We’ve all learned so much now that the science of reading research has come to light in the past few years. We’ve learned that our young readers need explicit and frequent phonics instruction. We also learned that our approach to reading small groups needs changes like how we prompt our readers and how we assess […]
Many of you who have been around for a while know our family is an adoptive family. When we first brought my daughter home, we saw firsthand how little she had been read to at the age of three. She had no interest in books. The more we read to her and the more she […]
My friend, Lauren, shared this story with me about her daughter. “When my daughter was four, she loved to sing the alphabet. It was fun to jump in with her and sing that very familiar song. She knew the order of the alphabet and some of the sounds each letter makes, but if she got […]
**Amazon affiliate links are used in the post below at no cost to you. This is a small way to support the blog. 🙂 I first heard of the book Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates as more and […]
When it comes to the science of reading, we’ve all been hearing about the need to support our students with research-backed instruction. But what about pre-readers? How do we support pre-readers with the science of reading? When you’re meeting with your reading small groups, how can we continue to support pre-readers and move them towards […]
Sound walls are one of the big changes that elementary teachers are making to their classrooms. This change is happening for very good reasons that are backed up by research, too. (If you want to read more about this change, you can check out this blog post all about word walls vs. sound walls.) One […]
When you think of the back-to-school season, you probably think of decorating your classroom, labeling everything with students’ names, participating in professional development, contacting parents, and prepping for Meet the Teacher Night. There is so much to do! To help make this school year a bit easier, I put together a list of my favorite […]
August means back-to-school season, which means it’s time to hunt for the perfect back-to-school read-alouds. At the beginning of the school year, I always loved to pull out my favorite read alouds and find some new, fresh ones that my students would enjoy. Back-to-school read alouds provide opportunities to build a classroom community, soothe fears […]
Elevate your teaching practices on how to teach high-frequency words with the science of reading in mind. During my first few years of teaching, I remember preparing flashcards each Monday with that week’s high-frequency words on them. We introduced them on Mondays and practiced them the rest of the week. We would spell the words […]
I wish I could say I loved my phonics block in the classroom. I never had a solid phonics scope and sequence so I always felt like I was floundering around. What I did love was seeing my students engage with phonics activities as we worked together and did the best we could. We did […]
Learn all about why a phonics scope and sequence is critical to teaching and grab a free one to use in your reading small groups. My district gave us blueprints at the beginning of each school year for each subject area. It showed us the units we would teach and what the objectives and outcomes […]
Learn what the differences are between a sound wall and a word wall to help boost your readers with stronger phonics and spelling skills. A teacher friend shared this story with me and it’s too good not to reshare as we are diving into why we need word walls. She recalled a specific instance when […]
When it comes to using manipulatives in the classroom, we often think of math manipulatives. What about using literacy manipulatives in the classroom? Yes, friends! Literacy manipulatives are a great way to help readers develop stronger phonics, fluency, and comprehension skills. Chances are that you are already using some literacy manipulatives in your own classroom. […]
Check out these four science of reading books to add to your list of professional reading so you can start making changes towards better reading instruction practices. Over the last few years, we have learned more and more about how kids learn to read. Because of this, we know change is needed in how we […]
I remember seeing the decoding gaps of some of my students during my first year of teaching. A lot of them didn’t know their letter sounds, so they definitely didn’t know the different types of syllables. Goodness, I think I barely knew the six different types of syllables! If they did know their letter sounds, […]
Okay so you’ve made the decision that you want need to start using decodable books with your kindergarten and first grade readers, but where do you start? How do you know which decodable books will help your students strengthen their reading skills? There are just so many options out there that it’s hard to know […]
I love reading books and finding new books that I think my kids will enjoy. I love that you can read a book for pleasure, but you can also read a book and have a great conversation after. When I first started teaching, I loved reading some of my favorite books to my class. If we […]
When it comes to reading small groups, one common question I get from teachers is “Now what?” You have assessed your students, now what? You have grouped your students based on skill need or reading level, now what? Knowing what to do with your students once you know where they are in their reading journey […]
