REWARDS PLUS Reading Strategies Applied to: Social Studies Passages Science Passages REWARDS PLUS is published by Sopris West (www.rewardsreading.com)

Authors: Anita L. Archer, Ph.D. Mary M. Gleason, Ph.D. Vicky Vachon, Ph.D. Trainer: ______________________________ Trainee: ______________________________

Goals of the Program Students will have increased ability to: 1. Accurately decode and encode multisyllabic words. 2. Understand critical academic vocabulary. 3. Preview expository passages. 4. Read passages accurately and fluently. 5. Comprehend expository texts. 6. Respond to multiple-choice and short answer items. 7. Write coherent multi-paragraph answers, summaries, and extended responses.

Who should participate in REWARDS PLUS? Struggling readers In 6th-12th grades Who have completed REWARDS and/or Who read at a 5th grade level Who would benefit from additional instruction on decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing

Where can REWARDS PLUS be taught? REWARDS PLUS can be taught in: 6th or 7th grade (and higher) general education classes Special reading classes in middle schools or high schools Remedial or special education settings Intensive intervention programs (after school, summer schools, interim sessions)

What are the parts of the program? Review Lessons (6 lessons requiring one 50-60 minute period each) Review the REWARDS strategies for reading multisyllabic words Start here if: Students completed REWARDS in a previous year or semester OR Students did not demonstrate mastery of REWARDS content OR Students read above the fifth grade level and have not had REWARDS Application Lessons (15 lessons requiring 2 to 4, 50-60 min. periods) Expand skills taught in REWARDS (See Tour of Book page.)

Review Lessons Six review lessons (6 lessons requiring one 50-60 minute period each) Review REWARDS Strategies (See Reference B) Provide instruction on foundation skills for reading long words Vowel combinations (e.g., ai, oa, ee, ow, oy) (See Reference C; Lessons, page 2) Vowel conversions (sounds and names for letters) (See Lessons, page 3) Prefixes and suffixes (See Reference C; Lessons, page 4)

Review Lessons Provide instruction on REWARDS Strategies Strategy practice (overt strategy) (See Reference D; Lessons, page 5) Independent strategy practice (covert strategy) (See Reference D; Lessons, page 6) Sentence Reading (See Lessons, page 7)

Application Lessons 15 application lessons Each lesson requires 2-3 periods for social studies and 3-4 periods for science Built around social studies or science passages Well-written, cohesive Interesting content Representative of secondary content area textbooks Require little specialized background knowledge beyond what is introduced in the lesson Contain many multisyllabic words 8th to 9th grade readability (Because multisyllabic words are taught, students experience the passages as significantly lower readability.) 567 - 696 words in social studies; 720 - 920 words in science (See Lessons, pages 13 and 14; Lessons, pages 24 and 25)

How are Application Lessons organized? Before passage reading During passage reading After passage reading (See Reference E)

Before Passage Reading - Overview Pronunciation of Difficult Words Meanings of Critical Vocabulary Spelling Dictation Background Knowledge (Social Studies) Preview the Passage

Before Passage Reading - Pronunciation of difficult words Why is it useful? Accurate and fluent decoding related to comprehension Major challenge for struggling readers Multisyllabic words carry passage meaning Students need practice in applying REWARDS strategies for reading multisyllabic words

Before Passage Reading - Pronunciation of difficult words Tell Tell students pronunciation of word. Include proper names, irregular words, words of foreign origin. (See Reference F; Lessons, page 9) 1 Strategy Use REWARDS strategy to introduce pronunciation of words. (See Reference F; Lessons, page 9) 2 Tally- Ideas for Vocab Instruction

Before Passage Reading - Vocabulary Why understanding vocabulary useful? Knowledge of vocabulary related to comprehension. Improves expressive and receptive communication. Related to overall school achievement. Introduction of vocabulary Present student-friendly definitions and parts of speech. (See Reference F; Lessons, page 9) Ask questions to increase recall of words. (I’m thinking of a word . . .) (See Reference F; Lessons, page 10) 3 Present word families such as transform, transformed, transformation, transformer. (See Reference G; Lessons, page 10) (Optional) Select 3 to 5 words for very explicit instruction and review. Focus on ‘academic vocabulary’, words that students will encounter in a number of domains in the future. (Choose words from References F and G)

Before Passage Reading - Vocabulary Step 1: Introduce the pronunciation of the word. Read the word: “inspire” Step 2: Introduce the meaning of the word, using a student-friendly definition or explanation. Read the definition with me: “To influence; to fill with courage.” So, if something influences me or fills me with courage, it _______________________. “inspires me” Step 3: Provide examples of the word’s use. So, if I see a story on the news about people harmed in a hurricane, and I decide to send money to help them, the news story inspired me. If I decided to work harder because a teacher believed in me, that teacher inspired me. Step 4: Check for understanding, using one or more of the following procedures: Option #1. Ask “deep processing questions” that require thinking about the meaning of the word. What kinds of people inspire you to have different behavior? Option #2. Have students discriminate between examples and non-examples and tell why each is an example or non-example. Tell me if this would inspire you. If my two best friends were coming over, would I be inspired to make the house spotless? “no” Why not? “My best friends don’t care if my house is spotless or not.” If potential buyers were visiting my house, would I be inspired to make the house spotless? “yes” Why? They are potential buyers, so I would be inspired to make the house spotless. Option #3. Have students generate examples. Tell your partner some things that could inspire you. For example, you might see a play with a powerful message and that might inspire you to take action.

Before Passage Reading - Spelling Why is spelling instruction useful? Strengthens decoding skills. As students spell words, they concentrate on letter-sound associations and prefixes and suffixes. Strengthens spelling skills needed for daily writing. Struggling readers tend to be poor spellers.

Before Passage Reading - Spelling Teaching Routine T. Dictates word S. Say parts of word S. Write word T. Displays word on the overhead/board S. Check word S. Cross-out and rewrite any word errors (See Lessons, page 11)

Before Passage Reading -Background Knowledge (Social Studies) Why is providing background knowledge useful? Prior knowledge of the topic is directly related to reading comprehension. When you have sufficient background knowledge, you can read with greater fluency and make better connections. Build students’ background knowledge (This is only done in social studies. All necessary knowledge is embedded in the science passages.) Read background knowledge Examine the time-line Examine the graphic (See Lessons, page 12) 4

Before Passage Reading - Preview the Passage Why is previewing the passage helpful? Students: Learn about the content to be covered. See how the content is organized. Activate their prior knowledge on the topic. Create a cognitive schema for the passage. Preview the passage Read the title. Read the headings and subheadings. (See Lessons, pages 12 and 13)

During Passage Reading Passage Reading Procedures First, students should read a section silently. This will allow them to: Rehearse the materials before oral reading. Apply the REWARDS strategy to unknown words. Read the material more than one time for better fluency and comprehension. Next, students should read the section orally. This will allow: Students feedback on their reading. Correction of any errors.

During Passage Reading Passage Reading Procedures Students will first read a section silently. Silent Reading Tell students to read a designated segment. Ask them to reread material if they finish early. Monitor students’ reading. Have individuals whisper-read to you.

During Passage Reading Passage Reading Procedures Next, have the students read the material orally using one of the following options. Choral Reading Read selection with your students. Read at a moderate rate. Tell your students, “Keep your voice with mine.” Individual Turns (Small group) Call on individual students. Vary amount to be read. Vary order of students.

During Passage Reading - Passage Reading Procedures Partner Reading Assign each student a partner. Reader whisper-reads to partner. Coach touches the word and corrects the error. Ask - Can you figure out this word? (If the student cannot self-correct the error, proceed.) Tell - This word is _____. What word? Good, reread the sentence.

During Passage Reading - Answering questions Why is it useful to ask students questions during passage reading? The teacher can check understanding and clarify any misconceptions. The students’ attention will be focused on the critical information. The students will rehearse the critical information. Students will be more attentive and feel more accountable for thinking about the material. (See Lessons, page 13) 5 NOTE: If your students have difficulty comprehending the material, ask even more frequent questions to guide their comprehension.

During Passage Reading - Completion of Information Web (Science only) Why is completion of Information Webs useful? Students: Focus on the critical information. See the relationships between information. Emerge with a visual summary of the article. Learn how they might organize information on their own. (See References H and I; Lessons, page 23)

After Passage Reading - Overview Fluency Building Multiple-Choice Questions Short Answer Questions Vocabulary Practice Written Products

After Passage Reading - Fluency Building Why is fluency useful? Fluency is correlated with comprehension. Fluency is related to the amount that you read. Fluency is related to ease of work completion. How can fluency be increased? Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice Repeated reading activities Cold-timing Practice Hot-timing Graphing (See Lessons, page 14) 6

After Passage Reading - Multiple-Choice Items Why are multiple-choice items useful? Students: Engage in higher order thinking skills as they select and debate their choices. Learn a strategy for completing multiple-choice items. Prepare for multiple-choice tests. Type of items Vocabulary Cause and effect Compare and contrast Main idea

After Passage Reading - Multiple Choice Items Distractors Plausible (though incorrect) answers Details drawn from the passage (though irrelevant to the question) Inferences not drawn from passage details Strategy Instruction Provide explicit instruction of strategy. (See Reference J) Model the strategy. Think out loud during modeling. Guide students in applying the strategy. Students should make and defend choices. (See Lessons, page 16) 7 I do, We do, You do!

After Passage Reading - Short Answer Questions Why is it useful to teach students a strategy for answering short answer questions? This is a very common school task. Students often make these errors. Write a word or phrase rather than a sentence answer. Their answers don’t match the questions. Their answers are not useful for future study. Strategy Instruction Provide explicit strategy instruction. (See References K and L) Model the strategy and provide guided practice. (See Lessons, page 33)

After Passage Reading - Vocabulary Practice What type of vocabulary practice should be provided? Practice that: Engages the students. Provides multiple exposures to each word. Promotes deep processing (thinking) about the word’s meaning and use. Connects the word to student’s prior knowledge if possible. Practice Activities Yes/No/Why (See Reference M) Completion Activities (See Reference M) Quick Words (Used in Science only. See References N and O) 8 Complete the activities with your students.

After Passage Reading - Written Responses Why are written activities important? Poor readers are generally poor writers. Students must compose written products in most secondary classes. Students need very explicit instruction and strategies in order to improve their writing.

After Passage Reading - Written Responses What type of instruction should be given? WHAT Introduce the written product. Illustrate it with an example. Present a rubric that outlines critical attributes of the product. (See Reference P for one example) HOW Provide students with a writing strategy. (See Reference Q) Guide students in using the strategy. Gradually fade out your assistance.

After Passage Reading - Written Summaries (Social Studies) Why is summary writing useful? Supports structure of expository writing Powerful comprehension strategy Often required in content area classes Strategy Instruction Think Sheet List, Cross-out, Connect, Number, Write, Edit (See References R and S; Lessons, page 17) 9

After Passage Reading - Discussion (Science) What can improve classroom discussions? Make the discussion topic engaging. “What if…….?” (See Lessons, page 33) Have students prepare for the discussion. In Rewards Plus Science, students write an answer to the “What if….” question prior to the discussion. Teach and reinforce desired discussion behaviors. (See Reference T)

Incentive/Grading System Why is the use of an incentive/grading system useful? Students receive continuous feedback on their performance. Students can see a direct relationship between their performance and their daily grade. Students see how their daily grades relate to their overall grade. Teachers have an easy vehicle for providing feedback to students and determining a grade. (See References U and V)

Pre and Post Assessment Pre and post assessments are recommended for a number of reasons: The efficacy of the program can be evaluated. Feedback can be given to students. Results can be shared with other staff members and parents. The following areas of performance are measured: Oral reading fluency Writing skills Vocabulary knowledge (Science only) (See Lessons, pages 34 - 40)