Reading Endorsement: PDA Differentiating for Reading Difficulties: (Online)
Making Instruction Explicit
60 Points per Certificate
7/12
2-013-028
General Objective
To provide an opportunity for participants to learn the foundations of differentiation and apply principles of differentiation to
instruction by acquiring knowledge of effective, research-based instructional methodology to prevent reading difficulties and
promote acceleration of reading progress for struggling students, including students with disabilities and from diverse
populations.
This online study and group learning experience, when led by an approved facilitator and completed in its entirety, satisfies
the requirements of competency 4 of the Florida Reading Endorsement requirements.
Specific Objectives
Review the history of reading instruction.
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Understand the importance of scientifically based reading research.
Review current scientifically based reading research.
Identify Florida initiatives and resources for teaching reading.
List the stages of language and reading development.
Identify the alterable and instructionally relevant variables that impact differentiation of reading instruction.
Examine research on why reading failure is unnecessary.
Identify the guidelines, classroom elements, and student characteristics that are a basis for differentiating to
improve instruction for all students.
Identify strategies that support a differentiated environment for all students.
Define the principles that can be used to differentiate instruction and make lessons more explicit for students
with reading difficulties.
Describe the teacher delivery methods that can be used to differentiate instruction and make lessons more
intense for students experiencing reading difficulties.
Understand that meaningful differentiated instruction is based on student assessment data.
Review purposes, types, and models of reading assessment.
Describe features of Florida’s reading assessment plan for elementary.
Describe features of Florida’s reading assessment plan for secondary.
Identify the purpose of the Progress Monitoring and Reporting Network (PMRN) K-12.
Activate background knowledge regarding phonological awareness.
Clarify the relationship between phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and skilled reading.
Review the supporting research regarding phonological awareness.
Discuss phonological awareness difficulties.
Extend and apply knowledge of systematic instructional design principles and intensive teacher delivery
methods to provide differentiated and explicit instruction in phonological awareness.
Understand the goal of phonics instruction and the important role it plays in reading instruction for students
experiencing persistent difficulty in reading.
Review the supporting research on the teaching of phonics.
List the components of effective phonics instruction.
Define the role of decodable text in beginning reading instruction.
Extend your knowledge and application of differentiated instruction through the systematic instructional design
principles and teacher delivery methods to increase intensity.
Examine core, intervention, or remedial curriculum materials according to the principles of systematic
instructional design.
Define fluency.
Determine the reasons why students are dysfluent.
Examine the connection between proficient reading and reading fluency.
Learn how to differentiate assessment and instruction of reading fluency for students experiencing reading
difficulties.
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Understand the importance of vocabulary instruction and the role it plays in the reading process.
Review the research supporting vocabulary instruction.
Identify the levels of word knowledge.
Examine the continuum of vocabulary strategies and the relationship to levels of word knowledge.
Understand how to choose words for instruction.
Review how to create student-friendly definitions for instruction.
Identify the components of an effective vocabulary lesson.
Understand how to differentiate vocabulary instruction and increase explicitness by applying various
instructional design principles and teacher delivery methods to vocabulary instruction.
Identify the single most important goal of reading instruction.
Define reading comprehension.
List the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are required for good reading comprehension.
Determine when comprehension instruction should begin.
Recognize student behavior that may interfere with accurate text comprehension.
Discuss the relationship between other areas of reading and comprehension.
Model examples of differentiation through explicit comprehension instruction.
Clarify how to differentiate comprehension strategy instruction for students with reading difficulties.
Contrast reading comprehension instruction with accommodating students in content-area classes.
Establish the importance of assessment for differentiating comprehension instruction.
Description of Activities
Participants will achieve mastery of the objectives by participating in group meetings with a qualified facilitator and
completing the online module, in its entirety, which includes the following directed activities, referenced within the module,
and appropriate to the various areas of content:
1.
Review all module content and related professional articles, and participate in group discussion and
activities related to the content.
2.
Complete multiple choice, true-false, matching and fill-in-the-blank “check your understanding” quizzes as
directed.
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Complete an initial teacher self-assessment, reflection and action plan
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Complete a final teacher self-assessment, reflection and action plan
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Complete a classroom based action research investigation and case study examining phonemic awareness,
phonics or advanced word identification instruction in a core, remedial or intervention reading program
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Complete a classroom based action research investigation and case study on assessing and building fluency
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Complete a classroom based action research investigation and case study on explicit vocabulary instruction
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Complete a classroom based action research investigation and case study on explicit instruction of a
comprehension strategy
Evaluation
Participants will create and maintain an electronic portfolio consisting of all specified assessment tasks, which will be
reviewed for satisfactory completion according to task specific scoring guidelines provided within the module. Participants
must complete the five “check your understanding” quizzes with 80% accuracy.
Evaluation of Activities
An online evaluation for this activity will be conducted through the Santa Rosa Professional Development Growth System.
Follow-Up Strategies
 Participants are provided access to additional professional development offerings that build upon the content of this
component.
 Participants completing this component are surveyed to determine use of the knowledge, skills gained and the
impact of the component on job performance and student learning gains.
 Individuals successfully completing the activities identified in this component may let other educators observe them
as they implement the knowledge and skills gained.