How long should daily phonics lesson plans really be? Orton Gillingham phonics is sometimes used as a core curriculum, but not every child needs this type of intensive instruction. Recently many districts have been adopting Fundations (from Wilson) to use not just as a Tier 2 and 3 intervention, but as their Tier 1 core … Read more
Here’s how to teach phonics without sobbing into your coffee! It might not be fun, it often isn’t pretty, but kids need basic reading instruction in how our language works. Understanding what phonics is and how our language manipulates sounds is a critical part of students’ growth as readers. According to the National Reading Panel, … Read more
What is word recognition and how is it related to teaching phonics? This is an area that gets teachers as riled up as timed tests or teaching cursive writing! This is the desired outcome of teaching children phonics. In actuality, it has been shown that we recognize words and contruct meaning about them based on … Read more
How to organize your literacy block for maximum effectiveness this year. Reading groups and activities should be simple to execute, student-driven, and involve the students with meaningful activities . The lessons should contribute to them becoming readers and writers. A balanced approach is based on authentic activities. Students should spend most of their time in … Read more
Create a reading library kids love to browse in. Make the books enticing, accessible and you won’t be able to keep them away! A classroom library needs to be a place that invites students to browse, explore and find books that are appealing to them and at their just right level. Many classrooms have lots … Read more
The benefits of reading to children includes genre exposure, vocabulary development and increased comprehension skills. Educators know that being read aloud to is a strong indicator of future literacy. When we model fluent reading, we are providing both direct and indirect instruction in all aspects of fluency: decoding, prosody and comprehension. Reading lessons that include … Read more
What is your belief about reading to children? Does it really make a critical difference in their cognitive development or is it wasted time in the classroom? What do statistics show about the language development children enter our schools with? Reading, providing oral discussion and strategically introducing higher level vocabulary words are some of the … Read more
How can we get children reading in the most effective way? What does research show about teaching reading to children? Teaching literacy starts with understanding the importance of reading aloud to children. Students must develop a love for hearing stories before you can get students reading on their own. One of the issues with literacy … Read more
Teaching reading to children is a science, but there is an art to it as well. We repeat activities that bring us pleasure, which is why teaching reading must be fun. When we enjoy something, we are bound to try harder, do it more often and keep coming back to it even if we mess … Read more