LitHubAZ
Effective Literacy Practices

Interventions

In all effective intervention and remediation programs, struggling readers should receive instruction from a trained reading teacher who has knowledge across grade levels and who effectively uses data to inform instruction and monitor student progress. That reading teacher can oversee a trained instructor who assists in helping a student build their essential literacy and language skills.

In grades K-3, evidence-based Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions are part of daily reading instructional time based on students’ individual needs (as identified by data from Tier 1 assessments). Struggling readers in grades 4-12 benefit from intense, individualized invention by an English Language Arts teacher or trained reading specialist.

Along with the following suggested reading intervention practices, intended for English Language Arts teachers, it is important for schools to utilize evidence-based intervention programs and high-quality instructional materials to supplement their existing core curriculum.



Instructional Strategy 

Build students’ decoding skills so they can read complex multisyllabic words.

The words that appear in grade-level texts become more difficult to read each year. By upper elementary grades, students are required to read texts that include complex multisyllabic words. Adolescent students must have adequate word-reading skills to understand the complex texts they are required to read. The goal of this recommendation is to prepare students to break apart and decode multisyllabic words.

Source: Vaughn et. al, 2022


Effective Practices

  • Using students’ performance data, identify the level of students’ word-reading skills and teach vowel and consonant letter- sounds and combinations, as necessary.
    • Teach common vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combination.
    • Teach advanced vowel and consonant combinations, such as -dge and -ough when students’ data shows they have mastered common sound combinations.
    • When students can apply these understandings to complex two-syllable words, introduce three-syllable words.
      • Note: If a student shows proficiency in both simple and advanced letter combinations, the students do not need a word-reading intervention. They may benefit from remediation in vocabulary and/or comprehension.
  • Explicitly teach students one routine they can use to decode multisyllabic words.
  • Embed spelling instruction in the phonics lesson.
    • Spelling words should reinforce the vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations students are learning during interventions.
    • Include practice in spelling monosyllabic and multisyllabic words.
  • Provide a variety of activities that allow students to practice reading multisyllabic words accurately and with increasing automaticity.

Source: Vaughn et. al, 2022


Tools and Activities

Common Vowel Sounds and Combinations

Students need a solid mastery of vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations to read longer, more difficult words.

Learn More from What Works Clearinghouse

Routine to Decode Multisyllabic Words

This routine not only focuses on using vowel combinations but also builds on students’ knowledge of prefixes and suffixes.

Learn More from What Works Clearinghouse

Practice Activities to Build Automaticity

These brief activities can be used during an intervention lesson to build automaticity with multisyllabic word reading.

Learn More from What Works Clearinghouse

Related

Find recommended instructional strategies and practices aligned with the science of reading by age/grade level and foundational literacy skill.

Developmental benchmarks and literacy behaviors that most children display at a particular age/grade.

Evidence-based core curricula, interventions, and supplemental programs play a critical role in supporting students’ reading success.

While seemingly effortless, good reading is made up of a set of complex skills and strategies.