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Four Powerful Strategies for Struggling Readers, Grades 3-8
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Four Powerful Strategies for Struggling Readers, Grades 3-8
Small Group Instruction That Improves Comprehension

Foreword by Joseph Yukish



July 2008 | 176 pages | Corwin

"Lanning reduces the long list of skills and strategies found in curriculum documents into four key comprehension strategies, setting out a very workable plan for enhancing reading comprehension."
—Richard Allington, Professor of Education
University of Tennessee

"These four powerful strategies come to the rescue with detailed and engaging lessons and examples for guided reading instruction. The clarity and insight make this book a must-read for elementary and middle school reading specialists and classroom teachers."
—H. Lynn Erickson, Educational Consultant
Author, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

Focused techniques to help struggling readers strengthen comprehension skills!

Children who struggle with reading by the time they reach third grade risk falling further behind as they progress through school. This important resource presents four targeted, research-based comprehension strategies to help struggling readers in small group settings understand what they read.

Four Powerful Strategies for Struggling Readers, Grades 3–8 shows teachers how to support students' reading comprehension by teaching the strategies that highly effective readers use: summarizing, creating meaningful connections, self-regulating, and inferring. The author examines how, why, and when to use each strategy and what each strategy looks like in practice. The book also covers:

  • A gradual-release approach that begins with teacher-directed instruction and leads to student-directed learning as skills increase
  • Specific teaching techniques to use with each strategy
  • Detailed lesson examples for reading instruction and content area reading
  • Reflections in each strategy chapter

The underlying principles in the book make these powerful strategies relevant for all elementary teachers, literacy coaches, and instructional leaders working to help students learn to read for deep understanding.


 
Foreword by Joseph Yukish
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
1. Foundations
Recent Findings From Comprehension Strategies

 
Why Four Powerful Strategies?

 
The Four Powerful Comprehension Strategies

 
Summary of Recent Findings From Comprehension Research

 
Reading Comprehension Instruction

 
Comprehension Instructional Activities and Practices

 
Research on the Transfer of Learning

 
What Is Transfer?

 
A Closer Look at Transfer Theory

 
Summmary of Reading Comprehension Instruction

 
 
2. Gradual Release to Accelerate Progress
Gradual Release Lesson Design

 
Conclusions and Reflections

 
 
3. Putting the Strategies Into Practice: Summarizing
What Is Summarizing?

 
When Does a Reader Summarize?

 
Why Do Readers Summarize?

 
Sample Lessons for the Strategy Summarizing

 
Summarizing Across Content Areas

 
Conclusions and Reflections

 
 
4. Putting the Strategies Into Practice: Creating Meaningful Connections
What Is Creating Meaningful Connections?

 
When Does a Reader Create Meaningful Connections?

 
Why Do Readers Create Meaningful Connections?

 
Sample Lessons for the Strategy Creating Meaningful Connections

 
Making Meaningful Connections Across Content Areas

 
Conclusions and Reflections

 
 
5. Putting the Strategies Into Practice: Self-Regulating
What Is Self-Regulating?

 
When Does a Reader Self-Regulate?

 
Why Do Readers Self-Regulate?

 
Sample Lessons for the Strategy Self-Regulating

 
Self-Regulating Across Content Areas

 
Conclusions and Reflections

 
 
6. Putting the Strategies Into Practice: Inferring
What Is Inferring?

 
When Does a Reader Infer?

 
Why Do Readers Infer?

 
Sample Lessons for the Strategy Inferring

 
Inferring Across Content Areas

 
Conclusions and Reflections

 
 
7. Conclusion
 
Glossary: Defining Terms
 
Appendix 1: Thinking About How We Use Strategies to Comprehend
 
Appendix 2: Focusing on Comprehension Strategies in a Small Group Gradual Release Design Lesson for Struggling Readers: Observation Form
 
References
 
Index

“These four powerful comprehension strategies come to the rescue with detailed and engaging lessons and examples for guided reading instruction. The clarity and insight that Lanning brings to the complex area of reading comprehension make this book a must-read for elementary and middle school reading specialists and classroom teachers.”

H. Lynn Erickson, Educational Consultant
Author, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

"Makes teaching comprehension strategies comprehensible, without oversimplifying the complexity of the process. Teachers will come away with the ability to readily transfer four powerful, research-based strategies to their work with struggling readers in small group settings. Lanning is the consummate teacher as she practices what she preaches to make the ideas accessible to the reader."

Catherine Kurkjian, Professor
Central Connecticut State University

"The information is critical to the needs of children in the intermediate grades. It supports what my school district has been focusing on, and the strategies provided are clear and concise."

Wendy Wilging, Fourth-Grade Teacher
Brinkerhoff Intermediate School, Mansfield, OH

"Lanning reduces the long list of skills and strategies found in curriculum documents into four key comprehension strategies, setting out a very workable plan for enhancing reading comprehension."

Richard Allington, Professor of Education
University of Tennessee

"From theory to practical application, this book is a snapshot of lifelong dedication to understanding what works best for kids, especially kids who struggle, and then doing something about it."

Laura J. Mead, Teacher
Danbury Public Schools, CT
Key features

This resource includes:

  • Four "power strategies" to improve reading comprehension for struggling readers in Grades 3–8
  • Strategies based on research in cognition, pedagogy, reading, Reading Recovery, and more
  • Charts, end-of-chapter summaries, classroom case studies, assessment techniques, and sample lessons

Select a Purchasing Option


Rent or Buy eBook
ISBN: 9781452280523

Paperback
ISBN: 9781412957274
$39.95

This title is also available on SAGE Knowledge, the ultimate social sciences online library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.