Papers by Timothy Rasinski
From Phonics to Fluency does not stop with word study but goes beyond words and explores effectiv... more From Phonics to Fluency does not stop with word study but goes beyond words and explores effective fluency instruction. The authors offer aspiring or veteran teachers workable approaches to authentic word study that students will find engaging and enjoyable. The approaches shared are based on solid literacy theory, current reading research, actual classroom application and incorporate the National Reading Panel Report (2000) and the requirements of No Child Left Behind. In addition, the proven and effective instructional strategies and practices from real teachers provide a window into effective teaching for developing reading fluency. Teachers will walk away with a solid understanding and a wealth of strategies to promote fluency in their classrooms and their students will learn to read more efficiently, expressively, and meaningfully and at the same time develop a greater comprehension of all words.
The Journal of Educational Research
The current study aimed to explore the effects of interactive read-aloud with children’s picture ... more The current study aimed to explore the effects of interactive read-aloud with children’s picture books on third-grade elementary school students’ financial literacy attitude and behavior. A pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental research design was employed. The sample of the current research consisted of 46 third-grade elementary school students. We randomly assigned two preexisting third-grade elementary school classrooms to the treatment and control groups that appeared similar considering the pretest scores of the groups. While interactive read-aloud was used in the treatment group, just reading read-aloud activities occurred in the control group. The implementation process took four weeks. Before and after the implementation, the measurement tool was administered to the students in the groups. A one-way analysis of covariance was used for the posttest scores of the students in the groups. The analysis revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in favor of the treatment group.
formed the core of reading programs in the United States. Over the last decade informational text... more formed the core of reading programs in the United States. Over the last decade informational texts have been increasingly added to the corpus of materials used to teach reading. As a result of this expanding emphasis on narrative and informational texts, other types of reading materials have been relegated to second tier status. Among these has been poetry. This is curious because the first type of language children are exposed to is often poetic. The oral tradition from which nursery rhymes, songs, and lullabies emerge echoes poetry. In this paper, we argue that rather than diminishing poetry in the elementary classroom, poetry should be a core reading text. Moreover, we, along with other scholars (e.g., Perfect, 1999; Wicklund, 1989), feel that poetry offers particular advantages for teaching essential reading competencies for younger and struggling readers. Tim and Belinda are professors at Kent State University. As university professors, reading clinic Poetry as a Core Reading T...
Series Introduction: Evidence-Based Instruction in Reading - A Professional Development Guide Int... more Series Introduction: Evidence-Based Instruction in Reading - A Professional Development Guide Introduction: Comprehension Chapter 1 Reading Comprehension: Defintions, Research, and Considerations Chapter 2 Instructional Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension Chapter 3 Assessing Comprehension Chapter 4 Beyond Strategies and Beyond the Classroom Chapter 5 Resources for Teachers References Index
Reading Researchers in Search of Common Ground, 2012
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 2020
The aim of this study is to determine the effects of a Process-Based Writing Modular Instructiona... more The aim of this study is to determine the effects of a Process-Based Writing Modular Instructional Program (PBWMIP), supported with graphic organizers and formative assessment, on second-grade primary school students' writing compositions and attitudes toward writing. This quasi-experimental research design study was conducted with 40 second graders who were chosen for either the experimental group or the control group. Data was gathered through written texts and attitude scales related to writing. Pretest and posttest scores of the experimental and control group were analyzed with a two-factor ANOVA test. The results indicate that while there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the quality of writing compositions in favor of experimental group, there was not a significant difference between the groups in terms of the students' attitudes toward writing. The importance of writing Writing, one of the four basic language skills that students should acquire, is the expression of information, opinions, and experiences about a subject through written symbols (Ministry of National Education [MoNE], 2018). Proficiency in writing is more difficult to develop than reading, speaking and listening (Herrick & Otto, 1961). A person begins listening and speaking at birth and, as a result, acquires and develops these skills early in life. Reading and writing develop later, with writing skills acquired later than comparable reading skills (Clark, 2009). Reading involves confronting a text objectified by written symbols and deriving meaning from it. The tangible nature and structure of the text aids in comprehension. The basics of writing (ideas, information, and thoughts), on the other hand, are more abstract. The visual material of reading does not exist before one engages in writing. In writing, ideas, experiences, knowledge, and thoughts are developed in the mind and are written according to a plan (Arıcı & Kaldırım, 2015). Competency in writing directly influences a child's reading comprehension capacity (Bruning & Horn, 2000). For this reason, it has been viewed among the most important skills that need to be learned (Gerde et al., 2012; Hammill, 2004). However, using writing skills efficiently is a complex process. Students not only employ their knowledge and how to convey it, but they also must consider how to structure their writing into an actual text. This requires a highly sophisticated metacognitive process, which involves encoding, punctuation, spelling, reading comprehension, vocabulary, phonological awareness, summarizing, analysis, and critical thinking (Aram, 2005
World Journal of Educational Research, 2020
Although research has indicated that time allotted for instruction in reading is associated with ... more Although research has indicated that time allotted for instruction in reading is associated with reading achievement, no studies have examined what is the appropriate or optimal time that should be given to reading instruction in the primary grades (grades K-2). Given the understanding that it is the teachers themselves who would have the best sense of the appropriate time for reading instruction and its various components. Results of the survey indicate that teachers feel that 178-198 minutes be devoted to the general literacy curriculum, while 62-71 minutes be devoted to the core reading curriculum per day. We note that the allocation of time to the major components of reading instruction (word study, fluency, and comprehension) varied considerably. In follow-up survey inquiries, a significant number of teachers manifest difficulties in actually meeting their own recommendations for time appropriation for reading instruction. Among the factors that keep teachers from meeting their...
The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 2018
In this article, we explore and identify the varied roles that have been assigned over time to th... more In this article, we explore and identify the varied roles that have been assigned over time to the master reading teacher at the secondary level. Despite the fact that there are fewer master reading teachers (MRTs) at the secondary level, they are often required to take on even more responsibilities than MRTs at the elementary level. Secondary MRT roles have included working as a reading interventionist and instructor, reading coach, and school liaison to homes and community. Additionally, secondary MRTs also take on the role of content/disciplinary reading expert. Based on our literature review, we argue that the wide-ranging and multi-faceted roles assigned to the secondary MRT may not be the best deployment of responsibilities. We suggest that the roles of the secondary MRT be reexamined for the purpose of defining specific and limited roles and responsibilities to be assigned to these professionals so as to maximize their effectiveness within those identified domains of responsibility.
Reading Psychology, 2019
The present study aimed to explore the relation between students' oral reading efficacy, reading ... more The present study aimed to explore the relation between students' oral reading efficacy, reading comprehension, and academic performance on a nationwide high school placement exam (TEOG). The students were selected from a public middle school. The students' oral reading efficacy, comprehension, and TEOG achievement scores were obtained to figure out the relations between them. The students' TEOG results were obtained from the school administration. The findings revealed that there were statistically significant relations between oral reading efficacy, reading comprehension and TEOG
Reading Psychology, 2019
This study investigated the efficacy of the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) in improving reading... more This study investigated the efficacy of the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) in improving reading achievement in primary grade struggling readers. 30 readers, enrolled in a summer reading clinic, participated in daily 40-min mini-reading lessons across 5 weeks. During the fluency lessons, readers practiced and developed their literacy skills through participation in repeated readings, word work, rehearsal, and performance. Assessments measured comprehension, reading fluency, including word recognition accuracy, reading speed, and prosody. Control students also took the pre-and post-intervention tests; their performance did not change with repeated testing. The Fluency Development Lesson students showed significant gains on all measures.
Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts
Literacy Research and Instruction, 2016
For years one of the most anticipated events in my professional life has been the annual publicat... more For years one of the most anticipated events in my professional life has been the annual publication of the What’s Hot, What’s Not survey by Jack Cassidy and his colleagues. As a longtime respondent to the survey I was not only interested in what my colleagues thought about the hot topics in literacy education, I was also interested in how my perceptions of the hot topics stacked up to theirs. In their present study, using longitudinal data from the What’s Hot survey, Cassidy, Ortlieb, and Grote-Garcia (2016) make the case that because the Common Core Standards has become the dominant hot topic in literacy education, other critical topics in literacy education, especially those dealing with students who struggle to achieve proficiency in reading, have been left behind. While I think there is a good deal of merit in this position, as I read a draft of the article itself, I found myself wondering about the nature of what’s hot in reading itself. What does it mean when we say that something is a “hot” topic in literacy education? Cassidy et al. note in their article that being “hot” does not necessarily mean that a topic is important or that a “not hot” topic lacks importance. Yet, I would argue that designation of “hot” has the potential to cause a topic to become important. True, the concept of “hot” is more of a popularity poll surrounding topics that currently capture the attention of professional literacy educators. However, the significance of the notion of a “hot” topic is that “hot” topics attract professional interest, generate conversations about literacy, both professional and lay, and lead to the greater allocation of resources. And, because the hot topics are the ones that attract attention, conversation, and resources they, in turn, take on an aura of importance. Of course, as Cassidy et al. (2016) argue, as certain topics increase in importance such as the Common Core Standards Initiative, 2015, others become viewed as less important and attract less attention and fewer resources.
Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV, 2013
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Papers by Timothy Rasinski