We all know how important phonics instruction is. It is a pillar in the 5 pillars of reading, it’s integrated into Scarborough’s Reading Rope, and it is heavily supported by research when it comes to how the brain learns to read. Phonics instruction is both explicit and systematic, but that doesn’t equal boring! We need to be intentional, but we can also have fun with phonics games. Here are five hands-on and easy-to-implement phonics games for kindergarten literacy skills. Letter Sound Hopscotch Take learning outside, and draw a hopscotch grid on the sidewalk using chalk. Inside each square ..read more

As teachers, one of our primary goals is to equip our young learners with the foundational skills they need to become proficient readers. As we dig into the Science of Reading research more and more, we see this in Scarborough’s Reading Rope through the word recognition strands. Fluency, the ability to read smoothly and accurately with expression, is a crucial component of literacy development in early readers. Knowing how to take our readers from sounds to sentences is important. We want them to be readers and understand what they are reading, not just word callers. Practicing fluency activit ..read more

Teaching reading is truly a science. As we learn more about the Science of Reading research that is rising to the top, schools are beginning to adopt best teaching practices for teaching reading. We are better equipped to support kids in reading. But even with our knowledge base growing, one thing still remains–we still have kids struggling in reading. Let’s talk about some practical tips and interventions we can use for kids struggling in reading. 1. Individualized Assessments As the teacher, you need to know the exact areas where your students are struggling. Scarborough’s Reading Rope has ..read more

Sound walls are a great change that many teachers are making in their literacy classrooms. Why? Sound walls are a great visual for students of how phonemes and letters or letter patterns are used to write words. Giving each student a copy of their own sound wall is a valuable tool in the classroom. Let’s dive into what a personal sound wall for students is, why we should give our students this tool, where to store them, and some ideas on how to use them. What is a Personal Sound Wall? A personal sound wall for students is a sound wall that a student is able to have and keep for their personal ..read more

Have you heard the chant “when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking”? It is commonly used to help teach vowel teams. I remember teaching my students this refrain during reading small groups. A few of my students were struggling with words like peach, read, and pie. I don’t remember where I heard that chant, but I used it. Now, it makes me cringe. Why? Because there are so many words that do not follow what the chant says. What about the word chief? Or steak? It is not always true that when “two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking”. I now know better. I wish I cou ..read more

Planning a reading small group can feel like a big task. It is incredibly important, and there are many pieces to consider, but it doesn’t have to be hard! Having a science of reading small group lesson template at your fingertips makes everything easier! I have been there–the end of a long day, cleaning up my small group table, getting ready for the next day, and yet dreading planning small groups. But once I started using a template, planning for my science of reading small groups was a breeze! You, too, can make planning your small groups a breeze! I liked keeping everything for my reading ..read more

A Kindergarten schedule is always jam-packed. I know it felt this way in first grade, too, but it was just a different level of “jam-packed” in Kindergarten. Not only are you constantly teaching them how to do school, but you also have so many core curriculum pieces to squeeze in. Among them were kindergarten reading small groups. If there was one thing I did not like to skip or miss out on, it was my kindergarten reading small groups. But let me be honest, it took A LOT of planning and prepping before they were able to run smoothly. I spent my first semester of teaching floundering around, tr ..read more

There are so many different tools and resources to use in your reading small groups that help your students with their reading skills. One of my favorite tools is using reading comprehension passages to help my students work on their comprehension skills. Let’s chat about reading comprehension passages with questions and how to use them in your classroom on the blog today. What Are Reading Comprehension Passages? A reading comprehension passage is a short passage written about a topic or a story. There are typically some comprehension questions about the story or topic after the passage. The ..read more

In today’s digital age, teaching children about needs and wants while navigating the ever-expanding world of technology has proven difficult. As educators, we know that helping our little learners understand the difference between needs and wants is a crucial life skill. Even more, with kids being surrounded by smartphones, tablets, and smart gadgets at home and school, it’s essential to teach them how to use these things responsibly. As families and technology are ever-changing, our teaching will be, too. Grab your colorful markers and let’s dive into teaching needs, wants, and how technology ..read more

Recently, my friend’s daughter was reading on the couch as she was prepping dinner in the kitchen. She came and asked, “Mommy, what does the word “cat er” mean?” I didn’t understand what she was asking so I asked her to repeat the word. She said, “cat er”. “In my book it says, “My mom decided to cat er dinner for the party.” “Oh!” I said. “You mean cater. To cater a party means to get food and drink from somewhere.” This scenario got me thinking about open and closed syllable words and kids can sometimes struggle to read words with an open syllable, especially when they are multisyllable words ..read more