This is a visual for how students work their way up the Reading Ladder. Kindergarten is working within the levels 1 and 2 throughout the year. When working with your child, please focus on these skills so that they have a solid reading foundation. Success is earned and needs to be worked for. Thank you to Katelyn's Learning Studio for this amazing resource.
Do you have struggling readers you just can't reach? This mega list of reading intervention activities will help you teach all students how to read!
As you probably know, phonics is an essential component of reading instruction. Before you read this loooong post all about how to teach ph...
In this post, I'll show you a peek inside my 2nd Edition No Prep Reading Intervention Binder. I have been working on this intervention binder for
Planning reading interventions for struggling learners can be challenging. Here are sites offering free reading intervention resources.
How do you plan for your small group instruction? Do you follow a program where all students receive the same strategies, or do you customize the interventions you teach to meet the needs of your students? As a Literacy Specialist, my students are placed into flexible, target-specific reading groups based on multiple assessments at the beginning of the year. Our pull-out program is very flexible, so targets and groups often change as students make progress and meet their goals. We do not have a formal reading program for every group, so it's up to each interventionist to determine targets, goals,
Decoding drills for building fluency helps students apply phonics skills when reading. Perfect warm ups and a great tracking tool, too.
Finding resources to support middle school special education students is difficult, here are the best reading resources that I have found.
Dyslexia reading programs, dyslexia strategies, dyslexia tips, dyslexia tutor, Orton Gillingham, Lindamood Bell, Barton, Wilson, multisensory program..
Are Students Missing Strong Reading Foundations? Phonological, and phonemic awareness skills are the foundations for competent readers. If students are memorizing text, reading without fluency, reading words incorrectly, it might be a sign that they are missing some foundations. These missing foundations are often present in the phonological awareness continuum. Many times, our assessments target […]
Intervention in reading can be the difference that changes a student's path. What teacher doesn’t want to be that difference? But, finding...
The Best Reading Manipulatives For Every Classroom - 15 of the best reading manipulatives for your classroom. These manipulatives for reading help reinforce literacy skills and make learning fun.
Discover my favorite activities that are aligned with the science of reading curriculum to help your young learns master reading fast.
Don't have time in your day to reach every student? My 10 Minute Reading Intervention resource can help you squeeze in lessons that are fast & effective!
Unlock strategies for 4th and 5th grade small group reading. Explore different focuses and a six-step process to use.
Planning your guided literacy time is bout to get so much easier. I get asked a lot about how to tie reading and writing together, while focusing on fluency, comprehension, phonics, vocabulary, writing, etc. I create this resource to get kids excited about reading and writing, and to make planning
Unlock the secrets of vowel teams! Explore why syllable-based instruction is crucial and how to teach vowel teams systematically. Learn key phrases and visuals to help students master diverse vowel team sounds. Vowel teams can be kind of tricky so click through to read more and grab our Anchor Chart
I have always believed the time my students and I spend at the small group table is THE most important time of our day. If you have followed my blog for
If you teach a struggling reader, these 12 incredible resources for struggling readers are here to encourage you through practical tips and activities.
How often is your child or student building words each week? Phonics, word building and spelling practice are all essential components of building readers and writers. As children get older we seem to become more relaxed about their phonics practice, but they really should have a regular systematic routine through 5th grade. In my classroom we play a lot of phonics games which require reading and then we like to build the words from the phonics games. This taps into multiple learning styles and keeps the kids engaged while they learn. No one wants to write the words over and over again every year. That's boring for the children and the teachers! Plus who has time to grade all of those sheets? I've tried to include enough options so that you could put together at least 10 of them with items that you have laying around or so that you can purchase them inexpensively. Two rules for children that make these a breeze are: 1. Lay all centers with letter manipulatives out in ABC order before you begin. 2. Clean up after every word so that you don't have a HUGE mess by the end. If you have a button jar in the closet they are great for students to use to build words. I was lucky enough to have these buttons from something that I made for my daughter. Unfortunately I was short one s, but I had another tile to fill in. I believe the buttons came from JoAnn's Craft Store. Their buttons go on sale regularly and you can use your teacher discount on the sale. This paper roll came from the paint section in Walmart for about $3. I used it for a paint project and had a ton left over. Kids love getting out of their routine and trying something new. We roll this across our guided reading table or along the floor. It's fun watching the whole class work on it. You could use bulletin paper from school if it's free for you. Technically not a manipulative, but too good not to include. Plus this one is free and often ends up being the kids favorite option! They can write in cursive, bubble letters, hairy letters, what ever they want to as long as they are building words. Most likely you have highlighters laying around. Students can make lists and highlight them once they check the spelling. Kids love little things and collections. Altoid boxes are fun to use and make great storage containers. This one is great to take in the car! These letters came from JoAnn's in the jewelry section. Make sure to wait for a sale and use your discount! When we were kids this was routine. Now kids don't get to use chalkboards that much! This chalk board came from Target Bulleye's section for $3. Use whisper phones when you don't want to clean up anything and need some peace and quiet! They are easy to assemble. Check for the parts in the PVC section of your local hardware store. This one is fun! For the older kids little sandwich containers from the Dollar Store work great. Larger containers are nice for the younger kids. For children with sensory disorders you can let them use pencils if they prefer. Use whatever you have in your pantry so that you don't need to buy anything else! You could even use shaving cream. Who doesn't love new markers? Whatever you can get students to build words on seems like a great idea to me! You can find these boards all over including Walmart, Target and your local craft stores. Students love this one and you will to if you tell them to put each letter back after they stamp it. You might also want to have partners work on one word at a time. Once I figured this procedure out my life was so much better than finding 50 stamps on the floor that the kids couldn't put back quickly. The smaller letter sets came from the scrapbooking section in Joanns for $1. Die cuts are fun and readily available. I used a preprinted one that was given to me in this picture, but your construction paper at school or home will work great too! You can find bingo dabbers on Amazon, school supply stores and wherever the Bingo ladies go! (I don't know where that is though.) These wooden letters came from Walmart. You can find them at craft stores too. They will need to be painted. If you can find a set big enough, you could make these and the letter clips that you will find below. Kids love writing with pens. Start with giving them boring colors so they are super excited when they get to rainbow write. (You stretch your money out better this way.) I almost didn't add this one because smelly markers can be more expensive, but I figured if you have them already you wouldn't be spending anything. There are also a lot of different brands now that go on sale. These magnets and cookie sheet came from Walmart for 98 cents each. This is another great thing to keep in the car, except for Florida, Texas and Southern California in the summer. When the weather is nice go outside and build words on the concrete! This center takes patience, but it's worth it because kids need fine motor activities. The containers and beads came from the Dollar Store. The stamps in the picture are play dough stamps that came with play dough for $5. You could also use cookie cutters that the Dollar Store carries sometimes. How adventurous are you feeling? Save this for a day when you have lots of energy. These are small wooden letters from Walmart and clothes pins. Just paint and hot glue. I store them in alphabetical order on rulers. You can find foam letters in Walmart, Target or any craft store. Once one pen gets boring let students choose to rainbow write. This works great at the end of the year when you need extra engagement. Look around and see what you have. These tiles came from a hang man travel game that my kids used. When they got older I took the letters for a center. I also have a ton of letter stickers that someone gave me. Get creative and have fun! If you are curious what systematic phonics I use in class, I added my phonics games below. These are the games that my students play before they build words. Just click on the picture.
The Beanie Baby Reading Strategies are an extremely effective and engaging tool to help students improve their decoding skills. Elementary teachers can use these strategies with guided reading groups.
Do you wonder what phonics skill ordre you should use? This is the phonics scope and sequence I use to set students up for success when learning to read.
Check out 7 causes & types of reading difficulties if you are working with a struggling reader. Common reading problems and solutions that will help your child learn to read! Reading problems kids and up - Help for struggling readers and reluctant readers and finding the causes of reading problems in your child. Learn about causes of poor reading fluency and how to help a child with reading difficulties pdf format for struggling readers kindergarten age and up! Plus, struggling reader activities and more parenting tips and teaching tips for your struggling reader.
Learn about an easy routine for decoding multisyllabic words in 2nd grade text. Free tools included!
Are you in need of an Orthographic Mapping Cheat Sheet? I know for me, it has been nice to have it all in one place! You might also like our Orthographic Mapping Puzzles Bundle. This pack is for subscribers only! Not a subscriber? Subscribe HERE. If you are already a newsletter subscriber, snag this freebie from the subscriber library. Enter ... Read More about Orthographic Mapping Cheat Sheet
Adding some fun games for reading in the classroom schedule will instantly get your kids excited to read! These 5 fun reading games are...
Here are some tips and strategies on how to teach reading fluency in your homeschool or in your classroom literacy centers.
Strategies, interventions, and techniques that teachers and parents can use to help kids with dyslexia improve their reading skills.
Tour my Orton-Gillingham based classroom and small group reading area. Sneak peek into my small group lessons and classroom organization.
Discover the top 10 must-have materials for effective literacy instruction aligned with the science of reading. From whiteboards to games, letter tiles to graphic organizers, find essential tools to engage students and enhance learning. Plus, explore tips for organization and practical strategies fo
Tips for Building Reading Fluency in Young Readers Graphics by Creative Clips by Krista Wallden , Whimsy Clips , and KG Fonts Sinc...
Hello, friends! I'll be doing a series of several posts this week all about Guided Reading! Today's post is all about how Guided Reading ...
In first grade reading comprehension is something new, challenging, and difficult to teach because even though they’re all 6 or 7 they’re developmentally so different. Head over to my blog to get this comprehension page. Depending on what grade you teach it’d be great for: homework individual assessment small groups partners intervention challenging gifted students ... Read More about Reading Comprehension
Successive blending is an instructional technique designed to support students who have difficulty blending words in sequence.
It's hard to fit it all into your schedule! Here's my 3-step process that makes it easier to create your K-2 structured literacy schedule.
Have you heard the term Structured Literacy? What exactly is structured literacy? I’m so glad you asked! Let’s explore what it means and why it’s an important to know about it. *This post contains affiliate links. What is Structured Literacy? Structured literacy refers to a specific way or method in which literacy skills and strategies ... Read More about What is Structured Literacy?
A description of Tier 3 interventions in MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports)
How do you work on fluency in your classroom? We make sure to READ READ READ simple sentences to practice our fluency!
If you are tired of searching for a solid reading program, look no further. Pathway to Fluency is a complete and comprehensive Science of Reading
This spelling pack is the initial pack for teaching tion and sion. Barton Reading and Spelling Level 5 Unit 7 inspired.This pack suitable for reading and spelling intervention. This is great Orton-Gillingham instruction. It is suitable for any phonics program. Totally No Prep. Anchor charts for th...
The bottomline in knowing how to teach kids with dyslexia to read is that there are methods and approaches that have been proven to work and those that haven't.
Are you looking for some FREE Phonics Activities? Well, you’ve come to the right place!! Today in our Struggling Reader Series, I’m sharing TONS of links to free phonics activities. Don’t get stressed out looking at the entire list. We’ll talk really quick about how to narrow down what phonics skills your learner needs to work ... Read More about The ULTIMATE List of FREE Phonics Activities
Have you ever wondered why some kids learn to read quickly and easily and other kids struggle?
We use both “oi” and “oy” to make the /oi/ sound (think of the words “boy” and “foil”). Explore effective methods for teaching oi/oy vowel teams! Discover engaging activities and mnemonic devices like "Destroy the Poison" to reinforce sounds. Enhance learning with comprehensive resources a
Help your students master their phonics by integrating daily word work activities. This blog also includes 88 free phonics cards!
