Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction or Personalized Education Plans

Every child gets instruction based on individual interest, learning preference, learning style, readiness level, ability, and preferred mode of learning, wow that's just to start. Wow is right, this may work for homeschoolers but may quickly diminish its effectiveness in a class of 34! One teacher with 34 students and they want quality differentiated instruction, classroom management, plus amazing test results! Is this goal impossible? Differentiated Instruction sounds like a wonderful theory or an Orwellian promise designed to keep teachers bouncing around like pinballs doing senseless retort with all students suffering mediocrity. I have a very simple educational philosophy "Teach to the TOP" and bring everyone along for the adventure, no matter the learning differences or learning style, all students benefit from a rich demanding curriculum. Individual interest, learning preference, learning style, readiness level, ability, a preferred mode of learning, is useless if you can't or won't participate in the learning! Sean Taylor M.Ed 

MY GOLDEN RULEs:

1. Teach to the top
2. Differentiated formative assessments
3. Kagan cooperative learning 
4. Micro-lectures, Brain Rules, and Whole Brain Teaching
5. Keep the learning silly, novel, and absurd

RESOURCES FOR A Differentiated CLASSROOM Instruction and UDL.

Differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) are two approaches that share some key similarities in how they aim to meet diverse learner needs, but they have some distinct differences as well.

Similarities:

- Flexible methods - Both differentiate instruction and UDL incorporate flexible means of teaching and assessing based on individual students' strengths, needs, and interests.

- Proactive design - Lessons and learning environments are intentionally planned to reduce barriers and optimize access to learning. 

- Student-centered - The learner is at the forefront, and their unique differences drive the design.

- Varied modalities -Presenting information and content through different mediums (visual, auditory, kinesthetic etc.) 

Differences:

- Origin - Differentiated instruction emerged from responding to individual differences in a classroom. UDL arose more from universal design and special education frameworks.

- Scope - Differentiation tends to focus changes at the classroom or lesson level. UDL looks at total curriculum design.

- Flexibility - In differentiated classrooms students may choose options, but the overall plan is still teacher-directed. UDL promotes more student self-directed flexibility.

- Materials - Differentiation uses varied materials suited to levels. UDL emphasizes multiple means of representation, action, and engagement for all.

- Assessment - Differentiation may use tailored assessments. UDLvalues multiple means of assessing that validate different ways to show knowledge.

While differentiated instruction makes adaptations for groups/individuals, UDL builds in options for all learners from the outset through completely flexible design.

West Virginia Department of Education
https://wvde.state.wv.us › osp › 7. UDL Guideli...
UDL Guidelines Checklist. Principle I. Provide Multiple Means of Representation. Guideline 1: Provide options for perception. Checkpoint 1.1 – Offer ways of ...8 pages

Montgomery County Public Schools
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org › udl
UDL Quick Guide – Lessons/Resources. 3/12 www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/hiat. UDL Checklist for Lessons and Resources. Mode. UDL Strategy. 2 pages

https://www.northampton.edu › documents › ece
Checklist for Early Childhood Environments ... Following is a UDL Checklist developed to guide early childhood ... For additional UDL related resources.6 pages

[PDF]Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instructional ... - NYU Steinhardt
The theory behind differentiated instruction is that teachers should vary and adapt their approaches to fit the vast diversity of students in the classroom. ... teachers, programs and resources. ..... Instruction/downloads/DI/7BuildingBlocksOfDI.pdf.

[PDF]The Nuts and Bolts of Differentiation - WKU
If we have a differentiated classroom, can it be fair? (What will. “fair” mean in ... ▫How do I organize materials and resources? ▫What are ... ey%29.pdf. ▫ Survival ...

[PDF]25 Quick Formative Assessments - Great Schools Partnership
Differentiating Instruction in Response to Formative Assessments . . . . . . . . 7. Formative .... more important than in a differentiated classroom, where students of all levels of readiness sit .... classroomresources to complete the task. □ Provide a ...

[PDF]Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K–5 Classrooms - ISTE
This excerpt provides an overview of differentiated instruction, and discusses the basic principles ... Our classrooms today are more diverse than ever, with a wide range of ..... masters, student activities, clip art, quizzes, and teacher resources. Conclusions .... http://newsroom.cdwg.com/features/2005NatlTeacherSurvey.pdf.

[PDF]Differentiating Instruction: Making It Happen in Classrooms
Those resources are important supports for teachers and admin- istrators who desire to understand the concept of differentiating instruction, and to identify.

[PDF]How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms
 The Learning Environment in a Differentiated Classroom .

[PDF]Teaching Every Student: Five Key Elements - UC Davis Health
Special educators are the experts in differentiating instruction and creating ...


[DOC]Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL ... - CAST.org
The report concludes with a listing of Web resources for further information ... The variation seen in adifferentiated classroom is most frequently in the manner in ...

[PDF]Key Principles of a Differentiated Classroom - Orting School District
Differentiation is a teaching concept in which the classroom teacher plans for the ... and resourcesmore advanced than those commonly found at grade level, ...

[PDF]Differentiated Instruction - EduGAINS
It is just one of several resources in a multi-faceted professional learning strategy. ... A defining characteristic of a differentiated classroom is flexibility. Students ...

[PDF]Differentiation in action! - PDST
The resource aims to contextualise differentiation and to suggest a number of strategies to supportdifferentiated teaching and learning in the classroom.

[PDF]Reaching the Needs of All Learners - North Carolina Public School
Any given classroom will contain a heterogeneous mix of students with ... of differentiating the curriculum to meet the needs of all students, ... Resources. 4.

[PDF]The Differentiated Classroom - McCracken County Schools
The differentiated classroom : responding to the needs of all learners / Carol Ann .... resources, and myself so that I am an effective catalyst for maximizing talent ...

[PDF]Tiered Assignments In a differentiated classroom, a teacher uses ...
In a differentiated classroom, a teacher uses varied levels of tasks to ensure that ... Tiering can be based on challenge level, complexity, resources, outcome ...

[PDF]assessments - Somerset Academy
 more important than in a differentiated classroom, where students of all levels of readiness sit side .... classroom resources to complete the task.

[PDF]Responding to the Needs of All Learners - ASCD
Education Leaders as Catalysts for Differentiated Classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 .... ago: “How do I divide time, resources, and myself so that I am an effective.

[PDF]Websites and Apps That Support Differentiated Instruction - Heartland ..
Websites and Apps That Support Differentiated Instruction. Name ..... contains a mixture of classroom teaching resources and others .... color-illustrated PDF

Reading for Comprehension

Reading for Comprehension


Academic Vocabulary Words

Publishing companies that produce reading comprehension exams for schools
and academic institutions use or make norm-references academic vocabulary
lists graded by academic reading level. Many state municipalities and publishing
companies post these academic vocabulary lists on their web sites in order of
reading level or RIT level, and educators can use them free of charge. Using
and having a strong understanding of these words will help you and your
students achieve reading comprehension success. The words by them selves
are very hard to teach out of context so I refer to them during instruction
when applicable. Academic word lists are also used as part of word wall
games, drills and challenge vocabulary practice.

Academic Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary By Grade Level

Academic Vocabulary List 

Academic Vocabulary List II

ESL Academic Vocabulary List

NWEA Academic Vocabulary List

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary


Reading Comprehension Vocabulary 1st Grade

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary 2nd Grade

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary 3rd Grade 

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary 4th Grade

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary 5th Grade

ESL and ELL Reading Resources

Free ESL and Ell Pennington Assessments 

• Consonant Sounds Phonics Assessment.pdf
• Fluency Assessment.pdf
• Grammar Assessment Matrix.pdf
• Grammar Assessment.pdf
• Mechanics Assessment.pdf
• Outlaw Words Assessment.pdf
• Phonemic Awareness Assessments.pdf
• Reading Assessment Matrix.pdf
• Rimes Assessment.pdf
• Sight Syllables Assessment.pdf
• TSV Spelling Assessment.pdf
• Vowel Sound Phonics Assessment.pdf

Mastery of Words I

Mastery of Words II

Word Mastery

Reading Primer 

Eclectic Speller

Reading Lessons

Reading Lessons II

National Pronouncing Speller

How To Teach Reading

Advanced Speller

Synthetic Speller

Illustrated Phonics

Spoken English

Free Printable Flash Card Maker

US Citizenship Vocabulary

ELL and ESL English Glossary Maker

Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Samples Used 
During Reading Boot Camp


Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Kindergarten & 1st 1
Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Kindergarten & 1st 2
Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Kindergarten & 1st 3
Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Kindergarten & 1st 4
Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Kindergarten & 1st 5
Reading Vocabulary Flash Cards Kindergarten & 1st 6




Mandarin Chinese 

Printable PDF Mandarin Flashcards

Reading Comprehension: Building Reading Comprehension Strategies

Reading Comprehension Success Using Academic Vocabulary

Reading comprehension and literacy is developed by connecting meaning of
graphemes, characters, signs, or glyphs to auditory or visual meaning. Students
in countries with character-based language do not have the ability to use
alphabetics or phonemics to bridge the reading gap and are reliant on
developing sight reading ability without phonemic awareness. The west
may have placed undue weight and reliance on teaching alphabetics and
may have hindered the process of reading or made it confusing for
some early readers.

The Secret To Building Reading Comprehension Fast

Learn the 1000-2000 most used words or characters using sight methods.
Learn the 200 most used sayings, metaphors, expressions, cognates, and phrases.
Learn the words and phrase by sight, sound and articulation through repetition.

Reading Boot Camp is used during the first 20 days of school to learn the
basics of English literacy. We spend 120 hours reading, singing, articulating,
writing, and focusing on building the foundations in word and phrase knowledge.
The Program is fast, rigorous, challenging, and fun.

My dyslexia was so severe as a child I never mastered alphabetics and
had to learn English as a character based language. The methods that
I mastered as a struggling reader are the foundations of Reading Boot Camp.
I teach reading and English exactly like a charterer based language like Chinese
or Japanese. We make meaning from the whole word not the syllables or
phonemes. Students map on phonemic rules through the repetition of
the lessons and songs.

Reading Comprehension Results: 20 Days!

Students growth, 31% POINTS in reading(NWEA MAP), Boot Camp ran longer than

normal, twenty five days because I had more students on IEPs and English Language

Learners than last year and the behavior was far from ready for instruction. The class 

is know 74% at or above the mean in reading in all domains, and 87% of students are

reading at grade level in the domain on reading comprehension (NWEA MAP)! 

Reading Boot Camp Overview

Purposes 1) Launch students into the rigorous and intensive
reading and writing program that is taught throughout the year:
 2) Accelerate the closure of the academic achievement
 gap in lowest quartile students; and 3) Teach the students
 school etiquette, classroom manners, discipline, responsibility
 and a foundations in classic children’s literature...

The 20 Day Intervention Is Fast, Rigorous, Enriching, and Fun.

Quick Look

Reading Vocabulary Word Walls
Academic Vocabulary Word Walls
Poetry Reading
Buddy Reading
Music and Lyrics
Chapter Books
Whiteboard E-books and Librivox Audio Books
Fluency Drills
Comprehension Building Games
American Juku
Recitation
Peer Tutoring
Fireside Book Club
Reading Master By Grade Competition
Reading Journals


World Class Education

Students and parents may not expect much from public school these
days, my class is the exception, studensts receive a world class
college preparatory experience from the rigorous demanding
curriculum to the high expectations of meticulous manners and
politeness.

Old School Decorum


We learn old school social etiquette and manners as soon as students
enter the class. We start with students standing for visiting dignitaries
(parents or teachers), cordial professor and student salutations, and
professor-student colloquy. Students are looking for direction and
purpose in life and learning social etiquette, manners, and protocol
give them a sense of honor and virtue. Sorry for the multisyllabic
verbiage but we are talking old school decorum. Students who
shine and take to the superior manners are given the job of class
prefect to help students acquire needed politeness.

Teach students school etiquette, classroom manners, discipline
and responsibility during literacy instruction by literary examples
and class modeling. Students begin reading manors and etiquette
stories within minutes of entering class the first day. They
learn very quickly that the purpose of school is reading,
writing, character, manners, and Literacy. The first four
weeks are dedicated to teaching the reading and writing process
and studenting skills needed for success. We select an award--winning,
high-- interest book for the entire class, usually one grade above
what is normally taught, to insure all students are challenged. Begin
by pairing a high-quartile student with a low-quartile student
( sometimes the groups must include three or four students to
ensure a high performing student in every group). The class is
introduced to the book and given instruction on the process of
journaling.  The teacher reads the first two pages, stopping to
show the students the Metacognition of reading and the analysis
that competent readers demonstrate. Students always have a
book in hand when the teacher  is reading, to ensure that students
see and hear the words. Students are never read to. They must
have the book to read along with the teacher or their partners.
The teacher rereads the two pages to the class, then to identify and
review interesting vocabulary, and to explain complex passages.
Student volunteers are asked to follow the teacher’s example
and read and then reread with comprehension checks. The
paired students are always looking to see if their partners
are on task and following the reading. The entire chapter is read and
reread in this exemplar by the class and teacher before students are
dismissed to follow the teacher’s example in their paired reading groups.

Results!

Reading and Language Percentile Growth:
READING(from 31.7% to 67.9%),
LANGUAGE (from 38.8% to 72.3%),
and stanine growth READING (3.8 stanines), 
and stanine growth LANGUAGE(3.5 stanines). 
This is for a population where 86% of the students 
were SLL, SEI, LD, and at-risk.

Reading Program: The SuccessMaker®

Reading Intervention Overview

Intervention: SuccessMaker®

Reading Program Description

The SuccessMaker® program is a set of computer-based courses used to
supplement regular classroom reading instruction in grades K–8. Using
adaptive lessons tailored to a student’s reading level, SuccessMaker®
aims to improve understanding in areas such as phonological awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and concepts of print.
"Foundations" courses aim to help students develop and maintain reading
skills. "Exploreware" courses aim to provide opportunities for exploration,
open-ended instruction, and development of analytical skills. The computer
analyzes students’ skills development and assigns specific segments of the
program, introducing new skills as they become appropriate. As the student
progresses through the program, performance is measured by the probability
of the student answering the next exercise correctly, which determines the
next steps of the lesson.2

Research

Three studies of SuccessMaker® meet What Works Clearinghouse
(WWC) evidence standards3 with reservations. The three studies
included 450 students, ranging in age from nine to 16 years, who
attended elementary, middle, and middle-high schools in Alabama,
Illinois, and Virginia.4

Based on these three studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for
SuccessMaker® to be small for alphabetics, reading fluency, and general
literacy achievement, and medium to large for comprehension.5

Effectiveness

SuccessMaker® was found to have no discernible effects on alphabetics
and reading fluency, and potentially positive effects on comprehension and
general literacy achievement.

1 The descriptive information for this program was obtained from a publicly
available source: the developer’s website (http://www.pearsoned.com,
downloaded December 2008). The WWC requests developers to review
the program description sections for accuracy from their perspective.
Further verification of the accuracy of the descriptive information for this
program is beyond the scope of this review.
2 The most current version of the program is called SuccessMaker®.
Earlier versions were called SuccessMaker® Enterprise and Computer
Curriculum Corporation (CCC) SuccessMaker®. We were unable to
obtain documentation on the similarities and differences between these
 versions from the developer.
3 The studies included in this report were reviewed using WWC Evidence
Standards, Version 1.0 (see the WWC Standards).
4 The evidence presented in this report is based on available research.
Findings and conclusions may change as new research becomes available.
5 A rating of "medium to large" requires at least two studies and two
schools across studies in one domain and a total sample size across
studies of at least 350 students or 14 classrooms. Otherwise, the rating is "small."
6 These numbers show the average and range of student-level improvement
indices for all findings across the studies.

Teachers, Parents, and Administrators:

Please Give your Input on The SuccessMaker®

WWC IS AN INITIATIVE OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES, THE WWC:

Produces user-friendly practice guides for educators that address

instructional challenges with research-based recommendations for

schools and classrooms; Assesses the rigor of research evidence

on the effectiveness of interventions (programs, products, practices,

and policies), giving educators the tools to make informed decisions;

Develops and implements standards for reviewing and synthesizing

education research; and

Provides a public and easily accessible

registry of education evaluation researchers

to assist schools, school districts, and program

developers with designing and carrying out

rigorous evaluations.

All reports are reprinted from the

US Department of Education website

WWC for informational purposes.

Complete Reports Can Be Found

@ http://ies.ed.gov/

Reading Program: Project CRISS® (CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies)

Reading Intervention Overview

Reading Program Description

Project CRISS® (CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies)
is a professional development program for teachers2 that aims to improve reading,
writing, and learning for 3rd- through 12th-grade students. The implementation
of Project CRISS® does not require a change in the curriculum or materials being
used in the classroom, but instead calls for a change in teaching style to focus on
three primary concepts derived from cognitive psychology and brain research.
These three concepts include students (1) monitoring their learning to assess
when they have understood content, (2) integrating new information with prior
knowledge, and (3) being actively involved in the learning process through
discussing, writing, organizing information, and analyzing the structure of text to
help improve comprehension.

In Project CRISS®, teachers incorporate these concepts into their regular
classroom instruction through the use of comprehension strategies (such as
using background knowledge, questioning, organizing graphically, and
summarizing). Project CRISS® calls for students to apply these comprehension
strategies to content they encounter, to gain an understanding of when and
how it is most appropriate to use these strategies, and to learn to use the
strategies that work best for them.

Research3

Two studies of Project CRISS® that fall within the scope of the Adolescent
Literacy review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence
standards. The two studies included 2,569 students, ranging from grade 4
through grade 6, who attended public schools in Arizona, California, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.4

Based on these two studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence
for Project CRISS® on adolescent learners to be medium to large for the
comprehension domain. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards
examined the effectiveness of Project CRISS® on adolescent learners
in the alphabetics, reading fluency, or general literacy achievement domains.
Effectiveness

Project CRISS® was found to have potentially positive effects on comprehension
 for adolescent learners.

1 The descriptive information for this program was obtained from a publicly
available source: the developer’s website (http://www.projectcriss.com,
downloaded October 2009). The WWC requests developers to review
the program description sections for accuracy from their perspective.
Further verification of the accuracy of the descriptive information for
this program is beyond the scope of this review. The literature search
reflects documents publicly available by August 2009.
2 Project CRISS® also has several other training programs and support
materials available, including: (1) CRISS for Administrators, which is
designed to provide guidance to administrators on how to plan, implement,
and maintain Project CRISS® in a school or district; (2) CRISS for Students,
which is designed to teach CRISS principles and strategies directly to 6th-
through 9th-grade students; (3) CRISS for Parents, which is designed to
acquaint parents with CRISS principles and strategies; and (4) CRISS
for Homeschool Parents, which is designed to help parents that are home
schooling their children incorporate CRISS strategies and principles into
their instruction.
3 The studies in this report were reviewed using WWC Evidence
Standards, Version 2.0 (see the WWC Procedures and Standards
Handbook, Chapter III), as described in protocol version 2.0.
4 The evidence presented in this report is based on available research.
Findings and conclusions may change as new research becomes available.
5 These numbers show the average and range of student-level improvement
indices for all findings across the studies.

Teachers, Parents, and Administrators:

Please Give your Input on Project CRISS® 
(CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies)

WWC IS AN INITIATIVE OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES, THE WWC:

Produces user-friendly practice guides for educators that address

instructional challenges with research-based recommendations for

schools and classrooms; Assesses the rigor of research evidence

on the effectiveness of interventions (programs, products, practices,

and policies), giving educators the tools to make informed decisions;

Develops and implements standards for reviewing and synthesizing

education research; and

Provides a public and easily accessible

registry of education evaluation researchers

to assist schools, school districts, and program

developers with designing and carrying out

rigorous evaluations.

All reports are reprinted from the

US Department of Education website

WWC for informational purposes.

Complete Reports Can Be Found

@ http://ies.ed.gov/

Reading Boot Camp

Reading Intervention Overview

Reading Boot Camp is a free open-source reading Intervention program designed to turn around an entire school in just 20 days! Reading Boot Camp uses the Finnish model of cooperative learning structures, collaborative teaching, enrichment, and active student learning! Teaching every child in your school to read and reason in twenty days is not only radical but saves tens of thousands in program cost. Turning the reading establishment on its head and saving a lost at-risk generation is a radical idea. Spending education budgets on great literature for students, instead of reading software, basal readers, reading intervention programs, and teacher in-service training is a radical idea. Insuring that all students have a real future is just a pipe dream if we stay on this path of chasing reading rainbows. Teaching twelve years in high-poverty schools, with over 95% of the students at risk, has taught me we have lost our way and the establishment is broken. We buy into every program that comes down the pike promising success, yet here we are failing our most needy students. Putting great literature, poetry, games and books in children’s hands is the foundation of Reading Boot Camp, not predigested workbooks, endless teacher-made photo copies, and needless made busy work. Reading Boot Camp is back to basics with a common sense sledge hammer to the outsider. Students find it rewarding and fantastic!

Students don't come with academic deficits they come with instructional deficits!  

Why is Reading Boot Camp 20 Days?
Students that are failing to read or struggle to read, start shutting down and dropping out of school mentally as early as 1st grade. Reading Boot Camp shakes things up in a fast paced, novel way that is fun for all students. Reading Boot Camp uses fun summer camp ideas that create an atmosphere of cooperation learning and team building. The learning structures or camp activities are designed to replace bad academic habits with positive academic habits. The fun, intense and rigorous cooperative learning structures used in the program are designed to maximize learning, academic listening and speaking, reduce behavior problems, and replaces poor academic habits with positive achievement. The kids have fun playing games, competing, exploring ideas, collaborating and truly having a camp experience while learning to be amazing readers. Children thrive in the positive learning environment that is created, and after 20 days the positive behaviors are habit. Students learn to build social emotional intelligence, positive interdependence and amazing academic achievement in a unique way that is reproducible in any classroom.

If you want at-risk students to succeed you need to teach them critical thinking! 

Reading/ELA Success Taxonomy Making Literacy Accessible for ALL!
Academic Dialogue "Listening and Speaking" (Developing Socratic Inquiry)	·         Model the use of Bloom's and Webb's DOK question STEMS  ·         Students focus on academic dialogue and inquiry with partners ·         Model Socratic Inquiry "higher order inquiry with think-alouds  ·         Play strategic board games with Socratic Inquiry modeled
Sustained Engagement with Rigorous ELA Curriculum (Reading Quality Literature)	·         Read genuine quality literature daily!  ·         Repeated exposure to tier 1, 2 and 3 vocabulary concepts  ·         Examine reading structures and comprehension strategies "close reading" with genuine literature ·         Repeat all declarative lessons!
Social Emotional Intelligence Development (Developing Presence of Mind and Cooperative Learning Structures and Strategies)	·         Use cooperative learning structures and strategies daily  ·         Model and Role Play  Social Emotional Intelligence and active communication
Critical, Strategic, Inquiry and Higher Order Thinking and Mind Development	·         Play, Play, Play, PLAY! | Learn Lyrics, Learn Dance Moves, Play Board Games, Create and Imagine,  Then Create and Imagine some MORE!  ·         Use complex games and learning simulations to develop Socratic inquiry ·         Model Critical, Strategic, and Higher Order thinking with think-alouds

Sample Schedule of a Reading Boot Camp DAY!  

A thought on READING!

• 107 words make up over 50% of the words you read, speak and hear!
• 1000 words make up 75-80% of the words you read, speak and hear!
• 2,000 words make up 80-90% of the words you read, speak and hear!

Purposes 1) Launch students into the rigorous and intensive reading and writing program that is taught throughout the year: 2) Accelerate the closure of the academic achievement gap in lowest quartile students; and 3) Teach the students cooperative learning structures, social emotional intelligence, school etiquette, classroom manners, academic listening and speaking skills, critical and strategic thinking, respect, responsibility and rebuild a love of learning and reading ...

Reading Boot Camp is a teaching philosophy that uses collaborative teaching, cooperative learning structures, active student learning, and teacher made curriculum that has many levels, structures, and strategies designed to meet the needs of individual children and classrooms.

Why implement Reading Boot Camp? The genuine answer is kids love having fun, playing games, feeling smart, learning and yes reading! The administrative answer is, 95% of all students that attend Reading Boot Camp make over a years growth in reading. 90% of all students including NES, ESL, and special education students pass state reading test in some of the poorest Title I schools! Reading Boot Camp uses a the same Education model that is used in Finland with amazingly the same results! 

Reading Boot Camp is exciting, rewarding, enriching and fun for ALL students! Teachers can pick up the modified Kagan cooperative learning structures and other literacy strategies with ease. The routines, pacing, structures, strategies are very important to maximize the learning, and to a lesser extent the curriculum! The cooperative learning structures, enrichment, brain breaks are critical to maximizing student’s fast acquisition of language and test performance! 95% passing rates in schools is very common for all RBC graduates! Teachers have to believe in their students, students will rise to the occasion. Playing board games, singing songs, telling jokes, musical brain breaks, and other fun diversions every hour is a very important aspect of RBC success; teachers must buy into the less is more!


All Curriculum Materials Are Shared Openly With Other Teachers ! Sean

Fun Word Work Games!

RBC Core Academic Content
1. Cooperative Learning Structures
2. Fluency Drills
3. Reading Quality Literature
4. Learning Lyrics
5. Tier 2 and 3 Vocabulary games
6. Word Work | Word Study
7. Close Reading
8. Developing Quality Writing Strategies
9. Academic Listening and Speaking 
RBC Core Social Emotional Intelligence Content and Critical and Strategic Thinking
1. Energizing Brain Breaks
2. Teaching Social and Emotional Intelligence
3. Repeat all declarative lessons!
4. Use the 75/25 rule 75% Academic/25% Enrichment
5. Classic Strategy Board Games with a Twist





All of the teaching materials that I have created are free online, other essential materials are traditional classroom libraries. Reading Boot Camp uses a Finnish Model of education, meaning teachers make the curriculum and share!

Reading Boot Camp is a sure fire way to rev-up reading in your classroom.  RBC has no magical remedy, just uses consistent teaching practices, significant time on task~reading with student accountability, coupled with high interest reading, student motivation and effort.  Students who participated in Reading Boot Camp the summer of 2011 at Wilson K-8 and then for three weeks as the 2011 school year began, enjoyed the routines of daily singing to music with lyrics, poetry readings, word work drills, reading fluency drills, student choice in reading, academic word games, and motivational brain breaks which translated to student success. Does Reading Boot Camp work, YES!  Students grow in their reading ability, are motivated to read, recite, and sing to lyrics, while reading which equals a high level of student engagement and more time on task reading!” Cindy Senn, Wilson k-8 Reading Specialist/Teacher

TEACHING STUDENTS TO NEVER GIVE UP!

The Reason Reading Boot Camp Is Successful!

1. Language and reading is a function of auditory learning, students learn 6 times faster when listening, reading orally, and speaking. Language and vocabulary are mastered with repetition and modeling. When a reading teacher relies too heavily on individual student silent reading and silent writing activities, the speed of auditory learning is lost. By finding cooperative, creative and effective ways to provide more listening, oral reading, and speaking activities, you can give all learners in your reading class an accelerated chance to develop their literacy skills. During all Reading Boot Camp literacy activities the students are ether reading text or listening to text being modeled the within a cooperative learning or team structure. The repetition of seeing, hearing, and speaking vocabulary daily in fun and novel ways builds pathways exponentially, the further you get into the program the greater the automaticity. By day twenty, the brain pathways are automatic, automaticity has been achieved, the kids had fun learning the 800-2350 most used words and are ready to use them.


2. Reading Boot Camp is just that, camp, with camp counselors (teacher) providing highly focused fast, rigorous, cooperative, enriching, active, challenging, and fun, and yes reading activities all day long.

3. Students as teachers, using cooperative learning structures or peer partners for 90% of the activities builds accountability for the teams, and creates personal and interdependent learning that fosters greater success faster. Students are trained to work as cooperative learners, sages, bosses, scribes, secretaries, praisers, and teachers with the ability to run all Reading Boot Camp cooperative learning structures and activities with little assistance from the teacher. Students know all expected learning outcomes and work to meet individual goals and team goals. Students as teachers multiplies the effectiveness of on task behavior and helps student monitor individual progress and partners progress (Force Multiplier).

4. The 2000 most used English words (Tier 1 Words), Tier 2 and 3 academic words, and the Dolch sight words are modeled, read, written, acted, recited, or spoken 20-60 times per day during Reading Boot Camp. Students are exposed to 10,000-20,000 new vocabulary words during the course of reading a vast collection of literature that includes poems, plays, fairy tales, parables, fables, jokes, short stories and chapter books. Students build a fast auditory knowledge of the English language using simple yet fun enrichment activates. Teaching idioms, cognates, definitions, academic vocabulary, and any kind of words in a boring format will kill the learning and desired retention of any concept. Students interact with all the vocabulary in a fun nonthreatening way in the form of games or cooperative learning word work.

5. All Reading Boot Camp activities are Brain Based to enhance working memory, executive function and long term memory of materials.

Student PLAY fun strategic board games and verbal thinking games daily to help build "Socratic Inquiry Skills"!

Students make explosive reading growth!  

Reading Boot Camp Results 2011-2012 school year!

This year’s 4^th grade class started with 31 students, 95% qualifying for free and reduced lunch, 12 ELL/ESL students, one (NES) Non English Speakers, and 5 students on IEPs or 504s. 7 of the 31 students are reading at a proficient level according to the NWEA MAP tests. The class reading mean is 191.76(2^nd grade reading level)  

Reading Boot Camp Results: Seven new students are now reading at grade level after 20 days! 90% of Students made one year growth in reading based on NWEA Map results. The class mean before Reading Boot Camp was 191.76 RIT post RBC was 200.19, 20 days! The expected summer growth according to NWEA MAP norms is 1.8 and the actual class growth was 8.48. (Students in our district do not make summer expected growth gains. End of Year Results: The end of the year MEAN 208.1! 2012

Reading Boot Camp Results 2010 37% started the year reading at grade level now 74% are reading at grade level in 25 days! Reading Boot Camp Results 9/2009 A Jump of 40 percentile points in Reading in 20 Days! 27% on Day ONE, 73% on Day Twenty!

Reading Program Effectiveness: 20 Days!

Eight new students are now reading at grade level after 29 days! 85% of  students made more that one year growth in reading. The mean for students  not participating in Reading Boot Camp is 194.3 RIT for 4th grade, students  participating in Reading Boot Camp the mean is 205.4. Four schools and many more classrooms are participating in RBC this year! Four classrooms are participating at our school and all show statistically significant gains in reading fluency and comprehension! 8/2010  

KEEP STUDENTS BUSY WITH FAST PACED LITERACY ACTIVITIES ALL DAY!

Reading Boot Camp! Make it FUN!

The schedule is not set in stone! Fluency Drills, Sight Word Drills, Singing, Exercising, Emotional Intelligence Lessons, Literacy Games, Board Games, Academic Vocabulary Games, Poetry Readings, Book Clubs, Authors Circles, Jokes, Riddles, Plays, and Tons of Reading Fun!

The only rules for Reading Boot Camp:

1. Every half hour take a brain and or a movement break!
2. Sing lots of songs
3.  Uses Cooperative Learning Structures as much as possible
4. Repeat all declarative lessons (Ex. Vocabulary Tier 1, 2, and 3) within two hours to maximize long term memory of materials
5. Keep it fun
6. Play games to teach critical and strategic thinking
7. Be creative
8. Skip the published basal readers and computer reading software

READING BOOT CAMP PUTS THE PLAY and ARTS BACK IN LANGUAGE ARTS! 

Sustained Engagement with Rigorous ELA Curriculum

Sample Academic Reading Words for the 4th Grade Reading

alliteration, assumption, characteristics, chronological, conflict, debate, exaggeration, exposition, falling action, flashback, headline, instruction, irony, literary device, literary element, memo memorandum, narrator, parable, persuasive, primary source, pun, quote, reference, research paper, scene, secondary source, speech, tale, thesis paper, word play

Differentiated Vocabulary Words Work  

Sample from Primary Speller 

Week 1	1st Grade Comprehensive English Vocabulary Tier 1, 2 & 3
MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
the	I	it	had	at
of	that	with	you	her
and	was	is	not	by
to	he	for	be	which
in	his	as	on	have

Week 1	2nd Grade Comprehensive English Vocabulary Tier 1, 2 & 3
down		never	those	way	long
good		where	come	without	being
men		old	shall	life	well
own		day	himself	make	through
most		work	came	go	might

Week 1	3rd Grade Comprehensive English Vocabulary Tier 1, 2 & 3
rise	built	middle	rate	provided
sake	touch	promise	looked	pale
spot	courage	sky	lower	higher
winter	board	complete	distribute	loss
breath	official	physical	instance	offer

Comprehensive Academic Vocabulary Tier 3

Reading	Language Arts	Math	Science	Social Studies
Author	Punctuation	Add	degree	America
Plot	Noun	Shorter	balance	citizen
Setting	Sentence	Pattern	environment	community
Characters	Rhyme	Taller	shelter	country
Atlas	Pronoun	Smaller	thermometer	governor
Paragraph	Abbreviation	Subtract	light	president
Comprehensive Academic Vocabulary Tier 2             Blooms Taxonomy Vocabulary
Category	Tell	Read	Match	Compare
Create	Make	Describe	Predict	Discuss
Sort	Show	Sequence	Question	Answer

3^rd Grade Comprehensive English Vocabulary   Tier 1

MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
rise	spot	looks	classic	instance
courage	servant	marked	meaning	promise
special	running	touch	complete	spread
wonderful	serious	marked	foreign	marked
physical	engaged	movement	darkness	vast
degree	distribute	obliged	expect	example
importance	advantage	provided	proved	request

4^th Grade Comprehensive English Vocabulary Tier 1

wondered	mystery	suggestion	disease	suspicion
punishment	blessed	regret	troubled	attend
afford	Governor	pushed	commercial	delay
frightened	belonged	electronically	reign	related
reputation	formerly	replacement	indicate	violence
consciousness	possess	melancholy	eternal	pause
proceed	philosophy	appeal	stepped	fierce

5^th Grade Comprehensive English Vocabulary   Tier 1

gracious	opportunities	ridiculous	reckon	agony
tragedy	indicated	model	proceedings	ventured
submit	reserve	proposition	satisfactory	alteration
petite	emotions	mutual	convey	stout
pretext	disclaimers	inevitable	extensive	assume
compressed	unconscious	correspondence	exquisite	jealousy
disappointment	indifference	engagement	criticism	motives

Comprehensive Academic Vocabulary Tier 3

Reading	Language Arts	Math	Science	Social Studies
adage	adjective	addend	germination	abolitionist
allusion	simile	product	gravity	alliance
archetype	hyperbole	divisor	friction	capitalism
analogy	personification	denominator	erosion	federal
argument	stanza	polygon	environment	state
Academic Vocabulary Tier 2  Blooms Taxonomy Vocabulary
evaluate	debate	conclude	justify	select
predict	acknowledge	prove	prioritize	appraise
summarize	review	evaluate	assess	propose

Activities List: 

Phonemic Awareness (songs & lyrics for older students)and Fluency Activities : 8 times per day Music and Lyrics, 4-8 times per day Fluency Drills, 2-4 times per day Vocabulary Word List Drills (we make actually make this fun), and 2 times per day Poetry, Riddles, Jokes and Rhymes.  

Observe students day one, the students that avoid singing songs will make little gains without more intervention! All Activities are peer to peer!

Reading Vocabulary and Academic Vocabulary Activities: 4 times per day Vocabulary Sparkle, 4 time per day Vocabulary Board Games, 4-8 times per day vocabulary activities (COP CARS), 2-4 times per day Vocabulary Word List Drills, Vocabulary Pig Game, and student developed vocabulary activities! All Activities are peer to peer! (Cooperative Learning Structures)

Reading Comprehension Activities: 2 times per day Reading and Rereading Chapter Books, 2 times per day Story Maps and Journaling, Comprehension Sparkle, 2 times per week Endurance Reading, 2 times per day only starting on the 4th week Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension Test. All Activities are peer to peer! The Students and teacher all read the same books!
  

YES! STUDENTS SPEND 20 FULL DAYS BUILDING LITERACY! 
Sample  Daily Schedule  

Reading Vocabulary Word Walls

Academic Vocabulary Word Walls

Academic Vocabulary By Grade

Vocabulary Flash Cards

Open Source Speller 

Open Source Reader Poetry Reading Buddy Reading Music and Lyrics Chapter Books Whiteboard E-books and Librivox Audio Books Fluency Drills Comprehension Building Games American Juku

Alphabetics
Recitation
Peer Tutoring  Cooperative Learning Structures
Fireside Book Club
Reading Masters By Grade Competition
 Reading Journals

Vocabulary Reading Game Cards

Vocabulary Game Cards 1st  
Vocabulary Game Cards 1st B 
 Vocabulary Game Cards 2nd  
 Vocabulary Game Cards 3rd B

Vocabulary Game Cards 3rd  
Vocabulary Game Cards 4th  
Vocabulary Game Cards 4th B  
Vocabulary Game Cards 5th

Vocabulary Game Cards 5th B

Math Vocabulary Game Cards   
Vocabulary Game Cards1st   
Vocabulary Game Cards 2nd  
 Vocabulary Game Cards 3rd  
Vocabulary Game Cards 4th  
Vocabulary Game Cards 5th 

Administrators have asked why is Reading Book Camp successful? How do you take a class that is reading at the 20^th or 30^th percentile and move them to the 70^th or 80^th percentile in 20 days? My answers!

MOTIVATING AND INSPIRING STUDENTS!

80-90% of Reading Boot Camp activities use partners.

80-90% of Reading Boot Camp activities are done to maximize auditory learning.

100% of Reading Boot Camp activities are literacy based.

80-90% of Reading Boot Camp activities are 5-15 minutes in length.

Please let me know if you would like to participate in  Reading Boot Camp Training! Sean Taylor M. Ed

 

Students growth 300% over expected in reading, (NWEA MAP), Boot Camp ran longer than normal, twenty five days because I had more students on IEPs and English Language Learners than last year and the behavior was far from ready for instruction. The class  is now 74% at or above the mean in reading in all domains, and 87% of students are

reading at grade level in the domain of reading comprehension (NWEA MAP)! 

Sing Songs and Sing More Songs ! Get Up and Move Hourly !