Do you have students who persistently misread small, high-frequency words such as: “he,” “I,” “of,” “gave,” “a,” “the,” “she,” “her,” “on” or “was”? This is quite common even if older students have had remediation for decoding difficulties and have improved their phonics knowledge and word reading skills. We could speculate about why. Maybe teachers do…
Read MoreThe news has been spreading that Lucy Calkins, head of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), has been learning about the Science of Reading and making changes to her guidance and widely used curricula. Throughout her career, she has often characterized phonics as ‘low-level’ work that should be minimized and has promoted top-down…
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Older, struggling readers often have gaps in the their phonics knowledge. They find alternative spellings particularly confusing. Many suffer from low self-esteem so offering them decodable materials that are age-appropriate is vital. Vital because if the reading materials can engage the disaffected reader, his/her motivation to try and read will grow. Without motivation it is…
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The education researcher Dylan Wiliam has said, “changing what teachers do is more important than changing what teachers know.” But isn’t knowledge power? And what we do is obviously linked to what we know. So, how can that be? In the past few years, there has been a groundswell of interest in the science of…
Read MoreMany of the terms in phonics are quite confusing. Consonant blends and consonant teams are such terms. So, what is the difference between the two? A consonant blend is a term used for two adjacent consonants in a word that represent two separate sounds. Take the word, ‘blog’: the letters ‘b’ and ‘l’ spell two…
Read MoreWhat is the Alphabetic Code? English has a complex writing system. It has 26 letters but roughly 44 sounds (this depends on pronunciation). There are roughly 160+ different spellings for these 44 sounds. In order to teach them in a methodical way, they have been organized according to the 44 sounds they spell. This organization…
Read MoreMost teachers approach teaching in a child-centered way so dictation goes against the grain. It may seem old-fashioned and yes, a bit dictatorial. But actually, it is a really powerful tool which is particularly useful for struggling or emerging readers and spellers. What more, kids enjoy it because it consolidates their learning and they experience…
Read MoreEmily Hanford’s most recent podcast, an audio documentary called What Words Say, is a must listen. Hanford explains how reading difficulties often find expression in bad behavior, and she points out that children of color who struggle with reading don’t typically get the help that white children do. Almost all the kids in the…
Read MoreHave you ever wondered how kids can read words they haven’t been taught to read? I recently came across the ‘Self Teaching Hypothesis’ Share, 1955. This hypothesis explains how kids use the sounds/spellings they have been taught and apply them to figure out new words. What does this theory say? “According to this hypothesis, beginning…
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Why we need to teach ‘structured and cumulative’ reading instruction In the bad old days before I learned how to teach kids to read, I taught kids to read in a structured way. That is, what I thought was structure: Week 1: letters a, b, c, d Week 2: letters e, f, g, h Week…
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