English

The Power of Content-Rich Vocabulary Instruction

In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, authors Tanya S. Wright and Susan B. Neuman explore the topic of content-rich vocabulary instruction. The article explains why vocabulary instruction is essential and what it is. It provides five meaningful ways to increase vocabulary instruction in the classroom, including how to create a vocabulary-rich environment, ways to…

The Fundamentals of Academic Vocabulary: Essential Concepts for Middle School Students and Their Teachers

In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, author Jennifer Wells Greene defines academic vocabulary and discusses what makes it different from other types of vocabulary. The article outlines key priorities for word learning and provides several activities to promote vocabulary acquisition in the classroom.

The Role of Complex Sentence Knowledge in Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties

In this International Dyslexia Association Perspectives article, Dr. Cheryl Scott and Dr. Catherine Balthazar, discuss the research about sentences as a unit of oral and written language.  They discuss sentence complexity, how to identify students at risk for syntactic problems, and intervention practices to support these students.

Teaching Spelling: An Opportunity to Unveil the Logic of Language

Moats emphasizes the importance of spelling knowledge and language understanding in literacy development in this article. It highlights that spelling is not just about memorizing letters but involves various language aspects like pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and grammatical structure. Good spellers possess comprehensive mental images of words, while poor spellers may lack accuracy and completeness. Moats…

Syntax: Somewhere Between Words And Text

Emphasis on sentence-level instruction is critical to bridge the word-to-text gap for reading and writing. The PaTTAN webinar focuses on the relationships between words, sentences, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Explicit instruction can capitalize on and foster these relationships through purposeful selection of words, texts, and instructional activities. By utilizing effective instructional practices at the sentence level,…