Reading Instruction
Competency Assessment
Preparing for the California RICA Exam
An on-line guide to general RICA content
and the literacy learning needs
of bilingual readers
Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D.
San Diego State University
Dear CLAD Teacher Credential Candidates & Fellow Educators,
I provide you with this list of links to instructional modules and resources published on my website to help you prepare for the RICA examination. The focus of these on-line materials is to better prepare you for teaching ALL California's readers and writers, but especially language minority students who are classified as limited English proficient. Twenty-five percent of California's students are classified as English language learners (ELLs) and 33% of all students in grades K-3 are classified as limited in English proficiency. Consequently, literacy instruction must address the particular characteristics and challenges of these learners.
This study guide for RICA includes three parts:
RICA Domain & content-area links for review
Below, I have listed each domain and subdomain of the RICA with links to relevant Power Point slide shows and web pages to help you review the important concepts that may appear on the test. These on-line lessons for CLAD credential candidates will help you to become better teachers of our culturally and linguistically diverse student population.
I have included numerous resources for bilingual teachers and CLAD teachers to gain information about methods and approaches for teaching Spanish reading. These are included here because there is a high level of transferability between Spanish and English orthography. This is the basis of a biliteracy approach to teaching Spanish-speaking children to read in their native language. Spanish reading is taught in transitional bilingual education programs and dual immersion programs.
For information about how to register for the RICA with the National Evaluation Systems, click here.
I hope that you find these resources useful. I encourage you to e-mail me with your questions and comments.
Good luck on the RICA!
Jill Kerper Mora
RICA CONTENT DOMAINS
AND CONTENT AREASDomain 1: Planning and Organizing Reading Instruction Based on Ongoing Assessment
(1) Conducting ongoing assessment of reading development
Language assessment for instructional planning in literacy
Using an informal reading inventory (IRI) for ELLs
Creating and using writing rubrics to assess ELLs progress
(2) Planning, organizing, and managing reading instruction
How to organize for literacy instruction: Selecting approaches and procedures
Definitions of literacy and implications for instruction
How to organize a B/CLAD classroom for literacy and content-area instruction
A road map to effective English language development (ELD) instruction
Literacy instruction in a Structured English immersion classroom
Criteria and questions for evaluating literacy programs
A curriculum framework for biliteracy development: Spanish reading and ELD/English reading parallels
Domain 2: Developing Phonological and Other Linguistic Processes Related to Reading
(3) Phonemic awareness
Using minimal contrast pairs to build phonemic awareness
Phonics instruction and the three cueing systems for ELLs
(4) Concepts about print
Features of texts & patterns of exposition in content-area texts
Use of written accents in Spanish
(5) Systematic, explicit phonics and other word identification strategies
A sequence for teaching phonics with attention to challenges for second-language readers of English
Metalinguistic transfer in Spanish/English biliteracy
Literacy instruction for L2 learners: A position statement
(6) Spelling instruction
Learning to discriminate phonemes for spelling
Using word families for spelling instruction
Word study in ELD and biliteracy classrooms
Domain 3: Developing Reading Comprehension and Promoting Independent Reading
(7) Reading comprehension
Text analysis for identifying possible areas of difficulty for second-language readers
Using paraphrasing to adjust for content-area text comprehension levels
A model lesson in comprehension using a patterned reading text
An analysis of subprocesses of comprehension fo L2 readers
(8) Literary response and analysis
Using multicultural literature to develop comprehension and literary appreciation
(9) Content-area literacy
Factors in content-area for second-language readers of English
Developing study guides for teaching concepts, vocabulary and structure of text
Using thematic instruction to enhance content-area knowledge
(10) Student independent reading
Teaching cultural values in the multicultural classroom
Domain 4: Supporting Reading Through Oral and Written Language Development
(11) Relationship among reading, writing, and oral language
Using thematic instruction for the four skills of the language arts
A road map to effective biliteracy instruction
Characteristics of effective L2 classrooms
(12) Vocabulary development
Methods of teaching a second language
Instructional stategies for developing vocabulary in English as a second language
(13) Structure of the English language
Using sentence transformation to teach syntax and grammar
RICA STUDY QUESTIONS
FOR B/CLAD TEACHERS
An Overview of Essential ConceptsThese are questions to orient teacher credential candidates to the over-arching issues and program design aspects of the RICA domains. They represent a starting point and a summary and conclusion to test yourself for global understanding and application of the RICA content areas.
1. What is meant by a balanced approach to literacy instruction? Describe the components of a balanced literacy program. What components of a balanced literacy program must be in place to address the particular needs of language minority students?
2. What is phonemic awareness? What are the theories about why is PA important in teaching children to read and write? How does phonemic awareness relate to the alphabetic principle and phonics? Name some strategies for developing students' phonemic awareness. Can phonemic awareness transfer from a child's native language to English? What areas of phonemic awareness may need special attention in the case of bilingual learners?
3. How and when do we teach vocabulary? When it is effective and appropriate to pre-teach vocabulary directly before reading a text? What vocabulary teaching strategies are particularly appropriate for L2 learners of English?
4. Define structural analysis. What is its purpose? What facts and information about the history and structure of English does a teacher need to know in order to provide explicit instruction in structural analysis? What concepts of structural analysis apply to Spanish and English?
5. What are some of the impediments to full comprehension of written text? Describe strategies for aiding students' comprehension of text. Are the same strategies applicable to narrative text and literature as compared to expository (content-area) text? Elaborate on the similarities and differences between narrative and expository text reading tasks.
6. Describe the components of an effective spelling program. How do these components parallel the developmental sequence or stages children go through in learning to spell? What is the current perspective on the use of word lists for spelling?
7. What is the role of performance assessment in a balanced comprehensive approach to literacy instruction? What types of reading performance should be assessed? Describe tests and instruments that are commonly used and/or commercially available for each type of assessment. Beyond the instruments that are commercially available, what tools for assessment can a teacher employ to provide a complete picture of a particular student's reading performance?
8. In what ways are instruction in oral language, reading and writing linked? What is taught in an effective writing instruction program? What is the writing process and what is its role in a balanced literacy program?
Literacy Organizations and Resources
Literacy Volunteers of America
United States Department of Education America Reads
National Institute for Literacy
Additional Resources on Biliteracy and L2 Reading
Click here to navigate Dr. Mora's Website
This page was last updated on 07/25/06