Aligns to IDEA, Part B The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. According to the website, IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. (Please see http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home for access to regulations, legislation, and more information.) The following chart shows how Tim Rasinski Presents Fabulously Famous Books For Building Fluency can support children with disabilities under IDEA, based on some of the key criteria and recommendations. The criteria include the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework for allocating instructional services and resources in response to students needs. 1. Provide research-based and scientifically validated interventions, to the extent possible The 2000 National Reading Panel report found that fluency is one of the five essential components of reading and reading instruction. A central part of fluency is expressive reading. With Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency, teachers can engage students with authentic children s literature as a springboard to fluent reading. This program was developed by Dr. Timothy Rasinski, one of the nation s leading authorities on reading fluency. From his extensive research, he has developed this and other fluency programs that offer practical strategies to help developing and struggling readers build vocabulary, decoding, and fluency skills to raise their reading achievement. If you have any questions about Tim Rasinski Presents Fabulously Famous Books For Building Fluency or would like to place an order, please call your sales representative at 800-387-1437 or fax to 877-242-5865. As part of Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency, Dr. Rasinski shares his research in the Professional Guide and in Guided Fluency Instruction: Moving Students to Independence. This paper presents research that supports the use of modeling, assisted practice, and independent practice to build fluency. The program is also supported by research that shows the importance of integrating authentic trade books into the classroom including: May 2009 1
Provide research-based and scientifically validated interventions, Continued A common feature of effective reading programs is student access to a wide variety of appealing trade books and other reading materials. (Cullinan, 2000) Fluency develops as a result of many opportunities to practice reading with a high degree of success. (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001) Literally hundreds of correlational studies find that the best readers read the most and that poor readers read the least. These correlational studies suggest that the more children read, the better their fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. (National Reading Panel, 2000) Trade books are powerful instructional tools for meeting the needs of a variety of students with diverse learning styles. (Flippo, 1999) The amount of reading is a strong predictor of reading comprehension, outweighing intelligence, economic background, and gender. (Reutzel & Gikkubgsworth, 1991) Good reading programs always provide access to good literature and encourage children to read as much as possible material with which they are comfortable. (Foorman, Fletcher, & Francis, 2002) Students who are exposed to real texts books and stories rather than short passages in basal readers and who respond to what they read perform better on standardized tests of reading achievement. (Wenglinsky, 2003) For more research findings that support the strategies used in Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency, Scholastic Classroom Books Compendium of Research is available upon request. 2. Provide access to the general core curriculum taught to regulareducation students and/or Use supplemental instructional materials, where appropriate, to strengthen the efficacy of the comprehensive core curriculum Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency breaks the boundaries of tradition fluency instruction with performance activities that make guided, repeated oral reading practice fun. These proven strategies keep students engaged and excited as they become fluent readers. With improved fluency, students will use their cognitive resources for the task of comprehension. The following are the strategic reading skills this program helps students develop: May 2009 2
Provide access to the general core curriculum and/or use supplemental instructional materials, Continued Fluency The Professional Guide provides a variety of strategies for teachers to use to help students develop their fluency. (See Scholastic s response to criterion 3 for a detailed list.) In each lesson, the During Reading section directs teachers to model the fluency skills and engage students in discussion about the skills. Then the students participate in choral reading of the passage. Additional activities are suggested in the lesson to provide fluency practice for the whole class or struggling students. Comprehension Although building accuracy, automaticity, and expression is the key to this program, the lessons include discussion and retelling activities to help ensure that students understand what they are reading. The Professional Guide, blackline masters, and 3-Minute Reading Assessments provide quick ways to work on and monitor comprehension. The Teacher Resources CD-ROM provides a reproducible Story Map graphic organizer to help students analyze and better understand story structure. Vocabulary Each title-related lesson highlights a passage from the book that focuses on the featured vocabulary words (Tier 2, related, or high-frequency) important to understanding the passage and key for word study. Teachers provide direct instruction of the words using student-friendly definitions and by pronouncing the words several times. Students gain additional meaning from reading the words in context. Activities from Daily Word Ladders also help students build vocabulary. Writing Each lesson suggests in-class writing activities in preparation for a fluency performance. Fun and engaging opportunities invite and challenge students to present their written materials to the class using various oral presentation forms. Three Fabulously Famous Books For Building Fluency libraries are available A for Grades K-2, B for Grades 3-5, and C for Grades 6-8. Each level includes: 64 Books 32 authentic trade titles, 2 copies each 3-Minute Reading Assessments by Dr. Timothy Rasinski and Dr. Nancy Padak, a professional book that provides ready-to-use assessments to screen students for reading problems, gather students baseline data, and track their progress throughout the school year Daily Word Ladders by Dr. Timothy Rasinski, which are engaging and reproducible word-building games that effectively teach spelling, word recognition, and vocabulary May 2009 3
Provide access to the general core curriculum and/or use supplemental instructional materials, Continued Professional Guide providing information on how to use the program to develop effective fluency instruction using authentic children s literature for oral and repeated reading Teacher Resources CD-ROM that supplies: o Lessons, 2-pages for every title o Blackline masters, including a parent letter, response forms, logs, and other activity sheets o Research Paper, Guided Fluency Instruction: Moving Students to Independence by Dr. Timothy Rasinski, which addresses the research base of effective fluency instruction 3. Educate students in the least restrictive environment consistent with their educational needs Each of the three Fabulously Famous libraries includes a range of reading levels that can be used with special education inclusion students at many levels within a regular education classroom. They can also be used in a pull-out program. With a focus on developing fluency, the instructional design outlined in the Professional Guide encourages teachers to support all students throughout the learning process with teacher modeling, guidance, and assistance. Through a gradual release model, responsibility is slowly shifted almost entirely to the student. Teachers can still provide assistance as needed. The Professional Guide also provides a variety of techniques for building fluency so that students with learning differences can learn and be engaged. These methods include: Choral Reading Paired Reading Buddy Reading Recorded Reading Radio Reading Mumble Reading Say It Like the Character Repeated Reading Center Cooperative Repeated Reading Reader s Theater Poetry Performances Phrasing May 2009 4
4. Implement a multitiered strategy designed to provide increasingly intensive interventions to those students who are not making adequate progress in the core curriculum (RtI) Research suggests that fluency problems are the root case of students reading difficulties. Overcoming the fluency problem may help students with disabilities make significant strides in their reading achievement. Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency can be flexibly implemented as part of a multitiered strategy, whether they are used in Tier I as a complement to the core program or in Tier 2 as a supplemental curriculum. When used as a main intervention program, detailed lessons included for each book teach and reinforce key fluency skills. The lessons also contain suggestions and activities for helping students learn word decoding and vocabulary, which are important to building fluency. Since the books are authentic texts that students love, they naturally foster discussion and lead to other activities that promote reading comprehension across the curriculum. As an adjunct to an existing intervention program, Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency can provide additional support and instruction for overcoming fluency problems that may be the source of students general reading difficulties. The program uses researchbased teaching strategies that have been shown to increase reading achievement. 5. Provide ongoing progress monitoring of students response to high-quality, research-based intervention and use it to guide the Individualized Education Program (IEP) 3-Minute Reading Assessments by Dr. Timothy Rasinski and Dr. Nancy Padak is provided with the Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency program and contains everything teachers need to assess all aspects of reading fluency and comprehension in a matter of minutes. In the Professional Guide, Dr. Rasinski offers additional information on assessing students skills in these areas: Accuracy in Word Recognition/ Decoding Automaticity in Word Recognition/ Decoding Prosody/ Expression in Reading Comprehension Student Self-Assessment Blackline masters found on the Teacher Resources CD- ROM can be used to monitor student progress. Feedback from these assessments can provide formative and summative data that can be used to modify instruction and intervention, as well as guide the development of IEPs. May 2009 5
6. Include literacy instruction that targets English language learners who have not yet been identified as needing special education services (RtI) Each of the three Fabulously Famous libraries includes books in a range of reading levels that can accommodate students with varying reading abilities, including English language learners (ELLs). Using the instructional design outlined in the Professional Guide, all students are supported throughout the learning process with teacher modeling, guidance, and assistance as well as through student independent practice and repeated oral readings. ELLs benefit from the strong vocabulary instruction and support for each title. A two-page lesson provides guidance for pre-teaching and reviewing vocabulary words (Tier 2, related, or high-frequency) that are important to understanding the featured passage for building fluency. Oral presentations and performances build oral language skills. ELLs can be matched to native English speakers in Buddy Reading to provide peer support. 7. Inform parents of general education services that would be provided and strategies to support their child s rate of learning The Professional Guide for Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency provides teachers with practical information that they can use to inform parents about the importance of fluency and how the program will support their children s rate of learning. Dr. Rasinski emphasizes the importance of home involvement. He explains that the easiest ways for parents to help their children become better readers is to read to them, read with them, and listen to their children read aloud. He also outlines his Fast Start Reading Program. A reproducible home letter, available on the Teacher Resources CD-ROM, explains how parents can contribute to building their child s reading skills with just 15 minutes of reading a day. 8. Provide a high-quality professional development plan to support teachers providing special education services and those implementing RtI Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency includes comprehensive teaching materials that contain researchbased instructional strategies and tools suitable for both new and experienced teachers. Resources include: Professional Guide, which includes extensive information and teaching techniques on using authentic literature for effective fluency instruction Research Paper, Guided Fluency Instruction: Moving Students to Independence by Dr. Timothy Rasinski, which addresses the research base of effective fluency instruction May 2009 6
Provide a high-quality professional development plan, Continued 3-Minute Reading Assessments by Dr. Timothy Rasinski and Dr. Nancy Padak, a professional book that provides ready-to-use assessments to screen students for reading problems Daily Word Ladders by Dr. Timothy Rasinski, a professional book that offers engaging and reproducible word building games Teacher Resources CD-ROM that supplies: o Two-page lesson for every title, with instruction and ideas for teaching key vocabulary using passages from the title, modeling fluent reading, providing repeated oral reading practice in the classroom, and for writing and oral performance activities o Blackline masters, including a parent letter, response forms, logs, and other activity sheets 9. May coordinate with activities funded by, and carried out under, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency can be effectively integrated with school activities that are being funded by, and carried out under, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) including, but not limited to: Title I, Part A Improving Basic Programs Title I, Part A Supplemental Educational Services Title IV, Part B 21 st Century Community Learning Centers Title V, Part A Innovative Programs May 2009 7