Early Literacy Interventions #7: Dr. Tim Rasinski Resources

Resources.  We need them to be effective at what we do; we also need them to be easy and engaging for both student and teacher.  Which is why I am putting out this series of blog posts.  Every few days I am going to highlight a resource on our shared Early Literacy Interventions website to give you an idea of what's in it and how it can work.  Here's our website:

    Dr. Tim Rasinski is a "professor of literacy education at Kent State University" who specializes in research and education in early elementary reading and fluency best practices.  Dr. Rasinski speaks and presents to school districts, conferences, and literacy organizations all over the world. 
     I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop with Dr. Rasinski, and his subject knowledge was evident and backed by vigorous research.  My favorite aspect of Dr. Rasinski's work is that he utilizes fun and engaging activities to teach words to students, including using songs, poetry, history, and different ways of thinking about words and where they come from.
   One of his most popular tools are Word Ladders (K-1, 2-3, 4-6).  The concept is a simple, fun, and engaging way to get students to dig a little deeper in how words are built.  I've included some word ladders in our Early Literacy site that I found online.


Don't forget to bookmark our Reading Interventions Symbaloo page for easy reference.  If you have another website you'd like me to add, feel free to email or leave a comment below.