SUPPORTS EMERGING READERS AND ENGLISH LEARNERS Research suggests that students who get off to a fast start with reading are more likely to make reading a lifelong habit. With the right supports, striving readers can catch up with their peers and engage with books just as deeply (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997). Independent reading programs that take advantage of technological advancements can meet the needs of emerging readers and English learners like never before. Embedded supports in digital literacy programs, such as note-taking capabilities, built-in dictionaries, and read-aloud options, provide scaffolding for striving readers and make reading more rewarding (Larson, 2010). Digital note-taking, the equivalent of writing in the margins of a paperback, also gives teachers insight into each student’s reading behavior and comprehension skills, which can be used to differentiate instruction. One small study used ebooks with audio narration and some recorded word explanations to investigate vocabulary learning of first graders at low-achieving elementary schools. After students read two ebooks, their knowledge of seven explained words was compared to that of seven unexplained words. As a whole, recorded word explanations led to greater vocabulary learning than when explanations were not provided (Lee, 2020).
SCHOLASTIC LITERACY PRO FOUNDATION PAPER 15
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs