Targeted Reading Instruction: Four Guiding Principles

Abstract

This article describes four key principles from Targeted Reading Instruction (TRI, formerly called Targeted Reading Intervention), an evidence‐based early reading intervention and professional development program. Focused on accelerating the growth of students not yet meeting grade‐level expectations, one‐on‐one 15‐minute daily TRI lessons engage students in developing phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and beginning reading comprehension. Four key principles guide TRI, which can be applied to classroom reading instruction. First, all work is done in the context of real words and connected text, placing meaning at the heart of instruction. Second, lessons keep it moving, as they follow a consistent structure, use activities to achieve multiple objectives, and make use of all available resources. Third, TRI teachers let the student do the work, engaging students in productive struggle. Fourth, explicit teaching of skills such as blending provides students with unique strategies to become confident independent readers.

Reading Skill Development of Students With Insufficient Language System Development

“…Logopēdiskajās nodarbībās sākumskolas vecumposmā būtu nepieciešams vismaz 15 minūtes veltīt individuālam darbam ar skolēniem, kur tiktu pilnveidota fonemātiskā uztvere, vārdu krājums un lasītā teksta izpratnes veicināšana. Galvenais ir nodrošināt, lai, strādājot ar bērniem, tiktu piedāvāti viņiem interesanti un saistoši lasāmie vārdi, teikumi un teksti (Aiken et al, 2021), jo saistošs lasīšanas teksts rada interesi, kas ir viens no galvenajiem motivācijas aktīvai iesaistei darbībā elementiem. Nozīmīga ir arī mācīšanās un sociālā vide, kurā bērns atrodas, jo tā tieši ietekmē viņa kognitīvo un sociālo attīstību.…”

Beyond Labels and Agendas: Research Teachers need to Know about Phonics and Phonological Awareness

“…In this context, educators learn to use "the right terms," but may not know the reading science. Second, there is a need to update phonics and PA instruction with the most current research (e.g., Ehri, 2020;Piasta & Wagner, 2010;Roberts, 2021;Sunde et al, 2020;Vadasy & Sanders, 2021) and scholarship (Aiken et al, 2021;Blevins, 2019;Duke & Mesmer, 2019;Kaye & Lose, 2019). Third, there are topics that are not getting the attention they deserve.…”

“Hice Zoom Con Mi Abuelita”: What We Can Learn from First and Second Graders' Pandemic Narratives

“…In our second year returning to in‐person instruction post‐pandemic, educators and parents are rightfully concerned about the negative impacts of COVID‐19 on children's literacy performance (Harmey & Moss, 2021). Reading skills are “behind,” writing capacity is “below grade level,” and there is a sense of urgency to “catch students up” to where they “should” be—in literacy and beyond (Aiken et al, 2021) As educators and parents ourselves, we feel and understand this sense of urgency, and we are profoundly aware of the acute needs of children in today's classrooms—needs caused, exacerbated, and revealed by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the main purpose of this article is to support the literacy development of young emergent bilinguals (EBs) by focusing on COVID‐19 as a shared meaningful experience about which to write, instead of focusing upon the “leaning gaps” left in its wake.…”