TRANSITIONAL READING LEVEL

Presentation by:

Mary Old

and

Emily Von Pfahl

READING SKILLS Children pass through this stage between the 2nd and 4th grades. But, most literature narrows the range to 2nd through 3rd grade.

These stages are not concrete, but situational. Younger, or less advanced, readers…

-Children have begun to decode print but are not yet fluent, independent readers.

-Children recognize many words at sight and use word identification strategies to decode others.

-Children’s reading is slow and laborious because many words are not recognized instantly.

-Children are able to use literary language, like “Once upon a time” and “The end.”

-Children can retell a story after a read-a-loud or another presentation.

O'Donnell, M. P., & Wood, M. (2004). Becoming a reader: A developmental

approach to reading instruction. Allyn and Bacon.

READING SKILLS CONT. Older, more advanced, readers…

-Children can use strategies more efficiently (like re-reading and questioning) when comprehension suffers.

-Children can write about a range of topics to suit different audiences.

-Children can use reading to research topics.

-Children approach being able to read 100 words per minute.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (1998). Common Core, ELLs,

ELL, Free Guides, & Toolkits Learning Store. Goals for Second Grade: Transitional Reading and Writing.

READING SKILLS CONT. Exceptional transitional readers…

-Children can recognize difficult or content related words.

-Children can integrate meaning consistently.

-Children are beginning to handle longer, more complex text with short chapters and more developed characters.

-Children can summarize what they’ve read.

-Children are growing more aware of story structure.

Hughes-Hassell, S., Barkley, H. A., & Koehler, E. (2009). Promoting Equity in Children's Literacy Instruction: Using a Critical Race Theory Framework to Examine Transitional Books. School Library Media Research, 12.

Question:Which of these descriptions did you fall

under as a transitional reader?

WRITING SKILLS Second graders, or less advanced writers:-Experiment with spelling-Can revise and edit their work-Can state an opinion and provide written reasons to support it-Can research topics for self or group work-Can write about an event, describing actions, and providing a conclusion-Writing is cross-curricular and occurs throughout the day at school-Begin to publish their writing through technology

Third Graders, or more advanced writers:-Can write about a range of topics to suit different audiences-Can punctuate their sentences with some accuracy-Can use compound words and are aware of suffixes, prefixes and root words-Still rely of inventive spelling but attempt long vowel patterns (like bot, bote or bowt for boat)-Use terms such as: because, since, for example, also, and but to elaborate on and make connections in writing-Spend a variety of time writing a piece, ranging from a short period of time, such as 30 minutes to working on one piece over the course of a few weeks

Ackerman, S. (2015). What To Expect by Grade. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/collection/what-to-expect-grade

LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS By the end of second grade children should be able to do the following:

Listening-Follow 3-4 oral directions in a sequence-Understand direction words (e.g., location, space, and time words)-Correctly answer questions about a grade-level story

Speaking-Be easily understood-Answer more complex "yes/no" questions-Ask and answer “W" questions (e.g., who, what, where, when, why)-Use increasingly complex sentence structures-Clarify and explain words and ideas-Give directions with 3-4 steps-Use oral language to inform, to persuade, and to entertain-Stay on topic, take turns, and use appropriate eye contact during conversation-Open and close conversation appropriately

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2015). Your Child’s Communication: Second Grade. ASHA. Retrieved fromhttp://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/secondgrade/

BEST PRACTICES IN READING AND WRITING INSTRUCTION

-Create a climate that fosters analytic, evaluative and reflective reading (ie. research, graphic maps and word webs).

-Encourage children to write in multiple forms(ie. stories, poems, plays and informational books).

-Support revising, editing and proofreading skills.

-Encourage strategies for spelling new, difficult words.

-Model the enjoyment of reading.

-Engage children in activities that involve both reading and writing.

-Display childrens’ written work to create a sense of ownership and pride.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (1998). Common Core, ELLs, ELL, Free Guides, & Toolkits Learning Store. Goals for Second Grade: Transitional Reading and Writing. 

READ

MORE PRACTICES IN READING INSTRUCTION -Screen, diagnose and monitor progress (using guided reading) to assist children in becoming fluent readers.

-Build fluency over time, with practice.

-The best strategy for developing reading fluency is to provide children with the opportunity to read the same passage orally several times.

-Classroom strategies: timed repeated readings, shared reading and choral reading.

WETA Public Broadcasting (2015). Fluency: Reading 101. Retrieved from http://

www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/fluency

 

-Have children read 25-30 minutes a day using a combination of instructional and recreational reading to propel them to the next stage.

Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M. & Templeton, S. (2004). Explorations in Developmental Spelling: Foundations for learning and

teaching phonics. The Reading Teacher, 52 (3), 222-242.

-Increase reading fluency (accuracy and speed in decoding print) through extensive reading practice with interesting, easy to read material.

O'Donnell, M. P., & Wood, M. (2004). Becoming a reader: A developmental approach to reading instruction. Allyn and Bacon.

CURRENT ISSUES AND RESEARCH *Issue of importance: 25% of US adults are stunted at the transitional stage. This leads to poor

grades in core studies and embarrassment among peers.

Support for re-reading strategies and parental assistance

Research on Home Repeated ReadingIntervention strategy on reading achievement of8 low-performing second graders in an urbanschool. As they reread they made less decoding errors. The errors continued to decrease fromthe first to last readings. Students build onin-school reading experiences by rereading thetext at home. Rereading decreased error rates in 78% of the stories. Children who received“high help” from parents (phonics clues,pronouncing words, error cues) had a repeaterror of 14.2% and those with “low help” had a repeat error of 43.5%

Hindin, A., & Paratore, J. R. (2007). Supporting young children's literacy learning through home-school partnerships: The effectiveness of a home repeated-reading intervention. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(3), 307-333. 

CURRENT RESEARCH

Support for selecting easy, enjoyable reading material

Research on struggling readers in the 6th grade who were stunted at the third grade level. Half were tutored

using 6th grade core reading texts and half were tutored using 3rd grade reading material. There were few gains

in students using classroom texts and accelerated gains in students using material at their reading level. Texts

that students can read with great fluency “spur reading development.”

O' Connor, R. E., Bell, K. M., Harty, K. R., Larkin, L. K., Sackor, S. M., & Zigmond, N. (2002). Teaching reading to poor readers in the intermediate grades: A comparison of text difficulty. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(3), 474–485.

 

CURRENT RESEARCH Support for the importance of modeling reading

The reading behavior of 8 and 9 year olds (3rd and 4th graders) was examined during their SSR time and found that “children were

significantly more engaged in actual reading” while teachers were

reading than when teachers were not reading. Krashen notes that

teachers should read for their own pleasure during SSR time, instead of

grading papers.

Krashen, S. D. (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Question:What do normally see teachers

doing during DEAR or SSR time?

COMBINED RESEARCH Support for the use of series and chapter books

-These books ease the transition from picture books to novels.

-These books have a “grown up” format with medium font size and longer sentences that motivates children.

-Series books provide continuity and repetition as they integrate elements of earlier titles to assist in reading

comprehension.

-Series books involve characters that children can identify with.

-Series books “act as a shared cultural currency,” allowing children to participate in a community of readers as

they share titles.

-Chapter headings and paired down ilustrations provide content clues to assist in reading comprehension.

Ross, C. S., McKechnie, L., & Rothbauer, P. M. (2006). Reading matters: What the research reveals about reading, libraries, and community. (pp. 133-241). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR LIBRARIANS In general:

-Provide access to materials that reflect current cultural interests of young people (graphic novels, books on gaming, music, film and fashion).

-Build collections that aid creative reading and writing (anthologies of poems, songs and photographs).

-Consider the hidden literacies of young people and expand your view of what writing is and what it means to read (how to get published or make your own website books).

-Create pathfinders or web page links that include web resources for youth writing.

-Offer workshops on creative writing. Have authors come as guest speakers or provide access to their websites through newsletters and youth tabs on the library website.

-Recruit and train teens as mentors and reading buddies for younger children.

-Provide locations for children and adults to read together.

-Provide large, rich children’s collections.

Ross, C. S., McKechnie, L., & Rothbauer, P. M. (2006).  Reading matters: What the research reveals about reading, libraries, and community. (pp. 133-241). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR LIBRARIANS Engaging and motivating readers as a librarian:

-Create intrinsic motivation. Help children choose relevant books in which they have an emotional bond

with the author or subject. Help children choose books that have cultural or personal relevance. Follow up

reading with hands-on activities.

-Create a sense of ownership. Give children free book choice.

-Create self-efficient readers. Teach children to select on level material.

-Create an atmosphere of social acceptance. Model reading, and encourage parents to model reading.

Guthrie, J. T., & Wigfield, A. (1997). Reading Engagement: Motivating Readers through Integrated Instruction. International Reading Association, Newark, DE 

EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR LIBRARIANS Modeling reading as a librarian:

Treat every other library period as a DEAR time. Start with a book talk, then expect every student to select

some reading material (magazines, newspapers, and books are all acceptable). As soon as all the

kids check out materials, join the group and also read (thus providing a good model).

Model excitement. Demonstrate genuine excitement and enthusiasm for reading. Such activities as

storytelling, book talks, and book trailers (promoting a book through video) introduce students to a range of

reading materials and motivates them to read. Share personal, intrinsic motivation by talking about a favorite

book.

Small, R. V. (2009). Reading Incentives that Work: No-Cost Strategies to Motivate Kids to Read and Love It! School Library Media Activities Monthly, 25(9), 27-31.

EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR LIBRARIANS Developing spelling and vocabulary skills as a librarian:

-Introduce two or three new words with each lesson.

-Help children choose books that repeat the same words.

-Create a “Word Wall” in the library.

-Have children act out new verbs they encounter while reading.

-Create a word sort board and let children sort words by concept.

-Teach children how to use a dictionary and thesaurus to find the meanings of words.

-Help children choose a familiar story (series) with higher level vocabulary.

Irwin, Julia, Et al. (2012). Expanding on Early Literacy: Promoting Early Language and Literacy During Storytime. Children and Libraries.

EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR LIBRARIANS Encouraging series reading as a librarian:

-Consistently acquire complete collections of current and popular series books and display them.

-Allow, encourage and teach children how to place holds on titles.

-Purchase series readers advisory tools like Thomas and Barr’s Popular Series Fiction for K-6 Readers.

-Use standing orders to make sure that new titles in a series are immediately available after publication.

-Create and distribute pathfinders that list titles in series.

-Shelve series separately from other fiction for easier access.

-Ask for time to speak during faculty meetings to introduce series acquisitions.

-Promote new series on the library’s webpage.

Ross, C. S., McKechnie, L., & Rothbauer, P. M. (2006). Reading matters: What the research reveals about reading, libraries, and community. (pp. 133-241). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. 

Support re-reading and re-telling strategies:-Make a “W” Chart: While you and the child read books together, or while the child re-reads a book, make a “W” chart. Fill out the who, what, where, why and how of the book as they are learned.

-Make Up Your Own Version of a Story: After the child reads a story, make your own version of the story, changing details such as setting, time, or even a new ending. You can change the story so it occurs in places or with characters you know. This helps the child understand story structure and make comparisons. Or, make up your own version of a fairy tale or known story. Children can use technology tools to write, edit and publish their new creation.

-Play Time: Act out a favorite part from a chapter book. Use the book as a script, playing the different characters and narrators. You can even put on a performance for fellow patrons and family.  Consider recording and posting this as an instructional video on the classroom or library website.

-Write What You Think: Kids have very strong opinions! Ask the child to express his/her opinion about something through writing and be sure to explain reasons why he/she thinks this. The child can use technology tools like blogs or social media to post this writing. The child can then re-tell the piece out loud to family members or patrons and take questions from the “audience.”

Adapted from: Ackerman, S. (2015). What To Expect by Grade. Scholastic Inc.

Retrieved fromhttp://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/collection/what-to-expect-grade

EFFECTIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE

READING AND WRITING SKILLS *There are 1 million+ google matches for classroom websites*

-The National Center for Education found that nearly 100% of public schools in US had internet access in 2005. -Children can publish compositions for worldwide audience, collaborate on projects with children from around the world and virtually visit Historical sites.-Reading and writing skills are reinforced by various games that isolate student’s needs.-Technology facilitates “process-writing” (brainstorming, drafting, editing) by allowing users to cut and paste, check spelling and grammar.-Technology provides new opportunities for students to publish theircompositions. They can become the website publisher/editor for the classroom or compose for an international audience on social media. -When children are engaged in meaningful, authentic and purposeful reading they are more likely to spend even more time reading. The internet offers access to author’s websites.-The classroom website offers parents access to suggestedReading lists, vocab words, spelling words. 

Baker, E. A. B. (2007). Elementary classroom Web sites: Support for literacy within and beyond the classroom. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(1), 1-36.

LESSON INTRODUCTION: ASSISTING CHILDREN WITH

BOOK CHOICE Assisting with book choice as a librarian:

Help children with the “daunting task” of switching from picture books to chapter/series books.

These children “struggle with choosing books that are appropriate to read independently.”

Book difficulty can be misleading because there is a wide variance of difficulty in each format.

-Help children think about the purpose for reading, then match the literature to the purpose.

-Issue a short survey to match reading choice to mood.

-Perform a reference interview to acquire details about the book search and suggest similar choices.

-Supervise book choice, using the “five finger” rule (one finger down for each hard word, one finger down if too easy, 2-3 fingers down is just right).

Burchstead, Julie. (2015). Choosing the Right Book: Strategies for Beginning Readers. National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/choosing-right-book-strategies-916.html

ACTIVITIES FOR ASSISTING CHILDREN WITH BOOK CHOICE 1. Reader Logs: Have children write in a reading log, listing past literature choices and interests for

comparison.

2. Book Talks: Have children pair up with a partner and explain to the partner why they chose the book, what interested them in the book and why they finish it.

3. Genre Passport: Children fill out a pretend passport where they get a stamp for each genre they read. Once the passport is filled out they receive a literature related reward.

4. Five Word Book Review: Children read a book, then post five words on index cards that describe their reactions to the book.

LESSON PLAN: “A BOOK TASTING PARTY” Time period: One class period/ 45 minutes

Supplies: pencils, wide range of books (topics and reading levels/ fiction and non-fiction), prepared book marks with title and author pre-printed (three bookmarks for each child).

Set up: Decorate library to look like restaurant, group books broadly on tables by topic, have room to move around between tables, create a ”menu” of books at each table.

Instructions:1. Pick up book of interest.2. Read the first page and use the five finger rule. Using the bookmark, check off if the book

passed the test and if you want to read more.3. Move on to another book (same or different table).4. “Taste” three different books using the same process.5. Check out the book of highest interest and most readability.6. Add additional books to existing reading log.7. Allow for SSR during the checkout process.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Here are some book picks for your 2nd Grader:-Henry and Mudge, by Cynthia Rylant: This humorous story of a boy and his dog is a good beginner chapter book.

-The Ramona Series, by Beverly Clearly: This is a humorous series about a girl and her family.

-Nate The Great Series, by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat: This series is a good introduction to the mystery genre.

Here are some book picks for your 3rd Grader:-Geronimo Stilton Series, by Geronimo Stilton: This humorous adventure series is especially appealing to boys.

-Frindle, by Andrew Clements: This chapter book about a boy’s creative attempt to add some excitement to school is a great book for a child to read independently or together with you.

Here are some book picks especially for Boys:-The I Survived Series, by Lauren Tarshis: A series about children who survived exciting and terrifying tragedies, based on real events.

-The Hello Reader! Series, by Lorraine Hopping: Educational books about natural phenomenon and what scientists do to predict them.

Ackerman, S. (2015). What To Expect by Grade. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/collection/what-to-expect-grade

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Here are some book choices for young African-American readers:

Only 2.2% of transitional leveled books were written or illustrated by people of color.

Children are motivated by characters that they can relate to.

Poor, minority children are often the weakest readers.

-The Ruby and the Booker Boys Series, by Derrick Barnes: A series about Ruby, a third grader who no longer wants to live in the shadows of her older, popular brothers.

-The Nikki and Deja Series, by Karen English: This series follows best friends through the third and fourth grades as they learn lessons about friendship, fitting in and responsibility.

Hughes-Hassell, S., Barkley, H. A., & Koehler, E. (2009). Promoting Equity in Children's Literacy Instruction: Using a Critical Race Theory Framework to Examine Transitional Books. School Library Media Research, 12.