Literacy Intervention Tip of The Week

Many of us use popular assessments such as the DRA Developmental Reading Assessment),the QRI(Qualitative Reading Inventory) and screenings instruments like DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills).  

When it comes to working with a student who presents with reading fluency problems caused by poor decoding skills, I'll take the QPS (Quick Phonics Screener)by Jan Hasbrouck, over all of them. 

The lesser know QPS is a quick, easy to administer, assessment that shows you the exact TYPE of words students can and cannot read.

Notice I said "exact type of words" and not "exact words"!  Yes, our written language is comprised of word types and to effectively provide reading decoding intervention you should be familiar with the seven different syllable types that exist in our written language and concepts referred to as BASIC and ADVANCED alphabetic code (AKA Basic and Advanced Phonics). Confused? The QPS can help! 

Administer the QPS to students below grade level in reading fluency and under 92% accurate in words read correct.  The information the QPS provides will pinpoint the cause of the decoding breakdown (basic or advanced code? syllable type? single words or sentences?) and help you determine the exact target of intervention. 

Move beyond simple sight word instruction and tackle the real issues: poor word attack and decoding skills!  The QPS has helped me to be more effective with my students and I hope it can help you.    

You can learn more about BASIC and ADVANCED code on ReadingResource.net's Reading Activities I and Reading Activities II pages.  
   
You can learn more about and purchase the Quick Phonics Screener at the Read Naturally website.


All my best,