Pennington Publishing Blog

Should teachers use worksheets to teach and practice literacy knowledge? Yes! If you’re familiar with the science of reading and Dr. Scarborough’s famous reading rope, you might recall that literacy knowledge is listed as a key component of the upper language comprehension strand of the rope (the lower strand is word recognition). Literacy knowledge refers to a reader and writer’s knowledge of genre, such as a mystery novel or argumentative essay. Literacy knowledge also refers to literary elements featured in those genre, such as metaphors or personification. Finally, literary knowledge refers to text features, literary and poetic devices and structures, such as theme or expository paragraph organization.

But doesn’t literacy knowledge best lend itself to direct, explicit, whole-class instruction? I would agree, but students best understand retain what they are learning through targeted practice. Often a teacher will use novels, short stories, or articles to teach genre, literary elements, text features and structures. A conscientious teacher may have time to teach a dozen genre in a given year; however, to build literacy knowledge many more are necessary to explore. Targeted independent worksheets provide the best means of providing comprehensive instruction and practice on the breadth of literacy knowledge.

And, despite what we’ve been told to believe, there’s nothing bad about a good worksheet! Check out what Dr. Tim Shanahan, Professor Emeritus University of Chicago and Research Lead on the National Reading Panel, has to say…

Like most professors, I have long looked askance at worksheets and their role in reading instruction (though I had relied upon them as a teacher). These newer studies (e.g., Amendum, et al., 2024), suggest that they are not as bad as we have been led to believe (Taylor, et al., 2005). Good teachers often use a mix of direct instruction along with some practice sheets.

The study Dr. Shanahan refers to (Amendum, et al., 2024) “…was a correlational study, which identified how time was spent in classrooms and its relationship to learning to read. It found that the most effective teachers were using a combination of authentic texts and worksheets, etc. Unlike in some past studies, there was no particular benefit to using one type of material over another — in other words, they did see some learning gains due to use of seatwork (worksheet) activities” (Shanahan’s Comments).

Of course we all believe that direct, explicit, whole-class instruction should be our priority, but some small group and individualized work is necessary to differentiate instruction, and it certainly makes sense that the independent worksheets and/or activities we use in our classrooms can help maximize learning.

I’ve found that independent practice, targeted to specific, diagnostically assessed literacy deficits, gets the best results. And worksheet practice should conclude with formative assessment to determine mastery of the practiced concept or skill.

Literacy Knowledge is particularly well-suited to diagnostic differentiation and independent practice. My affordable program includes a short diagnostic, concise definitions, clear examples, and connected reading and writing practice. You don’t need to teach an entire novel to teach the science fiction genre. Here are 20 literary genre with all the grade-level standards dealing with text features, literary and poetic devices and structures. I invite you to check out the entire affordable program. Grades 4 on up.

Targeted Independent Practice

My Targeted Independent Practice series supports teachers with quality assessment-based independent learning. Each program includes 1. A comprehensive diagnostic assessment to determine student needs 2. Targeted worksheets corresponding to the specific diagnostic test components 3. Formative assessments to determine mastery. View each program in its entirety.

*** Reading Fluency and Comprehension

*** Spelling

*** Phonics

*** Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics

*** Literacy Knowledge

*** Executive Function and Study Skills

Not sure if your students need interventions? Download the free Targeted Independent Practice Diagnostic Assessments and let the data inform your instructional decision-making.

Grammar/Mechanics genre, literary devices, poetic devices, structures, text features, text structure

Language Comprehension

Literacy knowledge refers to how language and text are organized to communicate.

“We have long known that students benefit from instruction in common structures and elements of narrative or story text (e.g.,  identifying  characters, setting, goal, problem, events, resolution, and theme; e.g., Fitzgerald & Spiegel, 1983). With respect to informational text, meta-analyses (quantitative studies of many studies) have also documented positive impacts (Hebert, Bohaty, & Nelson, 2016; Pyle et al., 2017).”

Nell K. Duke, Alessandra E. Ward, P. David Pearson, 2021 

Children begin acquiring literacy knowledge even before their first “Once upon a time…” story. Children from literate households learn a wealth of background literacy knowledge even before they begin to read. Through print and media, children are exposed to story structure, character development, and the elements of plot. Moreover, students experience different kinds of narratives, such as fairy tales, poems, and songs—many of which include sensory/descriptive writing.

In addition to narrative and sensory descriptive genre, children also learn expository structures and their components. For example, when a parent tells a child the agenda for the day such as “First, we will finish our breakfast; next, you will brush your teeth; afterwards, you will put on your backpack…,” the child learn sequential organization and key sequence and number transitions.

Because older students in reading intervention classes often have missed out on many pre-reading learning experiences, the reading intervention teacher has gaps in literacy background knowledge to fill to help their students access prior knowledge when reading different types of text.

Language Comprehension Literacy Knowledge is one of seven key components in the upper strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. The 47 Literacy Knowledge lessons, included in The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension, serve as a crash course in text structures, literary elements, sentence functions, and genres for your students. Students will learn to identify (read) and apply (write] narrative and sensory/descriptive text structures and literary elements. Students will also learn to identify (read) and apply (write] expository and argumentative text structures and sentence functions in a wide variety of genre to improve reading comprehension. Each lesson takes about 35 minutes to complete.

The narrative and sensory/descriptive lessons are provided first, followed by the expository and argumentative lessons, but the teacher may decide to pick and choose. Some of the lessons build upon previous lessons, but others are stand-alone. 

The teacher introduces each lesson; students complete guided practice with correction and review; and students complete the lesson with independent practice, which serves as the formative assessment. Answers included.
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Language Comprehension

Reading background knowledge, genre, language comprehension, literacy knowledge, literary elements, prior knowledge, text structure

Pennington Publishing Grammar Programs

With these FREE transition worksheets, students will learn to identify these syntactic tools in challenging reading text and join ideas, establish relationships, create logical connections between clauses, sentences, and paragraphs in their writing. The reading-grammar-writing connection is well-established in the research:

Syntax study can improve reading comprehension at the sentence level. (Scott & Balthazar 2003)

William Van Cleave’s Syntax Matters, 2017

Inadequate ability to process the syntax of language results in the inability to understand what is heard, as well as what is read. Beyond word knowledge, it is the single most powerful deterrent to listening and reading comprehension.

J.F. Greene, 2011

Fostering young writers’ awareness of the linguistic choices available to them in writing and how those choices differently shape meaning is developing their metalinguistic knowledge of writing.

Myhill, Jones, Lines, Watson, 2013

Language comprehension is one of the most automatic tasks that humans perform. Yet it is also one of the most complex, requiring the simultaneous integration of many different types of information, such as knowledge about letters and their sounds, spelling, grammar, word meanings, and general world knowledge. In addition, general cognitive abilities such as attention monitoring, inferencing, and memory retrieval organize this information into a single meaningful representation.

 Van Dyke, 2016

These 11 transition worksheets are organized by purpose: Definition, Example, Explanation or Emphasis, Analysis, Comparison, Contrast, Cause-Effect, Conclusion, Addition, Number or Sequence. Each worksheet includes identification within text (reading comprehension), fill-the-blank syntax practice (grammar), and application (writing). Answers provided.

To improve reading comprehension and writing sophistication, check out the reading, grammar, and writing resources from Pennington Publishing. Each product description includes a complete preview of each program.

Get the FREE Transition Worksheets FREE Resource:

Grammar/Mechanics grammar, syntax, text structure, transition words and phrases, Writing Transitions

PQRAR Reading-Study Method

Many of us remember the old stand-by: the SQ3R reading-study method. Designed to improve reading comprehension of textbooks, the SQ3R method did help the reader to read expository text differently than narrative text. However, this method sorely needs an update to connect with recent reading research regarding what techniques best improve comprehension and retention of expository-based textbooks.

Try the PQ RAR reading-study method as you read or teach your next textbook chapter.

P-First of all, preview the reading selection. Try to limit the reading selection to a manageable size. Overly long chapters, say over six pages for elementary students, eight for middle school students, twelve for high school students, and sixteen for college students should be “chunked” into manageable reading sections.

1. Preview the first and last paragraphs of the chapter and the chapter review, if one is provided.

2. Preview all subtitles and any book study helps at the beginning of the chapter.

3. Preview all graphics such as photographs, charts, maps, etc. and their captions.

Q–Secondly, make use of text-based questions to read textbooks effectively.  Good questions produce good answers and significantly increase expository comprehension. Determining questions before reading provides a purpose for reading, that is-to find the answers as you read.

1. Develop questions from the subtitles and write these down on binder paper or on your computer, skipping lines between each question. Try “What,” “How,” and “Why” question-starters. Avoid the “Who” and “When” questions, as these tend to focus attention on the minor details of expository text.

2. Write down any chapter review questions not covered by your subtitle questions, skipping lines between each question.

R–Read the chapter and “talk to the text” by taking notes in the textbook margins. Use yellow stickies and paste them in the textbook margins, if you can’t write in the textbook. Write down comments, questions, predictions, and connections to other parts of the reading and your own life experiences. List examples, key details, and important terms with their definitions. Internal monitoring of the author’s train of thought and the connection to your own knowledge and experience increases comprehension as you read textbooks.FREE DOWNLOAD TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF PENNINGTON PUBLISHING RESOURCES: The SCRIP (Summarize, Connect, Re-think, Interpret, and Predict) Comprehension Strategies includes class posters, five lessons to introduce the strategies, and the SCRIP Comprehension Bookmarks.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies FREE Resource:

A–Answer both the subtitle questions and the book questions as you read. Write down your answers underneath your questions. Don’t be concerned if the textbook did not answer some of your reader-generated questions.

R–Review the questions and answers within the next 24 hours to minimize the effects of the “forgetting cycle.” Generate possible test questions and develop memory tricks for key concepts and details.

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The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

SCIENCE OF READING INTERVENTION PROGRAM RESOURCES HERE for detailed product description and sample lessons.

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

Get the Syllable Awareness Assessment FREE Resource:

Get the Syllable Rules FREE Resource:

Get the Accent Rules FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills how to read textbooks, interactive reading, Mark Pennington, reading comprehension, reading strategies, self-questioning, SQ3R, study skills, Teaching Reading Strategies, text structure