Literacy Now

After two years of working as an AmeriCorps volunteer in an adult literacy program in Philadelphia, I continued my work with adults as a newly minted reading specialist. Having initially used a phonics-based reading curriculum, I was highly influenced by my whole language training at University of Pennsylvania and my professor, Morton Botel, a past president of the International Reading Association (now the International Literacy Association; ILA) and creator of the Pennsylvania Comprehensive Reading/Communication Arts Plan, which designated five critical literacy experiences. One and only one of the five critical experiences addressed phonics and structural analysis competence or structured language competence. I was excited to bring more whole language into the adult literacy program. Some students did well with the combination of phonics and whole language, but not all instruction was effective for all students.

In the early 2000s, I had moved to Vermont. The middle school where I was teaching was focusing on metacognition and other comprehension strategies including incorporating “deeper” as opposed to “broader” reading, read-alouds, and using multiple texts on the same subject. What was not occurring at my middle school, however, and what I could not do much about, was offering help to my seventh graders who could not decode or spell outside of this structure.

After a summer of teaching at a reading clinic in Vermont, I took a full-time position there and learned how to teach dyslexic students. I was required to take courses on assessment and instruction in phonemic awareness, speech sounds, articulation, and how multisensory instruction impacts literacy acquisition. I learned the linguistical principles upon which the Orton–Gillingham approach is based. My effectiveness in reaching difficult students began to improve rapidly, and I was having more and more success teaching formerly unsuccessful students. I became equally enthusiastic about teaching to my students because some were now able to read good literature! I recall a middle-school girl who started out as a nonreader, and who, after quite some time with learning structured language skills, read an abridged copy of Little Women. She was overjoyed to discover this story of four sisters and compare their personalities, as she herself was one of four sisters.

ILA leaders challenge us to keep delving, investigating, and advocating for our students. In ILA’s Research Advisory Addendum on Dyslexia, they say “optimal instruction calls for teachers’ professional expertise and responsiveness and for freedom to act on the basis of that responsibility.” Although the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) does not agree with this statement, I think I understand. It implies teachers get too much latitude if they have freedom. At the same time, I believe freedom and responsibility are crucial to reaching all students of all ages, not only those with reading difficulties. I do think IDA would agree that structured language instructors need the freedom to do what the National Reading Panel asserts: The best approach to reading instruction is one that incorporates explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics instruction, methods to improve fluency, and ways to enhance comprehension. Structured language instructors must incorporate these approaches—that is their responsibility. They often have precious few hours a week to do their work, and to deviate from those approaches compromises the purpose, integrity, and the effectiveness of the instruction. They must follow the sequence and design, which is based in neuroscience, to train the brain to process written language. At the same time, it is also true that overall literacy education needs to include a variety of approaches and more or less of the structured piece depending on student needs. I agree, as Mathes et al. state and the ILA addendum quotes, “Schools and teachers can be granted some latitude in choosing an approach to providing supplemental instruction.”

Currently, I am the literacy specialist for the Community High School of Vermont (CHSVT). Our students are in the custody of the Vermont Department of Corrections. We teach adult students in correctional facilities and at probation and parole sites throughout the state. After meeting, assessing, and teaching many CHSVT students, I can see many are not dyslexic as defined by what I learned and observed in students as far back as my time in Philadelphia and, more recently, during my tenure at the reading clinic. But, at the same time, some of them do present as highly challenging cases.

At CHSVT, we are using a variety of assessments to help the literacy needs of our enrollees. I am happy to have latitude and a strong team when developing the best approach(es) for our students. We will continue to proudly follow the research and guidance of our colleagues and mentors from both ILA and IDA.

Jeanne H. Smith is a literacy specialist at Community High School of Vermont and a correctional educator with St. Albans Probation and Parole.

After the U.S. presidential election, many feel unsettled, scared, and divided. According to a survey sponsored by Teaching Tolerance, 90% of U.S. educators reported increased anxiety for minority students and an overall negative school climate. A report conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center indicates that children of color are fearful and anxious as a result of the recent election.

But the United States isn’t the only place around the world where children, and even adults, feel vulnerable. Families and individuals fleeing war-torn countries like Syria and migrating to Europe often feel out of place and less than welcome.

Many of the vulnerable students here in the United States are fearful of being separated from their families. Students have cried and hugged their teachers, asking if they would be sent back to their home countries. Elsewhere, undocumented students or students with undocumented family members did not attend school the day after the election. Others expressed fear of being called a terrorist for wearing a Muslim hijab.
According to the survey conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, over 40% of teachers are hesitant to discuss the election with their students. However, we believe it is our responsibility to support children who are hurt, confused, or scared while helping other children who may not experience these feelings develop empathy for those who are. We urge educators to address students’ concerns while also teaching tolerance, acceptance, and a culture of respect that will transcend the four walls of the classroom.

As educators, we must reassure students that we will keep them safe. We can do this by creating and maintaining a respectful and kind classroom community as a microcosm of larger society. For example, as a fourth-grade teacher, Alyssa created a safe space for students to engage in difficult conversations and explore the common bonds of humanity leading up to the transition of power at The White House.

The election has capitalized on people’s differences, but instead of building people up as individuals, it has divided people and brought bitterness to the forefront. As teachers, we aim to instill students with the idea that they are unique and valued individuals, and highlighting differences in the classroom can develop self-confidence. The day after the election, students were asked to list 10 things that all people have in common—emphasizing similarities instead of differences. Initially, the students were quiet, but with some time, the pencils started moving, the confused looks turned into smiles, and hands went up, eager to share. Students noted everyone has a birthday, a family, goals, and dreams, everyone believes in something, and no one is perfect.

We discussed how elections require us to think about our beliefs and what principles guide our actions daily and make us individuals. This time, students were asked to write belief statements. They shared, “I believe…”:

• Everyone should be able to have a job.
• Everyone deserves to be loved.
• Everyone should be treated with kindness.
• You can do anything you set your mind to.

And when "I believe everyone should be respected for their differences," was shared, the classroom erupted with a resounding "Yes!"

We concluded with a conversation about the difference between agreeing with someone and respecting someone’s ideas. When we agree, we share a belief. When we respect someone, we acknowledge that someone is entitled to his or her own beliefs and we do not have to agree with someone’s belief. We explored ways that we could live out those beliefs every day and respect people's differences. I explained that there are a lot of serious and important topics attached to politics and new presidents. I explained that as 9-year-olds, they cannot vote and they cannot control some things but what we can control is the way that we live, the way we respond, and the way that we respect others’ differences.

This discussion about similarities and beliefs is just the start of building a foundation of compassion and critical thinking that shapes the future. These difficult conversations must occur regularly. As teachers, we have the power to provide our students with a safe space to talk about big issues to help cultivate kind, respectful, and caring young people. By telling the story about this particular class and the teacher's plans for continuing these conversations, we hope to inspire other educators to tackle difficult yet important topics with their own students. Our work as educators to foster solidarity is essential during this time of division and uncertainty.

Katie Stover is an assistant professor of education and coordinator of Masters in Literacy at Furman University in South Carolina. Alyssa Cameron is a fourth-grade teacher at Roebuck Elementary in South Carolina.

Forgive the destructive imagery, but it’s necessary. Tens of thousands of precious learning hours are spent doing well-intentioned but worthless activities with students every day in the name of literacy when, in fact, these activities are glowingly toxic.

I’ve been on all sides of this issue. I’ve used traditional worksheets; I’ve used student writing as personalized writing wallets. The latter works a gazillion times better. As a young teacher myself in the 1970s, I handed out my share of worksheets. In hindsight, I realize that during this decade students may have eagerly grabbed worksheets not because they were a good learning tool but because of that mimeograph chemical high. Do you remember? Worksheets were run on a mimeograph machine and smelled so good that we’d cluster in the copy room and probably get a little happy on the fumes. Teachers who inhaled mimeograph fluid and students who didn’t complain about a test as long as their papers are just a little damp with that same chemical…well, we should have known that wasn’t good.

Writing skill development comes with the teacher’s observation of what’s working for students and what they struggle with as they write. The teacher develops targeted lessons to help students take the next step forward, we don’t simply turn to the Internet for something to download. By the way, I just Googled “writing worksheets” and got 46,900,000 results. Astonishing. Horrifying, too. It’s as though the teaching world has taken a big detour from best practices to easy practices.

Don’t take my word for it. Let your students help you decide the fate of worksheets in your classroom. Look at their work and your teaching for the answers to these four questions so you can form your own opinion:

• Do your students write well?
• Do they eagerly dive into their writing?
• Do you see measurable improvement day after day?
• Do you look forward to teaching writing and modeling writing with your students?

If the answer is “yes” to all of these questions, then congratulations. You have escaped the allure of worksheets. But if two or three of your answers are “no,” then we need to talk seriously about how to take back your writing classroom so it is a more joyous, productive, and—yes, complicated (but interesting) place.

Step 1: Ditch the worksheets. Do it. The world will not end; the sun will come up in the morning. I promise.

Step 2: Replace those dull-as-a-board worksheets with the students’ own writing that is worked on over and over again as you teach lessons and students apply new skills.

Step 3: Use mentor texts as the models so students learn from and are inspired by writers (not worksheets) about writing. Reading and writing feed on each other. Stephen King reminds us, “You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.”

And please don’t get me started on packets sent home as homework or conveniently assembled to cover a week or two of skills practice all in one place. Or for test prep. I know of one state that gave students “fun packets” at Spring Break that were nothing more than test items to practice before the state assessment scheduled shortly after the holiday. The “fun” part turned out to be coloring the cover. Wow.

Without worksheets and packets, think of the budget monies you’ll save buying black line masters and running them off on ream after ream of paper. Here’s what I discovered: The average school of 100 teachers uses 250,000 sheets of paper annually. This school would spend approximately $7,500 per year on printing, and paper itself costs $25,000. That’s a lot of wasted money. How about asking the building administrator to instead earmark those funds for books? (I think I see you smiling…)

Here’s another benefit of killing the worksheets: No more worksheets to correct. And if your students are writing authentically—choosing their own topics, trying new trait-specific techniques they’ve read in real books, revising with partners to make the writing sharper—you’ll have much more interesting papers to read! As a bonus, you’ll have more time to talk with students about their writing and help them improve each piece, one little nudge at a time. That has to make you happy, too. After all, isn’t the whole purpose of teaching writing to help students become strong, capable, and independent thinkers? Yes, I think it is.

Ruth Culham is a recognized expert in the writing assessment field and is known for conducting lively teacher workshops. Her current book, The Writing Thief, gives insight on how to use reading to practice writing skills.

During 24 years of teaching middle school, my one wish was for more time! Time to spend with students who needed extra assurance or help. Time to plan. Time to review and grade student work. Time to collaborate with colleagues. Time to teach all the standards. Time to cover the content of our syllabi. Time to breathe and have fun. Time, time, time!

Sound familiar?

As a teacher, I never stopped giving up one thing in order to take care of another thing. Children’s lives and learning were at stake! 

I was/am an ELA teacher and worked as a learning specialist and Title I coordinator. As such, prioritizing was something I had to do not only for myself but also for others. Research, along with my experience as a teacher, told me to prioritize word learning. This meant minimizing time spent on close reading and reading strategies. It was scary, and I was fortunate to have a principal who backed me up. I knew vocabulary was vital.

Our school was faced with more than 50% of our readers arriving in sixth grade without skills to learn from their reading. Upon assessing skill deficits, almost all of them were suffering from limited background knowledge—specifically word knowledge—and stuck at a certain reading level, unable to move forward.

I started to experiment. I engaged my students in an assortment of best practices for word learning in my classroom for 14 years, fine tuning and streamlining. My personal action research showed me that spending 90 minutes a week, with the right strategies, could really do it! I made a difference in reading scores in just four months by prioritizing 90 minutes a week for differentiated word learning. And I was able to do this repeatedly over four years (until I “retired”)!

Word learning is the key

At a recent workshop, Kate Kinsella said, "Vocabulary is the silver bullet."

And she’s not the only one. E.D. Hirsch reminded us in a speech to the Virginia House of Delegates, “The persistent achievement gap between haves and have-nots in our society is chiefly a verbal gap. There is no greater practical attainment in the modern world than acquiring a bellyful of words. A large vocabulary is the single most reliable predictor of practical, real-world competence.”

In Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Robert J. Marzano reminded us, “Direct teaching of vocabulary might be one of the most underused activities in K–12 education. The lack of vocabulary instruction might be a result of misconceptions about what it means to teach vocabulary and its potential effect on student learning.”

So what does a teacher do?

Make time. I know, the most controversial word in teaching—time!

Ninety minutes—join us!

Are you ready to take on the challenge of making more room for vocabulary instruction? Can you make time for 90 minutes a week? Join me and others in a monthlong challenge to spend 90 minutes each week on word learning! Sign up for more information about The 90 Minute Challenge! by visiting my blog page. We’ll send you interactive activities based on best practices, tips, inspiration, and other support along the way.

Let me finish with some final poignant statistics:

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 22% of children in the United States are living in poverty.

According to the Heart of America Foundation, 61% of families living in poverty do not have children's books in their homes. Consequently, children living in poverty already have a 50% weaker vocabulary than their wealthier peers at the start of school.

I hope you want to take the 90 minutes to build student vocabulary, but maybe you think 90 minutes is unattainable? Please comment here to tell us what your roadblocks are. We want to help!

Carla Kessler is the director of Learning at LogixLab LLC, creator of Word Lab Web, and formerly a Title I coordinator and learning specialist. She has been recognized as an Outstanding Educator by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and has been recognized for her skills as a 25-year middle grade teacher, implementing curriculum that brings measurable results.

Here in Hartselle City Schools in Alabama, it is our responsibility to prepare every student, regardless of ability. After all, college and career readiness is about more than which school or profession a student might choose after high school—it is about community readiness, too. Literacy is a key part of that.

When the state of Alabama enacted tougher standards for all students, we knew we had to change as well. The challenge was that, despite our best efforts, many of our students with special needs continued to perform about two or three grade levels behind their peers in general education.

So our district formed a reading task force for students with special needs. I served on the task force along with special education teachers from each of our six schools, and we began looking for a new intervention. Since then, we have made tremendous progress narrowing the achievement gap.

Building foundational skills

At the time we launched our task force, we were using a reading intervention program that provided instruction in word study, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, writing, listening, and speaking. Although we could see some improvements, we were missing something. After evaluating several programs, we decided to try the neuroscience-based Fast ForWord. My school, F.E. Burleson Elementary, was the first to sign up to pilot the program in our district.

We began using the online reading intervention program with our students with special needs during the 2014–2015 school year. Unlike traditional interventions, the program starts with cognitive skills including memory, attention, and processing speed. It works from the bottom up to address underlying difficulties that keep struggling readers from making progress. It also targets phonics and phonological awareness, grammar and vocabulary, listening comprehension, and following directions.

This approach resonated with me. As a psychometrist, I test a lot of children who have poor working memory skills, which directly affects their ability to learn to read. The Fast ForWord program helps build foundational skills children need to become successful readers.

When we began, we placed students on the program 30 minutes a day, three to five days a week. In one semester, we saw a 25% increase in students’ reading abilities. At the end of the year, we saw improvement in students’ ACT Aspire scores as well.

Taking a structured, intensive, multisensory approach

Two or three days a week, we also break into small groups—with a maximum of three students per group—and provide intensive intervention using the Orton–Gillingham approach to reading instruction. Students begin by reading and writing individual letters and connecting them to sounds. Then they blend these letters and sounds into syllables and words, building on these skills over time.

This is multisensory. For example, students use drill cards, letter tiles, sensory boards, hand and body motions, and songs to build their skills. Tapping into visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning modalities helps students reinforce and remember what they are learning.

In addition, we use the Barton Reading and Spelling System, which uses color-coded letter tiles to help students connect sounds with letters. Like the Orton–Gillingham approach, it is a structured, sequential program using all the senses to help children make connections between sounds and words. 

Achieving measurable gains

In 2015, while many schools struggled with Alabama’s new standards, our school had gains on every benchmark and made the most improvement among schools in the Decatur area. On the ACT Aspire, which includes students with special needs (unlike Alabama’s previous standardized test), our third graders had a 22-point improvement in the percentage of proficient readers and fourth graders showed a 26-point gain.

As a result, the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS) selected F.E. Burleson Elementary to be one of 14 CLAS Banner Schools for 2015. The program recognizes schools providing outstanding services for students to serve as models for other schools.

In 2016, our students continued to achieve gains, once again improving their performance on the ACT Aspire.

Seeing the effort our students put into our programs and how much they are improving is gratifying. Our teachers are pleased, too, because students are now ready for their instruction. We are very excited about our results, and our teachers and students are looking forward to what this year holds.

Tara Hamlett is a special education teacher and psychometrist at F.E. Burleson Elementary, a Title I school in Hartselle City Schools in Alabama.