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Helpful tips for launching a reading intervention program

	Try these easy-to-implement classroom-based activities from Interventions for Reading Success that will help your students grasp the Big Ideas of early literacy, along with a bonus take-home activity

Here are some common questions Diane Haager and the co-authors of Interventions for Reading Success have received from teachers implementing a supplemental reading program, with their suggestions for workable solutions*.

1. What do I do with the other students while I am working with my intervention group?

We often hear teachers say, “If the other 17 students weren’t in the room, I could really work with my students who are most at risk,” but this simply is not possible.

Setting up centers and activities throughout the classroom is an effective way of managing the independent work time of all students. Some centers are permanent, such as listening, writing, computer, and library centers. Others will change from week to week: a word-making center, a game center, a center with individual intervention kits for each student. The dynamic centers can be adjusted so that the letters, words, and books are changed with the children's weekly progress. When activities are geared to students’ instructional levels, frustration is reduced.

The centers also help you differentiate instruction for all learners in your classroom. Having different levels of materials at each center will better meet the differing needs of each student. For example, at the listening center, some students can listen to taped anthologies, while others can listen to a decodable text.

2. How do I make transitions between intervention activities?

We have observed numerous techniques that teachers have used for transitions from one activity to another. One first-grade teacher had students recite the words to a nursery rhyme while they walked to their next station; by the time the students finished the rhyme, they needed to be in their seats. This accomplished two tasks: the students made the transition without talking and walking aimlessly, and they learned many nursery rhymes throughout the year, which is good phonological practice.

In a similar way, we have seen a teacher move a group of second graders from one station to the next by using music; by the time the music stopped, the students needed to be in their new seat. This was calming and effective in getting students to the next activity.

3. How do I teach all students to work independently during intervention time?

Try a simulation to get started. Have students rotate through the activity centers and pretend to work at completing a task so they know what the expectations are for working by themselves or with a partner. When students exhibit appropriate behavior in the simulation, it is time to introduce real centers and intervention activities.

Make sure the students know the rules for how to get help if they are stuck: they should understand that they can't interrupt you while you are working with an intervention group. For the first few days, stop regularly to reinforce students who are displaying on-task behavior so the students who are struggling with independent work habits will see what is expected.

4. How do I teach students to use each center?

We teach center use by introducing one center at a time before beginning an intervention work period. Begin the week by introducing the students to one center. You will teach the rules and academic skills needed for this center. You will model the use of the materials and have students demonstrate how to do the activities and ask any unanswered questions.

If there are multiple activities within a center, we recommend that you introduce only a few activities at a time to ensure that students have mastered them. If the center has only one main focus, such as a listening center, introduce that center and go on to a new center the next day.

5. How do I organize my time to fit intervention into my reading period?

You must consider intervention an essential element of your reading program. Let’s look at a day in the life of Ms. Shaw, a second-grade teacher, and see how she fits intervention into her daily teaching schedule.

Morning

When students enter the classroom, Ms. Shaw begins the day with one of the brief fluency activities (see download). This focuses the entire class on beginning the day with a quick intervention activity.

Before recess

The time between the start of school and recess typically includes a reading block; structured intervention is usually part of this time.

After recess

Ms. Shaw usually conducts her math lessons after recess. When students are working independently on their follow-up assignment, she pulls a student or two aside for 5–10 minutes and gives them extra help.

After lunch

Students come in from lunch and have sustained silent reading for about 10 minutes. Ms. Shaw pulls a few more students who have difficulty reading alone for 10 minutes of intervention.

End of day and after school

While the homework monitors in Ms. Shaw’s class are distributing the day’s assignments and students are readying themselves to go home, Ms. Shaw pulls a few students aside to read words from the word wall.

Whenever there is a spare minute in the day, Ms. Shaw fills it with reading activities. At the end of the day, she devotes about 10 more minutes to working with a few of the students who have permission to stay after school.

6. How do I teach intervention when my students are working at many different levels?

Ms. Shaw differentiates instruction for students working at different levels. For example, she may assign eight spelling words to her intervention group but only five to several of the students who need further modification. When she assigns partner work in reading fluency, she may have one student reading a passage slightly below grade level, and another practicing high-frequency words.

Having students work at their own level helps minimize frustration (and behavior problems) and individualize the intervention for each student.

*Adapted from Interventions for Reading Success by Diane Haager, Joseph Dimino, & Michelle Pearlman Windmueller.