Reading Strategies for Elementary Students With Learning Difficulties

William N. Bender, PhD, has had a long and distinguished career in education, teaching in public school for several years and in higher education for some 26 years at Blue?eld State College in West Virginia, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the University of Georgia. He has written 36 books in special and general education. With his retirement, he has stepped back from his rigorous workshop schedule, which as recently as 2016 included some 40 workshop days per year. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted his work, he has written four historical ?ction novels and several educational books in recent years. He has delivered several professional development projects, including most recently a keynote for a virtual conference on project-based learning in Brazil in conjunction with his Corwin book Project-Based Learning (2012).Martha J. Larkin taught public school students in general education and special education at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels for several years before beginning a career in higher education. She has authored and coauthored 17 journal articles, 10 book and monograph chapters, and 5 research reports and commissioned papers in education and special education. She specializes in instructional strategies, particularly for students with learning disabilities. Her specific teaching and research interests include scaffolded instruction, content enhancement, learning strategies, graphic organizers, and grading rubrics. She especially enjoys pursuing these interests in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. She earned her PhD from the University of Alabama in 1999.

“The authors have taken a huge amount of research and information, digested it, and organized it into a clearly arranged, practical, readable, and usable work. This book balances information, suggestions, and examples with reflective exercises that are practical and valuable. It also gives tons of Web sites and resources for more useful tools and tips.”

• AcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsIntroduction1. The Reading Brain and Literacy InstructionThe Good News in Reading Research!Big Ideas From Early Literacy ResearchThe Emerging Emphasis on LiteracyAssessments of Early LiteracyBrain-Compatible Reading InstructionA Brain-Based Model of ReadingWhat the Brain Research on Reading Has FoundConclusionWhat′s Next?2. Phonemic Instruction: The Critical Emphasis in Reading and LiteracyPhonological Instruction and Phonemic InstructionPhonemic Awareness or Phonemic ManipulationGuidelines for Phonemic InstructionPhonemic-Based Reading ProgramsConclusionWhat′s Next?3. Phonics and Word Attack StrategiesPhonics and the BrainPhonics Instructional OptionsStrategies for Developmental Reading and Spelling StagesConclusionWhat′s Next?4. Strategies for Building Vocabulary and Reading FluencyVocabulary and Reading FluencyBuilding VocabularyThe Importance of Vocabulary DevelopmentDo We Still Need Sight-Word Approaches for Vocabulary Instruction?How Good Readers ReadLearning New Vocabulary TermsWord Recognition InstructionDeriving Meaning From VocabularyLearning Strategies for Vocabulary MasteryReading FluencyConclusionWhat′s Next?5. Gaining Meaning From ReadingReading Comprehension and the BrainStory GrammarStudent Think-Alouds or Inferencing SubstrategiesQuestion AnsweringList SummariesImprovisational DramaCooperative Discussion and Questioning (Coop-Dis-Q)Collaborating Strategic Reading (CSR)BibliotherapyConclusionWhat′s Next?6. Reading Comprehension in the Content AreasContent Area Reading and the BrainKWPLS (Know, Want to Know, Predict, Learned, Summarize)Analogies InstructionPossible SentencesVocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS)Guided Reading in Textual Settings (GRITS)ReQuest: Asking Self-Declared QuestionsIdea CirclesInfra-Act: Sharing PerspectivesQuestion-Answer RelationshipsConclusionResources: Commercially Available Reading ProgramsGlossaryIndex