Contents

• Overview & Foundations

• Product Development

• Reading Passages

• Instructional Model

• Assessment/Prescription

• Lesson Plans & Teacher Support

• Summary

• 8-10 million children in the United States have trouble reading.

• Students who lack good reading skills in Grade 1 have approximately a 90% chance of remaining poor readers (Juel).

• 50% of reading difficulties, on average, are preventable—if children receive effective, scientifically-based instruction in literacy skills

• >75% of the 1.4 million high school drop outs experienced difficulties in reading.

• 1/3 of eight graders read proficiently (NAEP, 2005)

Reading: Why Research?

A Solid Foundation

• Research Based– Report of the National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000a) – Report of the National Reading Panel: Reports of the Subgroups (NICHD,

2000b)– Alliance for Excellent Education Reading Next– IRA International Reading Association – A Research Agenda for Improving Reading Comprehension, RAND

Reading Study Group – NCTE National Council of Teachers of English – National Institute of Child and Human Development

• Designed by Reading Experts– Lead Advisor: Dr. Victoria Purcell-Gates

• Reading Hall of Fame Inductee May 2005• President of the National Reading Conference• Winner of the Oscar S Causey Award

– Reading Advisory Panels and Subject Matter Experts • Including Leading District Reading Educators

Idea Generation:Gathering customer

requirements

Market Validation:Customer feedback on

product features

Proof of Concept:Customer feedback on

prototype

Product Launch and Professional

Development

Customer Survey:Feedback on results and

suggestions for improvement

Product Updates

User Groups:Collaborate on best

practices

•Quantitative survey of 260 teachers and 3000 students.•Qualitative online focus group with 20 educators•Field Advisory Committee

• Quantitative survey of 430 educators• Qualitative survey of 12 district reading experts; 30 students.• Field Advisory Committee

• Qualitative online focus group with 30 educators; 30 students.• Interviews with 12 district reading experts• Field Advisory Committee

Luminaries:• Dr. Purcell-Gates• WestEd• WonderGroup

Research & Development

Empowers Teachers, Engages Students• Engaging

– The most engaging content for today’s digital natives.– A balance of exploration activities and traditional

question/answer exercises– Includes a multi-genre approach that exposes children to

a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

• Flexible– Anytime, anywhere access – Content deliverable in whole class, small groups, or

individually– Customers are using Destination Reading for

intervention, on-level, special needs, and ESL students.

• Individualized – Modular content can easily be assigned by state standard

or learning objective– Over 6,000 formative assessment questions to identify

skill gaps and areas for improvement.

Product Development

Emergent Literacy

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics

Fluency

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Motivation

Leveraging the foundation ofDestination Reading I & II Grades PreK-3…

• Systematic instruction• Explicit instruction in skills and strategies• Motivating activities• Rich variety of genres• Audio support for reading passages• Learning skills in the context of authentic

reading and writing activities• Professional development to address a

range of implementations– Whole class– Small group– Individual

Thanks for Your Help!!DR I & II POSITIVES• Cross-curricular connections: e.g. some teachers can even use the program during their

science period• Diversity of genres• Consistency of skills across the program• Explicit instruction (big)• Flexibility: resource teachers can use and assign the program• Logical sequence of activities

ISSUES• Wish they could print stories with one click• Need better tracking of progress, not just time on task. Need % correct, % getting answer

right the first time, etc.

BRAINSTORM IDEAS• In upper grades, need more focus on real-life graphics (realism) vs. too much

animation/cartoon. Need a balance. For example video segments..• Real life applications, problem-solving. Put kids in situations where they use the skills they

are gaining to solve, make decisions, etc.• Need to make sure writing is incorporated. Language Arts is more appealing than just

reading, when talking about middle school

• Strong focus on comprehension and vocabulary (with some decoding support)

• Strategic reading section that extends the scaffolding and modeling for reading passages

• Activate prior knowledge and build background knowledge activities

• More writing opportunities to help connect the software to popular, award-winning literature in the classroom

While Meeting the Unique Needs of Students in Grades 4-8

• Direct explanation. The teacher explains to students why the strategy helps comprehension and when to apply the strategy.

• Modeling. The teacher models, or demonstrates, how to apply the strategy, usually by "thinking aloud" while reading the text that the students are using.

• Guided practice. The teacher guides and assists students as they learn how and when to apply the strategy.

• Application. The teacher helps students practice the strategy until they can apply it independently.

Learning SequenceThe steps of explicit instruction typically include direct explanation, teacher modeling ("thinking aloud"), guided practice, and application.

INSTRUCTDirect instruction

explains and models the skill

PRACTICEGuided practice while the student learns how and when to apply the skill

APPLYStudents apply the

skill independently in a new context

INDIVIDUALIZEPre- and post-tests are

given to individualize the content for each student

Learning Sequence

Activate prior knowledge, build background Identify purpose of text Set a purpose for reading Choose strategiesIntroduce Vocabulary Make predictions

Synthesize information Summarize & reflect Write (to show comprehension) Apply learning and present information, verify predictions

Apply comprehension strategies Structural analysis Use context clues Literal comprehension Author’s purpose Inferences and conclusions Organize and integrate new information Self-monitor comprehension

Reading Process

PREPARE & STRATEGIZE

SYNTHESIZE & APPLYREAD

Unit Structure

LESSON 1 (Pre-Reading)

Genre & Vocabulary

LESSON 2 (Pre-Reading)

Reading Comprehension I

LESSON 3Strategic Reading

LESSON 4(Application)

Reading Comprehension II

Learning Objectives Learning Objectives Learning Objectives Learning Objectives

Genre Study (I) Comprehension Skill (IP) Reading Passage (1 or 2) Comprehension Skill (IA)

Build Background (I) Comprehension Strategy (IP) Comprehension Quiz Comprehension Strategy (IA)

Vocabulary Strategy (IPA)-Short Text Passage

(I)NSTRUCT:  Direct instruction explains concepts & models the concepts(P)RACTICE:  Guided practice as the student learns how and when to apply strategies

(A)PPLY:  Students apply the strategy independently in a new context

Product DemoReading Passages

The heart of any reading program!

Reading Levels

Factors to evaluating in selecting the right text:

• Lexile Level

– Lexile Level II or III for grades 4-6 or 6-8

– Levels range from 550-1165

• Length (Endurance)

– 400-1200 words

– Each unit includes short (100-150) word texts to warm up vocabulary

Boredom FrustrationON LEVEL

Lexile Scale

BR

2000L

200L Basal Readers

1400L College and grad school

1100L Typical adult text range

Course 3: 570-970 LCourse 4: 900-1110 L

Grade Level I Level II Level

III Level

IV

4 At or below 365L

370L to 620L

625L to 905L

At or above 910L

5 At or below 495L

500L to 725L

730L to 980L

At or above 985L

6 At or below 515L

520L to 800L

805L to 1055L

At or above 1060L

7 At or below 620L

625L to 875L

880L to 1105L

At or above 1110L

8 At or below 620L

625L to 905L

910L to 1160L

At or above 1165L

How do they do it??

Measuring Text:• Sentence complexity

and length

• Word familiarity Examine Words Examine Sentences

Review Text and Lexile Measure

Calculate Lexile Measure

Edit Text

Scan textinto Electronic Format

How a Book is Lexiled

Predicting Comprehension Level

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

-1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750

Reader - Text (in Lexiles)

Fo

reca

ste

d C

om

pre

hen

sio

n R

ate

75

Less Challenging

More Challenging

50%

90%

Reader Ability

- Text Readability

Forecasted Comprehension

Diverse Readers—One Classroom

The typical range of Lexile levels in a single classroom is 800-900L.

LOW

HIGH

Ran

ge

= 7

57L

Name Grade Ethnicity Gender T1 Lexiles

Letisha 4 B F 261

Jose 4 H M 298

Teressa 4 H F 332

Ashley 4 W F 356

Tania 4 B F 387

Jessica 4 W F 405

Travis 4 W M 437

Karen 4 W F 456

Kahlid 4 M M 460

Maria 4 H F 496

Jon 4 W M 505

Crystal 4 W F 619

Jesse 4 W M 627

Veronica 4 H F 629

Haley 4 W F 651

Levi 4 W M 673

Ming 4 M M 681

Heidi 4 W F 688

Bryce 4 W M 716

Alberto 4 H M 732

Leslie 4 W F 751

Brian 4 W M 752

Jordyn 4 W F 760

David 4 W M 795

Nicholas 4 W M 833

Hanna 4 W F 837

Vladimir 4 M M 929

Peter 4 W M 973

Caitlin 4 W F 1018

Topic – Aligned to Curriculum

Science

Technology

Social Studies

Language arts

Math

Music/Performing Arts

“Connecting cognitive strategies to students’ growing knowledge of a content area enables students to both increase their awareness of and deliberately use the strategies as means for learning”RAND Report

• Correlating topics in all genre to the academic subject scope & sequence

• High-interest issues, events, and people

• Build background videos to introduce the topic (scaffolding)

– Direct correlations between background knowledge & achievement1

– Direct and indirect exposure can bridge gaps2

Relevant and Inspiring Topics

What the students said:• All students were interested in

non-fiction topics – specifically in science– Older students were interested

in more abstract topics– Younger students liked topics

such as animals, rocks, and volcanoes.

– All students were interested in crime scene investigation

• Topics appealed equally to boys and girls

• Popular genres– Websites – Blogs – Mysteries

What the teachers said:• Liked the mix of non-fiction and

fiction• Related that they sometimes

underestimated their students with respect to topics of interest.

• Were surprised because the topics appealed to both boys and girls.

• “The topics all seem to be student-centered.”

Compatible

• Textbooks• Trade books• Assessment• Additional technology

resources

“An experimental study determined that when curriculum is well-articulated and aligned to assessments, the measurable impact is considerable.”- Marzano

• Lexile 1030

• Lexile 1020

• Lexile 920

• Lexile 910

• Lexile 840

• Lexile 770

Monitoring ComprehensionSpiral strategies

• Differentiating instruction

• Building knowledge

Strategies Addressed at Different Lexile Levels

LMS• Riverdeep Scope & Sequence• State Standards• Skills & Strategies