Camille L. Z. Blachowicz

Vocabulary: Questions from the classroom

The authors review important research in vocabulary teaching and learning, and then address questions teachers have about vocabulary instruction.

Technology and At-Risk Young Readers and Their Classrooms

This study examined the ways in which 18 first-grade teachers and their students in 11 high-risk urban schools began to use literacy-focused technology. The goal of the study was to observe the technology in use by the students, to observe the classroom dynamics and teachers’ instructional choices centered around technology use, to look at student learning, and to investigate student and teacher perceptions and beliefs as they began to use technology for literacy. Analyses of classroom and pupil observational data and of student performance data indicated positive effects of the literacy technology on classroom instruction and student literacy achievement. Further, interviews of students and teachers confirmed that the literacy technology was perceived as engaging and effective by both groups of stakeholders. The study also generated implications for further research and practice in schools struggling to make change.

Semantic Constructivity in Children's Comprehension.

EXAMINED COMPREHENSION of sets of related sentences from which inferences could be drawn. The study used 120 school age children and 30 adults as subjects who were asked to read short paragraphs suggesting spatial relationships. After reading, they were given a recognition test containing items not previously read but which were congruent with the semantic content of the text. The primary result was the strong tendency for all subjects to recognize the semantically congruent inferences as having been present in the original reading situation. The results are discussed in light of the implications they provide for developing models of comprehension and for readability analysis.

Vocabulary Instruction in a Remedial Setting

ABSTRACT Six evidence-based principles for remedial vocabulary instruction are developed and described. Implementation of the principles was undertaken by twenty tutors, all of who were experienced classroom teachers, in a university clinical reading program that used one-to-one instruction. Successful strategies and the tutors reactions are described using three case studies of students from grades two, five and eight.

VOCABULARY IN DYNAMIC READING ASSESSMENT: TWO CASE STUDIES

In this paper, the author describes a model for assessment of vocabulary difficulty within the framework of dynamic reading assessment. Two seventh grade students, both experiencing difficulty with vocabulary, were followed through the assessment process. While both exhibited quantitative deficits in vocabulary compared to the criterion references standards of an Informal Reading Inventory (Harris & Hodges, 1981), one was referred for speech and language evaluation and the other was not. Instructional programs for each student are also presented.

FLUENCY SNAPSHOTS: A QUICK SCREENING TOOL FOR YOUR CLASSROOM

In this article, the authors present a research-based, classroom tested assessment tool, the Classroom Fluency Snapshot (CFS). This assessment is grounded in the research that establishes fluency as an important component of initial reading instruction and in the work on the efficacy of curriculum based measurement. The article presents the case of one classroom in which a teacher uses the CFS as a pre-, post-assessment. Rich classroom examples, details of the teachers interpretation, and instructional decision making are shared along with ideas for instruction.In this article, the authors present a research-based, classroom tested assessment tool, the Classroom Fluency Snapshot (CFS). This assessment is grounded in the research that establishes fluency as an important component of initial reading instruction and in the work on the efficacy of curriculum based measurement. The article presents the case of one classroom in which a teacher uses the CFS as a pre-, post-assessment. Rich classroom examples, details of the teachers interpretation, and instructional decision making are shared along with ideas for instruction.

LITERACY AND LINGUISTIC AWARENESS: A STUDY OF ITALIAN FIRST GRADE STUDENTS

This study investigates the hypothesis that the childs initial level of linguistic awareness affects the way in which s/he subsequently learns to read and write. Tests of linguistic awareness were administered to 81 first‐grade students from a school located in an urban fringe area of Rome with post‐assessment after the first year of instruction. Significant relationships emerged across classrooms between initial levels of linguistic awareness and end‐of‐year performance, as well as with home educational factors, The discussion touches on these factors and it concludes with comments on and implications for Italian early childhood education.

Factors Affecting Semantic Constructivity in Children's Comprehension.

RECENT STUDIES WITH CHILDREN suggest that even in early stages of reading acquisition they are able to draw inferences from information implicit within a text. These findings conflict with earlier investigations of childrens recognition of inferences on school-type comprehension tasks. This study attempted to determine if this discrepancy might be due to variations in directions or text availability. Subjects were 120 school age children and 30 adults. They read a treatment passage and participated in a falserecognition task to indicate presence or absence of inferential behavior. This behavior was compared to performance on a second task which contained variations in directional and text-availability conditions. The results indicated that such factors did indeed affect

INFORMAL DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS

We first propose principles on which classroom diagnosis can be based: considering diagnosis as an integral part of instruction; basing diagnoses on natural‐language evidence gathered in real learning situations; and using the needs of individual students in performing academic tasks as the standard for determining the existence of problems. We then describe a model for reading diagnosis and instructional planning and give detailed examples of diagnostic instruction based on this model.

VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION IN CONTENT CLASSES FOR SPECIAL NEEDS LEARNERS: WHY AND HOW?

This article presents a rationale for a problem‐solving model of vocabulary instruction for special needs learners in their content classes. The need for such instruction is explained, and a new model of vocabulary instruction is outlined. Guidelines for this instruction are presented, and a sample lesson is provided drawn from a middle school social studies class.