Comprehensive reading intervention in grades 3-8 : fostering word learning, comprehension, and motivation / Lynn M. Gelzheiser, Donna M. Scanlon, Laura Hallgren-Flynn, Peggy Connors.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Lynn M. Gelzheiser, EdD, is Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Division of Special Education, at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Dr. Gelzheiser’s professional career has focused on students with learning disabilities. Her research has examined both instructional and system-level variables that affect the reading and mathematics achievement of students in special education settings. Most recently, she has focused on the efficacy of the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended for improving reading achievement, content vocabulary knowledge, and motivation in third- to eighth-grade struggling readers.

Donna M. Scanlon, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her research focuses on the relationships between instructional characteristics and success in learning to read and on developing and evaluating approaches to preventing and remediating reading difficulties. Her work has contributed to the emergence of response to intervention as a process for preventing reading difficulties and avoiding inappropriate and inaccurate learning disability classifications. Dr. Scanlon is a developer of the Interactive Strategies Approach and the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended.



Laura Hallgren-Flynn, MSEd, is a reading teacher in Guilderland Central School District in Guilderland, New York. She has worked as a part-time instructor in the Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning and as a research associate at the Child Research and Study Center, both at the University at Albany, State University of New York. In her work at the research center, Ms. Hallgren-Flynn has helped develop reading interventions and instructional materials for teachers, supervised intervention teachers, and provided professional development to preservice and practicing teachers learning to implement the Interactive Strategies Approach and the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended.

Peggy Connors, MS, has been working in the field of elementary education since the 1990s. Her experience includes serving as classroom teacher, reading specialist, educational research assistant, teacher educator, and, most recently, independent literacy consultant. Mrs. Connors has been associated with research studies on the Interactive Strategies Approach and the Interactive Strategies Approach—Extended conducted at the Child Research and Study Center, University at Albany, State University of New York.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-359) and index.

Responsive instruction for student independence -- Motivation -- Conceptualizing word learning -- Word identification strategies -- Observing and teaching strategies and interactive strategy use -- High-frequency words -- Foundations for decoding elements instruction -- Observing and teaching use of decoding elements -- Comprehension -- Knowledge development -- Vocabulary -- Fluency and comprehension -- Reading, discussion, and written response -- Promoting comprehension-fostering processes -- Sample thematic text set.

"This book provides innovative tools and strategies to support reading intervention for students in grades 3-8 who do not yet read with grade-level accuracy. Uniquely comprehensive, the Interactive Strategies Approach--Extended (ISA-X) has been shown to enhance intermediate and middle grade students' reading accuracy and comprehension as well as content vocabulary knowledge. Preservice and inservice teachers learn how to conduct assessments that help to identify instructional goals; monitor progress toward these goals; promote students' strategic thinking and motivation; and implement small-group instruction using thematic text sets on science and social studies topics. Numerous lesson examples and a thematic text set are included"-- Provided by publisher.