Did you know the English alphabet has 26 letters, 44 sounds, and 150 different spellings? Yes, you read that right, 150 DIFFERENT SPELLINGS! Teaching students all these sound-spellings may seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. Using sound cards in your reading instruction is essential to help students commit these sound-spellings to memory and become more fluent and automatic readers! Keep reading to grab over 300 free sound cards. What are Sound Cards? Sound Cards visually represent a particular sound, including a sample word and power bar. The power bar shows how common the spell ..read more

  What is a decodable text? According to Reading Rockets, "decodable text is a type of text used in beginning reading instruction. Decodable texts are carefully sequenced to progressively incorporate words that are consistent with the letter–sound relationships that have been taught to the new reader. " Why are decodable text important? No guessing!  Texts match the specific phonetic skill that students are learning. Allow students to transfer skills they have worked on in isolation into text Sharpen word attack/decoding strategies Increase accuracy Improve fluency Builds confi ..read more

  I have a quick teacher tip for you that is a fun way to keep students engaged in a whole/small group activity - Teacher vs. Students!  Groups ask to play this daily and it makes any activity much more fun. Spoiler Alert: the teacher never wins and that’s just how the kids like it!   This activity is as low prep as ever - all it takes is a post it note and some tally marks. Here are some ways that I use it with my groups: 1. Phonological Awareness Warm-Up When we start each group we practice phonological awareness.  Each student takes a turn blending or segmenting a ..read more

 If having too many rainbow storage bins is wrong, I don’t want to be right!  When they go on sale I buy them whether I need them or not.  I currently have 4 fully stocked rainbow storage bins full of independent activities for students and 3 fully stocked clear storage bins.  I’m going to share my 4 favorite ways that you can get yourself organized using your rainbow storage bins!  1. Label Everything I hate wasting instructional time or my planning time!  I was finding that it was taking too much time to look through my rainbow bins for the activities that I n ..read more

How many times have you asked a student to describe a character and they start making a list of their eye color, hair color, etc.?  Or perhaps they say my all-time favorite answer: nice. Here are some ways that you can start getting students to dig deeper! These resources are available in a free download. Inside/Outside:The first step is to explain the difference between inside and outside characteristics.  Choose a character and use this template to work through the character traits.  Start with the easiest: outside.  Students can make a list on the outside of physic ..read more

I want to share my favorite vocabulary activity with you!  One of the great things about this Vocabulary Graphic Organizer is that it can be used K-5 and across all subject areas.  There is a free copy of the organizer later in this post. This graphic organizer is separated into four parts 1. Unknown Words: I have never seen the word. 2.  Familiar Words: I have seen it but I am not sure of the meaning. 3. Recognized Words: I know this word. 4. In-depth Words: I can teach this word to someone. Before reading, I give each student their own organizer and we go over each qua ..read more

  These days I am all about working smarter, not harder. I’m going to share 5 free chrome extensions that every teacher needs to simplify their digital life!1 Fullscreen Interactive Google Slides(TM) I LOVE Google Slides! It is a great tool to transform your lessons and make them more engaging. The only drawback is that interacting with slides in presentation mode is less than ideal.   Enter Fullscreen Interactive Google Slides(TM). This chrome extension allows you to edit and manipulate objects in full-screen mode.   digital chaining boards 2. Sir Links-A ..read more

Flashcards are a great resource for reading! They are versatile tools that can be used in so many ways.  Here are my top five favorite ways to use them in small group reading instruction and independent centers.. I’ve also included a massive freebie with 318 pages of flashcards (159 color and 159 ink-friendly) so that you can get started with some flashcard fun. 1. Word Reading  All of the words included in this freebie are phonetically regular, meaning that the sounds follow the rules and students can use their letter-sound knowledge to decode them. Reading Groups: In small grou ..read more

These days I am using Google Classroom more than I ever imagined!  It is such an amazing resource for both teachers and students.  I have always used it as a hub for student materials and links, but with distance learning, I am assigning digital activities to my reading groups exclusively through Google Classroom.  Here are my 5 favorite reading resources for Google Classroom: 1. Read and Cover Read and Cover is as simple as it sounds!  Students read the word and then drag the X to cover the word.   When I assign this activity, I make sure that each stud ..read more

In transitioning to distance learning and asynchronous teaching, there are 4 free resources that have made teaching remotely more manageable.  I hope you enjoy these teacher tech tips as much as I have! 1. SlidesManiaI love Google Slides and used to spend hours making them look just right before adding the content.  Then I discovered SlidesMania - what a game changer!  It has a wide variety of beautiful templates and has saved me so much time!  The slides are available in PowerPoint or Google Slides. This template, in particular, has been amazing for distance lear ..read more