General Recommendations:
Reading Selections: English/Reading AIS is taught on an alternating days (A day / B day), so it works best to use short, high-interest readings. Some teachers allow time for independent reading, but then also spend time doing focused strategy lessons with the short works related to what students are learning in other classes. It is best to select readings according to what the students are learning in their content area classes, especially English, social studies, and science.
Suggested Materials:
The Scholastic Read X-L books, trade books from the literacy library (see resources above), and student magazines (Junior Scholastic, Scholastic Scope, Scholastic Action, and National Geographic Explorer) are excellent resources.
Your literacy coach can print leveled books from thousands of topics and genres from Reading A-Z.
Visit the children's section of your local library for colorful, high-interest trade books and picture storybooks. There are many picture storybooks in the literacy library and your school library.
You can find archived ELA exams on this site. Even better, you can use the ESBOCES Bars site to get data on the students' weakenesses and then use the Datamentor site to target the skill and find related material.
The EdHelper site has some good materials. Ask your literacy coach to print materials for you.
If you are teaching in the after-school AIS Academy, use the Targeted Intervention kits. You can also access extra materials in the share folder. Here it is.
But the long way is My Computer> District Posting at Seneca > Instructional Support and Programming > AIS Before or After School Materials
Suggested Structure of the Class: Begin with a daily edit activity to reinforce grammar rules and/or an activity to activate and build background information and generate interest for a reading selection. This activity brings the class together before students work independently. Focus on build vocabulary and reading comprehension strategies. Give students plenty of opportunity to read independently and silently, but also allow them to enjoy reading aloud. Plays, important passages, picture storybooks, and poetry, for example, should always be read aloud. Students should be encouraged to predict, visualize, make connections, ask questions, and self-correct when reading. They should take notes, underline, or highlight as they read. Be sure to follow each reading with a discussion and at least a short informal writing.
Writing: Students should have frequent opportunities to build their writing skills. Writing should be purposeful and meaningful, and should not always be graded. AIS students need to see that writing is enjoyable and useful. Informal writing includes note-taking, filling graphic organizers, making lists, and creating journal entries. Students should be able to do one formal piece of writing with multiple drafts per quarter.
I recommend the following schedule:
1st quarter - focus on informational writing
2nd quarter - focus on persuasive writing
3rd quarter - focus on short response and extended response for ELA
4th quarter - focus on narrative writing
Writing does not need to be exclusive of this list, but AIS students need to be immersed in a genre in order to fully understand it. They need clear, explicit instruction with plenty of opportunities to learn each step. The goal is to scaffold the lessons and gradually release responsibility to produce independent writers.