This module is a 3.5-hour module designed to promote knowledge and understanding of the fifth essential component of reading: comprehension. The purpose of this module is to help provide teachers with the knowledge and tools necessary to provide effective reading interventions for students who struggle with reading comprehension.

This module is a 2.5–3 hour module designed to promote knowledge and understanding of the third essential component of reading: fluency. The purpose of this module is to help provide teachers with the knowledge and tools necessary to provide effective reading interventions for students who struggle with reading fluently.

This module is a 2.5–3 hour module designed to promote knowledge and understanding of the first essential component of reading: the Alphabetic Principle. The purpose of this module is to help provide teachers with the knowledge and tools necessary to provide effective reading interventions for students who struggle with phonemic awareness and phonics; the two components that comprise the Alphabetic Principle.

This module is a 3.5 to 4-hour module designed to promote knowledge and understanding of the fourth essential component of reading: vocabulary. The purpose of this module is to help provide teachers with the knowledge and tools necessary to provide effective reading interventions for students who struggle with vocabulary.

This brief by Gary Troia provides an overview of writing development for children with disabilities.

Adaptations Are Essential is a series of resource guides written for teachers and other service providers who work with students with mild disabilities. The guides describe strategies for aligning students’ individualized education programs (IEPs) with the State of Washington’s essential academic learning requirements (EALRs). Separate resource guides have been developed for mathematics, reading, and writing.

This is a resource guide for adapting learning and assessment tasks for students with mild disabilities.

Since reading is the foundational skill for all learning, it is imperative that children with disabilities receive targeted and effective instruction in the five essential components of reading.  The purpose of this brief is threefold:

1. to provide an overview of each of the components,
2. to integrate each component with key elements of effective reading programs, and
3. to provide easy access to additional related resources.

This short brief gives an overview of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) and explains how it can be applied to enhance reading instruction.

Learn more about Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) and see how it can be used to improve writing instruction.

This brief provides background information on scientifically based research on reading, the findings of the National Reading Panel, elements to consider when selecting or implementing a reading program, considerations for students with disabilities, and resources on commercially available reading programs.

This short brief gives an overview of Differentiation and explains how it can be applied to enhance reading instruction.

This short brief gives an overview of Differentiation and explains how it can be applied to enhance writing instruction.

This brief provides information on the purpose and benefits of assessment, as well as examples of assessments for specific areas of reading and resources for additional information.

Learn effective techniques for improving early reading proficiency to facilitate access to the general education curriculum.

This brief provides information on the purpose of a literacy rich environment and important elements that make it effective. Research evidence on classroom materials, the role of the teacher, and the classroom layout are discussed as well.

Writing is an essential skill that students must learn. This brief by Gary Troia provides information on the core components of effective writing instruction, as well as examples of specific strategies to use for developing a comprehensive writing program.

This brief illustrates mnemonics that are useful in teaching letters, letter sounds (phonemics), and vocabulary to students with disabilities.

This brief illustrates mnemonics that are helpful in teaching students with disabilities to remember steps in the writing process.

This brief provides an annotated list of links the Access Center has found very beneficial to educators and administrators alike.

Dr. Sturtevant from GMU gave this presentation at the State Information Sharing Community in October 2004.

This session gives an overview of current scientifically-proven strategies in the area of literacy acquisition.
Reading Handout 1
Reading Handout 2

Explore six different presentations from three reading leadership academies sponsored in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education.

This presentation by Dr. MacArthur provides educators with strategies to improve student writing.

Dr. Catherine Christo presented this webinar on June 15, 2005. Dr. Christo discussed strategies for fostering reading success aligned with IDEA 2004. Topics included the characteristics of research-based interventions, essential elements of a response to intervention model, and a discussion of eligibility as a student with a specific learning disability.
View presentation slides and related literacy links

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provides brochures detailing ways to help children become readers when they talk, listen, play and read together.

This strategy gives students an opportunity to talk to each other about segments of a short story, chapter, or poem and predict what will happen next.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provides brochures detailing ways to help children become readers when they talk, listen, play and read together.

Balanced Reading provides research-based information about reading instruction to educators and bringing research into practice.

Project CIRCUITS will implement, evaluate, replicate, and disseminate systemic prevention models that will accelerate and sustain the early reading achievement of students with reading disabilities or who are at-risk of disabilities in grades K-3.

This link provides explanations, rubrics, and scored samples for the six traits writing process.

This is an excerpt from the best selling book Straight Talk About Reading. The article describes ways parents and teachers can prepare youngsters to read.

This link provides guidelines for teaching the writing process and six traits.

This model school-wide reading program is designed to ensure that all students acquire adequate proficiency in reading in the earliest years of schooling.

Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project that is multifaceted and includes an extensive Web site about how children learn to read and why so many struggle, a mentoring project, and a teleconference series for teacher professional development.

This link contains resources for teaching, writing, including lesson plans, and links to other sites; directions and online tools for writing various genres; standards for literacy instruction.

This link supplies explanations, rubrics, posters, and scored samples for the six traits.

This link provides rubrics and lesson plans for the six traits.

This webpage links to web documents and articles about writing and teaching writing.

This center implements and assesses school-based interventions to children in grades K-3 who are identified as having marked difficulty learning to read and/or who exhibit serious behaviors.

The Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) is the national center for research on early reading.

This center conducts research on reading and provides technical assistance to Florida school districts and schools that have received a Reading First Award.

Access online tools for making various graphic organizers such as concept maps and Venn diagrams.

This link provides information and referral services, research, advocacy, and direct services to professionals in the field of learning disabilities.

The Milken Family Foundation offers an evaluation of reading programs that have been proven effective for students in Pre-Kindergarten to 4th grade.

This link provides a guide to evaluate and choose core reading programs for students in Kindergarten to 3rd grade.

The Partnerhip for Reading offers information about the effective teaching of reading for children, adolescents, and adults, based on the evidence from quality research.

This link examines the components of Beginning Reading in order to help teachers, administrators, and parents meet the goal to have all children reading by the end of third grade.

Wisconsin LEARNS offers practical information, a list of resources, and links to other Web sites supporting educators and parents as they work with learners of all ages engaged in reading.

This link offers a suite of software tools to help struggling writers.