Web Resources from Reading Matters to Maine

I had the pleasure of working with Wendy Gaal, a reading specialist, tutor and founder of Reading Matters to Maine.  Reading Matters to Maine is a group of Maine educators, parents and academics who understand the growing problem of children not learning to read.  They advocate and provide resources for an improved knowledge base for current and future teachers of reading.

Wendy has created a fantastic website full of articles, videos, and other great resources for teaching struggling readers (the picture of the girl pouting on the first page is priceless).  Check out the great work Wendy and the rest of the advisors at Reading Matters to Maine are doing.

Also, the Reading Matters to Maine Fifth Annual Conversation About Reading featured a presentation by Joan Sedita titled “What’s in a word? Content Vocabulary Instruction for Grades 2-12”.  It was held at the University of Southern Maine and an overview video is currently available that can be accessed by going to Reading Matters to Maine and clicking on the video titled “Content Vocabulary Instruction Grades 2-12”.

The video addresses these topics:

• Why explicit vocabulary instruction is necessary
• How many words students need to learn each year in school
• Discrepancies in student word knowledge
• Vocabulary as one of five components of reading
• The role of reading in vocabulary growth