When teachers enter sample text into the tool, it finds the high-value, academic vocabulary words in that text. The Common Core emphasizes the need for students to learn academic vocabulary in order to access the content of subject-area texts, as noted in the anchor Language Standard #6 for grades K-12...

The demands and complexity of reading in a college setting, in workforce training programs, and in civic life in general have either remained the same or increased over the last fifty years. However, K-12 texts have actually declined in difficulty and sophistication and become less demanding....

Text structure is the arrangement of ideas and the relationships among the ideas; readers and writers who are familiar with text structure recognize how the information is unfolding. Common Core Reading Standard #5 focuses on teaching text structure.

As students advance to middle and high school grades, the text that they have to read and write become increasingly varied in style, vocabulary, text structure, purpose, and intended audience....

The author of the piece, Annie Murphy Paul, notes that the practice of leveling students’ reading material so that teachers can adjust the difficulty of text to suit the ability and skills of the reader is very popular and has been around for over sixty years....

I am often asked this question as I deliver literacy professional development at schools across the country, especially from English and ELA teachers who are understandably concerned that they may not have the time to expose their students to classic literature. I recently ran across two articles that address this issue...

Often in training I get the following question: How many topic webs should I make? I keep waiting for the rest of the question. Are teachers asking how many to make over the course of a semester? Are they asking me what the expectation is from their administrators? I hope they are asking me how many top-down topic webs are needed for kids to be successful using them independently to support their comprehension, and that is how I respond.....

The article summarized findings from a study by the U.S. Department of Education based on 2012 statistics. Here are some troubling findings:

• One in four college freshman nationwide takes at least one noncredit remedial class
• Costly reading and writing remedial courses delay college graduation and increase by half the likelihood that students will not complete studies
• The nationwide costs of remedial courses was $3.6 in tuition alone in 2007-08
• Freshman at the 14 state-owned universities took 4,584 remedial courses in the 2012-13 school year that cost about $1000 a course....

Here is a link to my archived webinar titled “A Best-Practices Instructional Routine for Writing in the Content Areas”...

The article includes suggestions for how parents can help their children develop categorizing and main idea skills. It also presents an overview of the two-column note format that students can use when they are reading for homework...

I currently present workshops on Close Reading, and I love it. Done correctly, Close Reading can increase reading confidence, ......

Based on her experience in middle school classrooms that include students who struggle to read and write, Beth makes seven great suggestions......

In case you have not already visited this website, I’m devoting this blog post to making you aware of what I consider a “treasure trove” of free instructional resources that are evidence-based and tightly aligned with meeting Common Core literacy standards.....

Since Keys to Literacy was started in 2007, part of our mission has been to share what we learn about literacy instruction with educators so they can improve the reading and writing skills of students. This mission has its roots in my personal mission that began in the late 1970's when I first had the opportunity to teach students who struggled to read and write at the Landmark School......