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Addressing Reading Difficulties

in the Classroom using Research-
Based Intervention Strategies
April Turner, M.A.
Melissa Andersen, M.A.
Sara Kupzyk, M.A.
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Characteristics of a Functional Approach
to Reading Intervention
Student performance assessed directly in the
curriculum
Intervention targets student performance in
important curricular tasks
Intervention focuses on the components of
instruction
Criterion for successful intervention: observable and
measurable improvement in student learning over
time
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The Master Plan for Effective
Intervention
Must start with strong curriculum
Guide decision-making with frequent, on-
going assessment
Use research-based practices
Tailor intervention to students actual need
Develop and implement manageable plan
Monitor plan implementation and student
progress regularly
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General Approaches to Intervention
Selection
Standard Protocol
Problem-solving
Regardless of the approach, selection of
intervention must be based on the students actual
need indicated by assessment data
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Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM)
Assessing basic indicators of educational
performance
Correct Read Words (CRW) Per Minute is reliable
and valid indicator of reading competence
Measures accurate and fluent performance across
materials and time (generalization)
Frequent, repeated measurement improves
decision-making
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What Type of Problem?
Problem Indicator What to target
Reading words
in isolation
High error rate
Reads fewer than
20 words per minute
Blending sounds
Reading sight words
Reading phonetically
regular words

Reading
connected text
Slow and labored text
reading
Reading fewer than 100
minutes per minute

Accurate and fluent text
reading
Interpreting text Difficulty answering questions
and recall
Comprehension
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Instructional Hierarchy
Stage of learning Instructional Strategy
Acquisition

Modeling, prompting, error
correction, feedback for every
response

Fluency Practice, incentives for
improvement & feedback for
performance

Generalization Practice with diverse
items/problems, using the skill with
other skills, using the skill in natural
settings
Haring, Lovitt, Eaton, & Hansen, 1978
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Matching Instruction to Need
Accuracy Fluency Generalization
RW in isolation
Modeling,
prompting, error
correction and
feedback for
every response
Practice,
incentives for
improvement,
and feedback
for a collection
of responses
Practice with
diverse
items/problems,
using the skill
with other skills,
using the skill in
natural settings
RW in text
Interpret text
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Interventions for Reading Words in
Isolation
Prerequisite skills for text reading
Letter Sounds and Letter Names
Segmenting and blending sounds (phonemes)
Decoding phonetically regular words
Reading sight words
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Phoneme Blending Intervention
Skill: Segmenting and blending sounds
Materials: 4 Instructional words on flashcards, one blank
flashcard
Instructional Words: error words chosen from the students
reading text
Decodable words with predictable and not unusual sounds
Appropriate: ship, soap, quick
Inappropriate: what (a sounds like u), these (silent e)
Procedure/Demonstration:
First three times through the cards consists of sounding out each
phoneme (expose one at a time using the blank card until student
can see whole word), then blending them into each Instructional
Word
Last time through consists of student reading each Instructional
Word

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Phonics Intervention
Skill: Decoding phonetically regular words
Materials: Word list, instructional passage
Procedure/Demonstration:
Teach a phonics lesson
Train phonics words in isolation: model + prompt
responses
Have students practice phonics words in passage
Model, repeated readings, error correction, performance
feedback
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Flashcard Intervention
Skills: Letter Sounds and Letter Names,
Reading sight words

Builds accuracy for unknown sounds, letters, and words
Materials: Flashcards with letters or sight words
Procedure/Demonstration (sight words):
Identify unknown words
Model the first two words and have the student repeat
Have the student say the words on their own
If student says all of the words correctly, shuffle the cards, model
a new word and continue through remaining words.
If student does not say a word correctly or doesnt respond,
model the word and have student repeat, shuffle the cards, and
repeat (do not add a new word until the student gets all of the
words correct the first time)
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Flashcard Intervention Example
Nick- a 1
st
grade student
Weak sight word vocabulary
Nick
0
5
10
15
20
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Assessment
T
o
t
a
l

W
o
r
d
s

R
e
a
d

C
o
r
r
e
c
t
l
y
Maintenance
Word Set 1
Word Set 2
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Reading Words in Connected Text
Fluency:
Those who read words in text
Accurately
Quickly
With less effort

Fluent Readers
Enjoy reading more
More confident in reading skills
Have higher levels of comprehension
Are more likely to choose to read
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Connected Text Interventions
Listening Passage Preview

Repeated Reading

Error Correction
Phase Drill
Syllable Segmentation
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Listening Passage Preview
Materials
Two copies of the designated text

Procedure/Demonstration
Read the story aloud to the student at an age-
appropriate pace
Have the student follow along on the student copy
as you read the text aloud
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Repeated Readings
Materials
Two copies of the selected reading text
Student copy
Examiner copy

Procedure/Demonstration
Have the student read the text aloud three to four times
Each time the student reads the passage aloud, follow on
the examiner copy
If the student hesitates on a word for more than 3 seconds,
say the word and have the student read the word correctly

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Enhancing Repeated Reading
Choice of Reading Material
Give the student options of what to read

Limit the length and amount of material
Keep the materials brief so student have multiple
opportunities to read and re-read the same material

Provide Encouragement
Discuss material with the student

Graph student progress!

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Error Correction: Phase Drill
Materials
Two copies of the reading passage
Student copy, Examiner copy
Highlighter
Stopwatch

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Error Correction: Phase Drill
Procedure/Demonstration
Have the student read the story aloud
While the student is reading the passage aloud, follow along on
the Examiner Copy highlighting/underlining errors
If the student hesitates on a word for more than 3 seconds, sat
the word and highlight/underline it
Show him/her your copy with the underline/highlighted errors
Read each error word to the student
Have the student read the phrase/sentence containing the word
aloud three times
Have the student read the passage aloud again using the
standard CBM error correction procedures
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Error Correction: Syllable Segmentation
Materials
Two copies of the reading passage
Examiner copy, student copy
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Error Correction: Syllable Segmentation
Procedure/Demonstration
Identify error words using standard CBM procedures
The examiner uses an index card to cover each error word,
uncovering and modeling the correct pronunciation of one
syllable at a time
The student repeats the correct pronunciation of each
syllable as the examiner uncovers them
The student then independently reads each syllable and
blends the syllables together to pronounce the word
If mistakes are made, the previous steps are repeated

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Component Rationale Procedural Steps
Listening
Passage Preview
(LPP)
Provides modeling to increase the
students reading accuracy and
fluency (Daly & Martens, 1994).
The examiner reads the instructional passage to the student at a comfortable pace
while simultaneously monitoring the student to ensure that he or she is correctly
following along with his or her finger.
Repeated
Readings (RR)
Designed to provide a student with
multiple opportunities to respond by
having the student re-read a passage
repeatedly (Rashotte & Torgensen,
1985)
The examiner has the student re-read a passage three times.
Phrase Drill
(PD)
Designed to provide corrective
feedback and accurate practice to
increase correct responding (OShea,
Munson, & OShea, 1984)
As the student reads the passage the first time, the practitioner highlights or
underlines the students errors. After the student finishes reading the passage, the
practitioner points to and reads the first error word to the student. The student reads
the error word correctly to the practitioner, and then reads the phrase or sentence
containing the error word three times. This process is repeated for each error word.
Syllable
Segmentation
(SS)
Designed to increase accuracy by
providing the students with further
corrective feedback and practice
blending the syllables of error words
together (Daly, Bonfiglio, Mattson,
Persampieri, & Yates, 2006).
As the student reads the passage the second time, the practitioner uses an index card
to cover each error word, uncovering and modeling the correct pronunciation of one
syllable at a time. The student repeats the correct pronunciation of each syllable as the
practitioner uncovers them. The student then independently reads each syllable and
blends the syllables together to pronounce the word. If the student makes any
mistakes during this process, the practitioner repeats the previous step.
Connected Text Interventions Summary
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Intervention for Interpreting Text
Comprehension
The ultimate goal in reading

Enhancing Comprehension
Pre-reading Activities
Post-reading Activities

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Pre-Reading Comprehension
Clarify purpose of reading
What is purpose of reading?

Activate prior knowledge

Pre-teach vocabulary

Pre-teach concepts

Choose material that is appropriate
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Pre-Reading Comprehension:
Unknown Words
Pre-Teach Vocabulary
Say the word
Tell the students what it means
Use Context Clues
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Pre-Reading Comprehension:
Unknown Words
What does it mean?

Directions:
Make a list of words you do not know
Then, write a definition for each word
The definition can be another word that means the same
thing or short description of that word

Word Definition
__________ ___________________

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Pre-Reading Comprehension: T.E.L.L.S
T.E.L.L.S
Title
What is the title? What is this about?
Form hypothesis and now read to see if they are correct, activate
prior knowledge
Examine
Clues
Pictures, headings and subheadings figures graphs
Look
Important words
Used often, in bold, illustration may provide clues
Unknown words
Setting
Clues about the setting (time, place, date)
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Enhancing Pre-Reading Comprehension
Activities should be short and engaging
May be taught and done in small groups
where students can discuss
T.E.L.L.S
Title
What do you think about?
Look
Unknown words (others can tell what it means)
Important words (others can explain why they think word is
important)

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Post-reading Comprehension
Strategies
Summarize
Consolidate students knowledge
Write down main ideas, important points,
sequence of events
Complete story maps, timelines, conflict
charts
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Incorporating Motivational/Reinforcement
Strategies
Motivational/Reinforcement Strategies
If the task requires much effort then to get the
student to chose the task we must provide strong
reinforcement
Frequent
Immediate
Meaningful
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Motivation/Reinforcement
Student is given a story to read and
questions to answer
Student completes the assignment with 95%
correct
Student is praised and receives a good grade

The task required little effort and time from
the student so the weaker reinforcement is
sufficient
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Motivation/Reinforcement
Joe tries really hard and completes three
comprehension tasks

Joe gets 60% correct, which is a big improvement
but not enough for a good grade

Done often enough, it is possible that Joe will stop
trying because even if he did do well enough, all the
effort would not be worth the reinforcement
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Motivation/Reinforcement Solutions
Praise Joe for completing each task
Increased frequency and immediacy of
reinforcement
Add an interdependent group-oriented
contingency so that Joes effort and accuracy
is reward
Example: if 70% of class gets 70% correct then
the class gets a reward
Promote cooperative learning
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Additional Motivation/Reinforcement
Strategies
Reward Box
Comprised largely of activities (free and fun for all)
As long as one activity in the box is really cool for
each student, then there is the possibility of
something wonderful happening each day for
each student
Also, high quality powerful reinforcer for students
who need it because the task requires much effort
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Group Adaptation
Class-wide Peer Tutoring
Student pairs take turns reading aloud for a fixed
amount of time
As the student reads tutor scores errors,
provides correction
Switch roles in the student pair
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Mix and Matching Interventions
Identify student need
Acquisition
Sounds or words in isolation
Fluency
Reading connected text
Comprehension
Understanding what is read
Start with a research-based program
Enhance the research-based program with
additional strategies tailored to student need
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Conclusions
Each students need is unique
Must start with strong curriculum
Guide decision-making with frequent & on-going
assessment
Use research-based practices
Tailor Intervention to students actual need
Develop and implement manageable plan
Monitor plan implementation and student progress
regularly