Intervention Central

By now you have probably realized that I love Rathvon (2009), but I want to tell you about another great resource: Intervention Central. Intervention Central is a website with a wealth of academic and behavioral intervention ideas. Just click on "Academic Resources" and you will see lists of interventions for reading comprehension and reading fluency, among other things. You'll find many step-by-step instructions for completing interventions, just like on this blog. If you are concerned with an intervention being evidence based, you'll appreciate that you will see the source of each intervention cited at the bottom of each page.

So, next time you don't know what to try, check out this website!

Need Inspiration for Words to use in Intervention? Think Dolch Words!

Sometimes you come across a reader who struggles with even the most basic of words and it is hard to know which words to focus on in intervention. In these instances, Dolch words can be a big help.

What are Dolch words?

Good question. Dolch words are lists of commonly used words. These lists were originally created by Dr. Edward William Dolch in 1936, who looked at children's books to determine what words were most common (Wikipedia, 2010). Many Dolch words must be learned as sight words as they cannot be sounded out using regular letter-sound rules. An example is the word "could." If you try to read this word using letter-sound rules, you will see what I mean.

Why would I want to use Dolch words in an intervention?

Another good question. I believe that it is important to incorporate these words because they are so common. If a student is struggling with these words, then they will continue to have great difficulty until this deficit is resolved.

Where can I find Dolch word lists?

There are many free Dolch word lists available on the internet. I particularly like Mrs. Perkins' Dolch Words because the lists are in Microsoft Word format, but lists can also be found on the Dolch word list Wikipedia page, as well as by simply running an internet search.

Graphosyllabic Analysis: Five Steps to Decoding Complex Words

This is another great intervention that was introduced to me by a fellow graduate student. It just so happens that it also came from Rathvon (2008). Graphosyllabic Analysis: Five Steps to Decoding Complex Words helps struggling decoders to segment words into their syllables. When my fellow student conducted this intervention, she did so in an after school group with 5th graders. The original study included 6th through 9th graders who were reading at the 3rd through 5th grade level. This intervention uses many of the same materials as the Word Building, and be conducted in a group or for an individual student. What I find especially neat is that the intervention teaches a five step strategy that students can use to decode any word.

How to Conduct this Intervention

Just as with Word Building or any other intervention, students should be assessed so as to establish a baseline. Again, I like using CBM. CBM can be used to monitor progress throughout the intervention.

The following includes step by step instructions for implementing this intervention. The following is from Rathvon (2009):

Purpose

To improve decoding skills by teaching students a five-step syllable segmenting strategy.

Necessary Materials

1. Word cards, consisting of four sets of 25 multisyllabic words written on 3x5 cards, one set per student.

2. Dry erase boards and markers for each student.

3. Chalkboard or dry erase board for the teacher.

Intervention Steps

1. Tell students that you are going to teach them a strategy for reading complex and unfamiliar words by dividing words into syllables.

2. Using the board, demonstrate the five-step syllable analysis as follows:

Step 1: Read the word aloud.

a. Display a sample multisyllabic word (e.g. finish) on the board and pronounce it: “Finish.”

Step 2: Explain the word’s meaning.

a. Ask the students to give the word’s meaning and provide corrective feedback if needed: “That’s right, finish means to complete a task.”

Step 3: Orally divide the word into syllables.

a. Pronounce each syllable aloud while raising one finger at a time to count the syllables: “There are two syllables in the word finish. I’ll read it again – fin-ish.”

b. Explain the one-vowel, one-syllable rule: “Every syllable contains a vowel. Vowels are usually spelled with the letters a, e, i, o, u, y, or certain combinations of these letters, such as ea, ee, or ai. The word finish has one vowel in each syllable - /i/ in fin and /i/ in ish.”

c. Explain how to distinguish incorrect from correct segmentations: “Each letter can go in only one syllable. For example, I can’t divide the word finish as fin-nish. I have to put the letter n in only one syllable – fin-ish.”

d. Explain that the sounds in the syllables must match sounds in the whole word: “The sounds in the syllables should be as close as possible to the sounds in the whole word. We don’t say fine-ish because we don’t hear fine and ish in finish. We don’t say fin-ush because we don’t hear fin and ush in finish. We say fin-ish because we hear fin and ish in finish.”

Step 4: Match the pronounced form of each syllable to its spelling.

a. Pronounce each syllable aloud while you use your thumbs or a pointer to expose each syllable in turn while covering the other letters: “Fin-ish.”

Step 5: Blend the syllables to say the whole word.

a. Moving your finger or pointer from left to right, slowly blend the syllables to pronounce the whole word: “Finally, I put the syllables together and read the whole word – finish.”

b. Present another slightly more complex example (e.g. violinist) and guide students though each step. Have students write the sample word on their dry erase boards and practice pronouncing and exposing one syllable at a tome whole you circulate to provide help as needed. For step 4, accept different ways of diving words into syllables as long as each syllable contains only one vowel sound, the letters students expose match the sounds they pronounce, each letter is included in only one syllable, and the combination of letters forms a legal pronunciation.

3. Divide the class into pairs of students with similar reading skills, give each pair the first set of words, and have them apply the first five steps to read each word. Circulate to provide corrective feedback as needed.

4. Have the pairs repeat the steps three or four times for each set to help secure the words in memory.

Word Building: An Intervention for Partial Decoders

The reading intervention that I have found to be the most effective with students that I've worked with is called "Word Building." I came across this intervention in the Rathvon (2008) book that I have mentioned before. This intervention is great for students who are partial decoders, "poor readers who can decode the initial grapheme of a novel word but have difficulty applying sound-symbol knowledge to other letter positions within words" (Rathvon, 2008, p. 184). The original study on which this intervention is based was with 7 to 10 year olds. I conducted this intervention with 2nd graders, and I think that the 7-10 age range seems very appropriate. I hope that the following information helps you to conduct this intervention yourself!

How to Conduct this Intervention

To begin with, the student's reading must be evaluated. I tend to use CBM reading scores, and was lucky to be in a school using DIBELS. I highly recommend checking out the DIBELS website as they have a wealth of free materials for CBM in reading. Rathvon (2008) recommends that fluency and comprehension scores be considered. CBM scores can be used throughout the intervention to monitor student progress.

The following information, based entirely on Rathvon (2008) lists how to conduct the intervention step by step:

Purpose

To build decoding skills with an activity that transforms one word into another by changing a grapheme at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.

Materials

For each lesson:

1. Alphabet cards (3x5 cards with one lower case letter of the alphabet on each one.

2. “Smiley face” and question mark cards (i3x5 cards, one of a happy face and the other with a question mark)

3. List of lesson words

4. Dry erase board and marker

5. Word flashcards (3x5 cards with the lesson words printed on them)

6. 10 fun sentences consisting primarily of words formed in the lesson

7. Progress chart and stickers (optional)

Intervention Steps

For each session:

Part 1: Word Building

1. Give the student a set of letter cards and conduct a brief review of those letter sounds.

“This is the letter ____. What sound does the letter ____ make?”

Correct answer: “That’s right! The letter ____ makes the sound ____.”

Incorrect answer: “The letter ____ makes the sound ____. What sound does the letter ____ make?”Repeat until student can say the correct sound.

2. Pronounce a word from the list that containing the letter-sound units for the lesson (e.g., sat) and ask the student to use their cards to “build” the word. After the student forms the word, write the word on the dry erase board and have the student modify their construction as needed. Then have the student read the word out loud.

3. Tell the student to insert, delete, or exchange a specific letter card to transform the current word into the next word in the lesson (e.g., sat to sap). Sequences of letter changes should draw attention to each position within a word (e.g. initial consonant, second consonant within a consonant cluster, medial vowel, final consonant), and ensure that the same letters appearing in the initial position also appear in other positions. After each new word is formed, have the student read the word out loud.

4. Use the following error correction procedures:

a. If the student has difficulty pronouncing the word after forming it, avoid pronouncing the word for them. Instead, encourage an attempt based on the letter sounds. If the student has trouble combing letter sounds, guide them through the process of progressively blending the sounds together.

b. If the student mistakes the word for a similarly spelled word, write out the target word and the error word on the dry erase board and help them analyze the differences between the two words in terms of letter-sound units.

Part 2: Tutoring

1. After the student has completed the Word Building sequence, put away the letter cards and take out the word cards.

2. Show the first flashcard to the student. If the student pronounces the word correctly, place the flashcard on the smiley face.

3. If the student cannot read the word, supply the correct pronunciation and place the flashcard on the question mark for additional practice.

Part 3: Sentence Reading

1. Using the dry erase board, display a set of sentences containing a high proportion of words that the student has just decoded and others that can be decoded based on the material taught to that point. Make the sentences fun to read.

2. Ask the student to read the sentences aloud and provide help as needed using the procedures described above. For words containing phonics features that the student has not yet mastered, encourage the student’s attempts to read the words but pronounce the words if necessary.

3. After the student has successfully read the sentences, conduct a playful discussion about the meaning of the sentences.

Part 4: Evaluation

1. At the end of each session, administer a posttest of words drawn from the unit lesson (just use the word cards). If the student can read at least 90% of the lesson words, move on to the next unit pretest (at the next session). If 90% is not met, provide additional activities based on the letter-sound units in the previous unit.

Part 5: If you have extra time

1. Give the student a letter card and help them to come up with a good sentence using that word. Ask the student to write the sentence in the notebook. If the student writes the sentence incorrectly, model how to correctly write the sentence and ask the student to copy the correct sentence. Continue with additional word cards until time is up.

Closing Considerations:

Keep the intervention positive! Be encouraging and upbeat.

If applicable, let the student know that you are keeping track of his or her progress on a chart (in folder) and that once he or she completes a unit, he or she will earn a sticker to place on his or her chart.

The following information includes the lessons that I personally created to work with 2nd graders. You may wish to make your own lessons, based on the needs of your student. If nothing else, these lessons can be an example for you:

Unit 1 Words = 15

Eat

Ate

Date

Tea

At

Fat

Fit

It

If

In

Tin

Din

Fin

Find

Fate

The girl ate her candy.

What is today’s date?

If I can find the kettle, we can make tea.

I want to eat the cookies that are in the tin.

The blue fish has a fin.

The brown dog is fat.

The small shirt does not fit.

When he found a lucky penny he thought it was fate.

When he plays the drums, it makes quite a din!

She eats lunch at school

Unit 2 words = 18

Ski

Ask

Has

Had

Fad

Fat

Fast

Fist

First

Fish

Dish

Fit

Kit

Kits

Kids

Kid

Did

Dad

His dad likes to ski.

The fish is fast.

Who are the kids who did this?

The fish was served on a dish.

The kid was first in line.

He made the toy using a kit.

Do not pound your fist.

The shoes he had did not fit.

She has brown hair.

Wearing hats backwards was a fad

Unit 3 words = 18

New

Now

No

On

One

Once

Done

Doe

Dot

Do

Net

Not

Ton

Tone

Ten

Tent

Went

Dent

She has her new shoes on today.

Don’t do it later, do it now!

No running in the hall!

He drew one dot on his paper.

Once, he saw a doe when he went hunting.

He likes his steak well done.

When he threw the ball, it hit the net.

My ten cats are fat, but they do not weigh a ton.

When I use the phone, I can hear the dial tone.

The bar holding up my tent has a dent!

Unit 4 words = 15

Put

Pot

Poet

Pop

Prop

Top

Toe

Toy

Tot

Rot

Rut

Putt

Putty

Petty

Pretty

Put the pot on top of the stove.

The poet wrote a pretty poem.

What is your favorite kind of soda pop?

In the play, he used a prop gun.

I dropped my toy on my toe!

The tot could not reach the book.

When fruit gets old, it starts to rot.

The wheel of the car got stuck in a rut.

In the game of golf, you must putt the ball.

He is a petty officer in the navy.

Unit 5 words = 19

Made

Mad

Lad

Lay

Way

Day

May

Mat

Mud

Mate

Ate

Date

Gate

Late

Lame

Game

Dame

Wad

Wade

It made her mad when the lad got a wad of mud on her mat.

He lay down for a nap.

This is the way to the gate.

On one day in May, we celebrate May Day.

In England, another word for friend is mate.

She stayed up late and ate cookies.

He was late for their date.

The dame became lame after she hurt her leg.

We played a game of hide and seek.

She likes to wade in the stream.

Effective School Interventions

First of all, let me just say that if you conduct academic or behavioral interventions with students, you will love the book Effective School Interventions, 2nd Ed.: Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Student Outcomes by Natalie Rathvon (2008). This book is full of evidence based interventions for a variety of school related difficulties, including reading. It is a great resource for those working in schools using the RTI model. Specifically, I would recommend this book to teachers, interventionists, counselors, and psychologists.

In the "Interventions to Improve Reading Performance" section, there are 11 interventions described in detail, with step by step instructions. These instructions include ways to monitor student progress so you know if the intervention is effective. All of these reference their original sources, so if you appreciated reading the research that supports the intervention, you know where to look. The book also goes into depth about Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in reading. I highly recommend this book as a resource. It is where I found my most consistently effective intervention strategies this past year.

Welcome to my Reading Intervention Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog! I will be using this blog to explore reading interventions, primarily in the school setting. This is such an important issue, and one in which I am very interested.

A little bit about me: I am a graduate student in school psychology who just completed my practicum year in an elementary school. Throughout my practicum experience I encountered many elementary school students who struggled with reading. Within the context of a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework, I conducted numerous reading interventions with students to try to improve their reading skills.

While I have not found it particularly difficult to find interventions to try with students, I do think it can be overwhelming, especially in the area of reading, as so many interventions exist! However, many schools require that interventions be evidence based, and not everything out there fits this description. I will be using this blog to share some of the evidence based interventions that I have found to be most helpful. Specifically, I will share instructions that I gathered to help with specific interventions, as well as resources that I have found particularly helpful such as websites and books. I have tried to focus on interventions that do not require expensive special materials. I hope that these resources will be helpful to others who work with students with learning disabilities in reading, as well as other struggling readers.