Closing the Literacy Gap: Accelerating the Progress of Underperforming Students

Available from Guilford Press    June 29, 2022

Packed with practical tools, this book provides K–6 educators with a research-based framework for accelerating the reading and writing growth of underperforming students. Strategies and resources are included for building foundational skills, comprehension, and vocabulary; engaging students with independent reading and periodicals; developing writing; and implementing tutoring and otherextra supports. The book gives special attention to helping those most affected by the literacy gap–Black and Latinx students, students living in poverty, and students with reading disabilities. It describes dozens of high-quality intervention programs, assessments, activities,and materials, many of which can be accessed for free at the companion website. Reproducible forms and handouts can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2″ x 11″ size. Packed with practical tools, this book provides K–6 educators with a research-based framework for accelerating the reading and writing growth of underperforming students. Strategies and resources are included for building foundational skills, comprehension, and vocabulary; engaging students with independent reading and periodicals; developing writing; and implementing tutoring and other extra supports. The book gives special attention to helping those most affected by the literacy gap–Black and Latinx students, students living in poverty, and students with reading disabilities. It describes dozens of high-quality intervention programs, assessments, activities,and materials, many of which can be accessed for free at the companion website. Reproducible forms and handouts can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2″ x 11″ size.

Reading Success for All Students
Covering key areas in literacy instruction from phonemic awareness to comprehension strategies, Reading Success for All Students: Using Formative Assessment to Guide Instruction and Intervention provides 33 copy-ready assessments. Each assessment is accompanied by highly effective, evidenced-based suggestions and techniques for instructing students.

Reading Comprehension Boosters
Using a theme-based unit approach, Reading Comprehension Boosters: 100 Lessons for Building Higher-Level Literacy, Grades 3-5 develops essential comprehension strategies in step-by-step fashion that begins with building prerequisite skills and ends with application. To build engagement, students read about such intriguing topics as guide horses, two-headed snakes, parachutes for planes, and young people who help make the world a better place. The hundred lessons are copy-ready.

Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties
Comprehensive, practical, and up-to-date, Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties, 6th Edition presents a wealth of examples and thorough coverage of procedures for assessing and instructing below-level readers and writers from pre-k through grade 12.  The book covers virtually all aspects of assessment, including basic concepts of tests and measurements, standardized measures, and informal but highly regarded techniques. The book’s thorough, practical coverage of instructional techniques includes approaches for working with readers and writers who have the most severe difficulties, including those diagnosed as having  dyslexia. Some 46 sample lessons covering virtually every essential skill are presented and accompanied by numerous suggestions for practice and reinforcement, including the use of technology. The text takes the position that with the right kind of instruction and reinforcement, virtually all students can learn to read and write complex text, which is the foundation for being college- and career-ready.

Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students
Noted for being a comprehensive text, Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students, 10th Edition is packed with practical instruction and assessment strategies that support the literacy development of all learners. Unique text features include:

•  three chapters dedicated to comprehension

• an Academic Word List adapted for elementary and middle school students, arranged by difficulty level of words;
• specialized techniques for teaching difficult phonics elements;
• formative phonics, syllabic analysis, and comprehension assessments that are easy to administer and analyze;
• comprehension techniques such as mystery passages, using manipulatives, macro close, and writing intensive reading comprehension;
• explanations on using extensive databases of Lexiled informational texts; and step-by-step guidance for teaching reading and writing – including sample lessons for virtually every major literacy skill/strategy that incorporate the key elements of effective assessment and instruction.