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“For too long, instruction for intermediate and middle grade struggling readers has been isolated from meaningful learning and engagement with text. No longer! These authors have given us just what we need—an approach that addresses word work, comprehension, motivation, and knowledge building from text, all within a problem-solving framework. A brilliant book by brilliant researchers and teachers! This is an essential resource for teachers, coaches, and teacher educators that adds conceptual depth and practical strategies to their instructional repertoires.”

—Sheila W. Valencia, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Washington, Seattle


“This book is just fantastic. In fact, it should be required reading for any teacher providing literacy instruction for students in grades 3–8. So often, reading intervention teachers are given prepackaged programs designed to help struggling students. This book goes beyond a script to provide a framework for understanding the different aspects of literacy acquisition and the methodology to address each aspect in an integrated fashion. Just as we expect our students to become independent readers, this book prepares the interventionist to be an independent teacher—one who understands the complex process of reading and who can respond to each student's needs using a comprehensive yet individually tailored approach.”

—Christine Guarnieri, MS, academic intervention services teacher, Cohoes City School District, New York


“This needed volume fills a gap in the professional development of elementary and middle school reading and language arts teachers. Problems with breaking apart and reading individual words are often the culprit in comprehension difficulties. Unfortunately, by fourth grade and beyond, teachers rarely focus on decoding strategies and growth in sight words. Easy to use and evidence based, the ISA-X addresses deficits in word reading while also stressing comprehension of new vocabulary and strategies for understanding text. The tools in this book and its companion website will empower teachers to teach responsively as their students’ skills grow.”

—Rollanda E. O’Connor, PhD, Professor and Eady/Hendrick Chair in Learning Disabilities, University of California, Riverside


“As a professional who has worked for many years with teachers and administrators to improve reading instruction and performance, I have been asked repeatedly about how best to meet the needs of intermediate and middle school students who continue to struggle with word recognition. This book provides the most comprehensive response to this question to date. The ISA-X is a research-tested approach focused on responsive and targeted instruction as a means of developing independent, strategic, and motivated readers. Detailed descriptions of all aspects of the approach facilitate successful implementation. The ISA-X is truly a significant contribution to the field.”

—Karen K. Wixson, PhD, Dean and Professor Emerita, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and School of Education, University of Michigan


“An important contribution for all practitioners and researchers concerned with supporting older children with reading difficulties. The authors have varied and extensive experiences in providing professional development for teachers as well as interventions for children. They do not skirt the knotty problem of what to do about inadequate decoding skills when children need to read challenging texts to build knowledge and engagement with the world. Step by step, the book describes procedures for building both word-level and text-level proficiencies.”

—Anne McGill-Franzen, PhD, Professor and Director, Reading Center, University of Tennessee Knoxville

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Table of Contents

I. The Foundations of a Comprehensive Approach

1. Introduction

2. Responsive Instruction for Student Independence

3. Motivation

II. Word Learning

4. Conceptualizing Word Learning

5. Word Identification Strategies

6. Observing and Teaching Strategies and Interactive Strategy Use

7. High-Frequency Words

8. Foundations for Decoding Elements Instruction

9. Observing and Teaching Use of Decoding Elements

III. Meaning Construction

10. Comprehension

11. Knowledge Development

12. Vocabulary and Language

13. Fluency and Comprehension

14. Reading, Discussion, and Written Response

15. Promoting Comprehension-Fostering Processes

16. Sample Thematic Text Set

Glossary of Terms Used in This Book

References

Index

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About the Authors

Lynn M. Gelzheiser, EdD, is Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Division of Special Education, at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Dr. Gelzheiser’s professional career has focused on students with learning disabilities. Her research has examined both instructional and system-level variables that affect the reading and mathematics achievement of students in special education settings. Most recently, she has focused on the efficacy of the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended for improving reading achievement, content vocabulary knowledge, and motivation in third- to eighth-grade struggling readers.

Donna M. Scanlon, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her research focuses on the relationships between instructional characteristics and success in learning to read and on developing and evaluating approaches to preventing and remediating reading difficulties. Her work has contributed to the emergence of response to intervention as a process for preventing reading difficulties and avoiding inappropriate and inaccurate learning disability classifications. Dr. Scanlon is a developer of the Interactive Strategies Approach and the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended.

• All titles by Donna M. Scanlon

Laura Hallgren-Flynn, MSEd, is a language arts coordinator and reading specialist in Guilderland Central School District in Guilderland, New York. She has worked as a part-time instructor in the Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning and as a research associate at the Child Research and Study Center, both at the University at Albany, State University of New York. In her work at the research center, Ms. Hallgren-Flynn has helped develop reading interventions and instructional materials for teachers, supervised intervention teachers, and provided professional development to preservice and practicing teachers learning to implement the Interactive Strategies Approach and the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended.

Peggy Connors, MS, has been working in the field of elementary education since the 1990s. Her experience includes serving as classroom teacher, reading specialist, educational research assistant, teacher educator, and, most recently, independent literacy consultant. Mrs. Connors has been associated with research studies on the Interactive Strategies Approach and the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended conducted at the Child Research and Study Center, University at Albany, State University of New York.

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Audience

Classroom teachers working with students ages 8–13 (grades 3–8); reading specialists and administrators; teacher educators and graduate students.

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Course Use

Will serve as a text in such courses as Methods of Reading Instruction and Struggling Readers (in both reading and special education programs).