Language and Literacy Beyond Decoding: Evidence-Based Instruction in Grades PreK-6

Successful reading comprehension requires readers to draw on a range of language comprehension abilities alongside decoding. This timely teacher reference and text explains how language comprehension develops throughout grades PreK–6 and presents evidence-based instructional strategies. The volume reviews innovative ways to conduct content-rich classroom conversations, deliver strategy and text structure instruction, target motivational aspects of comprehension, use assessment to guide comprehension-focused instruction, and more. Ways to support language and reading comprehension with multilingual and multidialectal learners are considered in depth. Ideal for professional learning within a science-of-reading perspective, each chapter provides guiding questions, research reviews, classroom applications, and reflection questions.

Rebecca D. Silverman, EdD, is the Judy Koch Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. A former elementary school teacher, Dr. Silverman’s research focuses on language and literacy development and instruction in early childhood and elementary school. In particular, her work has contributed to the research base on supporting vocabulary and other aspects of language that are critical to reading and writing, and using multimedia and educational technology to facilitate literacy. At Stanford, Dr. Silverman leads the Language to Literacy Research Lab and teaches in the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She also engages in research–practice partnerships with school districts and provides professional development to teachers. Widely published in education journals, she has served on the board of directors of the International Literacy Association and is Editor-in-Chief of Elementary School Journal. Her website is https://langlitlab.stanford.edu. 

Kristin Keane, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Reading Development at the University of California, Berkeley. She uses mixed methods approaches to study literacy development and instruction in elementary schools, paying special attention to the ways multimodal and digital literacies--including technological approaches--can enhance engagement, comprehension, and dialogic discussion of varied types of text. Previously, Dr. Keane was Director of Research and Partnerships at the Language to Literacy Research Lab at Stanford University. Her school-based work has included leading a network of literacy coaches, serving as a literacy staff developer, and teaching in various contexts in California. She has published a number of articles on literacy practice and development in leading education journals.