Teachers can use the resources below to learn more about implementing the instructional practices and strategies described in the lesson plans shared here (available through the link on the left of this page). We also encourage you to explore the other helpful resources elsewhere on this site.
Understanding Dyslexia: A Scientific Approach
Dr. Sharon Vaughn, executive director of The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, led this presentation on October 19, 2017, at the Central Texas Dyslexia Conference. The presentation explores dyslexia knowns and unknowns, misconceptions, research findings, and an effective intervention.
The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, 2017
Available at:
Lessons for Improving Comprehension in Middle School
Christy S. Murray of The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk presents an overview of intervention lesson plans designed to support middle school students’ reading comprehension as they read brief novels chosen by schools in which the research took place. The plans were developed by TCLD researchers and were implemented in TCLD’s Remediation project. Murray describes each component of the lesson plans, presents examples from the novel units, and provides guidance on how teachers can develop their own lesson plans for use with other novels of their own choosing.
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities, 2013
Available at: Lessons for Improving Comprehension in Middle School
Reading Instruction for Middle School Students: Developing Lessons for Improving Comprehension
This guide is designed for teachers and provides detailed information about some of the lesson plans used in Tier 2 intervention for struggling readers in middle school as part of the research efforts of the Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD). This guide describes each component of instruction, and provides instructions, sample scripts, and planning templates so that teachers can develop similar lesson plans that align with their own state standards and adopted curricula.
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities, 2012
Available at: Reading Instruction for Middle School Students: Developing Lessons for Improving Comprehension
Adolescent Literacy
This free “one-stop” package contains all the materials to conduct six 2-hour professional development sessions on improving student literacy in middle and high school.
WestEd, 2018
Available at: https://www.wested.org/resources/adolescent-literacy-six-professional-development-modules/
Star Legacy Module – CSR: A Reading Comprehension Strategy
This online module provides an overview of the collaborative strategic reading (CSR) strategy used to improve reading comprehension, including previewing, “click and clunk,” and “get the gist.”
IRIS Center for Training Enhancements, 2008
Available at: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/csr/cresource.htm
Effective Instruction for Adolescent Struggling Readers PD Module — 2nd Edition
This resource provides materials for an interactive presentation on effective, research-based instruction in secondary reading. It includes a PowerPoint presentation with speaker’s notes, a Facilitator’s Guide, and a Training of Trainers presentation.
Center on Instruction, 2010
Available at: https://buildingrti.utexas.org/resource-pages/effective-instruction-for-adolescent-struggling-readers-professional-development
Enhancing Vocabulary Instruction for Secondary Students (Revised)
This guide provides an overview of vocabulary development and focuses on ways to enhance vocabulary instruction. It includes strategies for teaching vocabulary and for integrating vocabulary into a lesson. It includes specific instructional strategies for teaching vocabulary skills based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, including using word parts, word association, context clues, and connotative meaning.
This guide also contains information on adaptations for struggling readers and writers (addressing students with disabilities and English language learners). Adaptations of several of the strategies for vocabulary development are included. Also provided are critical features of effective instruction and specific information on integrating the strategies into the classroom.
Professional development guides include the following materials for workshop presenters:
- Presentation slides, which present key points and activities, offered in two formats: overhead transparencies and Adobe PDF presentations
- Speaker’s notes and activities to accompany the presentation slides
- Informational and notetaking handouts for participants
- References
University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 2003
Available at: http://www.meadowscenter.org/library/resource/enhancing-vocabulary-instruction-for-secondary-students-revised
Effective Instruction for Middle School Students With Reading Difficulties: The Reading Teacher’s Sourcebook
This resource offers middle school reading teachers an overview of research-based instructional approaches for teaching struggling readers. The goal of this sourcebook is to help reading teachers integrate their instruction into a coordinated, comprehensive, schoolwide approach, so that all students can read and learn from academic text, including content area textbooks and literature, and are motivated to read for many different purposes.
This schoolwide approach is designed to meet the needs of all students by providing strategic instruction to help them comprehend the complex vocabulary and content of academic text and to increase their motivation to read. These elements are essential for students to learn from text.
The following are the components of this schoolwide approach:
- A solid foundation of high standards, strong leadership, instructional excellence, and a safe and positive school environment
- Common instructional routines and strategies implemented across content areas (i.e., mathematics, social studies, science, English language arts) to teach students content area vocabulary and practices for comprehending content area academic text
- Strategic instruction provided in reading classes or intervention settings
- Intensive intervention for students with serious reading difficulties
Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts with funding from The Meadows Foundation and the Texas Education Agency, 2007
Available at: http://www.meadowscenter.org/library/resource/effective-instruction-for-middle-school-students-with-reading-difficulties