Suggestions for Instruction for Profile 4 Learners

Reading components work together. Increasing skill on any component increases skill on the others.

Word Meaning (Vocabulary):

• Some of the new vocabulary words that are appropriate to middle and high school social studies and science curricula also can be used for both word recognition and spelling instruction. In that way, learners will not only be able to read and understand new words but will also be able to use them in written work. There will be reciprocal reinforcement among all three of these reading components (word meaning [vocabulary], word recognition, and spelling).

Silent Reading Comprehension:

• Other than subject content words, there are groups of words that are important for reading comprehension and writing clarity. Most helpful are the Signal Words that tell the reader "…how information is organized and provide clues about what is important." Some examples are: "… also, next, although, even though, until, already, since, because, therefore, different from, either…." (Fry et al., pp. 185-187).



• Elicit background knowledge before reading. Provide additional background knowledge. Learners need all the information about the world that they missed in middle school and high school.

For more information, please read the sections in the Mini-Course on Word Recognition, Spelling, and Silent Reading Comprehension Comprehension.