The Blog
Want to know how the Science of Reading applies to your classroom? Keep reading to discover what the research suggests, and how we should teach phonics and phonemic awareness to help all students learn to read.
- Resources
There’s so much great stuff on the internet, which is amazing. But then again, there’s SO. MUCH. stuff on the internet. How do you sort through what’s out there to find what you need? Today, I want to talk about 5 websites I can’t live without. All 5 are free, and all 5 make my teaching a little bit easier.
- Vocabulary
The value of vocabulary knowledge and word consciousness cannot be underestimated. We know that once decoding is out of the way, it is how much relevant background knowledge and vocabulary a child has that will be the biggest factors in determining whether or not they understand a text (Wexler, 2019). But friends, there’s a lot of words out there to
- Reading Research, Resources, Science of Reading
I will always be amazed at how hard teachers work. I get messages each week from parents and teachers asking me which trainings they should take. People are willing to spend their own money to get the education they need to help children be successful. Today, I’m going to compare 3 of the top trainings supported by the Science of
- Comprehension, Teaching Tips
We know that struggling readers don’t stop struggling when they leave elementary school. I often receive messages from middle school teachers, asking what they can do. I’ve not have had much experience above 5th grade. Enter Emily Conlan, the face behind @wordmorphed_ on Instagram. She was kind enough to take the time to answer questions about how the Science of
- Phonics, Reading Research, Science of Reading
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
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?
- Reading Research, Science of Reading
This year, I am entering my 11th year of teaching. I’ll never forget how confident I was that first year. I thought I knew EVERYTHING there was about teaching reading to my children. In reality, I’m still learning 11 years later. I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I know I’ve never stopped working as hard as
- Resources, Science of Reading, Teaching Tips
We’re about to move into our third school year of this pandemic. That means the children entering second grade have never known a “normal” school year. For some of us, it will be the first time we’ve set foot in a classroom in 18 months. As we go back to school, I know there’s a range of emotions—fear for
- Book Reviews, Small Group, Teaching Tips
Have you ever started a book and it was so full of theory that you didn’t know how it would ever trickle down to authentic practice? The ones where your eyes go wobbly and you find yourself checking your phone 5 times each page? I can say, with complete and utter certainty, that this will not happen with my latest
- Phonics, Resources
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