How To Get Started With ThinkCERCA’s Foundational Reading & Linguistics Course" width="596">
Who is this course for? Who is this course NOT for?
Reading comprehension is the outcome of mastering foundational reading skills. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell why a student lacks reading comprehension. Students who are not reading proficiently, typically lack skills in one of the following areas: decoding, fluency, or comprehension. That’s why giving the right assessment is key.
A reading assessment must deconstruct or isolate the skills of decoding, fluency, and comprehension. At the secondary level, schools typically lack this kind of assessment so finding this data can be a challenge. We recommend DIBELS ORF and MAZE. These are tried and true, free assessments.
This data can guide the decision on who needs what type of intervention.
If students lack comprehension skills, teachers can address this deficiency within a Tier I English or Language Arts class. Ideally, teachers of all subject matter would be equipped with the same 3 to 5 research-based reading comprehension strategies that could be implemented regularly throughout the year.
Although I was an English teacher, I could tutor students in history or any social science, because 90% of the time students just needed help breaking down the text; not with the actual content.
The other group of students you’ll identify are those that need help decoding. For whatever reason, (COVID19, whole language instruction, etc.) so many students never mastered decoding and/or are familiar with phonics. THIS is the group we’re after!
Foundational Reading and Linguistics was created for this group of adolescents! Unfortunately, these skills cannot be taught or integrated justly into Tier I instruction. Additionally, secondary teachers are experts in their content, not in phonics. This is a completely different skill set.
FRL meets the need regardless of the implementation style. It was designed to. Whether students are working completely independent, or a teacher is providing all of the direct instruction, we have an online AND offline curriculum.
Check out this quick video to see what a lesson looks like!Within each unit, there is also a Teacher Guide providing in-depth support for instruction across each lesson.
Pre-Assessment
The first step students will take in Foundational Reading and Linguistics is to complete the Pre-Assessment. This 3-part assessment builds in skills and will direct you as to each student’s entry point into the program.
The first 20 multiple-choice questions test students' knowledge of letter sound correspondence (AKA, the alphabetic principle). This assessment is appropriate if you have students who are new to the English language or may have cognitive delays. If you know students do not need this assessment, feel free to begin with Part 2.
Part 2 of the assessment tests students’ knowledge of phonology and basic decoding and encoding skills.
Part 3 of the assessment tests word and sentence knowledge.
Regardless of the entry point, I would recommend listening to students read aloud. This provides you with a plethora of knowledge on a student’s ability. If students can read a grade-level text fluently, the Foundational Reading and Linguistics program will not benefit them. If anything, they will find it frustrating. These students need comprehension strategies.
Comprehension Strategies
As mentioned above, the best case scenario for student success is if ALL content area teachers utilize and regularly implement the SAME reading comprehension strategies.
We’ve curated the most effective, tried and true, research-based strategies and designed them in a format that can be quickly viewed and implemented the same day!
Foundational Reading Director at ThinkCERCA, experienced literacy coach, former assistant superintendent, teacher, and author of, Help! My Students Write Like They Text.