Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students (8e)

Aspiring and practicing professionals get the authoritative help they need to become highly effective teachers by applying the book’s numerous research-based teaching strategies, lesson plans, and step-by-step guidance for teaching reading and writing.

This practical, comprehensive text focuses on helping aspiring and practicing professionals become highly effective teachers. In turn, their students will develop as proficient readers and writers who are well on their way to becoming college and career ready. The author accomplishes this using landmark research that focuses on using highly effective practices, such as setting goals, monitoring progress, and implementing teaching strategies, and provides information on the average percentile gains achieved when these practices are instituted. Readers get step-by-step guidance for teaching reading and writing, including sample lessons for virtually every major literacy skill/strategy–30 lessons that incorporate the key elements of effective assessment and instruction.

This new edition continues to emphasize how to adapt instruction for struggling readers and writers, English language learners, and special needs students and includes powerful new research-based teaching techniques that work especially well with struggling readers. This edition also stresses effective steps teachers can use to implement Response to Intervention and looks at developing higher-level literacy requirements for reading and writing, including those stemming from Common Core State Standards.

1          The Nature of Literacy  

2          Teaching All Students  

3          Assessing for Learning  

4          Fostering Emergent/Early Literacy  

5          Teaching Phonics, High-Frequency Words, Fluency, and Syllabic Analysis  

6          Building Vocabulary  

7          Comprehension: Theory and Strategies  

8          Comprehension: Text Structures and Teaching Procedures  

9          Reading and Writing in the Content Areas and Study Skills  

10        Reading Literature  

11        Approaches to Teaching Reading  

12        Writing and Reading  

13        Creating and Managing a Literacy Program 

The new edition features a focus on Common Core State Standards, 30 revised sample lessons incorporating the key elements of effective assessment and instruction, powerful new research-based teaching techniques that work especially well with struggling readers, a graded Academic Word List with suggestions for developing academic language in elementary and middle school students, an emphasis on effective steps for implementing Response to Intervention, and more.

Students learn how to implement the widely adopted Common Core State Standards. The new edition lists, describes, and discusses the Common Core State Standards, addressing almost all of the Common Core reading and writing standards. Included are expanded discussions of reading and writing strategies and readability measurement advocated by Common Core Standards.

Students get a list of specific words in Chapter 2 that they can use as a valuable teaching resource–the graded Academic Word List, especially adapted for elementary and middle school students.

Teachers can turn to highly effective, step-by-step instructions for ways to help struggling readers. This edition includes coverage of three powerful new research-based teaching techniques that work well with struggling readers: indexing, mystery passages, and WIRC (Writing Intensive Reading Comprehension thinksheets).

Teachers get information and techniques to help them meet the new standards’ emphasis on reading and writing informational text. Included is a discussion of coherence and using the Easability Index to measure coherence and plan instruction

To help teachers become better informed about the most effective practices in literacy–and therefore make well-informed professional decisions–the text highlights landmark research that describes the most effective instructional practices, highlights highly effective practices, and provides information on the average percentile gains achieved when these practices are instituted.

Readers can self assess their knowledge of the fundamental information and practices in each chapter through a new Professional Reflection feature which asks readers to reflect on their ability to implement key assessment and instructional practices in that chapter.

Teachers will be able to construct and implement highly effective phonemic awareness and word attack programs through the book’s thorough coverage of these areas.

Assessment for tracking growth and planning instruction is made easier through the book’s updated and expanded coverage of assessment in the areas of measuring growth; value added assessment, monitoring progress, and assessing comprehension through think-alouds.

Teachers get a variety of concrete ideas for helping struggling readers and writers and ELLs become college and career ready through the strong emphasis on this area throughout all of the chapters.

Teachers see the ideas and concepts in real life application. Included are 30 instructional lessons to help teachers learn to implement highly effective lessons, 30 Exemplary Teaching Scenarios, and 12 Case Studies.

Chapter 1

• Explanation of importance of tying assessment and instruction to student achievement
• Expanded coverage of scientifically based literacy instruction, including a listing of approaches and techniques and their average percentile gains
• Description of the essentials of an effective lesson
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 2

• Expanded coverage of Response to Intervention
• Expanded discussion of scaffolding for English language learners and instruction in academic language
• Addition of a list of high-frequency academic vocabulary that would be especially appropriate for elementary and middle school students
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 3

• Update of informal reading inventories and Curriculum Based Measures
• Expanded coverage of mazes
• Description of the Oral Reading Fluency Scale
• Expanded explanation of performance assessment and using growth measures to assess progress
• Explanation of Mystery Passages as a group or individual think-aloud
• Explanation of reader and task factors in readability
• Explanation of the Easibility Index, a new measure of text complexity
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 4

• Revision and expansion of information on phonemic awareness
• More information on learning centers
• Explanation of Individual Interactive Writing
• Updated explanation of the positions of professional organizations on early literacy instruction
• Description of Harlem Children’s Zone, a highly praised early literacy initiative
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 5

• Revised sequence of decoding skills that incorporates the teaching of vowels early
• Additional activities for syllabic analysis
• New Exemplary Teaching: Decoding Long Words
• Revised list of syllable patterns, which are listed by ease of analysis
• Explanation of the sequential spelling technique for decoding long words
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 6

• Description of two programs designed to develop academic vocabulary: Word Generation and ALIAS
• Expanded discussion of English language learner dictionaries
• Discussion of techniques for assessing vocabulary development
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 7

• Description of using think-aloud mysteries to motivate and improve strategy use
• Chart explaining steps in a strategy lesson
• Expanded coverage of repair (fix-up) strategies for fostering comprehension, with a new table of strategies
• Using manipulatives to foster comprehension, a research-based technique that works wonders with the poorest of comprehenders 
• Expanded explanation of the importance of prior knowledge
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 8

• Discussion of coherence and using the Easability Index to measure coherence and plan comprehension instruction
• Discussion of how to use easy books to build background knowledge
• Exemplary Teaching: A Steppingstone Approach--proceeding from easy to more challenging texts
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 9

• Discussion of impact of Common Core State Standards on nonfiction reading
• Discussion of creating key questions and understandings as advocated by Understanding by Design
• Expanded explanation of techniques for differentiating instruction
• Explanation of WIRC (Writing Intensive Reading Comprehension) Thinksheets, a research-based technique for scaffolding comprehension
• Discussion of use of  e-books and e-readers in the content areas
• Discussion of the importance of the right kind of research-based practice to build students’ understanding and aid retention
• Use of quizzes and judicious review to bolster students’ understanding and retention
• Expanded coverage of test preparation
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 10

• Explanation of Quality Talk, a discussion approach designed to foster thinking
• Updated discussion of envisionments, a literature response approach
• Expanded discussion of techniques for fostering voluntary reading
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 11

• Updated information on basal readers/anthologies
• Added information on adapting commercial programs so as to provide adequate instruction and practice
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 12

• In keeping with Common Core State Standards, explanation of the importance of  writing in a variety of genres
• Expanded coverage of narrative, informational/explanatory, and argumentative writing
• Expanded coverage of rubrics
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Chapter 13

• Expanded coverage of the new literacies and Web 2.0, including blogs, wikis, and social networking
• Expanded coverage of technology and electronic materials
• Expanded coverage of intervention programs
• Expanded coverage of professional development
• Professional reflection on implementing the key concepts in the chapter

Pre- and in-service teachers see how to prepare students to become proficient readers and writers well on their way to becoming college and career reading through its practical, comprehensive approach, landmark research highlighting effective practices, and information on the average percentile gains achieved when these practices are instituted.

Step-by-step guidance for teaching and reading is provided through sample lessons for virtually every major literacy skill or strategy—all incorporating the key elements of effective assessment and instruction.

Readers see how to promote success with all learners through the author’s emphasis on struggling readers and writers and English learners and the effective steps teachers can use to implement Response to Intervention.

How to use technology as a tool in the classroom is emphasized throughout, including the use of the Internet, Web 2.0, electronic books, hand-held electronic devices, and other technologies.

Readers get continual reinforcement of the ideas and concepts in a number of outstanding pedagogical aids such as Professional Reflections at the end of each chapter and Building Competencies, which accompanies Professional Reflection. Together these features prepare readers for the kinds of professional tasks and assessments they will most likely encounter during their professional careers and provide resources for further development of key instructional practices. Also included are Case Studies, IRA Position Statements, Model Lessons, Student Strategies, Reinforcement Activities, Student Reading Lists, Exemplary Teaching features, Marginal Annotations, various learning aids, Tools for the Classroom sections, end-of-chapter summaries and activities, and more.

Thomas G. Gunning, a former junior high English teacher and elementary school reading consultant, is Professor Emeritus, Southern Connecticut State University, where he was department chair and reading clinic director. Currently an Adjunct Professor, Reading/ Language Arts Department, Central Connecticut State University, Professor Gunning has conducted research on group reading inventories, vocabulary assessment, reading disabilities, intervention programs, readability, response to intervention, decoding processes and strategies, and literacy skills needed to cope with high-stakes tests. His other books with Pearson include Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties, Fourth Edition; Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students In Grades 4-8, Third  Edition; Developing Higher-Level Literacy in All Students: Building Reading, Reasoning, and Responding; Closing the Literacy Gap; and Creating Literacy Instruction for All Children in Grades Pre-K to 4, Second Edition.