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WHY DO WE NEED READING

INTERVENTION?
Reading intervention begins with a childs response to a given classroom reading
program. As this weeks readings point out, greater attention is now being paid to
how and what students are being taught in classrooms when considering a childs
struggle with learning how to read and write.
RTI reflects this change in perspective, with its emphasis on classroom instruction
that meets students needs, tiered approach to providing assistance, and targeted
support based on assessment. The hope is that we can meet the needs of most, if
not all, students in the classroom. Yet even with excellent, exemplary classroom
practices in place, some children will undoubtedly still need more help with
learning how to read and write.
Our readings this week helped me to remember that a great deal of differentiated
instruction can take place in the classroom during literacy instruction if the right
program and practices are selected and executed. I will talk more about this in the
next slide. The readings also helped me to understand the structures that are
most effective for literacy intervention whether it is push in or pull out.
Whether you are providing intervention within your literacy program or implementing
something outside of the classroom, you will have to consider what program you
will use and how it will be delivered. Will you modify your classroom curriculum?
Will you purchase an intervention program? Will you pick and choose activities
from a variety of sources? These are just some of the questions you will have to
ask and answer.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD READING

PROGRAM
I enjoyed the article, Teaching struggling readers in elementary school
classrooms: A review of classroom reading programs and principles for
instruction, because it placed the issue of reading intervention first and
foremost in the classroom literacy program and looked at how quality literacy
instruction can help teachers meet the needs of struggling readers in
classrooms.
This kind of thinking about intervention is in line with the RTI approach, and
supports a teaching philosophy that believes good curriculum should be
designed to meet students where they are and provide ongoing opportunities to
individualize instruction. This is what intervention does, but on a much smaller,
intensive, and even more individualized scale, based on demonstrated need.
Creating and executing classroom literacy programs that meet the needs of all
students is our end goal, yet as Ann M. Duffy-Hester points out, this is not easy
to accomplish (Duffy-Hester 1999). Our readings this week suggest that while
we may not be able to meet the needs of all students during regular classroom
instruction, the same principles, knowledge and qualities that go into planning
excellent classroom literacy instruction, should also be applied when designing
and implementing a quality intervention program. If teacher preparation
programs can effectively address this area of professional development, more
teachers will be better equipped to meet the diverse needs of the students they
will teach. The qualities of a good intervention program will be discussed next.

QUALITIES OF GOOD INTERVENTION

Unsurprisingly the qualities of a good intervention structure are similar to the qualities of
good teaching in general.
Any intervention session should have a lesson plan. All lesson plans should have an
objective, an overall structure, and activities chosen to meet the objective (Caldwell &
Lesley, 29).
As was discussed in chapter three of, Intervention Strategies to Follow Informal
Reading Inventory Assessment: So What Do I Do Now?, the structure of reading
intervention should be balanced in its approach the same way that we take a balanced
approach to reading instruction in the classroom. All areas of reading development (word
identification, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) should be addressed in intervention,
however more time and focus will be given to areas of need as demonstrated by students
assessments (Caldwell & Lesley, 29 ).
It is also suggested that intervention sessions have a consistent and predictable lesson
structure to increase student comfort, develop predictability, optimize time, and allow the
teacher to be more present and responsive to student performance in the moment. This
is true of good classroom teaching as well. A large and important decision to make when
structuring intervention is selecting the program(s) and/or approaches you will use. It is
also important to consider how this intervention will support what is being taught in the
classroom and how you can work with the classroom teacher to plan accordingly.
There are also important practical decisions regarding structures of intervention that have to
be made such as: group size, frequency of meeting, length of session times, and push in
or pull out models.
Many decisions about how the intervention will go will be based on the needs and
experiences of your students at that given time, as they should be. Any good
intervention program should be flexible and responsive to student needs.

READING INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

It is dizzying how many reading intervention programs are out there and it is
worth looking at what each has to offer. It is important to choose a program
that is proven to be effective, matches your instructional style and goals, and
meets student needs. I dont think it is worth discussing all of the programs
presented in this weeks readings. However I do think it is important to know
what you are looking for in a program and to choose one that reflects your
beliefs and your students needs.
In my experience. I have never used a program in its entirety, mostly because
as a classroom teacher I have never had the luxury of that much time. I
have, however, found it effective to use parts of programs and practices that
I know are effective as supplements to classroom instruction during my
literacy blocks. This has included guided reading, word study, skill/strategy
building small groups, and the Wilson Fundations program. I do Fundations
small groups for repetition and also have a literacy block dedicated to
Fundations whole group. I believe in a balance of direct explicit phonics
instruction and rich authentic literacy instruction. In my experience, all kids
learn best with both, and strugglers in particular need this approach.
When I taught an afterschool literacy enrichment for struggling readers in my
classroom (which was essentially small group intervention) our schedule went
something like this: shared rereading of known text or kids rereading known
books, introduction to new book in a guided reading structure, guided
reading, word work.