Phoneme blending is key for students to develop into fluent readers and not get stuck in sounding out individual phonemes. But before we get to blending sounds into words using beginning, middle and ending sounds, let’s back up a few steps. To build stronger readers, we need activities that link phonemic awareness and phonics skills together! Phonemic awareness activity cards… View Post
One year a parent walked into my second grade classroom upset that her daughter had not yet been chosen to go to the principal’s office with a positive note for a reward. I was confused and felt really badly about it. Her daughter was a super sweet girl and I was sure that I had chosen her for this reward…. View Post
Using science of reading manipulatives can bring a big boost to your teaching and to students and their learning. It can help take the abstract and help make it more concrete and physical, especially for developing readers! And a nice bonus- they make activities more engaging! This post may contain affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience. As an Amazon… View Post
Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Or so the saying goes! But teamwork is really key for reading teachers and classroom teachers. Students will benefit so much more if there is teamwork and it just makes our jobs more enjoyable! But how do we make this teamwork happen? We have 5 tips to make it easier and flow just a… View Post
So you are thinking you may want to leave the classroom and become a reading teacher. But maybe you aren’t completely sure yet. The classroom IS different than a reading specialist’s room is several ways. When I moved from the classroom to become our school’s reading teacher, I was excited. I loved the classroom, but I also really loved teaching… View Post
We all know the saying…there’s no tired like teacher tired. But after several difficult and trying years, it is time for teachers to be serious about taking time to relax, refresh and recharge this summer! You need it and you deserve it. We have 5 actionable, but easy tips to help you get back to you this summer! Take a… View Post
To strengthen phonics skills, we need to build a foundation in phonological awareness. One key way to do this is to target the sounds you are focusing on with your students. For example, if a group of students are working on vowel teams, then we are going to go phonemic awareness activities helping them to target those particular sounds. Just… View Post
