT-2 Manual, does not align with the
instructional model above.
Resources
Put Reading First
Available at no cost from Ed Pubs, the U.S. Department of Education’s free educational publications
website. http://edpubs.ed.gov/Product_Detail.aspx

Evidence-based vocabulary instruction is the focus of pages 29 - 39
Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and
Linda Kucan
This widely used book provides information for teachers on using evidence-based practices to build
vocabulary skills through direct and indirect instruction.
Colorín Colorado
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This website was developed as a resource for educators and families of English language learners by
WETA, a public radio and television station in Washington, D.C. It is funded by the American Federation
of Teacher’s (AFT), the National Institute for Literacy, and the U.S. Department of Education, and
partners with Reading Rockets.
This page provides an overview of evidence-based vocabulary instruction for Ell’s:
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/teaching/vocabulary
Created by Sky Marietta | Three to Third
K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Facilitator’s Guide
Boston Public Schools
This page provides tips on differentiating the three tiers of vocabulary instruction for Ell’s:
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/content/vocabulary
This page provides information on teaching cognates, with a link to a pdf that lists common
Spanish/English cognates: http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/background/cognates
Focusing on Special Populations:
 Good vocabulary instruction is also good for Ell’s and students
with disabilities. While you may need additional supports for
these students, they still need direct and explicit instruction in
academic language.
 Ell’s may need additional help learning basic words that would
already be familiar to other children (e.g., “baby”), that are
often described as “Tier One” words. Looking more closely at
the EVT-2 score form can help you identify the types of words
that students need help learning.
 The Ell and Transition Handbook of Reading Street offers
additional tips and resources for adapting instruction for Ell’s.
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Created by Sky Marietta | Three to Third
K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Facilitator’s Guide
Boston Public Schools
Team Meeting Activities
Key:  = quick discussion/overview;  = discussion item;  = involved discussion
Make sure that participants have with them a few EVT-2 forms from low-scoring students, a book
that will be used for read aloud, and the accompanying teacher’s manual.
1.
2.
3.
4
Examining Materials 
a.
Start the session by asking participants about the read alouds they are currently doing as
part of the Reading Street adaptation. What has been their experience with the read aloud
format? What have been the challenges? The benefits?
b.
Focus on the book chosen for this session. Ask participants to look through the book and
identify the words that students may not know, as well as idioms and cognates. You may
write these words on a piece of chart paper, or ask a team member to write them down as a
scribe.
c.
Look at the Reading Street teacher’s manual. What words did the author’s choose as the
target words? How are they taught? At what points are the words reinforced? Do these fit
with the words chosen by the teacher from the read-aloud book?
Digging into Student Data 
a.
Turn the discussion to students with below-average English vocabulary, as identified by the
EVT-2. Are there words in the book that would be tricky for these students? Ask teachers to
identify several words that they would imagine they would need to teach a child with low
vocabulary scores in order for him or her to understand the story.
b.
Now look through the EVT-2 forms that teachers brought for some of their lowest students.
C the types of words that students missed. Did the student know more or less words than
might have been expected? Are there any patterns, such as consistently missing names for
animals or shapes?
Differentiating and Adaptation 
a.
Reconnect the word analysis to the book used for read aloud. Were any of the missed
words connected to the big ideas or important words in the book? What types of words
would be essential to understanding the book but may not be known to the student?
b.
Pass out copies of the “Adapting Vocabulary to English Language Learners” sheet. Help
teachers plan for how they can modify the read aloud to include students with low
vocabularies. Stress that not every word can be taught, the focus should be on words
essential to the story or that have a high utility for understanding any written text. Common
words often do not need explicit instruction, but can be pointed out during reading, perhaps
Created by Sky Marietta | Three to Third
K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Facilitator’s Guide
Boston Public Schools
by pointing to an illustration of the word or demonstrating its meaning. Even students who
miss very basic words still need explicit instruction in the academic language that comprise
the target words of Reading Street.
c.
4.
Pass out small post-it notes or tags that teachers can place on pages as reminders to point
out common words that may be unknown to students.
Closing and reflection 
a.
As the session ends, ask teachers to share what they learned about their students by
analyzing the EVT-2 forms. Where they surprised by what the student knew or did not
know? How will this inform their read alouds moving forward?
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Created by Sky Marietta | Three to Third
K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Facilitator’s Guide
Boston Public Schools
Furthering the Conversation
The following optional activities provide ideas for looking more closely at instruction, professional
development, and family engagement.
Communities of Practice:
 To support this grade-level team meeting, teachers may invite other teaching professionals or
an instructional leader to observe a read aloud session. The observer would focus on
vocabulary instruction, and provide feedback in the following areas:
o Introducing key vocabulary
 How are the words introduced?
 What types of words are introduced most often (Tier 1, 2, or 3?)
 What strategies does the teacher use during the story to emphasize the
meaning of the target words?
 How are students engaged to use the words in a meaningful way?
 Are a wide range of students engaged in using words?
o Making the story inclusive
 How are ideas crucial to the story explained to students?
 How are all students encouraged to actively use target vocabulary words?
Connecting With Families:
 There is no doubt that children benefit from hearing books read aloud in their homes. There are
several free resources to help parents read in an interactive, engaging manner that will
ultimately build vocabulary.
o Washington Learning Systems provides free videos demonstrating dialogic reading to
parents in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Madarin available at
http://www.walearning.com/language/#preview-videos
o Reading Rockets provides reading tips for parents of kindergarteners in 11 different
languages, free to download, print, and distribute at
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/7834
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Created by Sky Marietta | Three to Third
K2 Data-Driven Literacy Instruction
Teacher Handout
Adapting Vocabulary Instruction to English Language Learners
Margarita Calderόn, a professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins University, has adapted the three tiers
of vocabulary instruction for English language learners. She points out that while Ell’s may need help
understanding tier one words, they usually have a concept of the word in their native language. This
means that a few quick strategies—for example, pointing to a picture or acting out a word—will help
Ell’s make sense of the story and still preserve time to explicitly teach academic language. An overview
of her framework is below1.
1
Find out more at http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/content/vocabulary
Created by Sky Marietta
Three to Third