The Elementary Teacher as ‘First Responder’: Building the Classroom Intervention Toolkit

On 29 March 2019, [1] Jim Wright presented a full-day workshop for elementary teachers from BMP Ridge School (Blindbrook/Rye UFSD) on the topic The Teacher as ‘First Responder’: Building the Classroom Intervention Toolkit. Here are resources from that training:

PowerPoint: The Elementary Teacher as ‘First Responder’: Building the Classroom Intervention Toolkit [2]

Handout [3]

Tier 1/Classroom Intervention Planning Sheet (Google Docs) [4]

Measuring Positive Classroom Learning Behaviors in Kindergarten: A Predictor of School Success. [5]This simple scale presents 7 behaviors that predict acdaemic success.

Classroom Data Collection [6]

1. Behavior Report Cards

2. Checklists

ONLINE APP: Self-Check Behavior Checklist Maker [9]

3. Cumulative Mastery Records

Cumulative Mastery Record Form (Interactive) [10]

4. Curriculum-Based Measurement

Letter Name Fluency Generator [15]
LNF/LSF: Directions & Norms [16]

Dolch Word List Generator [17] (no norms available)

CBM Writing Probe Generator [18]
CBM Writing Directions & Norms [19]

ACADEMIC INTERVENTION IDEAS

General Academic Skills

Acquisition of Academic Item-Set

Flash Cards with Constant Time Delay. [20] This high-success flashcard intervention can be used to teach letter and number names, sight words, spelling words, and vocabulary definitions

Reading: Phonics/Alphabetics

Word Boxes/Word Sort [21]
Incremental Rehearsal: Letter Identification [22]
Letter Cube Blending [23]

Reading: Sight-Word Vocabulary

Sight-Word Vocabulary. The student has rapid recognition of sight-words.

Reading Racetracks. [24]The student engages in repeated reading of a wordlist packaged in a 'racetrack' format. Reading Racetrack Interactive Form [25]
Vocabulary: Classwide Tutoring. [26] Students are paired off to tutor each other in sight-word vocabulary.

Reading Fluency

Fluency. The student reads with adequate fluency to comprehend the text.

Assisted Cloze. [27] The tutor reads aloud while the student follows along silently in the practice passage. Then the student reads aloud.
Choral Reading. [28]The tutor (lead reader) reads aloud while the reading group or class all read aloud as well.
Duet Reading. [29]The tutor and student alternate in reading aloud, with the tutor deciding how much text the student reads during their turn.
Echo Reading. [30]Student and tutor alternate in reading short sections of the practice passage.
Listening Passage Preview. [31]The student listens to the passage read aloud, then reads the passage aloud with tutor feedback.
Paired Reading. [32] The tutor and student read aloud together from a passage, until the student isgnals that they would like to read alone.
Repeated Reading. [33]The student reads a passage several times in succession with tutor feedback about accuracy and fluency.
Repeated Reading: Group. [34]This version of repeated reading is delivered to a group of 3 students.

HELPS Program. [35]This free program provides 15-minute 1:1 tutoring sessions to work on reading fluency. NOTE: Teachers create a free account on the HELPS site and then can access the free materials.

Reading Comprehension

Self-Monitoring:The student monitors understanding of the text while reading.

Click or Clunk. [36]The student uses self-signals to monitor understanding at the sentence, paragraph, and page level--and applies 'fix-up' skills.
Reading Reflection Pauses [37]. The student monitors understanding periodically and applies fix-up skills.

Main Idea:The student locates the main idea of a paragraph or passage in informational text.

Main Idea Maps. [38]The student uses a graphic organizer to record main idea and supporting details of a passage.
Question Generation. [39]The student locates or creates main-idea sentences for all paragraphis in a passage and uses them to create study cards.
Read-Ask-Paraphrase. [40] The student locates main idea and supporting details for each paragraph and summarizes them on a graphic organizer. RAP Interactive Form [41]
Partner Retell. [42]The student reads a passage, then pairs with another student to engage in a tutoring exchange to identify main idea.
Repeated Reading With Oral/Written Retell. [43] The student reads a passage several times and is asked to write or recite the key information from the passage.

Linking Ideas:The student makes connections between ideas in the text.

Linking Pronouns to Referents. [44]When reading advanced texts, the student circles pronouns, writes their referents above them, and then rereads the text, inserting the referent for each pronoun.
Ask-Read-Tell. [45]The student creates a reading plan and sets reading goals, monitors understanding while reading, and reflects on the reading once finished. ART Interactive Form. [46]
Phrase-Cued Text Lessons. [47]The student reads aloud from annotated text and is coached to observe all pauses/phrase breaks, which correspond to groupings of ideas within the text. ONLINE APP: Phrase-Cued Text Generator [48]

Spelling

Spelling Acquisition. The student is able to spell a grade-appropriate range of words correctly.

Cover-Copy-Compare. [49]The student studies spelling-word (or sight-word) models, covers them, copies them from memory, and compares copied words to the originals. CCC Interactive Form [50]
Self-Correction with Verbal Cues. [51] The student takes a brief spelling pre-test, follows a self-guided process to check and correct spelling errors using verbal cues, and then takes a spelling post-test

Writing

Sentence Complexity. The student writes sentences of appropriate variety and complexity for the subject and/or grade level.

Elements of Effective Writing Instruction. [52] The student receives writing instruction that contains some or all of these 9 'best writing practices'.
Sentence Combining. [53] The student is given examples of 2 clauses to be combined into a single sentence.

Math

Number Sense Intervention: Counting Board Game [54]

Math Facts: Incremental Rehearsal (Constant Time Delay): Flash Cards [55]

Math Facts: Self-Administered Folding-In (SAFI) Technique [56]

Work Completion: Problem-Interspersal Technique [60]

Math Vocabulary: Classwide Vocabulary Tutoring [65]
Self-Management: Customized Math Self-Correction Checklists [66]

Self-Management

Self-Management in Academic Skills. The student uses appropriate skills and strategies to manage their own learning.

Academic Survival Skills. [74] The student possesses strong work habits in global skills such as time management, study skills, and organization.
ONLINE APP: Academic Survival Skills Checklist Generator. [75] This free app allows teachers to create and save customized checklists for use in classrooms.

What Works Clearinghouse 'Practice Guides'. The What Works Clearinghouse [76] is sponsored by the US Department of Education. One of the free resources that the site offers are 'practice guides': summaries of research into effective instruction that any teacher can read and apply to the classroom. Here are a range of practice guides to address reading, writing, and mathematics:

Reading/Writing

Mathematics

Encouraging Girls in Math and Science [90]

Florida Center for Reading Research. This website is a product of a research center at Florida State University.The site includes free lesson plans for reading across grades K-5. (Many of the grade 4-5 resources are appropriate for secondary students with reading delays.)

Evidence-Based Intervention Network. This site is co-sponsored by school psychology programs at East Carolina University and University of Missouri.It contains research-based ideas for reading, math, and behavior interventions.

Reading interventions [94]
Math interventions [95]