Enhanced Proactive Reading

Enhanced Proactive Reading is a comprehensive, integrated reading, language arts, and English language development curriculum targeted to first-grade English language learners experiencing problems with learning to read through conventional instruction. The curriculum provides 120 daily lessons, each composed of 6-10 short activities, delivered throughout the school year to small groups of 3-5 students. Each lesson lasts approximately 50 minutes (40 minutes for lesson delivery and 10 minutes for oracy practice) and focuses on five content strands: phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, word recognition, connected text fluency, and comprehension strategies. Daily activities typically include playing word games designed to promote phonemic awareness, practicing letter-sound correspondence for letters or letter combinations, practicing writing letters, and learning the sound of a new letter or letter combination. Teachers' instructional practices may include visual aids, gestures, and facial expressions to clarify meaning while teaching vocabulary. Student responses are largely choral, with some individual work. Teachers model new content and monitor students' responses to and progress in the fast-paced lessons. The intervention is delivered in a pull-out setting by bilingual (Spanish/English) teachers as a supplement to regular reading instruction. Teachers received 12 hours of professional development prior to implementation and six hours after the intervention had been implemented for six weeks, along with frequent staff development sessions and on-site coaching.