This is the presentation delivered at TNTESOL. The presentation looks at three very doable strategies for helping students who cannot read complex text to be able to find success. This is based on my book Why I Didn't Drop Out.

1. Keith Pruitt, Ed.S
Words of Wisdom Educational
Consulting
www.woweducationalconsulting.com

2.  You have one minute to make as many words
as possible from the following word.
Collaboration

3. All of You Are Getting A New
Pair of Shoes!!!!!
But I only have size 12s

4. One of the hidden dangers of
Common Core is the mandate of
putting students in rigorous text.
Text complexity works only when
there are multiple scaffolds in
place to enable students access to
its message.

5. Without
scaffolding, it is
merely
throwing
students in
books they
cannot read.
And isn’t that
what we have
done for the
past 100 years?

6. Two boys look up at a mountain. One says I can’t. The other
says I will.
Keith Pruitt- Why I Didn’t Drop Out

7. What Three Scaffolds Can I Use
in the Classroom for those
students who cannot read
complex text?
1. Lay the foundation!
2. Hearing Text!
3. Read, Read, Read

8. One Would
Never Dream
of Building a
House Without
First Laying the
Foundation
Lay The
Foundation

9. Lesson Framework
• Phonemic Awareness
• Sound/Symbol
Relationships
• Blending Sounds
• Spelling Words
• Sight Words
• Decodable Text

10. The New Dynamic of Phonics Instruction
• Phonological Awareness should come
early
• Lessons Should be Short
• Auditory Experience is brief
• Tactile experience is paramount to the
instruction
• Connection should be made to print
quickly

11. Students Need To Hear Text

12. By itself, auditory experiences only
met the needs of about 10% of the
students in your room.
70% of students are visual learners.
But when you combine the print
graphonic with the auditory—you
are working with all the
effectiveness of both.

13. Ways Students Can Hear Text
1. Teacher recorded text using products like
2. Using on-line tools like
http://www.benchmarkuniverse.com/
3. Have students read to each other

14. Read!
Read!
Read!

15. The Greatest Condition to Guarantee
Student Success………
Lots and Lots of Practice
Outliers, study by
Malcolm Gladwell (2008)
of conditions to lead to
extraordinary success the
unifying factor between
piano players, NBA
players, programmers, etc.
was
HOURS OF PRACTICE
10,000 hours of Practice

16. How much time will the
average student
themselves spend reading
in the classroom in one
year?

17. That means the average child in an
American school will spend less time
engaged in reading in a year than the
average High School football team will
spend practicing in one week!

18. Some Realities About Independent
Reading
1.Students Need Choice!
2.Students Need to Read
Lots of Text at their
Independent Reading
Level
3.Students Need High
Interest Text

19. Just 20 minutes
per day!
• Increases vocabulary by
up to 600 words/year
• Increases Comprehension

20. I like to read
We want to read about
about rodeos
spiders, snakes, race cars
and horses.
and football players!

21. It is hoped that in implementing these
three fundamental steps in your ELL
program (for all students, really), you can
have a tremendous impact in student
outcomes.
Remember,
We Teach Students!

22. Thank You
Keith Pruitt
Words of
Wisdom
Educational
Consulting