Teaching Children to Read:
The Teacher Makes the Difference,
7th Edition
D. Ray Reutzel & Robert B. Cooter, Jr.
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-1
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Effective Reading
Instruction
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-2
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Becoming a
Master Teacher of Reading
•Master Teachers:
•Understand children’s literacy
development
•Know various reading strategies
•Continuously engage in professional
development
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© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Brief History of Current Trends
in Reading Instruction
• Inability to read has been identified as “A
National Health Risk”
Political Responses to the Literacy Crisis
• A Nation at Risk (1983)
• Goals 2000: Educate America Act (1994)
• National Assessment of Education Progress
(NEAP) (1995)
• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2001)
• Institute of Education Sciences (IES) (2008)
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-4
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Common Core State
Standards
• Most extensive basis for national agreement ever
concerning what students should know and be able to
do
• Identifies skills and knowledge students should acquire
by the end of each grade level
• More demanding standards of both teachers and
students
• Reverse-engineered standards by starting with what is
expected of college- and career-ready high school
seniors
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-5
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Early Reading Skills
• Hearing and being able to manipulate individual
sounds in spoken words
• Recognizing and identifying a variety of upper- and
lowercase printed alphabet letters
• Grasping concepts about how printed language looks
and works
• Increasing oral language (speaking) vocabularies
• Understanding that sounds in spoken language “map”
onto letters in written language
• Decoding words with accuracy, speed, and expression
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-6
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Early Writing Skills
•Handwriting (upper- and lowercase
letters)
•Understanding writing conventions
•Learning to “encode” thoughts into print
(i.e., spelling words)
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-7
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Teachers Make the Difference
•Effective Teachers:
•Primary ingredient for children’s reading
success
•May work with literacy coach
•Engage in continual professional
development
•Effective teachers influence students’
achievement more than any other factor
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-8
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Seven Pillars of
Effective Reading Instruction
1. Teacher Knowledge
2. Classroom Assessment
3. Evidence-Based Teaching Practices
4. Response to Intervention (RTI)
5. Motivation and Engagement
6. Technology and New Literacies
7. Family and Community Connections
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-9
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar One
Teacher Knowledge
•Reading, writing, and speaking
development knowledge
•Language skills
•Evidence-based instructional strategies
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-10
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar Two
Classroom Assessment
•Assessment is used to inform instruction
•Assess before, during, and after
instruction
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-11
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar Three
Evidence-Based Teaching Practices
•Evidence-based teaching practices are
validated by research studies
•Evidence-based practices for:
•Classroom management
•Reading essentials
•Print-rich classroom environments
•Support techniques
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-12
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar Four
Response to Intervention (RTI)
•Tiers 1-3 are increasing levels of
intervention
•Differentiating Instruction
•Culturally Sensitive Reading Instruction
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-13
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar Five
Motivation and Engagement
•Motivation is influenced by social and
emotional factors
•Teachers’ instruction influences students’
motivation
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-14
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar Six
Technology and New Literacies
•New literacies studies (NLS) are skills
necessary to communicate and obtain
information in a technologically-based
society
•Computer-assisted instruction (CAI)
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-15
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pillar Seven
Family and Community Connections
•Has been said 80% of student learning
occurs outside of school
•Schools should involve families and the
community
•Family literacy programs
Reutzel & Cooter, Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, 7/e 1-16
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
