This course provides teachers of pre-k, elementary grade students, and students with special needs with a solid foundation
of conceptual and technical knowledge needed to:
1. Teach the essential beginning reading skills in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

2. Examine various reading curricula and approaches, and (using the most reliable scientific research) identify strengths and
weaknesses in design.

3. Design classroom curricula and instruction in reading that is both developmentally appropriate and logically/progressively
sequenced.

4. Instruct students to mastery (accurate and rapid; that is, fluent skill) in pre-reading, decoding, and comprehension.
5. Assess children's entry skills and progress.

6. Use assessment information (pre, formative, and post instruction) to adapt instruction for individual students and groups.

The course consists of extensive reading and writing assignments; classroom discussion, presentation, and modeling; and
field work. The field work component is essential. It provides the opportunity to see in action the principles of instructional
design and delivery, and to practice skills demonstrated and discussed in class.

A major requirement is preparing an operations manual based on your written and field work assignments throughout the
course. The manual will be our joint project; it will reveal how well your instructor has taught and how hard you have worked.
The manual can later serve as a guide for your own teaching.

The course is divided into the following units. Readings and assignments are listed for each unit.

Mastery means that a person has learned a skill to the point that accurate and rapid performance is virtually automatic; the
person no longer has to think about what he or she is doing. In addition, the person effectively generalizes and adapts the
skill to new situations, and retains skill over time. Curricula and forms of instruction that are organized in certain ways are
more likely to yield masterful students. This section focuses on principles for designing such curricula and forms of instruction.
Following are specific topics.

1. The advantages of curricula organized around strands (tracks) vs. lessons (units).

2. How to design sequences that ensure that students are prepared for later material.

3. How to select and present examples with maximum clarity.

4. How to word demonstrations and questions for maximum clarity.

5. How to distribute practice to foster retention.

6. Formats (student-teacher communication) for teaching concepts (e.g., "This sound is mmm."), rules (e.g., not stopping
between sounds in a word), cognitive strategies (e.g., sounding out new words or predicting future events in a story); and
physical operations (e.g., pronouncing sounds).

7. How to provide corrective feedback for different types of errors.

Readings and Written Assignments.
Engelmann, S. (1999). Student-program alignment and teaching to mastery. Paper presented at the 25th National
Direct Instruction Conference. Eugene, OR: Association for Direct Instruction.

Carefully read the article by Engelmann. From it, write
a. Reasons why mastery is important.
b. A list of general features of mastery.
c. A description of mastery in a reading program. Select three reading skills  (e.g., symbol/sound relationships, decoding--sounding
out new words),  and describe  what mastery of these specific skills would look like.
d. A list of features of curricula and instruction that ensure mastery.

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Engelmann, S. & Carnine, D. (1991). Theory of instruction: Principles and applications. Eugene, OR: ADI Press. (Selections)

Kameenui, E.J., & Simmons, D.C. (1990). Designing instructional strategies: The prevention of academic learning problems. Columbus, OH: Merrill. (Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6)

Create an inventory of principles of design from the selections from Engelmann & Carnine and Kameenui & Carnine.
Use this prompt: To (identify a learning objective), organize instruction so that...

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Dixon, R. "Sequences of instruction." Identify and write:
a. The main differences in strand vs. lesson sequences.
b. The advantages of strand sequences in beginning reading instruction.

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Select the beginning reading sections of a basal reader; e.g., McGraw-Hill, Houghton-Mifflin. Use the principles of design
presented in 1-3 above to assess the adequacy of lessons in the basal readers. Focus on clarity of examples, juxtaposition
of examples, range of examples, distribution of practice, clarity of wording that it is provided for the teacher. How would you
improve these? Write your assessment.

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Whether teachers plan to create their own curricula, or use commercial curricula (e.g., basal readers), or use some combination
of the two, teachers must know what the latest and most well-replicated research says about how children learn to read. Otherwise, reading instruction may not work with more than a small minority of students; i.e., few children will master the skills.

Readings and Written Assignment.
From the readings listed below, make an inventory of the major findings (empirical generalizations) on the conditions that foster
children's learning to read. For each item, write at least two implications (guidelines) for designing curriculum and delivering
instruction. Make sure to list both do's and don'ts.

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Baker, S.K., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995a). Vocabulary acquisition: Synthesis of the research. Eugene, OR:
University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech13.html

Baker, S.K., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995b). Vocabulary acquisition: Curricular and Instructional implications for
diverse learners. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech14.html

Bock, R. (1998). Why children succeed or fail at reading. Article prepared for the NICHD Extramural Program in Learning
disabilities. National Institute of child Health and Development. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services.

Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., &Kameenui, E.J. (1997). Direct Instruction Reading (Third edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pentice
Hall.
a. Chapter 1 — Classroom Reading Instruction (pps. 2-7)
b. Chapter 3 — A Model of Reading Instruction (pps. 22-35)
c. Chapter 5 — Overview of Beginning Reading (pps. 54-60)

Chall, J. (1987). Reading and early childhood education: The critical issues. Special Report: Early childhood education.
Principal, 66(5), 6-9.

Chard, D.J., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995a). Understanding the primary role of word recognition in the reading process: Synthesis of research on beginning reading. Eugene, OR: University. National Center to improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech15.html

Chard, D.J., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995b). Word recognition: Curricular and instructional implications for diverse
learners. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech16.html

Collins, V.L., Dickson, S.V., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1996). Metacognition and its relation to reading comprehension: A synthesis of the research. Eugene, OR: National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech23.html

Gunn, B.K., Simmons D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995a). Emergent literacy: Synthesis of the research. Eugene, OR: University of
Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech19.html

Gunn, B.K., Simmons D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995b). Emergent literacy: Curricular and instructional implications for diverse l
earners. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech20.html

Learning First Alliance. (2000). Every Child Reading: A Professional Development Guide. Baltimore, MD: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read. National Institute of Child Health and Development. Washington,
DC: US Department of Health and Human Services.

Fieldwork Assignment.
Using your inventory (above) as a guide, observe at least two classes of beginning reading instruction.
Take notes and make (tentative) judgments on the extent to which the reading activities are consistent with the research literature.
For example, if the literature says that it is very beneficial that children receive instruction on phonemic awareness, does it look to
you as if the children have been taught this?

Also, interview the teachers separately. Ask them to tell you the principles behind the curriculum they are using and the features of instruction in their class. Are these principles well-stated (are they clear)? Are they consistent with the literature you have read, above?

This unit covers the conceptual and technical knowledge needed to teach any beginning reading skills. Topics range from the level
of classroom management to the details of using signals to direct students' attention to print.

A. Curriculum Considerations With Diverse Learners
This section examines ways to assess entering children's skills and difficulties, and how to design instruction that meets their needs.
We will focus on: (1) pre-reading and early language skills, socio-economic status and cultural capital, and language/phonological processing problems; (2) instruments for assessing these; and (3) specific considerations for curriculum and instruction.

Assessment and Adapting Instruction for Diverse Learners
Readings and Written Assignment.
As you read the materials, below, make an inventory of guiding ideas (do's and don't's) for instruction with diverse learners.
Make sure to address the issue of when in reading instruction certain things must be done. Hint: Is it a good idea to assess
phonological awareness three months into the school year?

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Felton, R. H., & Pepper, P. P. (1995). Early identification and intervention of phonological deficit in kindergarten and early
elementary children at risk for reading disability. School Psychology Review, 24, 405-414.

Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD:
Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.

Gersten, R. & Jiminez, R. (1998). Modulating instruction for language minority students. In E. J. Kameenui and D. W. Carnine
(Eds.) Effective teaching strategies that accommodate diverse learners. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Kameenui, E.J., & Simmons, D.C. (1990). Designing instructional strategies: The prevention of academic learning problems.
Chapter 2.

Lovett, M. W., Borden, S. L., Deluca, T., Lacerenza, L., Benson, N. J., & Brackstone, D. (1994). Treating the core deficit of
developmental dyslexia: Evidence of transfer of learning after phonologically- and strategy-based reading training. Developmental Psychology, 30, 805-822.

Spear-Swerling,L. (1998). The uses and misuses of processing tests. [On-Line]. Available: http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/assessment/swerling_assessment.html

Stanovich, K.E. (1988). Explaining the differences between the dyslexic and the garden-variety poor reader: The
phonological-core variable-difference model. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21, 590-612.

Torgesen, J.K. (1998, Spring/Summer). Catch them before they fall: Identification and assessment to prevent reading failure
in young children. American Educator. On-line at http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/torgeson_catchthem.html

Fieldwork Assignment.
Visit several classrooms where beginning reading is being taught. Take notes on what appear to be differences in children's
engagement (attention, taking turns, effort) and achievement, and in the way teachers interact with different children. Tentatively
assess instruction in light of the guidelines derived from the readings, above. For example, where are children who seem to
seem to have a harder time learning seated? Right up front, or in the back? Is the group so heterogeneous with respect to
students' skills that instruction is way "above" children who are not really ready?

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

B. Basic Instructional Skills and Reading Group Management
Each item in this section focuses on specific features of instruction?student-teacher communication?and management of reading
groups. Students will learn the following skills.

1. Placement testing and grouping.

2. Managing time and materials; e.g., daily schedule; maintaining accurate records (such as rate and accuracy checkouts and
error data sheets.

3. Establishing, teaching, and sustaining productive classroom participation by using: (a) general rules for good citizenship;
(b) methods for organizing and monitoring independent activity; (c) the proper use of seating arrangements, unambiguous communication, brisk pace, focus on objectives, frequent scanning of group, specific praise, pre-corrections (reminders), the
teacher-kid game.

4. Use of signals to secure student attention before presenting a task; to direct attention to exact features of printed materials;
to guide performance (e.g., sounding out written words); to evoke timely group and individual responses to information.

5. How to use the general instructional format: model-lead-test/check-verification.

6. How to use appropriate formats for teaching different sorts of tasks; e.g., teaching continuous sounds, stop sounds, new
sounds, sounds firm-up, pronunciation, rhyming, say it fast, etc.

7. To be on the lookout for, to identify, and to use proper formats for correcting errors; e.g., mispronunciation, omission, adding a
word.

Readings and Written Assignment.
Summarize readings (below) and classroom instruction in the form of brief descriptions (e.g., the model-lead-test format), lists
(e.g., types of errors), guidelines (do's and don'ts) that you add to your operations manual.
Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., & Kameenui, E.J. (1997). Direct instruction reading (3rd edition).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Chapter 2.

Kameenui, E. J., & Simmons, D. C. (1990). Designing instructional strategies: The prevention of academic learning problems.
Columbus, OH: Merrill.  Chapter 12.

Fieldwork Assignment.
Visit several classrooms where beginning reading is being taught. Take notes on instruction, using notes added to your
operations manual as a guide. Make tentative assessments of teaching; e.g., the adequacy of seating arrangements, methods for
gaining attention, clarity of instruction, error correction?all in relation to observed student engagement and achievement.
 If children are (or are not) engaged and learning, how do the features of instruction help to account for this?

This section focuses on both the general features and the details of instruction on background language, pre-decoding,
decoding, and comprehension.

A. Increasing Children's Background Language
Reading is of course reading about something. To make sense of the "something" students need to know the language--vocabulary, grammar, syntax, idiomatic expressions, figures of speech. Following are considerations and practical methods for increasing your students' background language.

Readings and Written Assignment.
Baker, S.K., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995a). Vocabulary acquisition: Synthesis of the research. Eugene, OR: University
of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators.. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech13.html

Baker, S.K., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995b). Vocabulary acquisition: Curricular and Instructional implications for diverse learners. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech14.html

Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., & Kameenui, E.J. (1997). Direct instruction reading (3rd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Chapter 11.

B. Pre-decoding Skills
Pre-decoding skills include phonological/phonemic awareness, sounds pronunciation, and left-to-right sequencing. This section
will teach you
1.  The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to pronounce individual sounds, such as aaa, mmm,
and sss.

2.  The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to rhyme words.

3.  The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to telescope sounds. For example, the teacher says
"ssssiiiiit" and students say "sit."

4.  The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to segment words. For example, the teacher says,
"ssssaaaad" and students say, "ssssaaaad."

5.  The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to perform actions pictured in a sequence from left to right.

 Readings and Written Assignment.
Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., & Kameenui, E.J. (1997). Direct instruction reading (3rd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Chapter 6.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read. National Institute of Child Health and Development. Washington,
DC: US Department of Health and Human Services. Chapter 2, Part I. Phonemic Awareness Instruction.

Smith, S.B., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995a). Synthesis of research on phonological awareness: Principles and
implications for reading acquisition. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators.
On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech21.html

Smith, S.B., Simmons, D.C., & Kameenui, E.J. (1995b). Phonological awareness: Curricular and instructional implications for
diverse learners. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. [On-Line]. Available: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech22.html

Summarize your readings and class discussion in the form of: (1) guidelines for teaching the above skills; and (2) models to
follow when teaching (e.g., a format for teaching sounds pronunciation).

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

C. Decoding Skills
 This section focuses on teaching beginning readers to get words from print. We will use the most general strategy with beginning readers; namely, decoding or sounding out words, based on knowledge of sound/symbol relationships. This section will teach you.
1. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to decode voiced (mmm) and unvoiced (sss), continuous (rrr)
and stop (t) letters/sounds.

2. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to blend letters/sounds.

3. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to sound out regular words--"sssiiit."

4. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to decode regular words the fast way--"sit."

5. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to decode irregular words.

6. The four major kinds of reading errors (omitting a word, mispronouncing a word, adding a word, misidentifying a word) and how exactly to correct each one and to provide remedial instruction if needed.

We will practice these teaching formats in class.

Readings and Written Assignment.
Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., & Kameenui, E.J. (1997). Direct instruction reading (3rd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Chapters 7-10, 14-17.

Kameenui, E. J., & Simmons, D. C. (1990). Designing instructional strategies: The prevention of academic learning problems.
Columbus, OH: Merrill.  Chapter 7.

Summarize readings and class discussions in the form of: (1) guidelines; and (2) formats for instruction.

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Fieldwork Assignment.
Visit several classrooms where beginning decoding is being taught. Take notes on instruction, using notes added to your
operations manual as a guide. Make tentative assessments of teaching; e.g., the clarity of instruction, error correction?all in
relation to observed student engagement and achievement.

D. Comprehension
The point of reading is to get something from the text. A story, an insight, information about how things work, a warning, a set of
facts, a remedy?along with increasing skill at making sense of future texts. However, what a text is about?or what can be gotten
from a text?is not always transparent. We need skills for making sense. This section focuses on beginning comprehension skills.
In this section you will learn:

1. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students new vocabulary words.

2. The precise format for what to say and do when teaching students to remember and repeat sentences; answer literal
questions; identify cause and effect; recall details and events; make predictions about what will happen; identify the main idea; construct a sequence of events; and find supporting details in a text they are reading.

3. Methods for conducting reading exercises in different contexts; e.g., group, cooperative/peer, and individual.

We will practice the above teaching formats and management procedures in class.

Readings and Written Assignment.
Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., & Kameenui, E.J. (1997). Direct instruction reading (3rd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Chapters 21-23.

Kameenui, E. J., & Simmons, D. C. (1990). Designing instructional strategies: The prevention of academic learning problems.
Columbus, OH: Merrill.  Chapters 8 and 9.

Summarize readings and class discussions in the form of: (1) guidelines; and (2) formats for instruction.

**What you write is part of your operations manual.

Fieldwork Assignment.
Visit several classrooms where beginning comprehension is being taught. Take notes on instruction, using notes added to your operations manual as a guide. Make tentative assessments of teaching; e.g., the clarity of instruction, error correction?all in relation
to observed student engagement and achievement.

Thanks to Melissa Hayden, Kathy Madigan, and Kerry Hempenstall for critical review.