Professional Development — RAI Professional Development Modules

Professional Development Modules have been designed to illuminate certain critical aspects of the Reading ASSIST® curriculum as well as provide additional information to teachers and tutors regarding learning differences. These courses may or may not be offered in subsequent sessions.
 
Click on the modules listed below to learn more about each:
 
The Reading Processing System and Alphabet Instruction - 3 hrs.
This module begins by looking at the four processing systems of the brain involved in the act of reading as proposed by Seidenberg and McClelland (1989).  This model provides the foundation for the various ways in which reading problems might develop.  In addition, it explains why reading instruction must target many different kinds of skills.  These processing systems are also helpful to understand the stages of reading development.  
 
The module continues with the research regarding the importance of acquiring automatic alphabet skills and their relationship to the reading process. Participants learn how to assess a student’s alphabet knowledge.  The hierarchy of alphabet skills is also covered.  Activities to develop letter recognition, naming and sequencing are presented. 
 
Phonological Awareness Assessment and Instruction - 6 hrs.
A child’s phonological awareness knowledge is the best single predictor of reading performance (Liberman, Shankweiler, & Liberman, 1989; Lundberg, Olofsson, & Wall, 1980).   According to Sally Shaywitz, a young child must develop phonemic awareness if he is to become a reader.  
 
This module provides participants with the research on phonological awareness and its relationship to literacy development.  Participants learn the hierarchy of skills involved in acquiring phonological awareness as well as activities to teach and reinforce these skills.  Assessment of students’ phonological awareness and the instructional implications of those assessments are also covered.
 
Phoneme Articulation and Manipulation - 6 hrs.
Awareness of speech sounds, or phonemic awareness, is a crucial foundation for beginning readers.  Over 90% of struggling readers have underdeveloped phonemic awareness. This module addresses a systematic, sequential approach to teaching the individual speech sounds.  Emphasis is placed on developing an awareness of the mouth positions that create the speech sounds.  Awareness of the tongue, lips and mouth shape when producing speech sounds helps to discriminate one speech sound from another.  This is especially crucial for struggling readers who have difficulty discriminating sounds. 
 
This module presents the 44 phonemes or speech sounds of the English language.  Participants identify and discriminate these sounds based on the mechanics of speech. Participants learn the place in the mouth where speech sounds are produced and how they are produced.  Mouth position pictures provide a graphic representation of sounds. Participants learn how to use these pictures to sequence sounds to form words for reading and spelling.  Participants receive a set of mouth position pictures and an instructional guide.
 
Sound Symbol Instruction through Linkage and Discovery - 6 hrs.
According to the National Reading Panel’s report, “Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves kindergarten and first grade children’s word recognition and spelling, thus improving reading comprehension. This type of instruction is particularly beneficial for children who are having difficulty learning to read.” 
 
This module teaches participants how to assess a student’s phonics knowledge and then deliver direct, explicit, systematic, and sequential phonics instruction.  Two basic techniques are taught:  a procedure for linking the letters and letter combinations with the sounds of the language, and a discovery technique for teaching spelling conventions and patterns.  Participants learn the six syllable types with particular attention to open, closed, and silent e syllables.  Increased complexity of words with consonant blends and digraphs is explored.  Multisensory techniques that support blending sounds for reading and segmenting sounds for spelling are also taught.  Techniques for teaching words that are not phonetically regular complete this module.
 
Structural Analysis of Multisyllable Words - 6 hrs.
 “The capacity to break long words into syllables is critical for decoding them.” (Adams 1995)  
 
After students learn letter-sound correspondences, and can blend and segment sounds in one-syllable words, they need to learn how to break down longer words into smaller chunks for decoding.  
 
In this module, participants learn the six syllable types that form the framework for the spelling patterns of words in our language and aid in determining the vowel sound.  The principles of syllable division are taught as well as the role of accent in multisyllable words.  Participants learn about the prefixes, roots, and suffixes that comprise a large percentage of multisyllable words. Participants also learn how to use prefixes, roots, and suffixes as an additional aid in decoding.  Finally, the spelling rules that apply to adding suffixes to words are taught.
 
Explicit Phonics Instruction – 6 hrs.
The National Reading Panel (2000) identified phonics as one of the five essential components of effective reading instruction.  “Phonics instruction is important because it leads to an understanding of the alphabetic principle.  Letters are used to represent speech sounds and there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken words.  Knowledge of this system enables students to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and "decode" new words.  Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children’s word recognition, spelling and reading comprehension.”  (Put Reading First 2001)
 
In this module, participants learn how to assess students’ knowledge of the alphabetic principle (phonics) and deliver direct, explicit, systematic, and sequential phonics instruction based on students’ needs.  Participants learn the system of phoneme-grapheme correspondences and the conventions by which speech is represented in print.  Techniques and strategies for decoding single syllable and multi-syllable words are included in the instruction.  Participants also gain knowledge of the role of morphology and word origin. 
 
Reading Fluency - 6 hrs.
Fluency, the ability to accurately and automatically read text has been identified as a critical component of reading instruction.
 
Until recently, fluency has been neglected in reading instruction.  Most commercially published reading programs have not specifically included fluency instruction.  But researchers have found that students could be accurate in decoding, after good instruction, but still lack adequate reading fluency to comprehend.  (Moats 2004). 
 
In this module, participants learn about the current research that supports fluency as the bridge to comprehension.  The characteristics of the dysfluent reader, as well as possible underlying causes are discussed. Participants learn how to measure the fluency level of their students and set realistic goals for improvement.  The most effective methods for developing fluency for various types of readers are discussed. Participants also learn to develop appropriate fluency drills using student text.
 
Vocabulary -  6 hrs.
The National Reading Panel (2000) confirmed that the depth and breadth of a student’s vocabulary contributes substantially to proficient reading.  Although independent reading can play a critical role in vocabulary acquisition, many students do not spend enough time reading outside of the classroom to provide them with sufficient vocabulary to adequately meet the demands of text comprehension.  This valuable resource should not be left to incidental learning alone.  Vocabulary growth should be the result of direct, systematic instruction with explicit and implicit exploration of word meanings occurring often during reading instruction. 
 
In this module, participants become familiar with current research in the field with particular attention to the work of Isabel Beck, Andrew Biemiller, Steven Stahl, William Nagy and Michael Graves.  Strategies for effective vocabulary instruction in all content areas are presented, along with numerous opportunities for “hands on” learning activities for participants.  Appropriate for Pre K – 8.
 
Comprehension - 6 hrs.
This class is designed for K – 8 practitioners seeking to expand their knowledge base regarding the complex nature of reading comprehension.  Research shows that explicit instruction can improve students’ strategic processing of text.  
 
In this class, participants develop an understanding of the fundamental systems that enable efficient text comprehension and explore research-based methods for effective instruction and intervention.
 
Targeted Instruction for Results – 6 hrs.
Today’s educator is charged with closing the achievement gap by addressing focused goal setting, instruction, and assessment.  
 
This class provides participants with a wealth of evidence-based strategies that are aligned with popular assessment measures (including DIBELS) and designed to increase student achievement. Activities focus on Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Fluency and provide highly engaging support for any core reading program. Through an interactive process, participants  learn to employ strategies which supply ample opportunity for repeated practice, leading to mastery and automaticity.
 
DIBELS® Essentials – Foundations of DIBELS® and Administration and Scoring Workshop – 12 hours
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS ®) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. These measures were derived from the essential early literacy domains discussed in both the National Reading Panel (2000) and National Research Council (1998) reports.  The DIBELS®  measures have been thoroughly researched and have proven to be reliable and valid indicators of early literacy development as well as predictors of later reading proficiency, aiding in the early identification of students who are not progressing as expected.  
 
As a result of this training, Educators will:
• Develop an in-depth understanding of the conceptual and empirical foundations of
  DIBELS®.
• Become familiar with early reading research.
• Identify Big Ideas of early literacy and reading.
• Learn how to use DIBELS® in an Outcomes-Driven Model of educational decision
  making.
• Develop a full understanding of the administration and scoring of all DIBELS®
  Benchmark and Progress Monitoring measures
 
DIBELS®–The Next Step: Interpretation of Scores and Grouping for Intervention - 6 hrs.
After learning how to administer and score DIBELS in DIBELS Essentials, participants in The Next Step learn how to interpret DIBELS scores in order to group students and plan instruction for intervention.  This class also covers Progress Monitoring of students to assess their response to intervention.
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