Language Comprehension
Explore articles, free downloads, and practical instructional resources to support the oral language and listening comprehension that reading comprehension is built on.
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5 Language Development Strategies for Every Classroom
Five ways to support oral language in everyday teaching, including turn and talk, expanding responses, richer teacher language, follow-up questions,...
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30+ Turn and Talk Questions
More than 30 questions to spark turn-and-talk conversations and help students learn about one another as people and readers.
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Recognizing Reading Comprehension Difficulties: Challenges, Indicators, and Effective Teaching Moves
Explore six common reading comprehension challenges, indicators that students may be having difficulty, and teaching moves to support understanding.
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Go Deeper, Together
The Six Shifts taught by Kari and Jan, with classroom video and practical routines.
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Shifting the Balance: Beginning Readers
K–2 teachers, reading specialists, coaches, and teams supporting beginning readers.
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Dialogic Conversations Poster
A poster reference for the five moves in dialogic conversation: prompt, repeat, expand, clarify, and continue.
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Dialogic Reading Conversations: 5 Steps for Nurturing the Seeds of Language Comprehension
Explore five steps for inviting rich, responsive conversations that nurture language comprehension, with examples of how everyday exchanges can help...
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Teaching Turn and Talk Routines: Strong Starts for Strong Academic Conversation
Make Turn and Talk more purposeful with attention to partnerships, expectations, and routines that help students listen, share ideas, and...
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5 Vital Language Development Strategies for Every Classroom
Explore five everyday practices for nurturing language development and creating more opportunities for students to talk, listen, and build the...
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Making Phonics and Word Study Meaning-FULL: 10 EASY Ways to Embed More Meaning Into Decoding Instruction
Bring more meaning into phonics and word study with ten practical ways to connect decoding practice to vocabulary, language, and...
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Laying Language Track for the Word Reading Train
Explore why language comprehension needs attention from the beginning, alongside word reading, and what that means for instruction with young...
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Shifting the Balance: Developing Readers
Grades 3–5 teachers, coaches, and teams strengthening upper-elementary reading.
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Six Suggestions for Seamless Oral Language Development
Find six ways to weave oral language development into everyday classroom life, supporting the language comprehension students need as readers.
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Background Knowledge: A Key to Reading Comprehension
Explore why background knowledge matters for reading comprehension and how helping children build expertise supports their understanding of the texts...
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Talking With Children In Ways that Support Comprehension
Consider how everyday conversations with children can nurture language development and support the understanding they bring to reading.
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Explore classroom tools and professional learning designed to support language comprehension instruction.
Shifting the Balance: Beginning Readers
K–2 teachers, reading specialists, coaches, and teams supporting beginning readers.
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Grades 3–5 teachers, coaches, and teams strengthening upper-elementary reading.
Explore the online class →The Shift in a Nutshell
In Shifting the Balance (K–2), Shift 1, “Rethinking the Origins of Reading Comprehension,” names a common practice to reconsider: “Overlooking the role of listening comprehension in reading comprehension.” The shift it recommends: