Penn State York Summer Institute

Location: Penn State York Summer Institute Discussion Forum

Discussion: Chapter 2

Category: Discussion Forum / Successful Approaches to RTI

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juliebwise	Chapter 2 Jun 12 2011, 11:24 PM EDT Using the Interactive Strategies Approach to Prevent Reading Difficulties in an RTI Context Post reply Do you find this valuable? Keyword tags: book chapter
KristenOliver	1. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 20 2011, 6:36 PM EDT \| Post edited: Jun 20 2011, 6:43 PM EDT One of the main ideas I liked from Chapter 2 was on page 24 that says that we "need to help students develop a self-teaching mechanism that enables them to use code-based and meaning-based strategies in interactive and confirmatory ways to solve unfamiliar words encountered in text". I find it important for students to be able to monitor their own comprehension and reading. They are often times very quick to correct others but often times miss their own errors. I also really enjoyed the chart on page 49. I have something similar to this in my room but find that I do not often refer to it enough when students are in fact trying to figure out a word. In the high-frequency word section I liked that the book suggested a "Words We Know Chart". I may try to implement this for each student this year for them to track their progress on mastering the spelling and reading of the high-frequency words they are expected to master in their grade level. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
staceyabupp	2. Jun 20 2011, 7:46 PM EDT \| Post edited: Jun 20 2011, 9:24 PM EDT Please See Below Post reply Do you find this valuable?
staceyabupp	3. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 20 2011, 7:48 PM EDT The Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA) is a format that can be adapted to fit the framework of RTI. The ISA developed five instructional principles that can be used to guide general education teachers at the primary level to implement literacy goals. A crucial component is the fact that what is taught in the core instruction must be supported with supplemental instruction. I have found in my experience as a learning support teacher that many of the programs that are used with students that are learning disabled do not correlate to the core curriculum. ISA also presents five instructional goals that are a wonderful reminder of the processes beginning readers take as they develop their reading abilities. I was struck by the first goal: motivation to read and write (page 39). The other goals include alphabetic, phoneme awareness, word learning and the development of sight vocabulary, vocabulary and oral language development, and comprehension. The first concept I would like to incorporate was that of checklist for phonological skills. Another important concept was the eight strategies for word identification (page 49). I was so struck when the teachers were told to avoid sweeping statements like “Does that make sense?” because usually when we ask that, it doesn’t. Lastly, it was notable that the ISA requests that short books used to teach high frequency words should rotate the order of the HFW because students will notice the pattern if they are not moved and will stop “reading” the words. Overall, this chapter provides the primary teacher with so many practical applications that can easily be implemented into the reading classroom in the RtII framework. By changing the number of students in a group, students can receive various levels of tiered instruction. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
cynthiaallenfuss	4. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 20 2011, 7:55 PM EDT I wasn't going to start with chapter 2, but as I previewed the book, the charts/checklists caught my attention. I found the entire description of ISA to be interesting and insightful. The fact that this is an approach that can be used with a variety of materials makes it useful. Professional development is definitely the key to its success. Without PD, monthly grade level meetings, and classrooom observation/coaching sessions; it would be difficult for a district to successfully implement. The five basic instructional principles and five goals of ISA reinforced what I already knew and believed about instructing children. My favorite quote was on page 36. "Every student is expected to do well in reading and writing development, and if the student is not progressing, we now know that it is more important to examine the instruction than to examine the student to try to determine what has gone wrong. Students learn what we teach them, as long as we teach them what they are prepared to learn." I like this quote because I not only believe it to be true, but as a reading coach, have personally witnessed the positive outcomes when we teach children what they are prepared to learn and the negative outcomes when we try teaching something a student is not prepared to learn. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
ReneeMDecker	5. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 20 2011, 9:08 PM EDT As I was reading about the Interactive Strategies Approach I found that this chapter confirmed some things that I already knew. On page 27, Scanlon and Anderson state that, “young children differ tremendously in their understandings about how print and written language work. If instruction does not take account of these differences, it could be argued that the difficulties lie not with the student but with the instruction.” I believe these statements to be true. As an educator, it is crucial that I get to know each and every one of my students. It is my job to find out how they learn best, what they already know, and what areas they might need extra support. With the knowledge that I learn about each student, I can then design instruction to best meet each child’s specific needs. It is in turn the instruction that I modify and adjust as I see student progress or a lack in student progress. This chapter also explained the background information for why I am currently using certain practices in my classroom. This past school year all of the first grade students were assessed using the DRA tool by our reading department. I now know after reading the chapter that this grade wide sweep was a universal screening. After the screening I reviewed the assessments so that my guided reading instruction could begin as soon as possible, to especially target those students who were low, or I have now learned the correct term, “at risk”. I then use differentiation to deliver my instruction to small guided groups. Additional reading support from a reading specialist is available in my building for students who are not meeting the reading benchmark. I have learned that much of what my district already has in place for reading correlated with what I read in this chapter about Interactive Strategies Approach. It is nice to confirm that what I have in place in my classroom is what is best practice for students. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
katiefry	6. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 20 2011, 9:37 PM EDT I am impressed as to how much practical information was packed into that chapter! What initially caught my eye was the Bb, D d box(pg. 41). Many first grade parents and sometimes teachers immediately think that their child/student has dyslexia when he/she reverses those letters. I will surely use that as a reference! As I believe that students especially younger students need visuals, I also like the Word Identification Strategy List on page 49. In our district, we have been discussing that students do not have word attack strategies. They are reading without meaning and not stopping. I do think students need to be taught that strategy. For too long, we concentrated on increasing oral reading fluency and not on how to read for meaning and students were often just given the word when they missed it. I liked the suggestions for typical small-group kindergarten lesson. The lesson recommended that the reading be tied specifically to the alphabetics also being taught. I really think that the more we tie specific skills to the larger skill of reading, the more meaning it will have for students. Another item of interest in this chapter is that the link between poverty and lack of vocabulary. Although I knew that, it was a good reminder to include some type of vocabulary in as many activities as possible. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
annelegore	7. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 21 2011, 12:06 AM EDT I enjoyed reading about the Interactive Strategies Approach to RtI. Common themes running throughout the chapter were an emphasis on excellent instruction and on unifying instruction across all settings. I found it interesting that in the authors' studies, participating teachers worked with coaches. The five basic principles of the approach are ones that I'm sure everyone learns about in their undergrad courses. But I imagine that the teachers in the studies still benefitted from working with the coaches and getting feedback on how to apply those principles to their teaching. It's one thing to read about and understand a principle on paper. It's another story sometimes when you're in the middle of a flopped lesson! I think the success of the authors' approach is a testament to the power of coaching and peer collaboration. I also liked their emphasis on cohesion of strategies, resources, and terminology. I'm excited that my building is moving in the right direction in this area by incorporating our Fundations intervention program into Core 1 teaching. After reading this chapter, I'd also like to adopt the Word Identification Strategy List on page 49 throughout all of our primary grades as well. I like its simplicity! Post reply Do you find this valuable?
peggybaum	8. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 21 2011, 7:26 PM EDT \| Post edited: Jun 23 2011, 9:02 PM EDT On page 25 they discuss the frequency that assessments should be given. I agreed that we tend to spend too much instructional time by giving too many assessments too often. This is especially a problem if the assessment is not informative. Four times a year is the recommendation in the chapter. Being a first grade teacher I was interested in that part of this chapter on pages 29 and 30. I agree that we should use the students' history of responding to instructional intervention to determine the level of intervention needed at the beginning of first grade. That way we can get them started right away and then adjust as they progress throughout the year. On page 30 it says "You get to finish your book before recess." making reading a reward. I use this same terminology when I get students an assessment. I get very animated and excited and tell the students "Today is your lucky day. You get to show me everything that you've learned about..." The students get very excited as well and are proud to share what they've learned. Direct teaching of the flexibility of nouns as discuss on page 45 was an "Ah Ha!" for me. I plan to add that to my instruction next year. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
LonaKluttz	9. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 21 2011, 9:12 PM EDT There has been much written about the RTI, the tiering process, interventions, and prodress monitoring, but not a lot about tier one instruction. As we have heard repeatedly this week, effective classroom teaching matters. This chapter states that there are few intervention programs that yield the positive learning outcomes that high quality classroom instruction can provide. The authors present concern that some instructional recommendations being made in the name of RTI are actually not showing to be best practices for preventing reading difficulties. This article focuses on one instructional strategy that shows to be promising in reading instruction. The Interactive Strategies Approach has been found to be effective in preventing reading difficulties with at-risk students in early primary grades in the general classroom and in intervention groups. This approach involves teaching students to effectively develop word-learning strategies. Helping students learn to use decoding and meaning strategies in interactive ways to attack unknown words. Repeated practice with words allows a student's sight word vocabulary to expand, and thus improves reading fluency and comprehension. Research is showing that early literacy instruction based on the Interactive Strategies Approach that is implemented by highly qualified teachers is responsive for learners and effective at preventing future reading difficulties. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
carriemarvis	10. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 12:06 PM EDT I found the piece on what the different tiers would look like for K, 1, and 2 students to be interesting. On pgs. 29-31 the authors state that the tiers must be flexible depending on each child's needs. Students who are in tiers 1 and 2 in K may make enough progress so they will not need as intensive interventions in the later grades. Those students who are not making much progress in tiers 1 and 2 may need additional support and/or testing in tier 3. This reminds me of the flexibility we have with our guided reading groups. We must get to know the students and their needs in order to best meet their needs. A one-size-fits-all program does not work for all students. If students are making progress, they must continue to be pushed forward in order to continue their growth. Similarly, if students are not making progress, we must identify what is holding them back in order to meet those needs so growth can be made. I'm interested to read more research about RTII in grades 2-3, as not much is stated in this chapter. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
annettefrey	11. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 12:26 PM EDT I found this chapter on the Interactive Strategies Approach to prevent reading difficulties to be very interesting. It was a great review of how to go back to the basics for our struggling readers. So many times, I feel we get caught up in "getting through the program" that it is difficult to stop and re-assess the actual needs that need to be taught in order to build a good reader. Being a learning support teacher, I work with small groups and individuals on a daily basis and use many of the strategies discussed in this chapter. One thing that really hit home was on pg. 33 in the discussion of professional development. It is so important, and often not done appropriately or to the extent necessary, that schools and districts offer the needed professional development to the teachers and staff to help make each child's learning meaningful and purposeful. Getting all staff to be on the same page with learning and collaboration is an integral part the success of each student. I feel like I'm on an island at times, stuck in my room, with the revolving door of children coming and going. There is very little time built into our day to actually meet and collaborate with the other members on our teams. We need to work on that! I also appreciated the idea on pg. 35 of getting all students to be actively engaged in learning activities by providing opportunities for every student to respond (e.g. thumbs up, whiteboard, red light/green light, talk to your neighbor). I have to remember to connect the learning to the texts the students will be reading. That doesn't always happen, and I need to work on that. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
KirstyHouck	12. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 2:44 PM EDT "Of even greater concern is the widespread belief that if a student is making inadequate progress in a given instructional program, the student should be placed in another program." (p.22). We have heard this several times from our keynote speakers this week and unfortunately this is happening too often in our schools. When one program or philosophy does not seem to work the school will quickly adhere to a new one. This is not helping our kids and in some cases is making the situation worse. We need to use good programs with fidelity. The rest of the chapter discusses the Instructional Strategies Approach and provides practical strategies and includes charts, checklists etc. that can be readily used in the RTI framework. What I think is important to remember though, and this is brought up in the text, is that professional development needs to take place in order for any strategy to be successful. One cannot expect teachers to use any interactive RTI strategies without truly understanding why they are using it and how to properly use it. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
jillamspacher	13. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 9:06 PM EDT \| Post edited: Jun 22 2011, 9:18 PM EDT I chose to read Chapter 2 because as I listened to the speakers and as I try to help my six year old son learn to read at home, I have realized that I would benefit from learning more about how reading develops. As a third grade teacher, most of my students come to me knowing the basics of reading. Therefore, my focus tends to be more on comprehension. I have realized this week that with my at risk students I need to back up and actually teach them the basics of how to read. This chapter really helped me develop a better knowledge base of the strategies Kindergarten and first grade teachers use to help their students actually learn to read. One thing I found really interesting is on p. 40-41. They discuss how many times students confuse their lowercase b's and d's. Although this was once thought to be a possible sign of a learning disability, they bring up the point that if we know as educators that students have difficulty with this, we need to address it with the students before it leads to long-term confusion. They used a very simple chart with the capital B and D aside of their corresponding lowercase b and d. This made so much sense to me. Although, as I watch my son struggle with the difference between his b's and d's, I never thought to use a simple bookmark with this graphic. I will definitely try this with my own son, as well as, with some of my third graders who continue to struggle with this concept. I was also really drawn to the chart on p. 49. This Word Indentification Strategy List offers a snapshot look at the multiple strategies they can utilize to identify an unknown word. Instead of just telling kids to sound it out, they can have many methods at their disposal. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
stephsnelbaker	14. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 9:10 PM EDT Scanlon and Anderson stated many common themes of the week in Chapter 2, including the fact that it takes a great teacher providing rich instruction and not any special “program” to help kids most. They also explained early intervention, and that the goal of RTI is to make an LD label the last resort- after all options and supports have been exhausted. They stressed the need for continued professional development for teachers in strategies and techniques that best promote literacy growth and prevent long term reading difficulties - the Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA)- which they stated was an approach, not a program (p. 22). The authors then go on to name goals of ISA for professional development. I think it would be beneficial for all teachers (not just the primary teachers) to have this type of professional development opportunity. The strategies listed are applicable for kids at every grade level- with some modifications to the content. For example, everyone needs to be able to read and write- at any age and level. So, instead of basic sight words, a high school student could make “sight word” books using certain chemical compound formulas, or SAT words. That is what good core instruction does- takes what the kids need to know and presents it in a way in which students can connect to it. I'm looking forward to what Donna Scanlon will present as a keynote speaker! Post reply Do you find this valuable?
sharonrfrey	15. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 9:21 PM EDT In reading chapter two I found a recurring theme that we have seen from our keynote presenters this week. It starts off on p. 20 by saying "for most students, serious reading difficulties can be prevented by improving the quality, quantity, or intensity of the instruction that is provided.". I wish I would have kept track of how many times I've heard that this week! So many districts, including mine, are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on these intervention programs in hopes that the programs will help our struggling students but all the research seems to point to the fact that these programs don't work! When Scanlon and Anderson began discussing the Interactive Strategies Approach, I expected this elaborate new program. What I found is that it's really just "an approach" that uses best practices in kindergarten and first grade as a means to prevent later reading difficulties. This approach seems like it would require a lot of collaboration among teachers and specialists in order to maintain that alignment that is so crucial. But one the instruction is planned and agreed upon, the ISA seems to be an excellent way to prevent the development of reading difficulties in students Post reply Do you find this valuable?
charlenebenjamin	16. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 9:32 PM EDT As I have been hearing all week about the importance of Tier 1 which is classroom instruction necessary for all students, being described as "high quality, research-based core literacy instruction" and that this is based on "good teaching that matters", I questioned whether or not my classroom instruction would meet these expectations. In reading chapter 2, I found it affirming to read about the five instructional principles and the five instructional goals around which we should build our instruction. I feel I deliver quality instruction to my students but of course I have a lot of room for growth. I plan to use the checklists in assessing students and to guide instruction in my small groups. I also identified my "helpful" behavior in wanting to jump in and confirm but that deprives my students of that final step of the word-solving process. This chapter made me feel positive about what I am doing in my classroom but it also gave me many ideas to try to strengthen my instruction. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
heatherjansen	17. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 10:28 PM EDT Chapter 2 makes me think differently about how quickly we tend to identify struggling students as needing special education services. It is interesting to me that we need to stop and think about preventing this from happening so much just by improving the quality and intensity of our instruction. Also, instead of focusing on a program, teachers need to make sure that they are responding to their students' needs by adjusting and enhancing instruction according to what the students are demonstrating in the classroom. I want to make sure that I am being a more effective teacher who gives those struggling readers the opportunity to benefit from quality core instruction in my classroom. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
julieevanish	18. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 22 2011, 11:05 PM EDT Chapter 2: Using the Interactive Strategies Approach to Prevent Reading Difficulties in an RTI Context By Donna M. Scanlon and Kimberly L. Anderson The authors’ message in this article is that for children who are identified as learning disabled, the problem may not be within the student but with the student’s experiences and instruction. They suggest that serious reading difficulties can be prevented by improving the quality, quantity, or intensity of the instruction the child receives. The Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA) is presented as a way of reducing the number of primary grade students who have difficulties with reading. In our district, the reading department has discussed providing more reading support for our Kindergarten teachers in our building to try to reduce the number of first graders who experience reading difficulties. This chapter provided a good blueprint of how we might do that, beginning with professional development for the Kindergarten teachers so that they have in-depth information about early reading development. I found the Instructional principles and goals of ISA to be very similar to those of Reading Recovery. By using them as a basis for our professional learning community meetings, we could begin to move our Kindergarten staff forward in their knowledge of how to teach reading. I will be very interested to hear Dr. Scanlon’s presentation in the morning and hope I can learn even more that I will be able to share with our classroom teachers this fall. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
MadelynnRiedel	19. RE: Chapter 2 Jun 23 2011, 2:49 AM EDT When using the right instruction, teachers may actually prevent students from being mislabeled with a learning disability. That is powerful! RTI is an approach that is both an intervention and a prevention for struggling readers. This chapter focused on the Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA) in the RTI model. It is recommended that schools begin ISA in kindergarten before the knowledge gap gets too wide. As a kindergarten teacher, I plan to promote this in our school district and took this quote to heart on page 27. "Every student is ready to learn something. Our job is to figure out what he or she is ready to learn and teach it." This chapter clearly explained the five instructional principles of ongoing professional development and very thoroughly spelled out the five instructional goals of ISA. As we have been hearing all week, and once again stressed in this chapter, an effective model of RTI requires explicit teaching, collaboration among the student's teachers and ongoing professional development. Post reply Do you find this valuable?