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 PRACTICAL
WAYS TO
ENGAGE ALL
STRUGGLING
READERS
A Multi-Tiered Instructional
Approach Using Hi-Lo Books

Claudia Rinaldi, PhD

Orla Higgins Averill, PhD

MTSS_HB_PW_FM.indd 1 7/23/14 9:15 AM

 © 2014 by Saddleback Educational Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
scanning, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written
permission of the publisher. SADDLEBACK EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING
and any associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
Saddleback Educational Publishing.

Pages labeled with the statement © Saddleback Educational Publishing are

intended for reproduction. Saddleback Publishing, Inc. grants to individual
purchasers of this book the right to make sufficient copies of reproducible
pages for use by all students of a single teacher. This permission is limited to a
single teacher, and does not apply to entire schools or school systems.

ISBN-13: 978-1-62250-892-1
ISBN-10: 1-62250-892-0
eBook: 978-1-63078-041-8

Printed in the United States of America

18 17 16 15 14 12345

MTSS_HB_PW_FM.indd 2 7/23/14 9:15 AM

 Contents
Dedication ����������������������������������尓���������������������������� v
About the Authors����������������������������������尓��������������� vi
Introduction����������������������������������尓��������������������������1
Chapter 1: What Is a Multi-Tiered
System of Support?��������������������������������5
Chapter 2: How Can I Teach the Variety
of Learners in My Classroom?����������������21
Chapter 3: Instructional Interventions
That Work����������������������������������尓������������45
Chapter 4: Using Hi-Lo Books as
Intervention Tools ����������������������������������尓67
Chapter 5: Common Pitfalls of a Multi-Tiered
System of Support��������������������������������91
References����������������������������������尓������������������������105
Appendix ����������������������������������尓��������������������������109

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MTSS_HB_PW_FM.indd 4 7/23/14 9:15 AM
 Dedication
I would like to dedicate this book to my sons, Luke (11) and Samuel (7),
who asked me often when I was going to be done because they wanted
to read it!

—Claudia Rinaldi

To all the teachers and principals who have opened their schools and
classrooms to us over the last 20 years so that we could learn alongside
each of them. It has been an incredible journey to plant a seed of educational
change and to come back and see amazing teacher engagement and student
growth. You have given us ideas, inspiration, and hope that we can all work
together to benefit all students despite language, culture, and disability!

—Orla Higgins Averill and Claudia Rinaldi

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 About the Authors
Claudia Rinaldi, PhD
Claudia Rinaldi brings 20 years of experience to the
field of education as a professor, educator, researcher,
national trainer, and technical assistance provider in
school districts. She currently serves as chair of the
�Department of Education at Lasell College in Newton,
MA, known for their innovative online teacher preparation
degree programs that concentrate on �Universal Design
for Learning (UDL) and school-wide multi-tiered systems
of support (MTSS). Claudia focuses her work and
research on the implementation of comprehensive school reform efforts
using evidenced-based models including Response to Intervention (RTI),
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports, and MTSS. In particular, her
experience engages educators on how to improve systems and instructional
practices for students with reading difficulties or disabilities and English
language learners.

She serves as a board member of the Council for Exceptional Children, is a

member of the advisory board for the Response to Intervention Action
Network at the National Center of Learning Disabilities, and is a reviewer for
the National Center on Response to Intervention and the National Center of
Intensive Interventions.

Claudia is author and co-author of several publications on RTI, behavior

disorders, learning disabilities, and issues related to English language learners,
including “Response to Intervention for English Language Learners,”
“Response to Intervention: Educators’ Perceptions of a Three-Year RTI
Collaborative Reform Effort in an Urban Elementary School,” and “Multi-Tiered
Systems of Support (MTSS): The RTI and PBIS Approaches Involve Targeting
Specific Areas in Which Students are Struggling.”

Before joining Lasell College, Claudia was an assistant director at the Urban
Special Educational Leadership Collaborative at Education Development
Center, Inc.; assistant professor in the Teacher Education, Special Education,

MTSS_HB_PW_FM.indd 6 8/4/14 3:25 PM

 Curriculum and Instruction program at Boston College; and before that,
in the Department of Special Education at the University of Wisconsin-
Whitewater. She received her PhD in learning disabilities and reading from
the University of Miami (FL).

Orla Higgins Averill, PhD

Orla Higgins Averill brings 15 years of experience to
the field of special education, with an emphasis on
assessment and intervention, school and district
leadership, policy implementation, systems change,
and �Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She presently
works as a senior training and technical assistance
associate with the Urban Special Education Leadership
�
Collaborative. There she provides state- and district-
level training, technical assistance, resource
development, and systems and policy guidance to states and urban school
districts across the country. She specializes in supporting the implementation
of the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework and has delivered
training and technical assistance to hundreds of teachers and school leaders.
Orla was trained as a school psychologist and is on the faculty of the School
Psychology Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Orla is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, the National

Association of School Psychologists, and the Massachusetts School
Psychologists Association where she has previously served on the board.
She is a proposal reviewer for the International Council for Children with
Behavior Disorders conference and the co-author of numerous �publications
on MTSS and Response to Intervention (RTI). Prior to joining the �Collaborative,
Orla was a school psychologist in the Alexandria City (VA) Public Schools,
the Quincy (MA) Public Schools, and at McLean Hospital. She received her
PhD in curriculum and instruction from Boston College.

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MTSS_HB_PW_FM.indd 8 7/23/14 9:15 AM
 Introduction
When students don’t learn the way we
teach, let’s teach the way they learn.
—Ignacio “Nacho” Estrada
In 2013 the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported
that 33% of the fourth graders tested were reading at basic proficiency,
with basic “denoting partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills.”
Thirty-two percent of the fourth graders tested were reading below basic
proficiency; these students struggle to understand what they read on a
daily basis. In eighth grade, 22% of the students tested were reading below
basic proficiency, and 42% were at basic proficiency.

We all have students who struggle. Many strategies and techniques have
been developed over the years, but how can we use a coordinated approach
to support all students in our classrooms: struggling learners, average
students, gifted students, English learners, and students with disabilities?
How can we leverage the best of research and the best of practice and
make it work for the neediest students? How can we really engage students
with content that draws them in and hooks them on learning?

As a teacher and a school psychologist, we have been where you are

today. We have sat with students who struggle, and we have struggled
ourselves. Why isn’t anything working? Or is it? What can we do next?
Should we do something different? How do we know what our students
really need?

Introduction╇ 1╇

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 Let’s begin by establishing some questions that we will address in this
book:

•â•‡ What is tiered instruction, and can it inform the way I teach?

•â•‡ Is this something with a new name but not really a new solution?

•â•‡ How can I develop a method that makes sense every year?

•â•‡ How can I really differentiate for students in my class?

•â•‡ How can I teach all the variety of learners in my classroom?

•â•‡ What types of materials really work with all my students, and how can I use them
effectively?

These are questions that most teachers have every year. These are also
questions that many administrators hope teachers are in the process of
answering as new students walk in their classrooms year after year.

What is new in this book? Can it really help? The purpose of this book is
to provide teachers and administrators with feasible and effective strategies
that can help all types of learners in your classrooms. It will provide you with
the latest research-based methods that are creating change and improving
student outcomes around the nation. We will present it in an understandable
way that can easily be adopted in your classroom tomorrow.

Specifically, the goals of this book are to:

•â•‡ introduce a multi-tiered instructional model for reading comprehension.

•â•‡ integrate research-based strategies using hi-lo books for increasing reading
fluency and comprehension skills of students who are struggling, are English
learners, or have disabilities.

Let’s begin with some common assumptions:

•â•‡ We value all families and cultures.

•â•‡ The first teachers are parents.

•â•‡ All students can learn.

•â•‡ All students don’t learn the same way.

2╇Introduction

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 •â•‡ All students can read and comprehend.

•â•‡ All students should enjoy reading.

•â•‡ As teachers we must strive to reach all learners.

•â•‡ As teacher we must learn about each of the students in front of us each year.

•â•‡ As teachers we value the strengths of each student.

•â•‡ As teachers we are committed to figuring out what works for each of our
students.

The following terms can help build a common language among those
reading this book and can serve as an easy guide for looking back
to definitions.

Struggling learners: students who have difficulty keeping up with

�classmates of the same age in a developmentally appropriate learning
environment

English language learners: students who are not proficient in English

Students with disabilities: students who have been identified as needing

special education services through an Individualized Education Plan

Research-based practices: instructional practices that are supported

by research

Differentiated instruction: approach that recognizes that all students,

including culturally and linguistically diverse students, are different and
bring varying background knowledge, readiness, language, and interests
to the classroom (Hall, 2002). As such, teachers must adjust—or
differentiate—their curriculum and instruction for students who struggle
and for students who excel.

Hi-lo books: high-interest, low-readability fiction and nonfiction books

that appeal to struggling or reluctant readers

Universal Design for Learning: planning instruction proactively to both

remove barriers to learning and to challenge and engage all types of learners
in a typical classroom, including English language learners and students
with disabilities

Introduction╇ 3╇

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 Chapter Summaries
In Chapter 1, we will introduce you to a framework called a multi-tiered
system of support and its components, and we will describe how it and
other initiatives in school districts work in concert with tiered instruction.
You will learn how you can differentiate reading comprehension for a range
of learners within this model using research-based strategies and �innovative
reading materials.

In Chapter 2, we describe how to use different types of data to learn about

your students. We suggest that qualitative and quantitative data can help
you develop an instructional approach that is effective and engaging. And
we ask you to begin to think about profiles of struggling learners, English
language learners, and students with special education needs. We also
provide you with examples of instructional delivery models and a 90-minute
reading block that is balanced and engaging.

In Chapter 3, we introduce and explain six reading strategies that you can
use today to begin to improve your students’ reading skills. We know that
your classrooms are diverse and that you are challenged to meet the
needs of your student population. You want a toolkit of strategies that are
effective and feasible. But you also need strategies that can be used in a
variety of formats, like pairs, small groups, and teacher- or paraprofessional-
led groups.

In Chapter 4, we will examine individual case studies of students and look

at what type of progress makes sense over time. We will provide you with
questions to guide your instructional planning and intervention processes
and described how hi-lo books can be used to support students’ learning.
We present how to monitor students’ progress and make predictions about
whether students will approach grade level or the end-of-year expected
benchmark. Finally, we provide you with questions to consider if students
are not on track, and how to know when to change an intervention approach
�
to make it more effective.

Finally, in Chapter 5, we conclude this book by providing ways to monitor

your own high-quality Tier 1 (core) instruction to ensure that it is differentiated,
engaging, and balanced, and to ensure that it meets the needs of most
students in your class.

4╇Introduction

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 CHAPTER 1

What Is a Multi-Tiered System

of Support?
â•›A Look Inside the Classroom
Ms. Cuellar is a fifth grade teacher at an urban elementary school in the
northeast U.S. She has been a regular education teacher for 4 years and
has 24 students in her classroom this school year. According to school
records and her observations, three-quarters of her students receive a free
lunch and are low income.

The makeup of her class is 14 boys and 10 girls; 15 of the students are
bilingual, with Spanish as their primary language at home. Some students
in her class receive English as a second language (ESL) support and special
education services during the school day. Her school district requires that
schools use reading assessments 3 times per year. This school year
Ms. Cuellar and her colleagues have been told that they will be implementing
tiered instruction as the main intervention in reading and English language
arts, but she is not sure how to implement tiered instruction. She also has
not received professional development in this area.

Here are some questions that Ms. Cuellar and her colleagues have been
discussing:

•â•‡ How do I begin to focus on English language arts and reading instruction when I
have so many subjects to teach?
•â•‡ What is tiered instruction and intervention?

•â•‡ What are interventions? And who does them?

•â•‡ What does tiered instruction mean in reading?

•â•‡ Are we going to get literacy materials? And will we get professional development
so we know how to use the materials?

What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?╇ 5╇

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 Tiered Instruction
Each year brings new students with unique needs. While these needs span
the academic, social, and emotional spectrums, we know that the ability
to read is the primary factor in determining future success. As you think
about planning and instruction in your classroom, it is critical that you know
how to ensure your students become better readers in measurable ways.
One of the most research-based strategies to achieve this is tiered instruction.

Tiered instruction refers to a common practice in schools today that provides

different levels of intensity of instruction. This includes classroom instruction
along with additional instruction. In the past, additional instruction may
have been reserved for tutoring sessions or given only to special education
students. More recently, educators have begun looking at additional
instruction as a timely intervention to prevent students from falling behind.

An intervention is instruction that supplements and intensifies classroom

curriculum and instruction to meet student needs. It is provided to any
student who demonstrates that they need more help to master a concept.
An intervention can be academic or behavioral. All interventions must have
(a) a plan for implementation, (b) evidenced-based pedagogy, (c) criteria
for successful response, and (d) assessment to monitor progress.

Interventions have become part of a system of school change in the U.S.

that is called Response to Intervention (RTI). Initially, many schools
implemented RTI as a targeted program with intervention specialists pulling
aside identified students to provide additional instruction. Now RTI has
evolved into a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). The most notable
change with MTSS is that schools are encouraged to implement intervention
instruction throughout the day in every classroom. If the school implements
intervention instruction as a whole, resource allocation of personnel can
be shared among the staff in more strategic and preventative ways.

A second aspect of MTSS is the focus on the whole child. In other words,
teachers look at the context of the school, instruction, and academic and
behavioral engagement when developing interventions. About 94% of
schools across the U.S. are doing some aspect of MTSS (Spectrum K12
School Solutions, 2011). A cornerstone of this approach is collaboration
among teachers to meet the needs of every student.

6╇ What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?

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 MTSS integrates research-based educational and psychological innovations
from the last few decades to support students in more effective, preventive,
and responsive ways, particularly in the area of reading development.
Instead of waiting for kids to fail and then testing them for special education
qualification, teachers provide them with supports as soon as they exhibit
difficulty grasping a concept.

In this chapter, we will introduce you to MTSS and its components, and
we will describe how MTSS and other initiatives in school districts
(e.g., Universal Design for Learning, inclusion, and Common Core State
Standards) work in concert with tiered instruction. You will learn how you
can differentiate reading comprehension for a range of learners within this
model using research-based strategies and innovative reading materials
(e.g., high-interest, low-readability books; or simply, hi-lo books).

MTSS is a way for schools to organize how

instruction and intervention can be delivered.
Tiered instruction focuses on innovative
instructional practices that have been shown
to improve student achievement, especially in
the area of reading. Joined together through
an MTSS framework, these innovations are
more powerful than if they were adopted
independently in a classroom or even a group
of classrooms in a school. The innovations
that comprise MTSS include (a) teacher
collaboration, (b) school-wide use of data to
inform instruction, (c) inclusive instructional
practices, including Universal Design for
Learning, and (d) the Common Core State Standards, �including standards-
based assessment.
What Are Hi-Lo Books?
Hi-lo books offer struggling readers access to well-
written and compelling fiction and nonfiction across
all grades. These books present age-appropriate
content—something that will grab a student’s
interest (i.e., high-interest)—at a readability level
that is accessible (i.e., low-readability). Most
hi-lo books appear no different from trade books,
removing the stigma of “baby” books. Great hi-lo
titles will give students what they need to become
successful, independent readers. A great resource
for hi-lo books is http://www.strugglinglearners.com.

Teacher Collaboration
Let’s examine these innovations in more detail. Teacher collaboration refers
to a practice where teachers with various levels of experience, expertise,
and professional training address instruction and problem-solve how to
remove barriers to learning in order to improve student outcomes in reading.
This process happens during common planning time where groups of
teachers come together to plan for individual students. The most effective

What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?╇ 7╇

MTSS_HB_PW_Ch1.indd 7 7/22/14 8:05 AM

 collaborative sessions include all teachers and specialists who work with
the selected students.

Data-Based Decision Making

Data-based decision making refers to the use of reading data, formal and
informal, that is used in collaborative meetings to drive instructional planning
for all students. Together, data-based decision making and teacher
collaboration can result in a culture of shared responsibility for student
achievement (Rinaldi, Higgins Averill, & Stuart, 2011). One type of data
that this book will present is curriculum-based measurement.

Curriculum-based measures (CBM) are a key piece used in data-based

decision making. CBMs are quick assessments that allow teachers to
pinpoint students’ basic reading skill levels. Knowing students’ reading
abilities allows teachers to better understand what students need to access
grade-level curriculum, particularly in the content areas of social studies
and science. CBMs are brief, valid, and reliable indicators of reading abilities
needed to be successful at each particular grade level. Usually they are
conducted in less than five minutes and are administered individually.

With CBMs, teachers can track the grade level students are reading at
and how much they improve over the year. Using CBM results, teachers
can document student progress and plan appropriate instruction and
intervention. For example, in kindergarten, students must know the names
of the letters of the alphabet and each unique sound, or phoneme, in order
to become a successful reader. In seventh grade, students must be able
to read accurately, fluently, and with inflection in order to be reading at
grade level and have high reading comprehension skills. In both of these
examples, there are CBMs that provide teachers with an indication of
whether a student is at grade level and how much progress the student
is making throughout the year.

Many schools administer CBMs to all students at the beginning of the

school year to establish students’ baselines. This allows teachers to quickly
identify students reading significantly below grade level or students who
are not English speakers. Tiered interventions can be established immediately
for these students. CBMs can then be administered weekly or at given
checkpoints during the school year. The frequency is up to an individual
teacher or school. CBMs administered throughout the year allow teachers

8╇ What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?

MTSS_HB_PW_Ch1.indd 8 7/22/14 8:05 AM

 to monitor student progress and growth and make changes to intervention
instruction as needed.

Inclusive Educational Practices

Inclusive educational practices occur when students with and without
disabilities learn together in the regular education classroom with appropriate
supports, planning, instruction, and curriculum materials. Inclusive practices
refer to the ways educators address the needs of all students by determining
their instructional levels and providing instruction at that level. In schools
implementing inclusive practices, both regular and special education
teachers receive professional development on differentiating curriculum
and addressing the needs of students, with a particular focus on students
with disabilities.

One very prominent way that inclusive practices occur in classrooms is

through the use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL means planning
instruction proactively to remove barriers to learning. UDL challenges and
engages all types of learners in a typical classroom, including English
language learners and students with disabilities.

UDL principles offer a blueprint that is flexible and customizable to meet

the individual needs of each student using the “what,” the “how,” and the
“why” of learning for planning and delivering instruction. These three
principles help teachers plan instruction by addressing how curriculum will
be presented to the wide level of students in a typical class, how evidence
of learning can be demonstrated, and how engagement can be developed
in order to increase student outcomes. For more information on UDL
principles, visit the CAST website (http://www.cast.org).

Common Core State Standards

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provide a consistent expectation
of what K–12 students should be learning in reading, English language
arts, and mathematics. Although all states have had grade-level standards
for education, the CCSS represents the first time the U.S. has published
a common guide for establishing and assessing instructional goals.

Most states have adopted the CCSS and are transitioning from existing
state standards and state assessments. One of the main goals of the CCSS
is to provide a high-quality education for all students in the U.S. In reading

What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?╇ 9╇

MTSS_HB_PW_Ch1.indd 9 7/22/14 8:05 AM

 and English language arts, the CCSS has defined the basic reading and
critical thinking skills that students at each grade level should be able to
perform in order to be college and career ready. The biggest change in
English language arts is how the CCSS addresses the complexity of texts
that students read, the type of texts that students should be reading, and
the connection to writing.

In the area of basic skills, these standards are very similar to the state
standards teachers are familiar with. Some of the standards dealing with
complexity may be surprising. For example, in kindergarten, with prompting
and support, students will compare and contrast adventures and experiences
of characters in familiar stories. While in fifth grade, students are expected
to independently and proficiently read and comprehend literature, including
stories, drama, poetry, nonfiction, and graphic novels.

A Plan for Tiered Instruction

These innovations will be addressed in more depth in subsequent chapters.
Each one will help you better teach your students to read and comprehend
text. Keeping in mind that there are various definitions for these terms
within the research community, this book provides general definitions and
shows how these innovative practices are being integrated within MTSS.

As you read this, you may feel overwhelmed thinking about all of these
innovations and how to make them work together in your classroom to
meet the needs of all your students. All teachers face the challenge of
helping students who struggle to learn. Some may be learning English as
a second or third language. Some may have been identified as having
special education needs. Some may have fallen through the cracks in
earlier grades. How can you use these innovations to improve the �academic
achievement of all of these students?

Learning who your students are and what prevents them from accessing
the grade-level curriculum is the key to success for everyone. As you plan
your reading and English language arts instruction, knowing what
interventions your students will need is essential in structuring time, space,
and materials to help them. According to the National Association of State
Directors of Special Education (Batsche et al, 2005) and others’ statistics,
approximately 15%–25% of students in today’s classrooms will need some
sort of supplemental support to access core grade-level curriculum and

10╇ What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?

MTSS_HB_PW_Ch1.indd 10 7/22/14 8:05 AM

 another 5%–15% will need intensive supports. It is important to note that
if you are teaching in a high-poverty urban school district, this number may
be higher. Many students will require intensive interventions.

Looking at your classroom through the lens of tiered instruction makes it

easier to see that you will have students all along a continuum of needs.
Using educational data to identify where each student falls on the continuum
and to plan appropriate instruction is what this book is all about. As you
read through the five chapters, you will learn how to plan for tiered instruction,
how to pinpoint your students’ basic reading skills the minute they walk
into your classroom, and how to continuously monitor their progress so
that you know when to use targeted curriculum materials (e.g., hi-lo books)
that support reading outcomes.

Does this sound too good to be true? Perhaps. But the truth is that tiered
instruction and intervention works for students of all backgrounds and skill
levels. When you pay close attention to how you are implementing your
curriculum and instruction, how your students are responding, and how
you use the resources within your school and district, you can address the
needs of all of your students.

The point is not to “wait for our students to fail.” Instead, we must use the
tools that tell us with a good degree of certainty which students are at risk.
Then we must provide those students with the skills and practice they
need to be successful.

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 â•›A Look Inside the Classroom
Ms. Cuellar has 24 students in her fifth grade class in September. By
October, she recognizes four students who are not making the progress
that other students are. In an effort to help one particular student, Samuel,
who is significantly below grade level, Ms. Cuellar refers him to the school’s
child study team. At the child study team, her colleagues—who do not
know the curriculum she is teaching and may or may not know Samuel—
suggest that she try several strategies. The meeting ends, and no one has
told her how to implement any of the strategies. No one has said what to
do, how often, for how long, how to know if it’s
working for Samuel, or when to make a decision
Statistics on Reading Outcomes about what to do next.
•â•‡Research has found that children who did not In other words, the meeting ends and there is
read well by the end of third grade are four times no real action plan. There is no guidance to
less likely to graduate from high school on time
ensure that research-based interventions are
than proficient readers. On top of this, a poor
reader who lives in poverty is 13 times less likely implemented with fidelity. Nevertheless,
to graduate on time (Hernandez, 2011). Ms. Cuellar feels that the process was somewhat
•â•‡One-third of fourth graders in the U.S. failed helpful and goes back to her classroom to try
to demonstrate even “partial mastery of out one of the strategies, even though she’s
prerequisite knowledge and skills” necessary not quite sure what she should be doing. She
to read and understand grade-level text as tries the strategy for a couple of days one week
measured by the NAEP reading test (Denton,
and a couple of days the next week, but Samuel
retrieved from the RTI Action Network,
http://www.rtinetwork.org). is still having a lot of difficulty reading. She is
•â•‡For some groups of students, reading failure discouraged and refers Samuel for a special
rates are higher than their same-age peers; 52% education evaluation.
of African American students, 51% of Hispanic
students, and 49% of students in poverty all As Samuel and Ms. Cuellar wait about 40 days
scored below basic in the NAEP reading test for the evaluation to occur, he continues to sit
(Ten things you should know about reading. in her classroom receiving instruction she knows
Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org). is not working for him. During the special
•â•‡Serious reading problems can be prevented education evaluation, it is determined that
when students in the primary grades are Samuel does not meet eligibility. Ms. Cuellar is
provided with quality classroom reading
instruction along with additional small-group
referred back to the school’s child study team.
intervention when needed (Denton, retrieved Once again, the team provides her with limited
from the RTI Action Network, http://www information and supports on how to help
.rtinetwork.org). Samuel. Ms. Cuellar goes back to her classroom
feeling frustrated about the entire process.

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 Samuel’s reading skills do not improve, and his grades reflect this. Two
months have passed. Samuel is falling further behind.

You Are Not Alone

A tiered instructional approach can change Ms. Cuellar’s challenge from
one of frustration and discouragement to one of collaboration and continuous
learning. Tiered instruction is based on the premise that students will need
multiple levels, or tiers, of instruction (e.g., small-group instruction, additional
time, specialized curriculum) as part of their system of support in schools.
This means that schools expect that a certain percentage of students,
generally 15%–25%, will need additional strategic supports, and that about
5%–15% of those already receiving Â�strategic supports will need additional
intensive supports.

Tier 1, Or Core Instruction

We can all agree that access to the regular core education curriculum
(Tier 1) is vital for all students and that we understand that some will need
additional or supplemental supports through an organized framework such
as the one described here. And if the data indicates that a student needs
more support, then that student will get additional intervention time in a
second dose (Tier 2) or a third dose (Tier 3).

Why is Tier 1 so important? Tier 1, also known as core instruction, is the

only time the students will receive the holistic richness of the curriculum
aligned with the high expectations of the CCSS. This means that in Tier
1, or core reading instruction, teachers provide the basic skills needed to
master the mechanics of reading (e.g., concepts about print, phonemic
awareness, alphabetic knowledge, phonics and decoding, spelling, and
fluency) and the knowledge-based skills to understand and draw meaning
from text (e.g., concepts about the world, ability to understand and express
complex themes, vocabulary, and oral language skills) (Lesaux, 2013).

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 â•›A Look Inside the Classroom
Remember Ms. Cuellar’s frustration? Let’s look at how intervention can
work with an MTSS approach.

Ms. Cuellar has 24 students in her fifth grade class in September. Her
universal screening assessments have indicated that four students are
not responding to the instruction and intervention. She begins to monitor
their progress using CBMs. They are not making the progress other
students are.

At her weekly grade-level meeting, Ms. Cuellar and her colleagues discuss
these four students, including Samuel. Ms. Cuellar brings Samuel’s universal
screening reading data taken in September plus the progress monitoring
data from October to the meeting. Because these meetings have a structured
protocol that guides collaborative problem-solving and discussion,
Ms. Cuellar knows that she will present the progress monitoring data points
and will also share information from a diagnostic reading comprehension
test she administered. She knows her colleagues, who are teaching the
same grade-level curriculum, will partner with her in finding an instructional
approach that works for Samuel.

At the meeting, she summarizes that Samuel scored on the low range of
decoding skills. The universal screener and progress monitoring tool also
showed poor reading fluency when compared to students in his grade at
this time of the year. Ms. Whitney, another fifth grade team member, offers
to bring Samuel to the school’s intervention block, called “SUCCESS time,”
for 20 minutes, 3 times per week for 6 weeks. During SUCCESS time,
Ms. Whitney is working with a small group of four students on decoding
and fluency with hi-lo books. All of the students in the intervention block
are at the same instructional reading level as Samuel.

The team documents their planning conversation and summarizes the

intended intervention delivery sessions for the next 6 weeks. They decide
to review Samuel’s progress in 6 weeks and determine the specific Â�followâ•‚up
date, which they put on the calendar. During this meeting, the grade-level
team collaborates to review data, discuss curriculum and instruction, and
develop a measurable action plan with a clear progress monitoring schedule
�
to improve Samuel’s reading that leverages the supports that the school
has implemented (i.e., the intervention block).

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 The MTSS Framework in Action
As discussed, MTSS is an approach to prevention and intervention that
uses instructional data to guide problem solving and planning within a
tiered system of support. This approach, based on research, expects that
75%–80% of students will benefit and respond to a strong Tier 1 (core)
reading curriculum using the CCSS as a basis for a high-quality education
(Batsche et al, 2005; Pavri, 2010).

Teachers collaborate to address any barriers to the implementation of Tier

1 (core) instruction until most of the students are benefitting. The framework
also expects that 15%–25% of students will need additional strategic
short-term intervention, called Tier 2 (Batsche et al, 2005; Marston, 2005;
Pavri, 2010). This short-term intervention focuses on the area of deficit in
basic reading skills (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
comprehension, and vocabulary). Tier 2 occurs in 20-minute segments,
3 times per week for 12–17 weeks. The goal of this Tier 2 intervention is
to increase the number of students responding or benefitting from Tier 1
(core) i� nstruction.

The framework also addresses the remaining 5%–15% of students who

will need intensive intervention in addition to Tier 1 (core) and Tier 2. This
additional intensive intervention, known as Tier 3, is delivered in a smaller
teacher–student ratio of 1:1 or 1:3 for at least 50 minutes, 3 times per
week, with progress monitoring occurring weekly. The goal here is to ensure
that students are getting exposure to Tier 1 (core), Tier 2, and Tier 3
�supports anytime they are needed.

Figure 1 is a graphic that represents the MTSS framework in reading and

how it addresses the main components of tiered instruction: assessment,
instruction, and intervention. This example also provides a practical
application that identifies how materials can be used within each tier
of support.

In looking at Figure 1, you see that the triangle represents all students
receiving Tier 1 (core) instruction within a differentiated instructional approach
using the principles of UDL and the expectations of the CCSS. You also
see how differentiated instructional materials, like hi-lo books and emergent
readers, can support Tier 1 (core) instruction at the Tier 2 level of support.

What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?╇ 15╇

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 •â•‡ Intensive intervention
nts for students 1.5 or more
grade levels below
ude
f St

•â•‡ Assessment: CBM weekly

%o

progress monitoring
–15

•â•‡ Instruction: one or more of five areas

╇ 5%

of literacy plus instructional level materials

R3

•â•‡ Practical Application: Tier 1 + Tier 2 (reading

TIE

comprehension and fluency intervention using

hi-lo books) + Tier 3 (intensive practice)
nts
tude

•â•‡ Strategic intervention for students up to 1.5 grade levels below

of S

•â•‡ Assessment: CBM monthly progress monitoring

25%

•â•‡ Instruction: one or more of five areas of literacy plus instructional level
%–

materials
╇ 15

•â•‡ Practical Application: Tier

1 + Tier 2 (reading comprehension and fluency
R2

intervention using hi-lo books)

TIE

•â•‡ Core instruction for all students

ts
den

•â•‡ Assessment: universal screening at beginning, middle, end of year

Stu
╇ All

•â•‡ Instruction: five areas of literacy plus general education curriculum

R1

•â•‡ Practical Application: differentiated instruction using UDL principles plus instructional level reading materials
TIE

for all students

FIGURE 1 The MTSS Framework in Reading and Language Arts

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 In Tier 2, the instructional intervention responds to the identified area of
reading difficulty and the instructional level of the students. Students meet
in small groups and receive direct instruction of skills, immediate corrective
feedback, and the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills in a strategic
and targeted way. As this intervention is delivered, there is a clear action
plan that outlines frequency of delivery (e.g., 20 minutes, 3 times per week),
a schedule to monitor progress (e.g., monthly fluency probes using CBM),
and instructional materials (e.g., hi-lo books) that can change as the student
makes progress in the �instructional level.

In Tier 3, the frequency of the ins�tructional intervention is increased

(e.g., 50 minutes, 3 times per week), and the intensity of delivery is increased.

What Is Differentiated Instruction?

Although a strong reading curriculum will provide the foundation for effective instruction,
teachers cannot simply follow the script from the teacher’s manual. Doing so would neglect
the unique needs of all students. Teachers need to adjust, or differentiate, their curriculum and
instruction for students who struggle and for students who excel.

Differentiated instruction recognizes the ability of students at or below grade level and assumes
that all students, including culturally and linguistically diverse students, are different and bring
varying background knowledge, readiness, language, and interests to the classroom (Hall,
2002). Teachers can differentiate Tier 1 (core), Tier 2, and Tier 3 reading instruction for students
who struggle by:

•â•‡using assessment data to inform the scope
and sequence of the specific skills and
strategies being taught.
•â•‡providing explicit instruction that includes
modeling of skills and strategies and offers
clear descriptions of new concepts.
•â•‡providing opportunities for independent
practice with a variety of instructional
materials that increase confidence,
comfort, and skill level (e.g., using
hi-lo books).
•â•‡increasing opportunities for practice in
flexible groupings with teachers and peers.
•â•‡providing a balance between teacher-
selected and student-selected tasks and
assignments—giving students choices in
their learning.
•â•‡providing “just-right,” engaging texts at
students’ instructional reading levels
(e.g., hi-lo books).
•â•‡providing corrective feedback that calls
clear attention to student mistakes and
offers student opportunities to try again.
•â•‡varying expectations and requirements
for students’ responses by allowing for
varied means of expression, alternative
procedures for completion, and varying
degrees of difficulty.
•â•‡monitoring students’ understanding of key
skills and strategies and re-teaching when
necessary.

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 â•›A Look Inside the Classroom
In the case of Ms. Cuellar, the RTI framework guarantees that Samuel will
receive targeted intensive instruction in addition to the rich and differentiated
curriculum he receives in Tier 1. Because all decisions about instruction
are informed by data, Ms. Cuellar feels relieved to know that if after
6–8 weeks the data indicates that Samuel is not responding to his Tier 2
intervention, the action plan will be adjusted. Further, Ms. Cuellar will not
be alone in trying to figure out how to support Samuel as the year continues.
Because the MTSS model includes regular structures for collaborative
problem solving, Ms. Cuellar and her grade-level team members will share
responsibility for Samuel’s achievement. Together they will develop a plan
that responds to his areas of need.

Finally, let’s not forget that Ms. Cuellar has 23 other students, some of
whom are English language learners, some of whom struggle like Samuel,
some of whom already receive special education services, and some of
whom are performing well above the fifth grade level. The MTSS framework
guarantees that all of these different learners will participate in a rich and
differentiated Tier 1 (core) curriculum. When assessment data indicates
that some of these students may need more strategic or intensive support,
the collaborative problem-solving structure enables teachers to share
expertise and develop clear action plans for the delivery of Tier 2 or Tier 3
interventions that respond to each student’s unique challenges.

Summary
In this chapter, we introduced you to a framework to address instruction
called MTSS. We described how many innovations and current instructional
practices fit within the model and can be integrated to provide more effective
instructional support to students who are struggling, who are second
language learners, or who have a disability. We began to explain how
schools can capitalize on and refine existing structures to develop practices
that enable teachers to carry out strong and responsive reading instruction.
These structures include collaboration, data-based �decision making,
inclusive practices, and CCSS.

By now you should be starting to develop an understanding of the basic

features of MTSS, but you may still be feeling a little overwhelmed. How

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 do you provide tiered instruction effectively? What does it actually look like
in a classroom? In upcoming chapters, we will provide more detail about
how this actually works in the classroom.

You will learn more about Ms. Cuellar, her colleagues, her student Samuel,
and other students in her class. We will provide you with more detailed
information on how to teach reading more effectively using research-based
practices. We will offer examples of how curriculum and instructional
materials are used effectively to support diverse learners in your classrooms.
Whether your school has MTSS in place or not, tiered instruction will help
you address the needs of all your students.

What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Support?╇ 19╇

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 CHAPTER 2

How Can I Teach the Variety

of Learners in My Classroom?
â•›A Look Inside the Classroom
We were introduced to Ms. Cuellar and her student Samuel in the last
chapter. In this chapter, we are going to see how Ms. Cuellar begins to
look at student data. How she uses the data to plan for effective instructional
delivery. Which instructional practices she can use to teach students where
they are. How she can select materials based on the individual needs of
students (e.g., hi-lo books). And how she can be assured that every student
is making progress.

Ms. Cuellar has 24 students in her fifth grade class. As she begins to
plan how to teach reading to her students, she starts by looking at who
her students are. Although she has met them and sees them every day,
she really has not had a chance to understand who they are as learners
in her classroom. To do that, Ms. Cuellar looks at different sources of
data to be able to plan for instruction. She will find out as much as she
can about each of her students so that she will be better able to plan for
reading instruction.

Why Should I Learn More About My Students?

Learning about each of the students in your class is very important as you
begin to plan for instruction. Long ago, teachers used lesson plans that
they did year after year, or a new teacher used lesson plans they developed
in college. This style of teaching does not meet the needs of today’s
classrooms. As the country’s population changes, schools look very different
across urban, suburban, and rural settings. Educators must be culturally
responsive to the students who come to them each year.

Research tells us that in order for our lessons to be culturally responsive,

teachers must learn about the background of the students in front of
them. Teachers must use this information when developing the lesson

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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
disrespect to me, you need not expect any quarter from me. I am not
of Sidórovna’s[146] kind: let me get at you, and you will groan for
more than a month.
Now listen, my son: if you wish to come into my graces again, ask
for your resignation, and come to live with me in the country. There
are other people besides you to serve in the army. If there were no
war now, I should not mind your serving, but it is now wartime, and
you might be sent into the field, which might be the end of you.
There is a proverb: “Pray to God, but look out for yourself”; so you
had better get out of the way, which will do you more good. Ask for
your discharge and come home to eat and sleep as much as you
want, and you will have no work to do. What more do you want? My
dear, it is a hard chase you have to give after honour. Honour!
Honour! It is not much of an honour, if you have nothing to eat.
Suppose you will get no decoration of St. George, but you will be in
better health than all the cavaliers of the order of St. George. There
are many young people who groan in spite of their St. George, and
many older ones who scarcely live: one has his hands all shot to
pieces, another his legs, another his head: is it a pleasure for
parents to see their sons so disfigured? And not one girl will want
you for a husband.
By the way, I have found a wife for you. She is pretty well off,
knows how to read and write, but, above all, is a good housekeeper:
not a blessed thing is lost with her. That’s the kind of a wife I have
found for you. May God grant you both good counsel and love, and
that they should give you your dismissal! Come back, my dear: you
will have enough to live on outside of the wife’s dowry, for I have laid
by a nice little sum. I forgot to tell you that your fiancée is a cousin of
our Governor. That, my friend, is no small matter, for all our cases at
law will be decided in our favour, and we will swipe the lands of our
neighbours up to their very barns. I tell you it will be a joy, and they
won’t have enough land left to let their chickens out. And then we will
travel to the city, and I tell you, my dear Falaléy, we are going to
have a fine time, and people will have to look out for us. But why
should I instruct you? You are not a baby now, it is time for you to
use your senses.
 You see I am not your ill-wisher and teach you nothing but that is
good for you and that will make you live in greater comfort. Your
uncle Ermoláy gives you the same advice; he had intended to write
to you by the same messenger. We have discussed these matters
quite often, while sitting under your favourite oak where you used to
pass your time as a child, hanging dogs on the branches, if they did
not hunt well for the rabbits, and whipping the hunters, if their dogs
outran yours. What a joker you used to be when you were younger!
We used to split with laughter looking at you. Pray to God, my friend!
You have enough sense to get along nicely in this world.
Don’t get frightened, dear Falaléy, all is not well in our house: your
mother, Akulína Sidórovna, is lying on her death-bed. Father Iván
has confessed her and given her the extreme unction. It is one of
your dogs that was the cause of her ailment. Somebody hit your
Nalétka with a stick of wood and broke her back. When she, my little
dove, heard that, she fainted away, and fell down like dead. When
she came to again, she started an inquiry into the matter, which so
exhausted her that she came back scarcely alive, and had to lie in
bed. Besides, she emptied a whole pitcher of cold water, which gave
her a fever. Your mother is ill, my friend, very ill! I am waiting every
minute for God to take her soul away. So I shall have to part, dear
Falaléy, from my wife, and you from your mother and Nalétka. It will
be easier for you to bear the loss than for me: Nalétka’s pups, thank
the Lord! are all alive. Maybe one of them will take after his mother,
but I shall never have such a wife again.
Alas, I am all undone! How can I ever manage to look after all
things myself? Cause me no more sorrow, but come home and get
married, then I shall at least be happy to have a daughter-in-law. It is
hard, my dear Falaléy, to part from my wife, for I have got used to
her, having lived with her for thirty years. I am guilty before her for
having beaten her so often in her lifetime; but how could it be
otherwise? Two pots staying a long time together will get knocked a
great deal against each other. Indeed it could not be otherwise: I am
rather violent, and she is not yielding; and thus, the least thing gave
occasion for fights. Thank the Lord! she was at least forgiving. Learn,
my son, to live well with your wife; though we have had many a
quarrel, yet we are living together, and now I am sorry for her. It’s too
bad, my friend, the fortune-tellers cannot do your mother any good:
there have been a lot of them here, but there is no sense in it, only
money thrown away. And now I, your father, Trifón, greet you and
send you my blessing.
My Darling Falaléy Trifónovich:—
What kind of tricks have you been playing there, darling of my
heart? You are only ruining yourself. You have known Pankrátevich
ere this, so why don’t you take care of yourself? If you, poor wretch,
got into his hands, he would maim you beyond mercy. There is no
use denying it, Falaléy, he has a diabolical character, the Lord
forgive me for saying so! When he gets into a temper, all my trying to
soothe him does no good. When he begins to yell, it’s a shame to
leave the holy images in the room. And you, my friend, just think
what you have done! You have given his letter to be published! All
his neighbours are now making fun of him: “A fine son you have! He
is ridiculing his father.” They say a great deal more, but who can
know all that the evil-minded people say? God help them, they have
their own children to look to, and God will pay them their due. They
always find fault with somebody else’s children, and think that theirs
are faultless: well, they had better take a closer look at their own
children!
Take good care of yourself, my friend, and don’t anger your father,
for the devil could not get along with him. Write him a kind letter, and
lie yourself out of the affair: that would not be a great sin, for you
would not be deceiving a stranger. All children are guilty of some
misbehaviour, and how can they get along without telling their
fathers some lie? Fathers and mothers do not get very angry with
children for that, for they are of necessity their friends. God grant
you, darling of my heart, good health!
I am on my death-bed; so do not kill me before my time, but come
to us at once, that I may have my last look at you. My friend, I am
feeling bad, quite bad. Cheer me up, my shining light, for you are my
only one, the apple of my eye,—how can I help loving you? If I had
many children, it would not be so bad. Try to find me alive, my dear
one: I will bless you with your angel, and will give you all my money
which I have hoarded up in secret from Pankrátevich, and which is
for you, my shining light.
Your father gives you but little money, and you are yet a young
boy, and you ought to have dainty bits and a good time. You, my
friend, are yet of an age to enjoy yourself, just as we did when we
were young. Have a good time, my friend, have a good time, for
there will later come a time when you will not think of enjoyment. My
dear Falaléy, I send you one hundred roubles, but don’t write father
about it. I send it to you without his knowledge, and if he found it out,
he would give me no rest. Fathers are always that way: they only
know how to be surly with their children, and they never think of
comforting them. But I, my child, have the heart not of a father, but of
a mother: I would gladly part with my last kopek, if that would add to
your pleasure and health.
My dear Falaléy Trifónovich, my beloved child, my shining light,
my clever son, I am not feeling well! It will be hard for me to go away
from you. To whose care shall I leave you? That fiend will ruin you;
that old brute will maim you some day. Take good care of yourself,
my shining light, take the best care you can of yourself! Leave him
alone, for you can’t do anything with that devil, the Lord forgive me
for saying so! Come to our estate, my dear one, as soon as you can.
Let me get a look at you, for my heart has the presentiment that my
end has come. Good-bye, my dear one, good-bye, my shining light:
I, your mother Akulína Sidórovna, send you my blessing and my
humblest greeting, my shining light. Good-bye, my dove: do not
forget me!

FOOTNOTES:

[144] French criminals had the lily burnt upon their backs,
hence they wanted to be buried unwashed, that their disgrace
should not become apparent.
[145] For which the punishment would be a penance of fasting.
[146] His wife’s name.
 Denís Ivánovich Fon-Vízin. (1744-1792.)
Denís Fon-Vízin tells us in his Confession (given below)
what his early education was. Even the Moscow University
was filled with ignorant, corrupt teachers, and in the country
the conditions were naturally much worse. Nor could it have
been different in the early part of Catherine’s reign. The older
generation was steeped in ignorance and superstition, and
the upper classes, who carried Voltaire and liberalism on their
lips, ranted of a culture of the heart, which was nothing else
than an excuse for extreme superficiality, as something
superior to culture of the mind. Such a period is naturally
productive of characters for comedy and satire. Fon-Vízin,
who had the talent for satirical observation, was himself a
product of the superficiality of his time. In his letters from
abroad he assumed a haughty air of Russian superiority over
matters French, German and European in general, aiding in
the evolution of a sickly Slavophilism which a Russian critic
has characterised as “subacid patriotism.” Unfortunately for
their originality, most of these attacks on the French and
Germans are taken from French and German sources.
Fon-Vízin wrote two comedies, The Brigadier and The
Minor, both of which are regarded as classical. Neither the
subjects nor the plots are original. They follow French plays;
but Fon-Vízin has so excellently adapted them to the
conditions of his time, and has so well portrayed the negative
characters of contemporary society, that the comedies serve
as an historical document of the time of Catherine II. How true
to nature his Ciphers, Beastlys, Uncouths and Brigadiers are
may be seen from a perusal of contemporary memoirs and
the satirical journals. These give an abundance of such
material, and indeed Fon-Vízin has made ample use of them.
As there were no positive characters in society, so the
characters of his plays that stand for right and justice are
nothing more than wordy shadows.
 In The Minor, of which the first act is here translated, the
author gives a picture of the lower nobility, who had not yet
outgrown the barbarism of the days preceding Peter’s
reforms, though anxious to comply, at least outwardly, with the
imperative demands of the Government. Peter the Great had
promulgated a law that all the children of the nobility must
immediately appear to inscribe themselves for service. These
“minors” had to present a proof or certificate that they had
received instruction in certain prescribed subjects. Without
that certificate they could not enter any service, or get
married. Up to the time of Catherine II. there were issued laws
dealing with such “minors.” Mitrofán, the “minor” of the play,
has become the nickname for every grown-up illiterate son of
the nobility.

THE MINOR

ACT I., SCENE 1. MRS. UNCOUTH, MITROFÁN, EREMYÉEVNA

Mrs. Uncouth (examining Mitrofán’s caftan). The caftan is all

ruined. Eremyéevna, bring here that thief Tríshka! (Exit
Eremyéevna.) That rascal has made it too tight all around. Mitrofán,
my sweet darling, you must feel dreadfully uncomfortable in your
caftan! Go call father. (Exit Mitrofán.)

SCENE 2. MRS. UNCOUTH, EREMYÉEVNA, TRÍSHKA

Mrs. Uncouth (to Tríshka). You beast, come here. Didn’t I tell you,
you thief’s snout, to make the caftan wide enough? In the first place,
the child is growing; in the second place, the child is delicate
enough, without wearing a tight caftan. Tell me, you clod, what is
your excuse?
Tríshka. You know, madam, I never learned tailoring. I begged you
then to give it to a tailor.
 Mrs. Uncouth. So you have got to be a tailor to be able to make a
decent caftan! What beastly reasoning!
Tríshka. But a tailor has learned how to do it, madam, and I
haven’t.
Mrs. Uncouth. How dare you contradict me! One tailor has learned
it from another; that one from a third, and so on. But from whom did
the first tailor learn? Talk, stupid!
Tríshka. I guess the first tailor made a worse caftan than I.
Mitrofán (running in). I called dad. He sent word he’ll be here in a
minute.
Mrs. Uncouth. Go fetch him by force, if you can’t by kindness.
Mitrofán. Here is dad.

SCENE 3. THE SAME AND UNCOUTH

Mrs. Uncouth. You have been hiding from me! Now see yourself,
sir, what I have come to through your indulgence! What do you think
of our son’s new dress for his uncle’s betrothal? What do you think of
the caftan that Tríshka has gotten up?
Uncouth (timidly stammering). A li-ittle baggy.
Mrs. Uncouth. You are baggy yourself, you wiseacre!
Uncouth. I thought, wifey, that you thought that way.
Mrs. Uncouth. Are you blind yourself?
Uncouth. My eyes see nothing by the side of yours.
Mrs. Uncouth. A fine husband the Lord has blessed me with! He
can’t even make out what is loose and what tight.
Uncouth. I have always relied upon you in such matters, and rely
even now.
Mrs. Uncouth. You may rely also upon this, that I will not let the
churls do as they please. Go right away, sir, and tell them to flog——
 SCENE 4. THE SAME AND BEASTLY

Beastly. Whom? For what? On the day of my betrothal! I beg you,

sister, for the sake of the celebration, put off the flogging until to-
morrow, and to-morrow, if you wish, I’ll gladly take a hand in it
myself. My name is not Tarás Beastly, if I don’t make every offence a
serious matter. In such things my custom is the same as yours,
sister. But what has made you so angry?
Mrs. Uncouth. Here, brother, I’ll leave it to you. Mitrofán, just come
here! Is this caftan baggy?
Beastly. No.
Uncouth. I see now myself, wifey, that it is too tight.
Beastly. But I don’t see that. My good fellow, the caftan is just
right.
Mrs. Uncouth (to Tríshka). Get out, you beast! (To Eremyéevna.)
Go, Eremyéevna, and give the child his breakfast. I am afraid the
teachers will soon be here.
Eremyéevna. My lady, he has deigned to eat five rolls ere this.
Mrs. Uncouth. So you are too stingy to give him the sixth, you
beast? What zeal! I declare!
Eremyéevna. I meant it for his health, my lady. I am looking out for
Mitrofán Teréntevich: he has been ill all night.
Mrs. Uncouth. Oh, Holy Virgin! What was the matter with you,
darling Mitrofán?
Mitrofán. I don’t know what, mamma. I was bent with pain ever
since last night’s supper.
Beastly. My good fellow, I guess you have had too solid a supper.
Mitrofán. Why, uncle! I have eaten hardly anything.
Uncouth. If I remember rightly, my dear, you did have something.
Mitrofán. Not much of anything: some three slices of salt bacon,
and five or six pies, I do not remember which.
 Eremyéevna. He kept on begging for something to drink all night
long. He deigned to empty a pitcher of kvas.
Mitrofán. And even now I am walking around distracted. All kinds
of stuff passed before my eyes all night long.
Mrs. Uncouth. What kind of stuff, darling Mitrofán?
Mitrofán. At times you, mamma, at others—dad.
Mrs. Uncouth. How so?
Mitrofán. No sooner did I close my eyes, than I saw you, mamma,
drubbing dad.
Uncouth (aside). It is my misfortune, the dream has come to pass!
Mitrofán (tenderly). And I felt so sorry.
Mrs. Uncouth (angrily). For whom, Mitrofán?
Mitrofán. For you, mamma: you got so tired drubbing dad.
Mrs. Uncouth. Embrace me, darling of my heart! Son, you are my
comfort.
Beastly. I see, Mitrofán, you are mother’s son and not father’s.
Uncouth. I love him anyway as becomes a father: he is such a
clever child, such a joker! I am often beside myself with joy when I
look at him, and I can’t believe that he is my own son.
Beastly. Only now our joker looks a little gloomy.
Mrs. Uncouth. Had I not better send to town for the doctor?
Mitrofán. No, no, mamma. I’ll get well myself. I’ll run now to the
dove-cot, maybe——
Mrs. Uncouth. Maybe God will be merciful. Go, have a good time,
darling Mitrofán. (Exeunt Mitrofán and Eremyéevna.)

SCENE 5. MRS. UNCOUTH, UNCOUTH, BEASTLY

Beastly. Why do I not see my fiancée? Where is she? The

betrothal is to be this evening, so it is about time to let her know that
she is to be married soon.
Mrs. Uncouth. There is time for that, brother. If we were to tell her
that ahead of time, she might get it into her head that we are
reporting to her as to a superior person. Although I am related to her
through my husband, yet I love even strangers to obey me.
Uncouth (to Beastly). To tell the truth, we have treated Sophia like
a real orphan. She was but a baby when her father died. It is now
half a year since her mother, who is related to me by marriage, had
an apoplectic fit——
Mrs. Uncouth (as if making the sign of the cross). The Lord be with
us!
Uncouth.—which took her to the other world. Her uncle, Mr.
Conservative, has gone to Siberia, and as there has been no news
from him for some years we regard him as dead. Seeing that she
was left alone, we took her to our village, and we watch her property
like our own.
Mrs. Uncouth. What makes you talk so much to-day, husband? My
brother might think that we took her to our house for our own
interest.
Uncouth. How could he think so? We can’t move up Sophia’s
property to ours.
Beastly. Even if her movable property has been removed, I won’t
go to law for that. I don’t like the law courts, and I am afraid of them.
No matter how much my neighbours have insulted me, no matter
how much damage they have done me, I have never had any
litigations with them. Rather than have trouble with them, I make my
peasants suffer for the damages my neighbours do me, and that’s
the end of it.
Uncouth. That is so, brother. The whole district says that you are a
great hand at getting work out of your peasants.
Mrs. Uncouth. I wish, brother, you would teach us to do likewise,
for since we have taken everything away from the peasants that they
had, there is nothing left with them which we can carry off. It’s a real
misfortune!
Beastly. I don’t mind, sister, giving you a lesson, only first marry
me to Sophia.
Mrs. Uncouth. Have you really taken a liking to the girl?
Beastly. No, it is not the girl I like.
Uncouth. Then it is her adjoining villages?
Beastly. Not even her villages; but that which is to be found in her
villages, and for which I have a great passion.
Mrs. Uncouth. What is it, brother?
Beastly. I like the pigs, sister. Down our way there are some very
big pigs: why, there is not one among them that if it stood up on its
hind legs would not be a head taller than any of us.
Uncouth. Now, brother, this is a wonderful family resemblance.
Our dear Mitrofán is just like his uncle: he has had the same passion
for pigs ever since babyhood. He was only three years old when he
would tremble with joy every time he saw a pig.
Beastly. Truly wonderful! All right: Mitrofán loves pigs because he
is my nephew. There is some resemblance there. But why have I
such a passion for pigs?
Uncouth. There must be some resemblance there too, that’s what
I think.

SCENE 6. THE SAME AND SOPHIA

(Sophia enters holding a letter in her hand and looking cheerful.)

Mrs. Uncouth (to Sophia). Why so merry, dear? What has made
you so happy?
Sophia. I have just received some joyful news. My uncle, of whom
we have not heard for a long time, whom I love and honour like my
father, arrived in Moscow a few days ago. This is the letter I have
just received from him.
Mrs. Uncouth (frightened, angrily). What, Conservative, your
uncle, is alive? And you think it right to jest about his resurrection? A
fine story you have invented!
Sophia. Why, he never was dead.
Mrs. Uncouth. He did not die! Why could he not have died? No,
madam, that is your invention. You are trying to frighten us with your
uncle, that we might give you your liberty. You judge like this: “My
uncle is a clever man; he seeing me in other people’s hands, will find
a way of rescuing me.” That’s what you are happy about, madam.
But your joy is all in vain: of course, your uncle has never thought of
rising from the dead.
Beastly. Sister, but if he never died?
Uncouth. God be merciful to us, if he did not die.
Mrs. Uncouth (to her husband). How not dead? You are talking
nonsense. Don’t you know that I have had people remember him in
their prayers for the rest of his soul? Is it possible my humble prayers
have never reached heaven? (To Sophia.) You let me have that
letter! (Almost tears it out of her hand.) I will wager anything that it is
some love letter, and I can guess from whom. It’s from that officer
that was trying to marry you, and whom you were ready to marry
yourself. Who is that rascal that dares hand you letters without telling
me first about them? I’ll get at him! That’s what we have come to:
they write letters to girls! And girls know how to read!
Sophia. Read it yourself, madam: you will see that there can be
nothing more harmless than that letter.
Mrs. Uncouth. “Read it yourself!” No, madam! Thank the Lord, I
have not been educated that way! I may receive letters, but I order
others to read them to me. (To her husband.) Read it!
Uncouth (looking at it for sometime). It’s more than I can read.
Mrs. Uncouth. I see, they have educated you like a fair maiden.
Brother, be so kind as to read it.
 Beastly. I? I have never read a line since I was born! God has
saved me that annoyance.
Sophia. Let me read it to you.
Mrs. Uncouth. I know you will read it, but I don’t trust you. There!
Mitrofán’s teacher will soon be here, so I’ll tell him——
Beastly. So you have begun to teach your son reading?
Mrs. Uncouth. Oh, my brother! He has been studying these four
years. It shall not be laid to our door that we are not giving Mitrofán
an education: we pay three teachers for it. The deacon from Pokróv,
Carouse, comes to him for reading and writing. Arikmethick he
studies with an ex-sergeant, Cipher. They both come from town,
which is only two miles from us. French and all the sciences he takes
from a German, Adam Adámych Bluster. He gets three hundred
roubles a year. We let him eat at table with us; our peasant women
wash his linen; if he has to travel anywhere, he gets our horses; at
the table he always has a glass of wine, and at night a tallow candle,
and Fomká fixes his wig for nothing. To tell the truth, we are satisfied
with him, for he does not drive our child. I don’t see, anyway, why we
should not fondle Mitrofán as long as he is a minor. He will have to
suffer enough some ten years hence, when serving the Government.
You know, brother, some people have luck from their birth. Take our
family of Uncouths: they get all kinds of advancements while lying
softly on their sides. With what is our Mitrofán worse than they? Ah,
there is our dear guest.

SCENE 7. THE SAME AND TRUTHFUL

Mrs. Uncouth. Brother, I recommend to you our dear guest, Mr.

Truthful; and to you, sir, I recommend my brother.
Truthful. Am glad to make your acquaintance.
Beastly. Very well, sir. What is your name? I did not quite hear it.
Truthful. My name is Truthful, so that you may hear it.
Beastly. Where born, sir? Where are your villages?
 Truthful. I was born in Moscow, if you must know that, and my
villages are in this province.
Beastly. And may I ask you,—I do not know your name and
patronymic,—are there any pigs in your villages?
Mrs. Uncouth. Now, stop, brother, asking about your pigs. We had
better talk about our trouble. (To Truthful.) Listen, sir! By God’s
command we have taken this maiden upon our hands. She deigns to
receive letters from her uncles: you see, her uncles write to her from
heaven. Do us the kindness, sir, and read us this letter aloud.
Truthful. Excuse me, madam, I never read letters without the
permission of those to whom they have been addressed.
Sophia. On the contrary, I beg you to do me the favour.
Truthful. If you so order. (He reads.)
“Dear niece! My affairs have compelled me to live for some years
away from my relatives, and the great distance has deprived me of
the pleasure of hearing any news from you. I am now living in
Moscow after having been for some years in Siberia. I am a living
example that it is possible by work and honesty to gain some wealth.
By these means, fortune smiling upon me, I have saved up enough
to have ten thousand roubles yearly income——”
Beastly and the Uncouths. Ten thousand!
Truthful (reads). “Of which I make you, dear niece, my sole heiress
——”
(All together.)
Mrs. Uncouth. You an heiress!
Uncouth. Sophia an heiress!
Beastly. Her an heiress!
Mrs. Uncouth (hastening to embrace Sophia). I congratulate you,
Sophia! I congratulate you, my darling! I am beside myself with joy!
Now you need a husband. I, I could not wish a better bride for my
Mitrofán. That’s what I call a fine uncle! A real father! I always
thought that God was taking care of him, that he was still alive.
Beastly (stretching out his hand). Well, sister, let us settle it right
away.
Mrs. Uncouth (whispering to Beastly). Wait, brother, first we have
to ask her whether she wants you.
Beastly. What a question! Or do you really want to report to her as
to a superior person?
Truthful. Do you want me to finish the letter?
Beastly. What for? Even if you were to keep on reading for five
years you could not read out of it anything better than ten thousand.
Mrs. Uncouth (to Sophia). Sophia, my darling! Come with me to
my sleeping-room. I have some important matter to talk to you about
(leading Sophia out).
Beastly. Pshaw! I see there is not much chance for a betrothal to-
day!

SCENE 8. TRUTHFUL, UNCOUTH, BEASTLY, A SERVANT

Servant (to Uncouth, out of breath). Sir, sir! Soldiers have come;
they have stopped in our village.
Uncouth. There is a misfortune! They will ruin us completely.
Truthful. What frightens you so?
Uncouth. Oh, I have seen terrible things, and I am afraid to show
up before them.
Truthful. Don’t be afraid. Of course, an officer is leading them, and
he will not permit any insolence. Come, let us go to him. I am
confident you are unnecessarily frightened. (Truthful, Uncouth and
Servant exeunt.)
Beastly. They have all left me alone. I think I’ll take a walk in the
cattle yard.
 End of Act I.

AN OPEN-HEARTED CONFESSION OF MY ACTS AND

THOUGHTS

My parents were pious people, but as in our childhood they did not
wake us for the morning service, there was a night service held in
our house every church holiday, as also in the first and last weeks of
Lent. As soon as I learned to read, my father made me read at the
divine services. To this I owe whatever knowledge of Russian I
possess, for, reading the church books, I became acquainted with
the Slavic language, without which it is impossible to know Russian. I
am thankful to my father for having watched carefully my reading:
whenever I began to read indistinctly, he would say to me: “Stop
mumbling! or do you imagine God is pleased with your muttering?”
But more than that: whenever my father noticed that I did not
understand the passage that I had just read, he undertook the labour
of explaining it to me,—in short, he showed endless care in my
instruction. As he was not able to hire teachers of foreign languages
for me, he did not delay, I may say, a day to place me and my
brother in the University as soon as it was founded.
Now I shall say something of the manner of instruction at our
University. Justice demands that I should state at the start that the
University of to-day is quite a different thing from what it was in my
days. Both the teachers and students are of a different calibre, and
however much the school was then subject to severe criticism, it now
deserves nothing but praise. I shall relate, as an example, how the
examination was conducted in the lower Latin class. The day before
the examination we were being prepared. Here is what was done:
our teacher came in a caftan that had five buttons, while his vest had
only four. This peculiarity surprised me much, and I asked the
teacher for the cause of it. “My buttons seem to amuse you,” he said,
“but they are the guardians of your honour and of mine: those on the
caftan stand for the five declensions, and on the vest for the four
conjugations. And now,” he proceeded, as he beat the table with his
hand, “be all attentive to what I have to say! When they shall ask you
for the declension of some noun, watch what button I am touching: if
you see me holding the second button, answer boldly ‘The second
declension.’ Do similarly in regard to the conjugations, being guided
by the buttons on my vest, and you will never make a mistake.” That
is the kind of an examination we had!
O you parents who take pleasure in the reading of gazettes, when
you find the names of your children mentioned in them as having
received prizes for diligence, listen what I got a medal for! Our
inspector had a German friend who was made a professor of
geography. He had only three students. As this teacher was more
stupid than our Latin teacher, he arrived at the examination in a full
complement of buttons, and we were consequently examined
without preparation. My companion was asked: “Where does the
Vólga flow to?” “Into the Black Sea,” was his answer. The same
question was put to my other schoolmate. “Into the White Sea,” was
his answer. Then they asked me the same question. “I don’t know,” I
said with such an expression of simplicity, that the examiners
unanimously voted to give me a medal. Now, I did not in the least
earn this medal for any geographical knowledge, though I deserved
it for an illustration of practical morals.
However it may be, I owe the University a grateful recognition: I
learned there Latin, and thus laid the foundation for some of my
sciences. I also learned there some German, and especially
acquired a taste for literary studies. A love for writing was developed
in me very early in my childhood, and I practised for many years
translating into Russian.

At that time our director had taken it into his head to journey to St.
Petersburg with a few of his students, in order to show the founder of
the University the fruits of his school. I do not know how, but my
brother and I were among the number of the chosen pupils. The
director started for St. Petersburg in the winter with his wife and ten
of us youngsters. This was the first, and consequently a difficult,
journey for me and my companions, but I must make a grateful
acknowledgment of the kind attention we received from our director
and which alleviated our hardships. He and his wife looked after us
as after their children. When we arrived in St. Petersburg, my brother
and myself stopped at the house of an uncle of ours. A few days
later, our director presented us to the curator. This esteemed
gentleman, whose deserts Russia must not forget, received us very
kindly. He took hold of my hand and led me to a man whose
appearance had attracted my respectful attention. That was the
immortal Lomonósov. He asked me what I had learned. “Latin,” said
I. Then he began to speak with great eloquence of the importance of
the Latin language.
After dinner of the same day we were at Court, it being a reception
day, but the Empress did not appear. I was wonder-struck by the
magnificence of the Empress’s palace. All around us was sparkling
gold, a gathering of men in blue and red ribbons, a mass of beautiful
women, an enormous orchestra,—all that bewildered and blinded
me, and the palace appeared to me to be the dwelling-place of a
superhuman being. Indeed, it could not have been otherwise, for I
was then only fourteen years old, had never seen anything, and
everything appeared to me new and charming. Having returned to
the house, I asked my uncle whether they had often receptions at
Court, to which he answered: “Almost every Sunday.” I decided to
stay in St. Petersburg as long as possible, in order to see more of
the Court. This desire was the result of curiosity and impulse: I
wanted to enjoy the magnificence of the Court and hear agreeable
music. This desire soon subsided, and I began to pine for my
parents, whom I became impatient to see. The day I received letters
from them was for me the pleasantest of all, and I went often to the
post to ask for them.
Nothing delighted me in St. Petersburg so much as the theatre,
which I saw for the first time in my life. They were playing a Russian
comedy, Henry and Pernilla, and I remember it as if it happened to-
day. I saw there Shúmski, who so amused me with his jokes that I
lost all sense of propriety and laughed as loud as I could. It is almost
impossible to describe the feelings which the theatre aroused in me.
The comedy which I saw was quite stupid, but I looked upon it as the
production of the greatest mind, and upon the actors as great
people, whose acquaintance I regarded as the greatest happiness. I
almost went insane when I found out that these actors frequented
the house of my uncle, where I was living. After a little while I there
became acquainted with our famous actor, Iván Afanásevich
Dmitrévski, an honourable, clever and cultured gentleman, whose
friendship I am enjoying even now.
Standing once in the pit, I struck up an acquaintanceship with the
son of a distinguished gentleman, who had taken a fancy to my face.
As soon as he received a negative answer to his question whether I
knew French, he suddenly changed and became cold to me. He
looked upon me as an ignoramus and badly educated man, and
began to make fun of me. When I noticed from his manner of speech
that he did not know anything else but French, which he spoke badly,
I made such a biting repartee, that he stopped his raillery, and invited
me to his house; I answered politely, and we parted as friends. But I
learned from this how necessary it was for a young man to know
French; so I began to study the language in earnest, continuing at
the same time the study of Latin, in which language I heard the
lectures on logic by Professor Sháden, who was then rector. This
learned man has the rare gift of lecturing and expounding so clearly
that we all made palpable progress, and my brother and I were soon
admitted as real students. All that time I did not stop practising
translations from German into Russian; among other things I
translated Seth, the Egyptian King, but not very successfully. My
knowledge of Latin was exceedingly useful to me in my study of
French. In two years I could understand Voltaire, and I began
translating in verse his Alzire. That translation was nothing more
than a youthful error, nevertheless there are some good verses in it.

LETTERS TO COUNT P. I. PÁNIN, DURING HIS FIRST JOURNEY

ABROAD

Montpellier, November 22 (December 3), 1777.

... I found this city (Leipsic) full of learned men. Some of these
regard it as their chief desert that they are able to talk in Latin, which,