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Phonics, Resources

Word Chaining: Practices That Work

I’ve talked a lot about word chains, but realized I’ve never dug deeply into why they are important and very explicitly explain the steps to take. So today, I’m diving deep into why and how, without extra fluff. (Look, I’m even keeping the intro short so this doesn’t become one of those recipe blogs that tells you the entire history

Phonics, Resources

The Science of Reading and Teachers Pay Teachers (pt. 2)

I think Teachers Pay Teachers is great (biased, I know). But honestly? I think it can also be terrible for someone who doesn’t know what they are looking for. There are a LOT of, let’s just say questionable, resources out there. If someone were just looking for Science of Reading resources, they might run across something that isn’t aligned with

Fluency, Phonics

Let’s Talk Running Records

I was the queen of running records. You should see the composition books I had where I took a running record on every child in all of my groups almost weekly. I didn’t need a form, I didn’t need any fancy technology. All I needed was a book, a kid, and my notebook. I was so proud of my

Phonics

You Can Still Give Spelling Tests

As I entered the Science of Reading world, I heard a lot about how people were ditching spelling tests. When I was in the classroom, I had between 4 and 5 different “word study” groups, and each group had a spelling test on Friday. So that meant I spent over an hour each Friday testing children on their words. When

Phonics

10 Ways to Practice Phonics Skills

I love teaching children how to read. I enjoy teaching in general, but teaching phonics is just SO. MUCH. FUN. So today, I want to talk about 10 different ways I practice a phonics skill with kids. Each activity is something I do with my kiddos, and all of them are meaningful ways to practice reading and writing. I am

Phonics, Reading Research, Science of Reading

Activities to Promote Orthographic Mapping

In my last post, we discussed orthographic mapping and why it is crucial for reading success. Theory is great, but what every teacher wants to know is this—how does it look in practice? In it’s simplest terms, we want to use activities that will help students focus on matching sound to print. Today, I want to talk about a variety

Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Reading Research

Orthographic Mapping

The term orthographic mapping slipped around my head for a year before I felt I could finally grab it and understand. If I struggled to master the concept, I thought others may too. So today, I want to break down orthographic mapping in a way that won’t leave you banging your head against the keyboard. Hopefully. What is orthographic mapping?

Phonics, Resources

Science of Reading and Teachers Pay Teachers

How do we know which materials to trust when it comes to the Science of Reading? By now, I don’t know how to trust the big publishing companies, much less someone I don’t know on the internet. Teachers Pay Teachers is a marketplace where teachers can find affordable, easy-to-use materials for their classroom. Unfortunately, there’s no system in place

Phonics

The Trouble with Word Sorts

Raise your hand if you have ever given children the assignment to “sort and write” their words. (Me!)Raise your hand if you have ever asked children to write a word 3 times each. (Also me!)Last one friends. Raise your hand if you have ever had children sort and glue their words in at the end of the week. (I’m out

Phonics

Teaching Syllable Types and Syllable Divisions

I was 27 years old with 2 master’s degrees before I knew the 6 syllable types in English. If I made it that far without knowing them, you’d think it can’t actually matter, right? The reality is, though, that I was one of those children lucky enough that learning to read seemed effortless. Reading has never been a struggle for

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Word Chaining: Practices That Work

The Science of Reading and Teachers Pay Teachers (pt. 2)

Let’s Talk Running Records

You Can Still Give Spelling Tests

10 Ways to Practice Phonics Skills

Activities to Promote Orthographic Mapping

Orthographic Mapping

Science of Reading and Teachers Pay Teachers

The Trouble with Word Sorts

Teaching Syllable Types and Syllable Divisions

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