Teaching reading well isn’t about doing everything—it’s more about focusing on what truly moves readers forward. The strongest reading teachers are thoughtful, intentional, and clear on where their time and energy matter most. These how to teach reading actions below are simple, powerful shifts you can make right now to strengthen your instruction and support your students more effectively. These aren’t extra tasks to add to your plate—they’re the foundational moves that help struggling readers grow with confidence and success.
5 high-impact how to teach reading actions that elementary reading and intervention teachers should do this week to move students closer to becoming successful readers:
1. Tighten Your Data Before You Add Anything New
Before planning another lesson, review your most recent decoding and fluency data. Highlight:
- Students who are guessing
- Students stuck on one vowel or pattern
- Students who can read words but not phrases
👉 Clarity comes before creativity. Instruction only works when it’s targeted.
2. Identify Your “Instructional Leaks”
Choose one skill students have been taught but aren’t transferring (short vowels, blends, digraphs, etc.).
Ask yourself:
- Are they seeing it in isolation and in text?
- Are they practicing it daily—even briefly?
Fixing one leak is more powerful than adding five new activities.
3. Stop Instructional Guessing
This week, think about students by need, not by level or reading score.
Ask:
- Who needs slow blending?
- Who needs automatic word reading?
- Who needs repeated reading for fluency?
Effective reading interventions meet the student’s right-now needs, are specific, and are targeted.
4. Make Decoding the First 5 Minutes of Every Reading Group
No matter the grade, begin each small group with:
- Oral phoneme work
- Blending words (real and nonsense)
- One quick transfer sentence
Strong readers are built in the first 5 minutes—not at the end of the lesson.
5. Audit Your Decodable Texts
Pull the texts you’re using this week and ask:
- Do they match the phonics skill being taught?
- Are students guessing from pictures or actually decoding?
If the text doesn’t match the skill, it’s not practice—it’s frustration.
Remember, teaching reading well isn’t about doing everything—it’s about focusing on what truly moves readers forward!
Comment below and let me know which one you’re going to implement!
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