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Section 6: Preparation Resources
English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 (217)

The resources listed below may help you prepare for the TExES exam in this field. These preparation resources have been identified by content experts in the field to provide up-to-date information that relates to the field in general. You may wish to use current issues or editions to obtain information on specific topics for study and review.

Learning Standards

  1. International Dyslexia Association. (2018). Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading (2nd Ed.).
  2. State Board for Educator Certification. (2020). Science of Teaching Reading Standards. 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 235.15. https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/sbec-rules-tac/sbec-tac-currently-in-effect/19-tac-chapter-235
  3. Texas Education Agency. (2017). Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading. https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/texas-administrative-code/19-tac-chapter-110

Journals

  1. Council for Exceptional Children. Exceptional Children. https://exceptionalchildren.org/improving-your-practice/cec-publications/exceptional-children
  2. International Literacy Association. The Reading Teacher. https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
  3. National Council of Teachers of English. Language Arts. https://ncte.org/resources/journals/language-arts/

Texts

  1. August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2008). Developing Reading and Writing in Second-Language Learners: Lessons from the Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. New York: Routledge, Center for Applied Linguistics, and the International Reading Association, Inc.
  2. Beck, I. L., & Beck, M. E. (2013). Making Sense of Phonics: The Hows and Whys (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
  3. Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
  4. Beck, I. L., & Sandora, C. (2016). Illuminating Comprehension and Close Reading. New York: The Guilford Press.
  5. Birsh, J. R. (Ed.). (2011). Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills (3rd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.
  6. Buehl, D. (2011). Developing Readers in the Academic Disciplines. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  7. Calderón, M. (2011). Teaching Reading & Comprehension to English Learners, K–5. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
  8. Cardenas-Hagan, E. (2020). Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
  9. Carnine, D., Jungjohann, K., Kame'enui, E., Silbert, J., & Tarver, S. (2006). Teaching Struggling and At-Risk Readers: A Direct Instruction Approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  10. Carnine, D., Silbert, J., Kame'enui, E., Slocum, T., & Travers, P. (2017). Direct Instruction Reading (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
  11. Cummins, J., & Swain, M. (1986; e-Book, 2014). Bilingualism in Education: Aspects of Theory, Research, and Practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
  12. Duke, N. K. (2014). Inside Information: Developing Powerful Readers and Writers of Informational Text Through Project-Based Instruction. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
  13. Durán, E. (2012). Systematic Instruction in Reading for Spanish-Speaking Students (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, LTD.
  14. Farstrup, A. E., & Samuels, S. J. (Eds.). (2011). What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (4th ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc.
  15. Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2015). Text-Dependent Questions, Grades K–5: Pathways to Close and Critical Reading. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
  16. Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Lapp, D. (2012). Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc.
  17. Fox, B. J. (2014). Phonics and Word Study for the Teacher of Reading: Programmed for Self-Instruction (11th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
  18. Gay, G. (2018). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice (3rd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
  19. Graves, M. F. (2016). The Vocabulary Book: Learning & Instruction (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
  20. Gunning, T. G. (2015). Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
  21. Gunning, T. G. (2018). Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
  22. Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
  23. Herrera, S. G. (2016). Biography-Driven Culturally Responsive Teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
  24. Hiebert, E., & Kamil, M. (Eds.). (2005). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: Bringing Research to Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
  25. Honig, B., Diamond, L., & Gutlohn, L. (2013). Teaching Reading Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Novato, CA: Arena Press and Berkeley, CA: Consortium on Reaching Excellence in Education, Inc. (CORE).
  26. Hoover, J. J., Baca, L. M., & Klingner, J. K. (2016). Why Do English Learners Struggle with Reading? Distinguishing Language Acquisition from Learning Disabilities (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
  27. Invernizzi, M., Juel, C., & Lewis-Wagner, D. (2009). Book buddies: A tutoring framework for struggling readers. New York: Guilford Press.
  28. Kilpatrick, D. A. (2015). Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  29. Lemov, D., & Atkins, N. (2015). Teach Like a Champion 2.0: 62 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  30. Lesaux, N. K., & Marietta, S. H. (2012). Making Assessment Matter: Using Test Results to Differentiate Reading Instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.
  31. Leslie, L., & Caldwell, J. S. (2017). Qualitative Reading Inventory (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
  32. McIntyre, E., Hulan, N., & Layne, V. (2011). Reading Instruction for Diverse Classrooms: Research-Based Culturally Responsive Practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
  33. Moats, L. C. (2010). Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.
  34. Moats, L. C., Glaser, D., & Tolman, C. (2005–2014*). Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS). Dallas: Voyager Sopris Learning. *This is a series of modules each with its own publication date.
  35. Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
  36. O'Brien, N., & Tabb, L. (2020). Unpack Your Impact: How Two Primary Teachers Ditched Problematic Lessons and Built a Culture-Centered Curriculum. San Diego: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
  37. Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (Eds.) (2017). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World. New York: Teachers College Press.
  38. Peregoy, S., & Boyle, O. (2017). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for Teaching K–12 English Learners (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
  39. Rasinski, T., Pytash, K., & Ferdig, R. (Eds.). (2015). Using Technology to Enhance Reading: Innovative Approaches to Literacy Instruction. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
  40. Rasinski, T.V., & Reutzel, R. (2010). The Fluent Reader: Oral & Silent Reading Strategies for Building Fluency, Word Recognition & Comprehension (2nd ed.). New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
  41. Samuels, S. J., & Farstrup, A. E. (Eds.). (2006). What Research Has to Say About Fluency Instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc.
  42. Seidenberg, M. (2017). Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can't, and What Can Be Done About It. New York, NY: Basic Books.
  43. Stembridge, A. (2020). Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy. New York: Routledge.
  44. Temple, C., Ogle, D., Crawford, A., Freppon, P., & Temple, C. (2018). All Children Read: Teaching for Literacy in Today's Diverse Classrooms (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
  45. Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and Kids. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
  46. Wexler, N. (2019). The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System—And How to Fix It. New York: Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Articles and Online Resources

NOTE: Hyperlinks are included for articles available online at no cost to non-members of the organization. Some articles require a purchase fee or a membership in the given organization.

  1. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (1995). "A Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching." https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/a-framework-for-culturally-responsive-teaching
  2. Bialystok, E. (2007). "Acquisition of Literacy in Bilingual Children: A Framework for Research." Language Learning, 57(1), pp. 45–77. Wiley Online Library.
  3. Bialystok, E., Luk, G., & Kwan, E. (2005). "Bilingualism, Biliteracy, and Learning to Read: Interactions Among Languages and Writing Systems." Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(1), pp. 43–61. London: Taylor & Francis Group.
  4. Birsh, J. R. (2018). "Connecting Research and Practice." In Birsh, J. R., & Carreker, S. (eds.). Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills (4th ed.), pp. 2–30. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
  5. Boele, A. L. (2016). "Text-Dependent Questions: Reflecting and Transcending the Text." The Reading Teacher, 70(2), pp. 217–220. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  6. Cain, K. (2009). "Making Sense of Text: Skills That Support Text Comprehension and Its Development." Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 35(2), pp. 11–14. International Dyslexia Association. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277165709_Making_sense_of_text_Skills_that_support_text_comprehension_and_its_development
  7. Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). "Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition from Novice to Expert." Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), pp. 5–51. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publishing. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100618772271
  8. Chall, J. (1983). "Chall on Stages of Reading Development." Stages of Reading Development. pp. 10–24. New York: McGraw Hill. https://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-15/chall-on-stages-of-reading-development
  9. Colorín Colorado! https://www.colorincolorado.org
  10. Ehri, L. C. (1995). "Phases of Development in Learning to Read Words by Sight." Journal of Research in Reading, 18(2), pp. 116–125. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
  11. Ehri, L. C. (2014). "Orthographic Mapping in the Acquisition of Sight Word Reading, Spelling Memory, and Vocabulary Learning." Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), pp. 5–21. Irvine, CA: Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.
  12. Ferris, S. J. (2014). "Revoicing: A Tool to Engage All Learners in Academic Conversations." The Reading Teacher, 67(5), pp. 353–357. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  13. Gallagher, M. A., & Anderson, B. E. (2016). "Get All 'Jazzed Up' for Vocabulary Instruction: Strategies That Engage." The Reading Teacher, 70(3), pp. 273–282. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  14. Gambrell, L. B. (2011). "Seven Rules of Engagement: What's Most Important to Know About Motivation to Read." The Reading Teacher, 65(3), pp. 172–178. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  15. Gersten, R. (Chair), Baker, S. K., Shanahan, T., Linan-Thompson, S., Collins, P., & Scarcella, R. (2007). Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades: A Practice Guide (NCEE 2007-4011). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, U.S. Department of Education. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/20074011.pdf
  16. Gersten, R. (Chair), Compton, D., Connor, C. M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., and Tilly, W. D. (2009). Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention and Multi-Tier Intervention for Reading in the Primary Grades. A Practice Guide. (NCEE 2009-4045). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, U.S. Department of Education. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/rti_reading_pg_021809.pdf
  17. Graham, S. (Chair), Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D'Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012). Teaching Elementary School Students to be Effective Writers: A Practice Guide (NCEE 2012-4058). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, U.S. Department of Education. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/writing_pg_062612.pdf
  18. Hirsch, E. D. (2006). "Building Knowledge: The Case for Bringing Content into the Language Arts Block and for a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum Core for all Children." American Educator, Spring 2006. https://www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/spring-2006/building-knowledge
  19. Jang, B. G., Conradi, K., McKenna, M. C., & Jones, J. S. (2015). "Motivation: Approaching an Elusive Concept Through the Factors That Shape It." The Reading Teacher, 69(2), pp. 239–247. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  20. Joshi, R. M., Treiman, R., Carreker, S., & Moats, L. C. (2009). "How Words Cast Their Spell: Spelling Is an Integral Part of Learning the Language, Not a Matter of Memorization." American Educator, Winter 2008–2009, pp. 6–16, 42–43. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/joshi.pdf
  21. Kuhn, M. R., & Stahl, S. A. (2003). "Fluency: A Review of Developmental and Remedial Practices." Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(1), pp. 3–21. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association, Inc. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232464913_Fluency_A_review_of_developmental
    _and_remedial_practices_Journal_of_Educational_Psychology_95_3-21
  22. McTigue, E., Douglass, A., Wright, K. L., Hodges, T. S., & Franks, A. D. (2015). "Beyond the Story Map: Inferential Comprehension via Character Perspective." The Reading Teacher, 69(1), pp. 91–101. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.
  23. Moats, L. (2009). "Knowledge Foundations for Teaching Reading and Spelling." Reading and Writing, 22(4), 379–399. Springer Netherlands.
  24. Moats, L. C. (June 1999, updated Summer 2020). "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do." American Educator, (1999 version, Item No. 39-0372). Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers. http://www.aft.org/ae/summer2020/moats
  25. Moats, L. C. (2005). "How Spelling Supports Reading." American Educator, 6(12-22), 42. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/Moats.pdf
  26. National Institutes of Health, Child Development and Behavior Branch. (2019). National Reading Panel (Historical/For Reference Only). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/nrp
  27. Reading Rockets https://www.readingrockets.org/
  28. Reed, D. K. (2012). Why teach spelling? Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on Instruction. https://keystoliteracy.com/wp-content/pdfs/orc-genlit/Why%20Teach%20Spelling.pdf
  29. Texas Education Agency https://www.teksguide.org/
  30. Texas Education Agency. (2018). The Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders. https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2018-Dyslexia-Handbook_Approved_Accomodated_12_11_2018.pdf
  31. Texas Education Agency Special Populations resource https://www.txel.org/
  32. The Equity Institute. (2020). "Culturally Responsive Walkthrough Tool." https://theequityinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-CRT-Classroom-Culture-Look-Fors.pdf
  33. Wolsey, T. D., Smetana, L., & Grisham, D. L. (2015). "Vocabulary Plus Technology: An After-Reading Approach to Develop Deep Word Learning." The Reading Teacher, 68(6), pp. 449–458. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association, Inc.

Professional Organizations

  1. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) http://www.ascd.org
  2. International Dyslexia Association https://dyslexiaida.org/
  3. International Literacy Association (ILA) https://www.literacyworldwide.org/
  4. National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) https://ncte.org/
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