2024 Calendars for the Classroom: Free Printables
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
3M ago
Each year I make printable yearly calendars. I know there are so many out there, but I like these because of their simple design, and notes space. These 2024 calendars are perfect to give to students to track individual goals. One of my favorite ways to use them is as a super affordable, and personalized gift for adults at Christmas from students. Here are some of my favorite ways to use prtinable calendars in the classroom along with links to the 2024 calendars. 2024 CALENDARS for PARENT GIFTS One of my favorite ways to use these calendars is as a parent, or other important person, gift. I kn ..read more
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How to Structure your Phonics Lesson Plan: Getting Started with SoR
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
9M ago
Next up in my Introduction to the Science of Reading series, we’re looking at our phonics lessons. More specifically, our systematic and explicit phonics lessons. During the last several weeks we’ve been diving into the bottom strands of Scarborough’s Rope focusing on word recognition. I talked about the need for systematic and sequential phonics instruction in my last post. In this one, I’m not focusing on what phonics skills you should be teaching. Most of us are bound to the sequences set forth by our district curriculum map or reading programs. There’s also not research to support one scop ..read more
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The Need for Systematic, Sequential, and Explicit Phonics: Getting Started with the Science of Reading
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
9M ago
It’s time we spend a little bit of time diving into phonics. Phonics is at the forefront of the Science of Reading conversations. In fact, when you hear someone talk about SOR, they may really only be talking about phonics. The science of reading instruction is about so much more than just phonics instruction. But, phonics hasn’t been enough of a focus in our classrooms over the last several decades, and our NAEP results show that our students are not proficient readers. This post aims to look at the research around phonics: what we learned from the NRP and what we’ve learned since. English is ..read more
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5 Decoding Activities to Practice Phonics Skills
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
9M ago
For some students, depending on their phase of reading development, it can take a significant amount of time before a word is orthographically mapped and stored in their long-term memory for quick retrieval. Meaning, it’s recognized on sight and would be considered a “sight word“. Along the way, students need many exposures and repetitions with words to build the needed connections for automatic word reading. Students need opportunities to practice and review skills well after we have taught them. I like to use a variety of decoding activities to give students ongoing practice reading words. I ..read more
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What is Orthographic Mapping? Getting Started with SoR
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
10M ago
How are we able to instantly recognize words? We can recognize them whether they’re in uppercase, lowercase, or even mixed case. We’re also able to recognize them in a wide variety of fonts, even cursive script. We are able to recognize them, not because we’ve stored pictures of them in our minds, but because we are good at two things: decoding and orthographic mapping. Orthographic mapping is the process our brains do naturally to store words for later instant retrieval. Orthographic mapping is a term I often see confused so it’s one I want to tackle next in my Getting Started with the Scienc ..read more
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Ehri’s Phases of Word Reading Development: Getting Started with SoR
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
10M ago
Last week we looked at Scarborough’s Rope. For the next several weeks, we’re going to focus on the word recognition strand. First up, is Ehri’s Phases for Reading Development. Dr. Linnea Ehri is a professor of psychology and has been studying the development of reading for over 4 decades. In her research, she identified 5 phases of reading skills development now commonly known as Ehri’s Phases or Ehri’s Phases of Reading Development. One note- this is sometimes referred to as 4 phases with the final phase being omitted. The phases help us understand how children grow and develop on their path ..read more
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Scarborough’s Rope: Getting Started with SoR
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
10M ago
Continuing on in my Introduction to Science of Reading series, this post explores Scarborough’s Rope and its components. Similar to The Simple View of Reading, Scarborough’s Rope goes into more detail into the specific skills needed for effective reading comprehension. It essentially deconstructs the Simple View. With that said, it was not created off of the Simple View of Reading; they both just have the same major components. The Simple View is just that – simple.  There is so much that goes into both decoding and language comprehension. To truly work to identify students’ gaps, a ..read more
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An Introduction: Getting Started with the Science of Reading (SOR)
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
11M ago
The Science of Reading (SoR) is the new buzzword in education- especially at the elementary level. Most of what you likely see as the focus revolves around word recognition. Phonics & phonemic awareness are getting a lot of the attention, and for good reason. We have too many students that struggle to decode. But, there’s more to it. In this series of blog posts, I’m sharing some of the key ideas in the Science of Reading, where they have come from, and the science behind them. An important disclaimer: I am not a reading researcher or cognitive scientist. The information I share here is no ..read more
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6 Top Sites for Phonics Resources to Enhance your Instruction
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
1y ago
If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for high-quality phonics resources to use with your students. I am hesitant to purchase so many commercial products because I’ve seen so many poor ones. I’ve purchased products that have “car” in the CVC words, or “giraffe” for initial work for the letter g. I’ve seen products that require no actual thought by the student and they just assemble. Finding high-quality phonics materials, that follow a logical scope and sequence, can be difficult. Whether you’re looking for an entire curriculum, or just specific resources you can add to your existi ..read more
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How to Teach Fractions Greater than 1: Hands-on Lesson and Engaging Sorts
Tales from Outside the Classroom
by Tessa
1y ago
In order to effectively teach fractions greater than 1, students should have a strong understanding of fractional concepts like numerator, denominator, and fractions representing parts of a whole. I don’t teach fractions greater than one until I feel most of my 3rd grade students are feeling comfort with fractions of a shape and fractions on a number line. Significant work with fractional concepts lays the foundations students need to be successful with improper fractions. You can see how I introduce fractions in my Interactive Fractions Strips Lesson post. Before I continue, I should explain ..read more
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