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What Fluency Is (and What It Isn’t!)
Think of a time when someone read aloud to you in a way that captured your imagination. Whether it was a caregiver...
Cracking the Code on CVC Words (and Beyond!)
You don't have to dip your toe very far into the early literacy pond to encounter CVC words. From posters to games to phonics lessons—these short and SNAP-py...
A New (Free) Decodable Text: Cat Naps!
Who doesn’t love a cat nap? We know we do! We kind of needed one after we wrestled with using AI-generated images to illustrate a decodable text. We found...
Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonics: Untangling Some Confusion
Despite the recent shift to providing students with more science-aligned foundational skills instruction, we find that a...
Teaching Turn and Talk Routines: Strong Starts for Strong Academic Conversation
We’re confident you’re already familiar with Turn and Talk; it’s perhaps one of the most widely known yet underutilized instructional strategies. But given...
Making Phonics and Word Study Meaning-FULL: 10 EASY Ways to Embed More Meaning Into Decoding Instruction
Decoding practice is a big deal, but . . . Everywhere we go these days, teachers are working hard to provide more explicit and systematic phonics and word...
Some Good News About “All This Foundational Skills Instruction” (And a Few Big Ol’ Red Flags)
In the 1987 film Babette’s Feast, two pious sisters take in a French refugee who works as their housemaid for fourteen years. When she wins the lottery, the...
The Text Structure Box: The 5 Basic Text Structures Are a Bit Too Basic
Text structure is widely accepted as something worth teaching because awareness of a text’s structure can enhance reading comprehension (See References...
What is Explicit Vocabulary Instruction?
As you think about vocabulary instruction, it can be easy to assume that “explicit” means you need to have children memorize definitions, write sentences with...
BIGGER Kids Need BIGGER Words—Accelerating Decoding Skills With Multisyllabic Words
It’s surprisingly common to find upper elementary students who still need help with foundational spelling patterns, like short vowel sounds in closed...
Are You Teaching the Key Comprehension Strategies Students Really Need
It’s discouraging to work hard and continue to see some students struggle to comprehend despite hours and hours of strategy...
Exploring Decodable Texts: A Go-To Resource
Talk of decodable texts is everywhere these days. And if you’re like many educators we know, you might be working to sort through the hype to make sense of it...
Learning from the Science of Reading + Pitfalls on the Journey to Brain-friendly Instruction
You may be just starting to explore the body of research known as the science of reading, looking for practical ways to bring it into your classroom. Or,...
Kindergarten Sight Words: Are We Trying to Teach Too Many?
Teaching high-frequency words, often called sight words, is a common component of kindergarten literacy instruction. Yet, the road to mastering these...
Layers of Vocabulary Learning: A Slice of Effective Vocabulary Instruction
Vocabulary is a hot topic in the world of literacy right now. More and more educators wonder, “What is effective vocabulary instruction?” Perhaps vocabulary...
6 Truths About Strategy Instruction That Just Might Surprise You!
If you teach developing readers, you are probably thinking about strategy instruction. Maybe a lot.In many classrooms, strategy...
5 Vital Language Development Strategies for Every Classroom
Reading Comprehension Can’t Happen Without Language Comprehension Lately, we’ve noticed that some small but mighty practices for supporting language...
“The GOOD” and “The BAD” of Curriculum Evaluation and Literacy Program Selection
We all know that teachers, not programs, make the difference when it comes to effective instruction. Scientific research bears out this idea that teachers...
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