Helping Students Read Words Website

Abstract

The Helping Students Read Words website is an online tool to assist teachers in remediating students’ weak word reading skills. The website has four key sections: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, and From Research to Remediation. The phonological awareness section provides teachers with an overview of this reading component which has been identified as one of the strongest foundational skills necessary to learn to read (Cain, 2010; Goswami & Bryant, 1990; Kirby, Roth, Desrochers & Lai, 2008; Stanovich 1993). This section also provides a review of additional research evidence for phonological and phonemic awareness as well as information on how to assess this skill in struggling readers. Similarly, the sections on phonics and fluency also provide teachers with overviews for these reading components, reviews of research that lend support to their importance in reading, and information on how to assess phonics and fluency skills in students who struggle with word reading. The final section From Research to Remediation draws upon the information presented in the Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Fluency sections and provides teachers with guidelines on how to create a remedial word reading program for their struggling word readers. Embedded throughout the Helping Students Read Words website are definitions for reading terminology and active links to other websites that offer easy-to-access videos, online reading games and activities and lesson plans for teachers to use.