14 Best Reading Practices

14 Best Reading Practices
Best Practice 1: Explicit Word Analysis Instruction, Including Phonics
Teachers provide explicit instruction, build word knowledge, and directly teach skills and strategies for word analysis (phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, structural analysis, context clues, vocabulary).

Best Practice 2: Assessment to Inform Instruction
Teachers routinely monitor and assess the reading levels and progress of individual students. This ongoing evaluation directs and informs instruction.

Best Practice 3: Instructional Planning
Teachers plan instruction considering three phases: before, during and after reading.

Best Practice 4: Collaboration and Reflection
Teachers routinely self-reflect and collaborate on instructional practices and student progress within school and/or district.

Best Practice 5: Learning Standards
Teachers facilitate conceptual knowledge of Illinois English Language Arts learning standards.

Best Practice 6: Independent Reading
Students have opportunities for sustained reading (oral and/or silent) every day to increase fluency and vocabulary.

Best Practice 7: Variety of Genre
Students have broad reading and writing experiences (multiple genre and styles). Reading to students at all grade levels is part of this broad experience.

Best Practice 8: Appropriate Instructional Levels
Students have opportunities to read at their instructional level every day.

Best Practice 9: Reading for Purpose
Students have extensive opportunities to read for a variety of purposes and to apply what is read every day. Discussion and writing are used by students to organize their thinking and they reflect on what they read for specific purposes.

Best Practice 10: Building Comprehension Skills and Strategies
Students are taught and given opportunities to apply the following comprehension strategies for constructing meaning: making and confirming predictions,