The Development of Literacy: As Reading Instruction Begins

		Over the past decade, as national reading scores have declined, various federally funded projects have been initiated to disseminate research findings related to the prevention of reading difficulties. The Online Academy is one of those projects. Our charge is to present preservice and new teachers with the most essential and effective research-based instructional interventions that have been shown to improve the reading abilities of students who are at risk for, or who have, reading disabilities. This module addresses some of the most critical aspects of beginning reading. Lesson One has been developed to give you an understanding of the context and environment within which literacy should develop and reading instruction should occur. It sets the stage and helps you picture active classrooms with teachers providing the necessary instruction and support to enable their students to learn to read.

		Teaching reading is not like following each step in a cookbook. Just like a good cook uses a cook book as a resource and then adapts the recipes to adjust to specific dietary needs, or seasons the dish differently to add interest, you will need to adapt and supplement any curriculum guide to meet the needs of all of your students. Well-designed reading curriculum guides can be extremely useful, but they are to be used only as guides. The purpose of the Online Academy is to provide you with the research-based tools and instructional strategies that can be incorporated into reading programs to meet the needs of students who are at risk for or who have been identified as having reading disabilities. While we can give you guidelines regarding the use of these interventions and strategies, you will have to decide how to integrate them into your own reading program. Your job as a reading teacher is to be able to determine the exact needs of your students, identify the most effective methods for teaching the needed skills, and to present them in such a way that your students become successful, motivated readers. If students begin to believe that reading is difficult, or if they begin to fear failure, they may not be willing to put forth the effort that is required to learn to read. Poor behavior in the classroom can often be linked to students' efforts to avoid doing something they feel they can't do well. This is especially true of reading. By being aware of this and carefully conceptualizing and developing your reading program, you can create an environment in which students feel successful and accept their own and others' mistakes as part of the learning process. By showing your own enjoyment of reading, and your respect for the efforts that your students are putting forth, you'll be creating an environment in which students are motivated to learn to read.

		Each lesson in this module covers quite a bit of material so you will probably want to take detailed notes. From the preview sections of the lessons, you can print out student outlines for that purpose. While the main headings parallel the lessons themselves, there is space for you to write in the details. We know that in order to remember what you learned, you need to process the information. By writing your own summary statements, you will be better able to remember what you are learning. Once you complete a lesson, it would also be helpful for you to apply what you have learned by developing any necessary materials and using the interventions you have learned about. Before working with students however, you may want to practice several times on your own or with a willing volunteer. Sharing a pizza might be sufficient to encourage someone to be your practice student. You may also want to visit classrooms in which beginning reading instruction is occurring. That will bring the concepts that you are learning about to life.

		If you find you want to repeat a section of a lesson or your connection to the server is interrupted, the general outlines list the time intervals for each section of the lesson. You can go to a particular section of the presentation by moving the horizontal bar on the audio player to the time indicated on the outline. Before you begin this lesson, be sure to print the handouts and read the required reading. Welcome to the Online Academy module on Beginning Word Reading.

Beginning Word Reading