These FREE Summer Mapping Mats are a fantastic and FUN way to integrate a summer theme into your word work time! Find more mats in our Seasonal Mapping Mats Pack. Need more summer printables? Find all our Summer Learning Printables. *The FREE download can be found at the END of this post. Scroll down to click on the teal download button.   Summer Mapping Mats Have you ever heard of phoneme-grapheme mapping? It sounds complicated, but it’s really not. All we’re doing is getting kids to connect letter sounds (phoneme) with the actual letter (grapheme) to read and spell words. This is vital ..read more

What’s the Difference between balanced literacy and structured literacy? The main purpose of this video series has been to explore and explain the differences between some of the terms and concepts used in the field of literacy. Today, I’m covering the last comparison in this series: balanced literacy and structured literacy. *I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Disclaimer: I want to be upfront and say that was a balanced liter ..read more

What’s the difference between leveled readers and decodable readers? I’m so glad you asked! The main purpose of this video series has been to explore and explain some of the differences and possibly similarities concerning terms and concepts used in the field of literacy. Today, I’m covering the topics of leveled readers and decodable readers specifically for our beginning or struggling readers. I also want to touch on a couple of questions about each kind of reader towards the end of the video/post. *I am a participant in affiliate sites, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program ..read more

Today’s topic in this blog and video series is memorizing vs. mapping words. I’m sharing this blog and video series to help you understand the similarities and differences between some terms or strategies we use in the field of literacy and apply this knowledge to your teaching. Find all the blog posts in this series by scrolling down to the image gallery at the END of this post.   The text in this blog post is the text from my video. Watch the full video on my YouTube channel.   Memorizing Words Memorizing words focuses on remembering whole words by rote memory. Often ti ..read more

Today, we’re going to talk about teaching phonics rules versus teaching phonics generalizations. What’s the difference, and does it really matter? Find all the posts in this blog/video series by scrolling to the very bottom of this post where you’ll find an image gallery. Click on the images to find the other posts. If you’ve taught reading or spelling in any capacity for more than a few years, I’m sure you’ve heard this said: “English is FULL of exceptions!” But is it entirely true? Well, it depends on how you view and therefore teach the English language!   Phonics Rules vs. Phonics Ge ..read more

These FREE Spring Mapping Mats are a fantastic and FUN way to integrate a spring theme into your word work time! In this free pack, you’ll find three mapping mats: 1- a shamrock or clover 2- un umbrella 3- a butterfly Find more mats in our Seasonal Mapping Mats Pack. Need more spring printables? Find all our Free Spring Printables and Activities. *The FREE download can be found at the END of this post. Scroll down to click on the teal download button.   Spring Mapping Mats Have you ever heard of phoneme-grapheme mapping? It sounds complicated, but it’s really not. All we’re doing is gett ..read more

Today, we’re talking about the difference between continuous and stop sounds. In this blog and video series, I’ve been comparing pairs of literacy terms to help you as you teach your learners. Find all the videos and posts in this series by clicking one the images at the very bottom of this post.   Continuous and Stop Sounds: The Difference First, let’s talk about continuous sounds. As the name implies, these are sounds (or phonemes) that can be stretched out or elongated. Some examples of continuous sounds are /f/, /m/, and /s/. Notice, all of these sounds can be stretched out for as lo ..read more

Let’s explore the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds-specific to letter sounds. In this blog and video series, I’ve been comparing pairs of literacy terms to help you as you teach your learners. For example, voiced and unvoiced sounds. What are they? Does it even help to know the difference? {My answer is, “YES!” in case you were wondering.}   The following text in this blog post is part of what you’ll find in my video. Watch the full video on my YouTube channel.     Voiced and Unvoiced Sounds: What’s the difference? Let’s start with voiced sounds. Voiced sound ..read more

It’s time to dive into the Difference between Phonemic Awareness and Phonics. In this blog and video series, I am comparing pairs of literacy terms to help you as you teach your learners. For example, phonemic awareness and phonics. What exactly are they? What’s the difference between them and do they even intersect?   The following text in this blog post is part of what you’ll find in my video. Watch the full video on my YouTube channel.   What’s the Difference Between Phonemic Awareness and Phonics? Phonemic awareness: If you remember from our first video in this series, pho ..read more

Let’s talk about the Difference between Phonemes and Graphemes. In this video series, I hope to clarify some terms we use in the field of reading. My goal is to show you how they are the same or different and why knowing their definitions even matters as you teach your learners. First up, phonemes and graphemes. *I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.   Watch the video on my YouTube channel.   What’s the Difference between Phonem ..read more