Modules
Study Guides
Description
Module 1
PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS—Phonological Awareness (often called PA) is frequently the starting point for early reading instruction because the skills are strictly auditory—in other words, children do not need to know about names or sounds of any letters to do PA activities.
Module 2
WORD STUDY (PHONICS)—Word Study involves print. At its most basic level, it is letter name and letter sounds. It progresses to word reading (decoding) and to spelling at its highest level.
Module 2A
ADVANCED PA AND PI—This module covers areas of common difficulty in teaching PA. It covers the teaching of phonics skills such as sight words and morphological awareness. This module also replicates the experience of learning to read.
Module 3
FLUENCY— Fluency is the bridge between foundational skills and comprehension. Fluency is much more than rate. Fluency is also the ability to read with expression, automaticity, appropriate intonation and phrasing.
Module 4
VOCABULARY—This module looks at how best to select vocabulary words for in-depth instruction and models an effective way to teach students key vocabulary. It also discusses the importance of understanding the depth of meanings.
Module 4A
ADVANCED VOCABULARY—This module reviews how best to select and teach vocabulary. It discusses teaching students about cognates and word parts, multi-meaning words, graphic organizers, and the usefulness and limitations of context clues.
Module 5
COMPREHENSION—This module discusses many key comprehension strategies and what these could look like in the classroom. Comprehension can also be impacted if students have weak foundational skills or lack sufficient grammar knowledge.
Module 5A
WRITING—This module covers several aspects of writing in the early elementary grades. It starts with a discussion of precursor skills (handwriting, organization, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc.), then delves into the different genres that beginning writers are likely to engage in; it explains the skills that young writers need to bring to bear to their writing and it finishes with an overview of the formal writing process.