by Jan and Kari | Apr 26, 2026 | Strategy Instruction
In the last few years, much of the national conversation about reading has focused, appropriately, on word recognition: phonemic awareness, decoding, and fluency. But as foundational skills instruction has grown stronger and more aligned with the science of reading,...
by Jan and Kari | Mar 8, 2026 | Knowledge Building, Language Comprehension, Strategy Instruction
Much of the current conversation around the science of reading rightly emphasizes foundational skills—phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding—but what about reading comprehension difficulties? Yes, foundational skills are essential building blocks for proficient...
by Jan and Kari | Nov 7, 2025 | Strategy Instruction
What Is Reading Comprehension, Really? Let’s try something.Read just this first word in a sentence: Sarah . . .With a single word, your brain is already at work. You’re predicting, filtering, and building meaning. Sarah is probably a person—a girl or woman—and she’s...
by Jan and Kari | Jan 25, 2025 | Strategy Instruction
It’s surprisingly common to find upper elementary students who still need help with foundational spelling patterns, like short vowel sounds in closed syllable (CVC) words. But with older kids, not only is time of the essence—they need to catch up without missing out...
by Jan and Kari | Aug 4, 2024 | Strategy Instruction
If you teach developing readers, you are probably thinking about strategy instruction. Maybe a lot.In many classrooms, strategy instruction has been the primary vehicle for helping children develop and enhance their reading comprehension.After all, kids can’t learn to...
by Jan and Kari | May 19, 2024 | Strategy Instruction
It’s discouraging to work hard and continue to see some students struggle to comprehend despite doing all you know to support understanding.You might wonder:Am I missing something?Am I teaching the “right comprehension strategies”?Are there some comprehension...
by Jan and Kari | Aug 22, 2021 | Knowledge Building, Language Comprehension, Strategy Instruction, Video, Vocabulary
All children love to become experts! Whether learning about ancient Egypt in order to understand the latest Rick Riordon title or building knowledge about the spread of germs in a global pandemic, knowledge building is a critical aspect of reading comprehension. In...
by Jan and Kari | Aug 16, 2021 | Knowledge Building, Language Comprehension, Strategy Instruction, Video, Vocabulary
Have you noticed? Kids love to talk. Babies come into this world naturally wired for language development. They are ready to soak up new words through exposure, modeling, and feedback. From our first breath to our last, we humans are wired to be language...
