Each student’s progress in of all of the five key themes
of instruction is carefully monitored to ensure that children
advance in Meaning Making, Language Development,
Effective Expression, Content Knowledge, and Foundational
Skills. Instruction is targeted and, depending upon the extent
of the needs, intensive.
Of special importance during this span is the
consolidation of the skills that allow students to accurately
and relatively effortlessly access and produce printed
language. Teachers give considerable attention to building
students’ prowess in decoding and encoding (without
neglecting the other key themes of instruction). They
coordinate instruction in spelling, phonemic awareness (as
needed), decoding, word recognition, and printing (and in grade three, cursive) because these skills
are interdependent and mutually supportive. Like their colleagues in the transitional kindergarten
through grade one span, teachers make accuracy in decoding a high priority, and they ensure that
students have ample opportunities to practice newly acquired skills in authentic contexts. In this span,
they also prioritize students’ automaticity with print, knowing that the ability to quickly access and
produce written text is crucial.
The following research findings are relevant for helping students in the grade span who are
experiencing difficulty with foundational skills:
- Demonstration of the alphabetic principle (that is, linking phonemic awareness with letter-sound
correspondences) supports spelling and decoding. (O’Connor 2011) - Students who lack phonemic awareness should be provided short, focused lessons on blending
and segmenting spoken words, along with representing sounds with letters. (O’Connor 2011) - Spelling interventions should be targeted and conducted with small groups. Depending upon
the individual students, instruction should focus on the alphabetic principle and, as children
progress, on morphological awareness (that is, spelling common affixes, such as inflectional
endings). Spelling instruction should be coordinated with decoding instruction. (Gerber and
Richards-Tutor 2011) - Fluency interventions that focus on repeated
reading of text, opportunities to practice
reading in the classroom, and reading a range
of texts generally improve students’ fluency and
comprehension. (Connor, and others 2014) - Goal setting and corrective feedback are effective
in increasing reading rate and accuracy among
students experiencing difficulty with fluency
(Hudson 2011). Reading aloud to a skilled listener
more effectively develops students’ fluency than
silent reading. (O’Connor 2007) - Using relatively easy texts for repeated reading
leads to higher gains in fluency than using texts
that are difficult for the reader, unless an adult is
present to assist. (Hudson 2011) - Reading texts that focus on the same theme result
in increases in reading rate and accuracy. An
overlap of words appears to facilitate transfer to unpracticed text. (Hudson 2011)
Of special importance during
this span is the consolidation
of the skills that allow students
to accurately and relatively
effortlessly access and produce
printed language. Teachers
give considerable attention to
building students’ prowess in
decoding and encoding...Spelling interventions should
be targeted and conducted
with small groups. Depending
upon the individual students,
instruction should focus on
the alphabetic principle
and, as children progress, on
morphological awareness (that
is, spelling common affixes, such
as inflectional endings). Spelling
instruction should be coordinated
with decoding instruction.316 | Chapter 4 Grades 2 and 3