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Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Reading & Literacy Opinion

Q&A Collections: Reading Instruction

By Larry Ferlazzo — July 30, 2021 9 min read
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During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 10 years. You can see all those collections from the first nine years here.

Here are the ones I’ve published so far:

The 11 Most Popular Classroom Q&A Posts of the Year

Race & Racism in Schools

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Implementing the Common Core

Challenging Normative Gender Culture in Education

Teaching Social Studies

Cooperative & Collaborative Learning

Using Tech With Students

Student Voices

Parent Engagement in Schools

Teaching English-Language Learners

Today’s theme is on Reading Instruction. You can see the list of posts following this excerpt from one of them:

readersneed

*Give Students Choice When It’s Time to Read

Three educator contributors, and several readers, share strategies for encouraging students to read, including offering choice and time in class.

* Encourage Students ‘to See Reading as a Relational Experience’

Three Ķvlog offer classroom ideas for encouraging student intrinsic motivation to read, including through book choice and opportunities for discussion with their peers.

* 22 Strategies for Encouraging Students’ Intrinsic Motivation to Read

Four Ķvlog share strategies for encouraging students to WANT to read, including by illustrating that it makes them smarter and that it makes them better writers.

* ‘Allow Time for Children to Read Whatever They Want’

Four Ķvlog share ideas for how teachers can create the conditions in which students are more intrinsically motivated to read, such as eliminating rewards and ensuring that students are represented in accessible books.

Three teachers offer their recommendations of high-interest books for students to read, including for English-learners.

Four Ķvlog share their, and their students’, favorite books, including song picture books and ones focusing on SEL skills, as well as emphasizing the importance of ones that represent “a wide range of experiences.”

Four teachers discuss specific titles, and common elements, in books that students find popular, including the importance of being able to see themselves in the characters.

Keep it simple, keep it flexible, and keep the routine familiar are among the suggestions three Ķvlog give in assigning students work while distance learning.

Five Ķvlog recommend strategies for using reading instruction as a tool to improve students’ writing skills, including through the use of informal writing and sections of reading texts students can use as models for their writing.

Five Ķvlog share ideas on how reading instruction can help students become more effective writers, including through the use of mentor texts and through a guided step-by-step process.

Assigning students to write about what they are reading and asking them to compose in various formats are among the tips seven Ķvlog offer in their discussion of the role of writing in reading instruction.

Five experienced Ķvlog discuss how writing instruction can support the development of reading skills for students throughout K-12 and provide tips for doing that important work.

A series on teaching information literacy to students finishes up with suggestions from Elliott Rebhun, Laura Greenstein, Michael Fisher, Barbara R. Blackburn, and Douglas Reeves.

Carla Truttman, Josh Perlman, Jennifer Casa-Todd, Bryan Goodwin, and Frank W. Baker share their suggestions for information-literacy lessons.

* Jennifer Serravallo, Stephanie Affinito, and Amanda Koonlaba wrap up this four-part series by suggesting that students be treated as real readers rather than being assigned “reading logs.”

Tan Huynh, Rich Czyz, Christine Tennyson, Mara Lee Grayson, and Diane Mora write about what they prefer to use to encourage student reading rather than “reading logs.”

Laura Robb, Melissa Miles, Ryan Huels, and Rinard Pugh share their thoughts on finding ways to help instill love of reading in students and keep abreast of their progress.

Mary Beth Nicklaus, Beth Jarzabek, Jennifer Casa-Todd, Jennifer Orr, and Leah Wilson contribute their thoughts on the use or nonuse of reading logs to document student reading at home.

Casey Schultz, Mandy Ellis, Carolyn Brown, Jerry Zimmermann, Kelly Wickham Hurst, and the late Kay MacPhee, who contributed a response prior to her death, discuss the role of phonics in reading instruction.

A three-part series on using reading strategies wraps up with commentaries from Alex Quigley, Rebecca Alber, and Khristina Goady.

*

Bonnie Houck, Ed.D., Christine Tennyson, Jules Csillag, and Kelly Wickham Hurst share their thoughts on using reading strategies in the classroom.

Colleen Cruz, Ross Cooper, Lindsey Moses, and Elaine Miles discuss the role of reading strategies in literacy instruction.

Diana Laufenberg, Pernille Ripp, Valentina Gonzalez, Jeff Wilhelm, Barbara A. Marinak, and Linda B. Gambrell share their thoughts on mistakes to avoid when providing reading instruction.

Regie Routman, Cindi Rigsbee, Rebecca Alber, Shaeley Santiago, and Wiley Blevins write about their suggestions for improving reading instruction.

Gravity Goldberg, Renee Houser, Tan Huynh, Samantha Cleaver, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm (with his second contribution to this series), Emily Geltz, and Sarah Shanks contribute answers to the question: “What mistakes do teachers make in reading instruction?”

Rita Platt, Sonja Cherry-Paul, Dana Johansen, Mary Howard, Bonnie Houck, Ed.D., Sandi Novak, Emily Phillips Galloway, Paola Uccelli, and Julie Swinehart wrap up a four-part series on reading instruction. I have also included comments from many readers.

Katie Keier, Stacy Nockowitz, Barbara Paciotti, and many readers share their thoughts on the debate between reading digitally or on paper.

Daniel Willingham, Kristin Ziemke, Lester Laminack, and Kimberly Carraway explore the topic of reading digitally compared with reading on paper in this post.

Christopher Lehman, Cris Tovani, Pernille Ripp, Jan Burkins, and Kim Yaris contribute their thoughts.

Sonja Cherry-Paul, Dana Johansen, Stephanie Harvey, Julie Goldman, Diana Sisson, and Betsy Sisson are the featured guests in this post.

Kimberly Carraway, Katherine S. McKnight, Harvey F. Silver, Amy Benjamin, Nancy Boyles, and Rita Platt—along with readers—share their ideas.

This post features responses from Regie Routman, Katherine S. McKnight, and Michael W. Smith.

Several Ķvlog—Nancy Steineke, Sean McComb, Nancy Frey, Doug Fisher, Bill Himmele, and Pérsida Himmele—provide responses here.

In this post, guest responses come from Ķvlog Cheryl B. Dobbertin, Ilse O’Brien, Katherine S. McKnight, and Regie Routman.

Educators Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith are co-authors of the new book, .

Jason Flom shares his ideas, as do many readers. I also add an intriguing chart.

Educators Kristi Mraz, Marjorie Martinelli, Kathy Barclay, and Cindi Rigsbee contribute their thoughts.

Donalyn Miller, Mark Barnes, and Christopher Lehman contribute their responses.

Read educator/author Nancy Steineke’s ideas, as well as comments from many readers.

Dina Strasser and Ariel Sacks share their thoughts in this post.

In addition to sharing my own response, you’ll find contributions from two other guests—Ķvlog Donalyn Miller and Myron Dueck.

This post includes three joint commentaries from Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher, Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan, and Aaron Brock and Jody Passanisi.

Read responses from three Ķvlog: Wendi Pillars, Amy Benjamin, and Christopher Lehman.

This post includes pieces from Jim Burke and David B. Cohen, as well as comments from readers.

Several educator/authors—Marilee Sprenger, Jane Hill and Kirsten Miller, and Maria Gonzalez—provide guest responses.

Stephen Krashen and Richard Allington share their ideas on helping students develop a love for reading.

Teacher/authors Regie Routman, Laura Robb, and Kylene Beers contribute their thoughts in this installment of the reading series.

Nancie Atwell and Cris Tovani sent in their responses for this post.

This post features recommendations from Kelly Young (my mentor), Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Carol Jago.

Donalyn Miller, the “Book Whisperer,” my colleague Dana Dusbiber, and several readers contribute here. I share my own suggestions, too.

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The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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